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Concentration
Title
Module
Semester
Day/Time
Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 15:45-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers broad ceramics-making techniques at the foundational level. It explores a variety of ceramic materials and methods for the production of functional ware and ceramic art objects. Students learn basic skills of clay preparation, clay recycling, wheel-throwing, hand-building, slip casting, glazing, and applying decorations. The selected works will be glazed and fired in collaboration with the Ceramic Kingdom in Neukoelln.
Please note there is a fee of €50 for participation in this course to cover material expenses and firing processes.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
FA107 Ceramics
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers broad ceramics-making techniques at the foundational level. It explores a variety of ceramic materials and methods for the production of functional ware and ceramic art objects. Students learn basic skills of clay preparation, clay recycling, wheel-throwing, hand-building, slip casting, glazing, and applying decorations. The selected works will be glazed and fired in collaboration with the Ceramic Kingdom in Neukoelln.
Please note there is a fee of €50 for participation in this course to cover material expenses and firing processes.
Syllabus
Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony
One of the most important philosophical movements of the 20th century is unquestionably Existentialism. The philosophy of existence developed by Jean-Paul Sartre can be seen as the clearest expression of this movement. In this course we will read selections from Sartre and other core representatives of French Existentialism. However, this reading will be prepared for by tracing important philosophical lines of influence which the existentialists often acknowledged in the works of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Heidegger. All texts will be read in translation; however, parallel readings in the original French or German will be supported and encouraged.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
PL175 Existentialism
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony
One of the most important philosophical movements of the 20th century is unquestionably Existentialism. The philosophy of existence developed by Jean-Paul Sartre can be seen as the clearest expression of this movement. In this course we will read selections from Sartre and other core representatives of French Existentialism. However, this reading will be prepared for by tracing important philosophical lines of influence which the existentialists often acknowledged in the works of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Heidegger. All texts will be read in translation; however, parallel readings in the original French or German will be supported and encouraged.
Syllabus
Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom, Galina Yarmanova, Faiza zu Lynar
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a course for the OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
In this semester, and with a focus on current community issues in Berlin, we will explore the conceptual and practical elements of civic engagement and develop the engaged research skills needed to guide effective social action. Together, students will address the questions of what civic or community engagement is and why people do it; how concerned Berliners have addressed the shortage of adequate housing, exclusionary migration policies, and the city’s colonial past; how to work with and against existing institutional and legal structures, and what options there are for action in situations of authoritarianism and conflict; what kinds of research practices such as power mapping and interviewing can best support project development and how these can be carried out; the role of positionality and self-reflection in research; and how initiatives and movements can most effectively be created and scaled. Ultimately each student will craft a project proposal rooted in engaged research and aimed at improving one of their communities (however defined). Seminar discussions, practical skills workshops, and field trips to relevant sites around the city will be supplemented by guest lectures from activists, members of community organizations, and government actors.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
PT149 Civic Engagement and Engaged Research: Berlin Lab
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom, Galina Yarmanova, Faiza zu Lynar
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a course for the OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
In this semester, and with a focus on current community issues in Berlin, we will explore the conceptual and practical elements of civic engagement and develop the engaged research skills needed to guide effective social action. Together, students will address the questions of what civic or community engagement is and why people do it; how concerned Berliners have addressed the shortage of adequate housing, exclusionary migration policies, and the city’s colonial past; how to work with and against existing institutional and legal structures, and what options there are for action in situations of authoritarianism and conflict; what kinds of research practices such as power mapping and interviewing can best support project development and how these can be carried out; the role of positionality and self-reflection in research; and how initiatives and movements can most effectively be created and scaled. Ultimately each student will craft a project proposal rooted in engaged research and aimed at improving one of their communities (however defined). Seminar discussions, practical skills workshops, and field trips to relevant sites around the city will be supplemented by guest lectures from activists, members of community organizations, and government actors.
