Paul Mecheril receives Höffmann Prize

With the Höffmann Science Prize, the University of Vechta honours academics who have published outstanding and pioneering work on intercultural competence. Prof Dr Paul Mecheril, Professor of Intercultural Pedagogy at the university, received the award in mid-January.

The award, which is endowed with 10,000 euros, was presented at a ceremony by the President of the University of Vechta, Prof Dr Marianne Assenmacher, and the award's namesake, Vechta travel entrepreneur Hans Höffmann.

"It is characteristic of Mr Mecheril's work that he has never gone with the mainstream, but has critically examined 'seemingly self-evident facts' and set new - trend-setting - standards. Many of his publications are fundamental works as well as application-oriented basic research," explained Prof. Dr Rauf Ceylan, Professor of Sociology of Religion with a focus on Islam at the University of Osnabrück, in his laudatory speech.

Mecheril, who accepted the call to Oldenburg in 2011, published the textbook "Bachelor / Master: Migrationspädagogik". In it, the educationalist discusses the current challenges of the migration society for education. The book is now part of the basic literature on "intercultural education" in German-speaking countries. Since 2012, he has headed the Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC) at the University of Oldenburg, which continues the work of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Education and Communication in Migration Processes (IBKM) with a new focus.

"Pedagogy has a long tradition in Oldenburg. Early on, research focused on integration and internationalisation. Paul Mecheril's innovative work builds on this and enriches it with new accents - as his award of the Höffmann Prize underlines," says Prof. Dr Babette Simon, President of the University of Oldenburg.

Paul Mecheril studied psychology and philosophy in Trier, Bielefeld, Vienna and Münster. He received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Münster in 1991 and habilitated in 2001 at the University of Bielefeld in the subject of educational science with a thesis on "(Multiple) Belongings in the Migration Society". Before Mecheril accepted the call to the University of Oldenburg, he was a professor at the Institute of Educational Sciences at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). In 2010, he published the textbook "Bachelor / Master: Migrationspädagogik". In it, the educationalist discusses the current challenges of the migration society for education. The book is now one of the basic texts on intercultural education in the German-speaking world.
Since 2012, Mecheril has headed the Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC) at the University of Oldenburg, which continues the work of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Education and Communication in Migration Processes (IBKM) with a new focus. His teaching and research focus includes the topics of migration and education, intercultural education, racism research and educational professionalism.