Prof. Ulrich Fastenrath

The founder and initiator of the Center for International Studies and the International Studies programme has recently passed away. Prof Reiner Pommerin's vision was to prepare students for jobs all over the world: interdisciplinary and internationally oriented, with a compulsory study abroad programme combined with training in modern languages.

As holder of the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History at TU Dresden from 1992 to 2008, he was particularly associated with the International Relations (IB) degree program and the Center for International Studies. He was not only one of the founders; he was the one who took the initiative. His idea was a model degree program that prepared students for work all over the world and was organized along the lines of the American model: interdisciplinary and internationally compatible, with compulsory study abroad, combined with training in modern languages and divided into a Bachelor's and Master's degree program with examinations during the course of study. What does not sound so unusual today after the widespread introduction of the Bologna system was downright revolutionary when Reiner Pommerin first approached colleagues from other disciplines in 1996. A year later, after his return from a visiting professorship in the United States of America, the concept of the IB degree program took off. So quickly, in fact, that the first cohort was able to start their studies in 1998 - with 90 applications for the 30 study places.

Bureaucracy was not his thing, nor was soliciting support from the faculties involved. This is why Reiner Pommerin only took the helm as Academic Director in 2003 and 2004 once an independent institution, the Center for International Studies, had been established to run the IB degree program and it was - to use an image fitting for the passionate Air Force reserve officer - on a rapid ascent. However, he could not stay on board for long. In the Bologna system, with the student workload measured in points, it was not possible to provide a basic education in terms of content and methodology in the four disciplines of international history, international politics, international law and international economic relations (although the students certainly coped with the workload). One subject had to be dropped - and that was history.

Despite his departure, Reiner Pommerin remained associated with the IB degree program. Most recently, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary in fall 2023, he enjoyed talking to the almost complete graduates of the first year. The Center for International Studies and the IB degree program owe him an extraordinary amount. His vision of training students for international careers at a German university worked out brilliantly. We mourn his passing. Our sympathy goes out to his family.