Syllabus
Art and Aesthetics, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Wed 1730-2045
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 1730-2045
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ajla Škrbić
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
What is the role of sexual violence and specifically gender-based violence in contexts of armed conflict? What kinds of discourses circulate in regard to this phenomenon, and what repercussions do these have for understandings of war, for subsequent criminal proceedings, and for efforts at peacebuilding? Why is an analysis of such discourses essential for developing effective safeguards against conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)? How do feminists intervene in the fields of international law, international relations, and security studies? What are the range of feminist views on these areas of expertise? Throughout the course, we will examine such questions using both theoretical texts and case studies, particularly from the former Yugoslav states. The lectures will cover the historical and political contexts that led to the recognition and condemnation of CRSV on a global scale, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Additionally, we will critically evaluate the practices of domestic and international courts in CRSV cases by comparing those from post-Yugoslav states with the cases heard by international courts. Upon completion of the course, students will have a thorough understanding of CRSV and the instruments available for combatting such crimes. Moreover, they will comprehend the impact of gender on the commission, prosecution, and punishment of CRSV.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
SO292 Sexual Violence, Gender and War
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 1730-2045
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ajla Škrbić
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
What is the role of sexual violence and specifically gender-based violence in contexts of armed conflict? What kinds of discourses circulate in regard to this phenomenon, and what repercussions do these have for understandings of war, for subsequent criminal proceedings, and for efforts at peacebuilding? Why is an analysis of such discourses essential for developing effective safeguards against conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)? How do feminists intervene in the fields of international law, international relations, and security studies? What are the range of feminist views on these areas of expertise? Throughout the course, we will examine such questions using both theoretical texts and case studies, particularly from the former Yugoslav states. The lectures will cover the historical and political contexts that led to the recognition and condemnation of CRSV on a global scale, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Additionally, we will critically evaluate the practices of domestic and international courts in CRSV cases by comparing those from post-Yugoslav states with the cases heard by international courts. Upon completion of the course, students will have a thorough understanding of CRSV and the instruments available for combatting such crimes. Moreover, they will comprehend the impact of gender on the commission, prosecution, and punishment of CRSV.
Syllabus
Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective, Media, Practices, and Techniques
Spring 2024
Thu 15:45-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Media, Practices, and Techniques
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thu 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Hart
In this advanced theater course, students will work as actors, directors, dramaturges, and set and costume designers to stage a piece of contemporary German drama: SENSE by Anja Hilling. SENSE weaves together five stories about teenagers who are led by their senses on a journey of intoxicating romantic relationships and complex friendships. What steps do contemporary theater artists take to stage a play from start to finish? What preparation is required of an artistic team and of the actors? Directors will learn how to implement their aesthetic ideas and work with different forms of narration on stage, while actors will explore methods to develop dramatic characters. Students will create conceptual approaches to their work as directors, actors and designers, and test their ideas together in the rehearsal room. Students will form a theater company, rehearsing this play during the course of the semester and presenting the final theater production in May of 2024.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Media, Practices, and Techniques
TH305 SENSE: Staging a Theater Production
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thu 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Hart
In this advanced theater course, students will work as actors, directors, dramaturges, and set and costume designers to stage a piece of contemporary German drama: SENSE by Anja Hilling. SENSE weaves together five stories about teenagers who are led by their senses on a journey of intoxicating romantic relationships and complex friendships. What steps do contemporary theater artists take to stage a play from start to finish? What preparation is required of an artistic team and of the actors? Directors will learn how to implement their aesthetic ideas and work with different forms of narration on stage, while actors will explore methods to develop dramatic characters. Students will create conceptual approaches to their work as directors, actors and designers, and test their ideas together in the rehearsal room. Students will form a theater company, rehearsing this play during the course of the semester and presenting the final theater production in May of 2024.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Clio Nicastro
This course will introduce students to key concepts and methodological approaches from different traditions of Cultural Studies and Critical Theory, including feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism, and black studies. The seminar will cover “canonized” as well as less well-known thinkers. By a close reading of a selection of texts and film excerpts (including fiction films, documentaries, tv and web series, videoart) we will mainly explore the question of human subjectivity and how it is constituted by social and historical circumstances, by ideas of what is “natural,” and by conditions imposed on speech and action. Readings are from Theodor Adorno, Sara Ahmed, Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Rosi Braidotti, Judith Butler, Rey Chow, Andrea Long Chu, Wendy Chun, Hélène Cixous, Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Donna Haraway, Saidiya Hartman, bell hooks, Lisa Yun Lee, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Paul Preciado, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT120 Introduction to Critical and Cultural Theory
