The project "Understanding University: The Rhetorics of German Academia," aims to make academic knowledge production and mediation more transparent and tangible by framing them as sets of rhetorical skills. We believe that these activities are guided by established norms and institutional conventions. Our goal is to understand the evolution and current function of practices influenced by these norms in the German academic context. We see these practices as elements of an academic habitus, shaping the university as a social space. We pay special attention to how this habitus influences the media frameworks and communication methods used in research and teaching.

Understanding University pursues these aims in a cross-curricular teaching project in two major ways:

1. An in-depth exploration of the academic habitus through a historical and systematic lens: By thoroughly examining the history of German universities, we pinpoint key practices that form the foundation of a German academic habitus. We analyze these practices within their respective communication frameworks, such as seminars, conferences, and academic publications, decoding them as mechanisms that both include and exclude individuals within the academic community. Our focus extends to understanding how these mechanisms contribute to social dynamics, with special attention to dimensions like race, gender, and class discrimination.
2. Acquiring Skills: Viewing rhetoric as a systematic tool for formalizing and guiding the expression of ideas in language, we approach current academic practices as teachable techniques within this system. This perspective allows us to understand and instruct these practices as part of a deliberate skill acquisition process.

The aim of this two-fold approach is to 

1. provide students with a historically informed, critical understanding of academia as a socially situated and institutionally mediated practice. 
2. empower all students, regardless of their background, to actively and independently navigate German academia and to successfully engage in the academic community.

The teaching project is realised as part of the curriculum “Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung” (ABV). Consisting of a seminar and a lecture, the module combines traditional teaching methods with hands-on activities, including rhetorical approaches to academic writing.

The project originated within Sonderforschungsbereich 980 "Episteme in Bewegung" and was awarded the Freie Universität Teaching Award in 2018.