News
Cross-departmental collaboration
HM and the International Burch University in Sarajevo are strengthening their partnership and further expanding exchange, collaboration and mobility opportunities for staff members and students
21/07/2026
End of June, Murat Oner and Dzenana Telalagic (English department) and Cat Norman Tahirovic (Photography department) from International Burch University (IBU) visited Hochschule München, specifically Department 12 (Design) and Department 13 (General and Interdisciplinary Studies), with the aim of intensifying and expanding exchange, collaboration and mobility for staff members and students between the two universities.
The guests were invited by Nicholas Sinn (Dept 13), who had visited the IBU in February 2026 as part of the Staff Mobility programme. The planned activities at HM included workshops, co-taught lessons, the planning of a joint COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) project, and the expansion of the network.
On 1 July, Murat Oner and Cat Norman Tahirovic gave a talk on ‘Poetry and Photography’ at a lecture organised by Nicholas Sinn. On the same day, Dzenana Telalagic and Murat Oner held a lecture on communication for students of Dept 13's International Project Management programme. Both presentations were designed to be interactive and were very well received by the students.
Cat Norman Tahirovic and Sue Barr from Dept 12 met to explore the possibility of a partnership. Our visitor from Sarajevo took part in a darkroom workshop together with HM students and gave a talk on the topic ‘Architectural Photography: Brutal Monuments of the Former Yugoslavia’. The students of Dept 12 were inspired and delighted by the opportunity to explore new topics.
Furthermore, the visit provided ample opportunity to build and maintain networks, such as attending the Faculty Council meeting of Dept 13 and holding two meetings with Professors from Dept 13 to exchange perspectives and views.
The time spent together was an enriching experience for everyone involved and has had a positive and lasting impact: we are particularly pleased about the strengthening of the collaboration between our two universities, the opening up of new opportunities, and the laying of the foundations for a new partnership between our Design Department (Dept 12) and the Department of General and Interdisciplinary Studies (Dept 13).