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Clio Nicastro
This course will introduce students to key concepts and methodological approaches from different traditions of Cultural Studies and Critical Theory, including feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism, and black studies. The seminar will cover “canonized” as well as less well-known thinkers. By a close reading of a selection of texts and film excerpts (including fiction films, documentaries, tv and web series, videoart) we will mainly explore the question of human subjectivity and how it is constituted by social and historical circumstances, by ideas of what is “natural,” and by conditions imposed on speech and action. Readings are from Theodor Adorno, Sara Ahmed, Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Rosi Braidotti, Judith Butler, Rey Chow, Andrea Long Chu, Wendy Chun, Hélène Cixous, Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Donna Haraway, Saidiya Hartman, bell hooks, Lisa Yun Lee, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Paul Preciado, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Rebecca Rukeyser
This class introduces creative writing theory and methodology through the study of,
and work within, the genre of fiction. We'll examine the formal and structural components necessary to crafting fiction before tackling craft elements of tone, character building, point of view, temporality, dialogue, and scene. We'll read widely, spending equal time with both canonical writers (e.g. James Baldwin, Katherine Mansfield, Yasunari Kawabata, J.G. Ballard) and contemporary writers (e.g. Carmen Maria Machado, Etgar Keret, Mariana Enriquez, Helen Oyeyemi). This class's assignments include: discussing the distinctive qualities and the malleability of various genres, completing generative writing assignments, and an overview of the process of workshopping written pieces. Students will complete a portfolio of revised short pieces based on in-class prompts as well as a 1,000-5,000-word short story.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT142 Writing Fiction
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Rebecca Rukeyser
This class introduces creative writing theory and methodology through the study of,
and work within, the genre of fiction. We'll examine the formal and structural components necessary to crafting fiction before tackling craft elements of tone, character building, point of view, temporality, dialogue, and scene. We'll read widely, spending equal time with both canonical writers (e.g. James Baldwin, Katherine Mansfield, Yasunari Kawabata, J.G. Ballard) and contemporary writers (e.g. Carmen Maria Machado, Etgar Keret, Mariana Enriquez, Helen Oyeyemi). This class's assignments include: discussing the distinctive qualities and the malleability of various genres, completing generative writing assignments, and an overview of the process of workshopping written pieces. Students will complete a portfolio of revised short pieces based on in-class prompts as well as a 1,000-5,000-word short story.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 12:30-15:45
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 12:30-15:45
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Clare Wigfall
With over seventeen years’ experience of teaching creative writing, British author Clare Wigfall has developed a method that aims to break down the barriers that inhibit so that the creative process can come naturally. Under her gentle guidance, you will develop a body of new work, learning craft organically through practice and exposure to great writing. The carefully-structured workshops are a springboard, designed to stimulate ideas and encourage experimentation; one or two might even move off campus – how might a museum prove a source of inspiration, for example? A park? The city we live in? Focus will be given to new genres you might not yet have considered, such as fantasy, or magic realism, or how you might weave myths and legends into your work. Also explored will be the subject of how our own experience can shape our fiction, while also considering the issue of how writing fiction can give us scope to imagine places and experiences we’ve never lived in our own lives. You have already begun to develop a voice that is uniquely your own, and will take this further now with opportunities to share your work with a group of fellow writers who you can trust to give you invaluable critique. Alongside this, the reading element of this course will be key; from writers such as Toni Morrison to Carmen Maria Machado, or Katherine Mansfield to Neil Gaiman, the selected reading will cast the net wide to throw you in to the literary sea, also introducing you to writing about writing from authors such as Zadie Smith and Alexander Chee. With a proven track record of inspiring her students to produce award-winning, publishable writing, Clare will talk with you about how to submit work to literary journals. Plus, there’ll be a chance to share new work with the world with a public reading. Open to students who have already taken a foundational fiction workshop, as well as new students with some writing experience under their belt, you are very welcome to make contact with Clare before registration to introduce yourself and ask any questions.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT212 Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 12:30-15:45
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Clare Wigfall
