Crises and challenges – global and personal

Facing crises and challenges together

The university uses the funds from the QuiS Plus funding program to support and train students and teachers in dealing with global crises and personal challenges.

Students and instructors are empowered to reflect on their own workload through exchange and counseling services. Instructors are supported in reflecting on their role, particularly in dealing with students facing special challenges. The administration, which is involved in the counseling process, is also consistently included in these services.

This strengthens the basis for successful communication in teaching and consulting, even in difficult, interpersonally sensitive situations.

Students: Four-part online workshop series: “Awareness and (self-)empathy in challenging situations – recognizing the opportunities and limitations of one's own scope for action, strengthening resilience and helpful self-regulation strategies.”
Workshop content included: conceptual classification of crises, identifying and understanding coping strategies and resource-individual reaction patterns, and developing personal self-regulation and action options.
The workshop series was explicitly designed so that students could join at any time or attend individual sessions.

Lecturers: Two-part block seminar “Actively Managing Pandemic-Related Stress on Students – Designing (Online) Teaching and Relationships with and between Students.” Using a semi-structured approach, both student requests and questions were gathered and integrated into the session, and input and exercises were provided. For example: Adopting the perspective of refugees – what is truly helpful, creating networking opportunities, what resources can I offer?

Exchange within a newly formed working group: “Mental Health and Psychological Stress – Empowerment for Students.” This working group has led to intensive discussions with the Frankfurt Public Health Department and the planning of workshops and lectures (on topics such as suicidality, mental illness, etc.). In one workshop, students will be trained in “Mental Health First Aid.” In 2023, the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) will build on this by implementing peer-to-peer “Mental Health First Aid” training for students and a lecture for faculty and administration.