After his psychology degree, he proceeded to complete a PhD in pedagogy with a focus on racism in Mainz. He has held teaching positions at the University of Cologne and the University of St Gallen and was a fellow at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Terkessidis worked as an editor at “Spex Magazine”, as a moderator at “Funkhaus Europa”, and he has published articles on the topics of youth and pop culture as well as migration and racism in print magazines and on radio shows. He has also published a number of socio-critical monographs, including “Interkultur” (2010) and “Kollaboration” (2015). In 2013, Terkessidis was appointed member of the “Akademie der Künste der Welt”. He is also on the advisory board of “Zukunftsakademie NRW” in Bochum.