With over seventeen years’ experience of teaching creative writing, British author Clare Wigfall has developed a method that aims to break down the barriers that inhibit so that the creative process can come naturally. Under her gentle guidance, you will develop a body of new work, learning craft organically through practice and exposure to great writing. The carefully-structured workshops are a springboard, designed to stimulate ideas and encourage experimentation; one or two might even move off campus – how might a museum prove a source of inspiration, for example? A park? The city we live in? Focus will be given to new genres you might not yet have considered, such as fantasy, or magic realism, or how you might weave myths and legends into your work. Also explored will be the subject of how our own experience can shape our fiction, while also considering the issue of how writing fiction can give us scope to imagine places and experiences we’ve never lived in our own lives. You have already begun to develop a voice that is uniquely your own, and will take this further now with opportunities to share your work with a group of fellow writers who you can trust to give you invaluable critique. Alongside this, the reading element of this course will be key; from writers such as Toni Morrison to Carmen Maria Machado, or Katherine Mansfield to Neil Gaiman, the selected reading will cast the net wide to throw you in to the literary sea, also introducing you to writing about writing from authors such as Zadie Smith and Alexander Chee. With a proven track record of inspiring her students to produce award-winning, publishable writing, Clare will talk with you about how to submit work to literary journals. Plus, there’ll be a chance to share new work with the world with a public reading. Open to students who have already taken a foundational fiction workshop, as well as new students with some writing experience under their belt, you are very welcome to make contact with Clare before registration to introduce yourself and ask any questions.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Jeffrey Champlin
This course offers a comparative examination of texts that wrestle with gods across history and cultures. While literary studies since the 19th century have largely considered religious texts as objects of nostalgia in a disenchanted age, a number of questions arise with new urgency in our current global and post-secular context: what rhetorical and narrative structures does literature employ to portray humanity’s troubled connection to a higher power? What does it mean to read a text in a religious manner, rather than a literary manner? How has literary study sought to distinguish itself from its models of religious commentary? As we pursue these questions, we will be particularly attentive to themes of gender, environment, power, morality, transcendence, and secularization. Discussions and writing will incorporate elements of “mindful pedagogy,” short secularized exercises drawn largely from religious traditions that train attention in different ways. Texts and authors include: the Psalms, Bhagavad Gita, Sermon on the Mount, Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Hafez, Blake, Hölderlin, Eliot, Weil, and Achebe. (Close Reading and Literary History)
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT222 The Gods of Literature
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Jeffrey Champlin
This course offers a comparative examination of texts that wrestle with gods across history and cultures. While literary studies since the 19th century have largely considered religious texts as objects of nostalgia in a disenchanted age, a number of questions arise with new urgency in our current global and post-secular context: what rhetorical and narrative structures does literature employ to portray humanity’s troubled connection to a higher power? What does it mean to read a text in a religious manner, rather than a literary manner? How has literary study sought to distinguish itself from its models of religious commentary? As we pursue these questions, we will be particularly attentive to themes of gender, environment, power, morality, transcendence, and secularization. Discussions and writing will incorporate elements of “mindful pedagogy,” short secularized exercises drawn largely from religious traditions that train attention in different ways. Texts and authors include: the Psalms, Bhagavad Gita, Sermon on the Mount, Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Hafez, Blake, Hölderlin, Eliot, Weil, and Achebe. (Close Reading and Literary History)
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): David Hayes
Mythology is the oldest literature in the world. This makes it a promising site to ask about the purpose of literature itself – and Greek mythology an especially promising site because of its continuing power to delight readers in modernity. Both playfully light (there’s a talking island in the “Hymn to Apollo”) and intensely serious (as religious texts about the ultimate powers in the world), it seems difficult to grasp what exactly Greek mythology is and how it can be read in a thoughtful way. For this inquiry, we will discuss several of the oldest stories in Greek mythology. While most of these concern gods and heroes, we will also read the animal fables of Aesop as a “low” counterpart to this “high” mythology. In order to consider alternative mythologies, and therefore also to see the Greek vision better, we will read portions of the Book of Genesis and the Mahābhārata. Then we will trace the fate of myth in the development of Greek thought, as the Greeks themselves rejected (Thucydides), played with (Aristophanes), or conserved (Plato) mythology in new forms of thinking and writing. By tracing this development, we will be better able to consider what ancient myths could mean to us, as well as ask the fundamental question of whether we can live without myths.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT260 Greek Mythology
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): David Hayes
Mythology is the oldest literature in the world. This makes it a promising site to ask about the purpose of literature itself – and Greek mythology an especially promising site because of its continuing power to delight readers in modernity. Both playfully light (there’s a talking island in the “Hymn to Apollo”) and intensely serious (as religious texts about the ultimate powers in the world), it seems difficult to grasp what exactly Greek mythology is and how it can be read in a thoughtful way. For this inquiry, we will discuss several of the oldest stories in Greek mythology. While most of these concern gods and heroes, we will also read the animal fables of Aesop as a “low” counterpart to this “high” mythology. In order to consider alternative mythologies, and therefore also to see the Greek vision better, we will read portions of the Book of Genesis and the Mahābhārata. Then we will trace the fate of myth in the development of Greek thought, as the Greeks themselves rejected (Thucydides), played with (Aristophanes), or conserved (Plato) mythology in new forms of thinking and writing. By tracing this development, we will be better able to consider what ancient myths could mean to us, as well as ask the fundamental question of whether we can live without myths.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Joshua Yaffa
