The three public events - one in the Elberfeld City Church and two on the Grifflenberg campus - met with great interest. Numerous students had already enrolled in this unique seminar programme at the beginning of the summer semester. In these seminars, they initially deal with the texts of the respective lecturer, which are based on facts and claim to tell of reality: newspaper articles or biographies, for example. "The boundaries between fictional and factual storytelling can rarely be drawn clearly," says initiator and planner Prof. Dr Christian Klein from the Centre for Narrative Research at the University of Wuppertal. The highlight and equally exciting and new experience for both sides is getting to know each other personally and exchanging ideas.

Why Reemtsma? A question that is easy for Klein to answer: "He is the almost ideal embodiment of the man of letters and scientist in one person, with an independent view of social phenomena - without conventions of thought, as surprisingly humorous as he is often unexpectedly provocative."

Once again, this was a stroke of luck for event attendees and students! "In 2022, we had a more 'narrative' lecturer in Marcel Beyer," explains Klein. Carolin Emcke brought a strong political flavour to 2023. Jan Philipp Reemtsma added a social science component, for example with the topical question of why society needs heroes and where it finds them.