In Orientalism (1979), Edward W. Said emphasised the personal dimension of knowledge in the humanities. He quoted Antonio Gramsci: "The starting point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is 'knowing thyself' as a product of the historical process to date, which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory" (25). Therefore, one should always make a personal inventory and Said writes that "[i]n many ways my study of Orientalism has been an attempt to inventory the traces upon me, the Oriental subject, of the culture whose domination has been so powerful a factor in the life of all Orientals" (25-26).

As part of the seminar "Postcolonial Theory and Literature", the students also conducted a personal inventory, in poetic, historical, theoretical, and autobiographical ways. Some of these fascinating texts can be found below: Maria Vitoria Simião França's poem "To know thyself, to know myself," Jelena Ćulum's cultural reflections on the subject, Konca Manav's historically grounded elaboration, and Milena Sous' personal reflections.

Kroonenberg_Postkoloniale Theorie_Studienleistungen.pdf

The project "Weltentdeckung und Weltliteratur - Komparatistik im Museum" (World Discovery and World Literature - Comparative Studies in the Museum) was dedicated to comparative questions and working methods at the interface of science and education. For the project, the Cologne Comparative Literature Department worked together with the Museum Service Cologne to create a comparative 'discovery tour' on the topic of "World Discovery and World Literature" through the ethnological permanent exhibition of the  Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum.

As part of a workshop, students of the Master's programme in Comparative Literature developed an intermedial and interactive museum guide that reflects the basic comparative concepts of 'world discovery' and 'world literature' in relation to the museum's exhibition, thus enabling users to learn about research interests in comparative literature and to pursue them independently. This was also intended to make the social relevance and the diverse areas of application of comparative research more visible both inside and outside the university.

In 2021, a comparative science slam was organised in cooperation with the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Cologne, in which students presented their research interests on the topic of "World Discovery and World Literature".