In 2017, the following researchers are invited for guest lectures:

• Prof. Dr. Heike Oberlin (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen): Hidden Texts: The Commentary Tradition of the South Indian Sanskrit Theatre Kūṭiyāṭṭam
• Prof. Dr. Jordan Sand (Georgetown University): Heritage without Monuments: The Case of Tokyo
• Dr. Ziba Mir-Hosseini (SOAS, University of London): In Search of Common Ground: Human Rights Law and Muslim Legal Tradition
• Prof. Dr. Stefan Reichmuth (Ruhr-Universität Bochum): Kulturelle Konvergenz und Kulturvergleich im europäisch-nahöstlichen Raum: Romantisches Erzählen in Bagdad um 1850