Invitation to the lecture series “Democracy Meets Medicine”
Magdeburg University Medical Center cordially invites you to attend the new lecture series “Democracy Meets Medicine.” In this series of lectures, leading experts from the fields of medicine, natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, politics, and industry will discuss the significance and responsibility of medicine for the future of our society.
Next lecture in the series
- March 23, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m. | Lecture Hall 7
- Prof. Dr. med. Hans-Jochen Heinze, Chairman of the Hospital Board and Medical Director – Uncertainty: Democracy Meets Medicine
- Michael Willer, Managing Director of Human Risk Consulting GmbH – Social media and the future of democracy: Why media literacy is becoming a matter of survival
What is it about?
Prof. Dr. med. Hans-Jochen Heinze – Uncertainty: Democracy meets medicine
In his lecture, Professor Heinze highlights the challenges that modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and robotics pose for society and medicine. He discusses medicine's responsibility for the physical and mental integrity of human beings and shows how medicine and politics must work together to ensure freedom, responsibility, and humanity in times of growing uncertainty.
Michael Willer – Social media and the future of democracy: Why media literacy is becoming a matter of survival
We are no longer just in the midst of a digital transformation, but in the midst of a global cyberwar. Social networks are much more than just platforms for exchange – they are the battlefield for disinformation, algorithmic manipulation, and the division of our society.
In his presentation, Michael Willer highlights the central role of social media in this conflict and asks the provocative question: Can our democracy still be saved without a radical rethink?
It becomes clear that simply banning social media is not enough and fails to recognize the reality of the next generation. Instead, we must understand media literacy as an existential “survival skill.” The lecture shows why we need to start as early as childhood and what a holistic approach to education looks like in practice.
Background information on the event series
Our society is at a turning point: technologies such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, robotics, and digital virtuality pose unprecedented challenges to the biological, cultural, and ethical integrity of human beings. Used correctly, they can pave the way to a stable and sustainable future. Misused, they threaten to shake the foundations of humanity, freedom, and responsibility.
The lecture series therefore focuses on the interface between medicine and democracy: while politics is responsible for shaping our world, medicine is responsible for the health of the brain and body—the prerequisite for conscious, empathetic, and responsible action.
Afterwards, we invite you to join us for refreshments in the foyer to promote exchange between science, medicine, and society.
We look forward to your participation and stimulating discussions.
Further dates for the lecture series
- April 27, 2026 | 5:00–7:00 p.m. | Lecture Hall 7
- Further dates will follow shortly.