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agenda. We consider established facts and treat them through legal means. There is of course a political dimension to many of the topics we deal with, but we remain judges. What counts are the legal arguments. The decision on the euro rescue fund involved 190 billion euros. It was awaited with anticipation around the world. How do you handle this pressure? When one is supposed to settle a matter through legal means, one is standing on relatively firm ground – that is a com- forting thought. It doesn’t take the pressure away entirely, but it makes it easier to deal with. Apart from that, it helps if I maintain my regular rhythm when dealing with extraordinary situa- tions. Do you still have time to take a break from grappling with euro rescue funds and engage in hobbies? I try to continue pursuing a few private interests alongside my work. I need to, because it keeps me in shape and gives me the necessary resilience for my job. An exhausted president wouldn’t be a good president. I play tennis and jog, read classical novels and listen to music. Unfortunately, I’ve had to give up one interest that used to be very important to me: It’s been four years since I’ve been to the cinema. That’s too bad, but my job simply doesn’t leave me enough free time for it. nt” When religion and academics meet, it is often difficult to reach a consen- sus. According to the Freiburg theolo- gian Prof. Dr. Magnus Striet, some questions don’t even have a clear-cut answer: “Rather, I view academically challenging arguments as the most important asset a university has to offer.” Accordingly, theologians aren’t the only scholars who get to have their say at Striet’s Freiburg Religious Colloquies. He also invites experts from other disciplines, such as philos- ophy or German studies, to join in the debate. To ﬁnd out what the experts have to say about topics like “Return of Religion or Return of Religious Yearning,” you don’t even have to leave your home. All you need to do is turn on your com- puter. The 90-minute colloquies are uploaded to the University of Freiburg podcast site three times a year and can be streamed directly from the Internet or downloaded for later viewing. The collo- quies are available as video or audio podcasts. The topic of the next colloquy in February 2013 is “Stress and Free- dom.” Participants include the philoso- pher Prof. Dr. Peter Sloterdijk. Lars Schönewerk MY PODCAST: MAGNUS STRIET The theologian Magnus Striet moderates the “Freiburg Religious Colloquies” three times a year. » www.podcasts.uni-freiburg.de » www.freiburger-religionsgespraeche. uni-freiburg.de Academically Challenging Arguments Prof. Dr. Andreas Voßkuhle was born in Detmold in 1963. He studied law at the University of Bayreuth and the Univer- sity of Munich from 1983 to 1989 and earned his doctorate from the latter institution in 1992. He completed his habilitation at the University of Augs- burg in 1998. A year later Voßkuhle was appointed to a chair at the University of Freiburg, where he has served as direc- tor of the Institute of Political Science and Philosophy of Law since 1999. In July 2007 he was elected as Rector of the University of Freiburg. A few weeks after he had taken office in April 2008, he was appointed to the Federal Consti- tutional Court as a judge. Since 2010 he has served as president of the court. Andreas Voßkuhle is married and lives in Freiburg. Photo: Klein 23

uni'alumni 2013_ENG

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