How do we imagine those who inhabit lives far different from our own? And what happens when we come face-to-face with those we initially consider the “Other?” In this course, students will read a range of literature—on the hermetic world of North Korea, hardship and depravation in the American inner city, among other selections—in which authors have purposely put themselves in foreign, unfamiliar situations, to varying results. Some encounters produce insight and empathy; others reveal how broad the gap in experience can be. Can the act of reporting and writing bridge this divide, or does it remain impassible? Led by Bard College Berlin’s inaugural writer-in-residence, students will consider their own relationship to the “Other” as they imagine and define it, and work through the question with their own writing assignments.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT280 Encounters with the Other
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Joshua Yaffa
How do we imagine those who inhabit lives far different from our own? And what happens when we come face-to-face with those we initially consider the “Other?” In this course, students will read a range of literature—on the hermetic world of North Korea, hardship and depravation in the American inner city, among other selections—in which authors have purposely put themselves in foreign, unfamiliar situations, to varying results. Some encounters produce insight and empathy; others reveal how broad the gap in experience can be. Can the act of reporting and writing bridge this divide, or does it remain impassible? Led by Bard College Berlin’s inaugural writer-in-residence, students will consider their own relationship to the “Other” as they imagine and define it, and work through the question with their own writing assignments.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective, Writer and World
Spring 2024
Wed 15:45-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Writer and World
Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Catherine Toal
The overseas territories colonized or otherwise claimed by the nineteenth-century European powers left their trace on the novel form in surprising and indelible ways. Though often “out of sight” and apparently “out of mind” for the main protagonists of the best-known works, occluded, exploited regions of the globe reappear as the specter of shameful past or repressed nightmare, or as the secret motivation for behavioral codes shaping the self and its ostensible social standards. In the unfolding of plot and the arrangement of space, as well as the symptoms of language, what was relegated to the margins becomes irrefutably central, and turns out to be a determining factor in the shaping of genre itself. We will read classic novels of the nineteenth-century English, French and German traditions, addressing historical contexts of the expansion of empires that competed for hegemony in the lead-up to World War I, and theories of the relationship between imperialism and the novel. Authors considered include Honoré de Balzac, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Theodor Fontane.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Writer and World
LT295 Imperialism and the European Novel
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Catherine Toal
The overseas territories colonized or otherwise claimed by the nineteenth-century European powers left their trace on the novel form in surprising and indelible ways. Though often “out of sight” and apparently “out of mind” for the main protagonists of the best-known works, occluded, exploited regions of the globe reappear as the specter of shameful past or repressed nightmare, or as the secret motivation for behavioral codes shaping the self and its ostensible social standards. In the unfolding of plot and the arrangement of space, as well as the symptoms of language, what was relegated to the margins becomes irrefutably central, and turns out to be a determining factor in the shaping of genre itself. We will read classic novels of the nineteenth-century English, French and German traditions, addressing historical contexts of the expansion of empires that competed for hegemony in the lead-up to World War I, and theories of the relationship between imperialism and the novel. Authors considered include Honoré de Balzac, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Theodor Fontane.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): James Harker, Larissa Muraveva
“Autofiction,” a hybrid literary genre combining autobiography and fiction, has seen such a rapid rise in popularity that the critic Jonathan Sturgeon went so far as to declare recently, “The postmodern novel is dead.” This course asks: why has autofiction gained so much attention in recent years? Are these works different from their predecessors? What kinds of stories or insights do they make possible? How do these works demand new thinking about fundamental terms of literary study: character, narrative, fiction, novel? Finally, how does autofiction engage with gender, race, sexuality, and displacement? Authors will include Lydia Davis, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Rachel Cusk, Edwidge Danticat, Patricia Lockwood, Maryse Condé, and others. Our readings of works of autofiction will be illuminated by narratology, the history of “autofiction” and other similar forms, and theoretical works on memory and memory culture.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT308 Autofiction
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): James Harker, Larissa Muraveva
“Autofiction,” a hybrid literary genre combining autobiography and fiction, has seen such a rapid rise in popularity that the critic Jonathan Sturgeon went so far as to declare recently, “The postmodern novel is dead.” This course asks: why has autofiction gained so much attention in recent years? Are these works different from their predecessors? What kinds of stories or insights do they make possible? How do these works demand new thinking about fundamental terms of literary study: character, narrative, fiction, novel? Finally, how does autofiction engage with gender, race, sexuality, and displacement? Authors will include Lydia Davis, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Rachel Cusk, Edwidge Danticat, Patricia Lockwood, Maryse Condé, and others. Our readings of works of autofiction will be illuminated by narratology, the history of “autofiction” and other similar forms, and theoretical works on memory and memory culture.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kathy-Ann Tan
This is an OSUN Online Course.
