Meryem Can: „Oh mein Gott, die Hijabi meldet sich. Die kann reden …“ (2026)

How do Muslim female students who wear headscarves experience their daily lives on campus? What assumptions and expectations shape their experiences?

This book reconstructs the everyday experiences of racism faced by female students who wear headscarves at German universities. It vividly illustrates how racism manifests itself in everyday experiences: during orientation week, when small groups are formed, in the enthusiastic reactions of instructors who reveal that they did not expect certain statements from female students who wear headscarves, but also in the intense pressure to avoid making mistakes and to constantly have to prove themselves. These accounts were made possible because Meryem Can, as a student who wears a headscarf, facilitated group discussions in which a safe space was created for sharing experiences that are otherwise often swept under the rug.