Around the world in 16 fellows: International Fellow Prof. Diego Alatorre Guzmán
This year and next, sixteen scientists from thirteen countries are teaching and researching as International Fellows at TH Köln. One of them is Diego Alatorre Guzmán. In this interview, he reveals what international exchange means to him, what he is taking back to Mexico and what role elderberry syrup plays.
Name: Prof. Diego Alatorre Guzmán
Home university: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México
Host faculty at TH Köln: Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Fellowship title: Participatory Didactics for a Pedagogy of Play
Duration of stay: 15 February – 15 June 2025, 1 September – 31 October 2025
I was interested in the International Fellowship…
because it allowed me to run a workshop of game design for KISD students.
Specifically, during the fellowship my plan was…
to promote a playful atmosphere, where students spend most of their time playtesting rather than prototyping or even worse, discussing.
During this time in Germany,…
I found out how play is related to curiosity and why fear kills creativity.
I think international exchange is…
fun :) in other words, an opportunity to learn from diversity.
Something that is different at my home university than at TH Köln is…
that instead of Spaces, we have a green board and colored chalks where people share news, thoughts and drawings among the community, as it is in the middle of the stairs, where everybody that comes to CIDI passes by and looks at what is written and drawn.
What I take back to my home university is…
the promotion of students' autonomy through self initiated projects.
What I like about TH Köln is…
how critical, structured and creative their students and teachers are.
What I really want to experience in Cologne is…
preparing holundersirup.
Recruitment concept Plan_CV
The International Fellows Program is a component of the PLan_CV project (“Rethinking professorial careers at universities of applied sciences: Collaboration and Networking”). It aims to attract excellent staff for professorships at TH Köln and achieve better permeability between science and industry. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Aeronautics with 12.4 million euros as part of the program to promote the recruitment and qualification of professorial staff at universities of applied sciences.
June 2025