This seminar engages with queer theory as well as ways of queering dominant narratives and visual representations in an American context. We will examine how the racialized and sexualized body is represented and regulated in dominant discourses and images, and how Queer of Color and intersectional feminist strategies of resistance complicate and challenge such normative forms of narration and representation. Our theoretical readings will begin (but certainly not end!) with Judith Butler’s notion of gender performativity, and include texts by Anna Cheng on racial melancholy, bell hooks on black female spectatorship, Patricia Hill Collins on black sexual politics, José Muñoz on disidentification, and Jasbir Puar on homonationalism. We will bring these theories to bear on a range of contemporary literary texts, films and images that address the intersections of race, gender and sexuality.
Readings are from, among others, Cathy Cohen, José Muñoz, Dionne Brand, Anna Cheng, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Patricia Hill Collins, Richard M. Juang, Jasbir Puar, Ocean Vuong. The course also includes films from directors Barry Jenkins and Cheryl Dunye.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT348 Queer(ing) Narratives: Race, Gender and Sexuality in America
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kathy-Ann Tan
This is an OSUN Online Course.
This seminar engages with queer theory as well as ways of queering dominant narratives and visual representations in an American context. We will examine how the racialized and sexualized body is represented and regulated in dominant discourses and images, and how Queer of Color and intersectional feminist strategies of resistance complicate and challenge such normative forms of narration and representation. Our theoretical readings will begin (but certainly not end!) with Judith Butler’s notion of gender performativity, and include texts by Anna Cheng on racial melancholy, bell hooks on black female spectatorship, Patricia Hill Collins on black sexual politics, José Muñoz on disidentification, and Jasbir Puar on homonationalism. We will bring these theories to bear on a range of contemporary literary texts, films and images that address the intersections of race, gender and sexuality.
Readings are from, among others, Cathy Cohen, José Muñoz, Dionne Brand, Anna Cheng, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Patricia Hill Collins, Richard M. Juang, Jasbir Puar, Ocean Vuong. The course also includes films from directors Barry Jenkins and Cheryl Dunye.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Laura Scuriatti
In the interwar years, Berlin was a kind of myth - it embodied for a short while the idea of a radical modernity, which partly overshadowed its status as the capital of a state, Prussia, associated with an ethos of militarization. In the 1920s, it became a magnet for writers, artists and intellectuals from many countries, who arrived in the city with different goals: to live openly their non-normative sexualities, to enjoy and be inspired by the modernity of the entertainment industry and the freedom of the city's famed unconventional nightlife, to become acquainted with the more recent developments in the new disciplines of psychoanalysis and sexology, to be part of international artistic networks. How did writers and artists represent this experience? How did their social and cultural lives affect literary and artistic forms? How did the "myth of Berlin" relate to other versions of modernism and modernity? The course is based on the exhibition "Happy in Berlin?" (2021), organized by the GBZ (Grossbritannienzentrum) at the Humboldt University, and will offer an interdisciplinary exploration of written and visual artworks about Berlin by artists and writers (mainly, but not exclusively, British), who visited Berlin in the interwar years, such as Christopher Isherwood, W.H. Auden, Alix Strachey, Bryher, Djuna Barnes. Students will read these texts in dialogue with contemporary works on architecture, cultural history, psychoanalysis, sexology, cinema, by, among others, Walter Benjamin, Franz Hessel, Magnus Hirschfeld, Gabriele Tergit. The course is taught in collaboration with the GBZ (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) and will involve collaborative sessions, as well as multiple excursions in the city.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT352 Happy in Berlin?
