Cusanus Hochschule

Since April 2015 the Canopus Foundation has been supporting Cusanus Hochschule (Engl.: Cusanus University) in Bernkastel-Kues with a financial contribution for the Masters study programme “Economy and Cultural Design”, and since October 2015 by co-financing an initial professorship as well as a second professorship as of summer 2018 at the Institute for Economics. Cusanus University pursues a humanistic educational concept based on the philosophy of its namesake, Nikolaus von Kues, which encourages people to confidently shape their own biography, “teaching them to reflect and creatively develop their own knowledge and engagement beyond conventional knowledge transfer, and stimulating interdisciplinary dialogue as well as creative participation within society instead of specialization.”

This approach appeals to both ethical and narrative aspects: studies at Cusanus University aim to encourage reflection and critically question individual and societal purposes as well as change societal conditions towards a more responsible interaction with one’s fellow humans and the environment.

Research at Cusanus University is characterized by a new approach to academic freedom. The key focus is to reveal the preconditions of science and productively overcome the limitations of analytical cognition. The University is involved in international research discourses and is part of an international academic network of universities and research facilities.

The teaching focus has a vibrant relationship to research. Both share a “questioning mentality” which derives from experience and develops procedural and multiple-perspective forms of cognition based on reality in order to modify cognitional processes. “In this way, we aim to draw relevant content for teaching from economic, therapeutic, social, cultural, or ecological commitment and to empower reflective and responsible action.”