"A Move to Another Floor in the Same Building"
Prof. Dr. Arvid Kappas ends his Deanship at Constructor University. "After 10 years, our longest-serving Dean, Prof. Dr. Kappas, can look back on numerous achievements and contributions to the development of our university. These are valuable and will have a lasting impact," said Dr. Stanislav Protasov, President of the University. "We would like to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his tireless commitment and wish him much success in his new challenges." Prof. Kappas is now returning once more to teaching and research. In this interview, he reflects on the most important milestones from his time at the university.
You joined Constructor University in Bremen in 2003 - after several international stops, including in the US, Switzerland and Canada. Why did you return to Germany?
Interestingly, I didn't really have a strong desire to return to Germany. I always found the public universities there to be a bit stiff and hierarchical. I remember being a student at a conference and having a group of very important professors float past me. I felt like I would never be able to talk to them. When I was in America for my PhD, I experienced something completely different: the professors were approachable and very helpful. You could establish a direct relationship with them, and that reinforced my feeling that this is exactly what I wanted to do.
What exactly brought you to Bremen?
After my PhD in the US, my post-doc in Switzerland and various teaching positions in Canada and the UK, I started looking around in Europe. A colleague at work pointed my attention to an advertisement for a new, private university in Bremen. It looked very interesting, especially because it was a campus university with an English-speaking and transdisciplinary orientation. That was in 2002. Given my international background, both through my studies and through various work contexts, I thought: "Maybe I can make a contribution here."
What was your first task at Constructor University (formerly Jacobs University)?
My first task at the university was to plan the social science laboratories. Our founding Dean at the time, Max Kaase, told me, "This university has just finished its natural science laboratories. Now it’s time to set up the social science laboratories. Social scientists also work empirically." I thought it was really great that the university was placing an emphasis on empirical and interdisciplinary studies in the social sciences. In practice this meant, for example, psychology was linked with other social sciences, or even with the biologically oriented sciences. For planning the laboratories, I interviewed colleagues from various disciplines and then drew up the plans. It was great to be involved in this task right from the beginning.
Is it true that you even taught the very first class of students that ever attended the university?
Yes, that's true. Until 2014, I even had the feeling that I had taught almost every psychology student in at least one course.
You have been at Constructor University for over 20 years, 10 of which as Dean - how has the university developed from your perspective?
When I was appointed Dean in 2014, the university was undergoing a fresh start. One of my first tasks was to reboot the entire graduate education system. In other words, all existing programs were terminated and set up in a new, coherent system. These changes were very successful, but not entirely uncontroversial. It was important to us that we offer Master's programs that are attractive to students. Programs such as Supply Chain Management or Data Engineering were particularly popular and in demand. At the time, these were the cutting edge – today, we know them as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
What were your priorities as Dean?
For me personally, it was important that we were not only focussing on excellent research at our faculty, but also on teaching. For example, I advocated for standardized teaching samples to be taken into account when selecting new faculty. Additionally, transdisciplinarity was very important, as there are topics that cannot be assigned to just one discipline. My background as a psychologist has certainly contributed to my efforts to support certain aspects of cohesion and continuity.
Did you also manage to engage in teaching and research during your time as Dean?
Maintaining contact with the students was always important. However, the role of Dean is purely administrative and so extensive that it was no longer possible for me to teach. I have continued research on a small scale though. I also had the opportunity to participate in exciting projects in recent years: In 2016, for example, I was invited to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to speak on a panel about "Transforming Education" and about my research on the use of robots in teaching. As an emotion researcher, which is my actual focus, it's about how machines and humans can interact better. This topic has run through the last years of my work like a common thread.
What will you remember most about your time as Dean?
Apart from the task of transitioning the university courses to an online format in the shortest timeframe possible during the pandemic, a particular ceremonial aspect of my role will certainly hold a dear place in my heart. I have always had a special connection to certain ceremonies. For example, from the beginning, I wore my academic gown to the opening ceremony and then also campaigned for the introduction of graduation robes for students. In recent years, it has also become customary for me as Dean to open the semester. After all the speeches by various stakeholders, I always asked the students to pause for a moment, to tune out everything and reflect on the significance of this moment. It is the time when they start this chapter, their studies. At graduation, I reminded them of this very moment again. They should realize that they have now finished this chapter – and mentally close it, so to speak.
And for you, too, a chapter is now closing,...
Well, I'm not leaving yet, I'm staying on at the university. For me, it's not so much a closing of a chapter, but rather a move to another floor in the same building. After ten years as Dean, I thought this was a good moment to change things up and seek new challenges.
What does this new floor look like for you?
Firstly, I will be focusing on my research. It's an exciting time for social psychology to study how humans interact with intelligent robots. This is a relatively new field and there are very few psychologists working on this topic. Additionally, I will also be able to dedicate myself to teaching again. My first course will take place next spring and will be part of the online course series in the Constructor Track. This course will focus on communication and interaction - topics that are very close to my heart. I'm also quite tech-savvy, so I'm keen to develop asynchronous online courses and get to grips with this new medium. I also had plans to start a podcast once, but I just didn't have the time. Maybe now I'll have a more time for that... or perhaps for my guitars.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Arvid Kappas | Professor of Psychology
akappas@constructor.university | Tel.: +49 421 200-3441