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Laura Scuriatti
In the interwar years, Berlin was a kind of myth - it embodied for a short while the idea of a radical modernity, which partly overshadowed its status as the capital of a state, Prussia, associated with an ethos of militarization. In the 1920s, it became a magnet for writers, artists and intellectuals from many countries, who arrived in the city with different goals: to live openly their non-normative sexualities, to enjoy and be inspired by the modernity of the entertainment industry and the freedom of the city's famed unconventional nightlife, to become acquainted with the more recent developments in the new disciplines of psychoanalysis and sexology, to be part of international artistic networks. How did writers and artists represent this experience? How did their social and cultural lives affect literary and artistic forms? How did the "myth of Berlin" relate to other versions of modernism and modernity? The course is based on the exhibition "Happy in Berlin?" (2021), organized by the GBZ (Grossbritannienzentrum) at the Humboldt University, and will offer an interdisciplinary exploration of written and visual artworks about Berlin by artists and writers (mainly, but not exclusively, British), who visited Berlin in the interwar years, such as Christopher Isherwood, W.H. Auden, Alix Strachey, Bryher, Djuna Barnes. Students will read these texts in dialogue with contemporary works on architecture, cultural history, psychoanalysis, sexology, cinema, by, among others, Walter Benjamin, Franz Hessel, Magnus Hirschfeld, Gabriele Tergit. The course is taught in collaboration with the GBZ (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) and will involve collaborative sessions, as well as multiple excursions in the city.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective, Theory, History, Art Forms
Spring 2024
Mon & Tue 15:45-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Theory, History, Art Forms
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Tue 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gilad Nir
Heidegger’s later philosophy is marked by a deep engagement with language, art and poetry. In this period Heidegger develops a diagnosis and critique of modern technological society, a society that approaches the world and everything in it as a mere resource to be exploited. Against this background, art and poetry are seen as endowed with a unique, prophetic role, namely to enable us to transcend and transform the inherited ways of thinking that determine our engagement with the world. In the first part of the seminar we will read one of Heidegger’s most influential texts, the essay “The Origin of the Work of Art,” and related texts such as Heidegger’s lectures on Nietzsche and his notes on Cézanne and Klee. In the second part of the seminar we will deepen our understanding of Heidegger’s diagnosis of modernity, reading the essay “The Question Concerning Technology”. We will then turn to Heidegger’s engagement with the poets Friedrich Hölderlin, Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan George, focusing on the essays “The Nature of Language”, “Hölderlin and the Essence of Poetry”, “What Are Poets For?”, “Words”, and “Poetically Man Dwells”.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Modules: Elective, Theory, History, Art Forms
PL321 Heidegger, Art, and Poetry
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Tue 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gilad Nir
Heidegger’s later philosophy is marked by a deep engagement with language, art and poetry. In this period Heidegger develops a diagnosis and critique of modern technological society, a society that approaches the world and everything in it as a mere resource to be exploited. Against this background, art and poetry are seen as endowed with a unique, prophetic role, namely to enable us to transcend and transform the inherited ways of thinking that determine our engagement with the world. In the first part of the seminar we will read one of Heidegger’s most influential texts, the essay “The Origin of the Work of Art,” and related texts such as Heidegger’s lectures on Nietzsche and his notes on Cézanne and Klee. In the second part of the seminar we will deepen our understanding of Heidegger’s diagnosis of modernity, reading the essay “The Question Concerning Technology”. We will then turn to Heidegger’s engagement with the poets Friedrich Hölderlin, Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan George, focusing on the essays “The Nature of Language”, “Hölderlin and the Essence of Poetry”, “What Are Poets For?”, “Words”, and “Poetically Man Dwells”.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Elective, Global Social Theory
Spring 2024
Mon 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Global Social Theory
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Dave Braneck
Why do sports matter? And what can sports tell us about identity, politics and society at large? This course will provide a critical examination of one of the most popular things on the planet. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between sports, nationalism and national identity. What role does sport play in reflecting, shaping, restricting and expanding conceptions of the nation – and who belongs to it? Additionally, the course will investigate sports’ role in reacting to and shaping representations of racial, ethnic and gender identities more broadly, along with its role in a number of political and social questions at a range of different scales. This includes sports’ role in geopolitics and economics, its relationship to democratic participation, and its ability to foster congregation. This course will help students to analyze sports as a space for both creating and challenging social cohesion, as well as a ground for open political contestation. Students will be tasked with broadening and sharpening their understanding of sports, while placing it within a wider context of national identity, political struggle, and power, while building critical knowledge and analytical skills in order to engage more seriously with sports, nationalism, and wider political and social questions.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Global Social Theory
PS395 Nationalism and Sport
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Dave Braneck
Why do sports matter? And what can sports tell us about identity, politics and society at large? This course will provide a critical examination of one of the most popular things on the planet. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between sports, nationalism and national identity. What role does sport play in reflecting, shaping, restricting and expanding conceptions of the nation – and who belongs to it? Additionally, the course will investigate sports’ role in reacting to and shaping representations of racial, ethnic and gender identities more broadly, along with its role in a number of political and social questions at a range of different scales. This includes sports’ role in geopolitics and economics, its relationship to democratic participation, and its ability to foster congregation. This course will help students to analyze sports as a space for both creating and challenging social cohesion, as well as a ground for open political contestation. Students will be tasked with broadening and sharpening their understanding of sports, while placing it within a wider context of national identity, political struggle, and power, while building critical knowledge and analytical skills in order to engage more seriously with sports, nationalism, and wider political and social questions.
Syllabus
Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Wed 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nina Tecklenburg in collaboration with Ballhaus Ost
This course offers an intensive study and practical exploration of how performing arts are produced in Berlin. Our semester-long case study will be Ballhaus Ost, a theater venue located in Penzlauer Berg. As one of most vibrant places for bold and innovative independent performing arts in the city, Ballhaus Ost offers a rich program that includes emerging performing artists as well as established, award-winning theater makers such as Monster Truck, Christoph Winkler, or Bard alumna Marie Schleef.
In this course, Ballhaus Ost serves as an exemplary theater institution that we will study and explore practically: How do people work in a theater? What departments are needed to make a theater piece? How does one curate a meaningful program? What is the relationship between artists and the institution? Between the institution and cultural policy? Together with the Ballhaus Ost team, we will delve into the work of various departments such as curation and programming, lighting and sound design, communications and fundraising, and, above all, artistic creation: In workshops with artists commissioned by Ballhaus Ost, we will explore their artistic approaches, concerns and working methods. The aim is to get hands-on experience of creating performing arts and working in a theater institution, while situating the working structures and art produced at Ballhaus Ost in a larger context of Berlin’s rich theater culture and a globalized theater industry. Classes will take place in the rehearsal spaces and on the stage of Ballhaus Ost.
Note: This advanced course is also open to foundational level students.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective
TH315 Making Theater in Berlin: A Collaboration with the Theater Ballhaus Ost
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nina Tecklenburg in collaboration with Ballhaus Ost
This course offers an intensive study and practical exploration of how performing arts are produced in Berlin. Our semester-long case study will be Ballhaus Ost, a theater venue located in Penzlauer Berg. As one of most vibrant places for bold and innovative independent performing arts in the city, Ballhaus Ost offers a rich program that includes emerging performing artists as well as established, award-winning theater makers such as Monster Truck, Christoph Winkler, or Bard alumna Marie Schleef.
In this course, Ballhaus Ost serves as an exemplary theater institution that we will study and explore practically: How do people work in a theater? What departments are needed to make a theater piece? How does one curate a meaningful program? What is the relationship between artists and the institution? Between the institution and cultural policy? Together with the Ballhaus Ost team, we will delve into the work of various departments such as curation and programming, lighting and sound design, communications and fundraising, and, above all, artistic creation: In workshops with artists commissioned by Ballhaus Ost, we will explore their artistic approaches, concerns and working methods. The aim is to get hands-on experience of creating performing arts and working in a theater institution, while situating the working structures and art produced at Ballhaus Ost in a larger context of Berlin’s rich theater culture and a globalized theater industry. Classes will take place in the rehearsal spaces and on the stage of Ballhaus Ost.
Note: This advanced course is also open to foundational level students.
Syllabus
Core
Medieval Literatures and Cultures
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Medieval Literatures and Cultures
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony, Sinem Kılıç, David Hayes, Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Hans Stauffacher, E. Cameron Wilson
AY/BA1/Begin in Berlin Core Course
In this course, we trace the development of the concept of love from its roots in diverse intellectual traditions to its cultural prominence in the European Middle Ages. Perhaps in no other time or place has a single concept held as much cultural power. Yet the meaning of love was sharply contested: both the cloister and aristocratic court claimed love as its domain. Moreover, the secular and religious meanings of love were capable of a rich interplay. Focusing upon this interplay, the course traces the journey of a specific form of love (fin’amor or so-called “courtly love”) from Muslim-ruled, multicultural al-Andalus to Occitania (Provence) to Northern France in the 12th century. Although the Medieval world seems alien to us, and in many ways has come to stand for what we now reject, its images and ideals of love formed, as C.S. Lewis says, “the background of European literature for eight hundred years,” and still exert their influence on contemporary culture.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Medieval Literatures and Cultures
IS104 Forms of Love (Group A-D)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony, Sinem Kılıç, David Hayes, Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Hans Stauffacher, E. Cameron Wilson
AY/BA1/Begin in Berlin Core Course
In this course, we trace the development of the concept of love from its roots in diverse intellectual traditions to its cultural prominence in the European Middle Ages. Perhaps in no other time or place has a single concept held as much cultural power. Yet the meaning of love was sharply contested: both the cloister and aristocratic court claimed love as its domain. Moreover, the secular and religious meanings of love were capable of a rich interplay. Focusing upon this interplay, the course traces the journey of a specific form of love (fin’amor or so-called “courtly love”) from Muslim-ruled, multicultural al-Andalus to Occitania (Provence) to Northern France in the 12th century. Although the Medieval world seems alien to us, and in many ways has come to stand for what we now reject, its images and ideals of love formed, as C.S. Lewis says, “the background of European literature for eight hundred years,” and still exert their influence on contemporary culture.
Syllabus
Core
Medieval Literatures and Cultures
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Medieval Literatures and Cultures
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony, Sinem Kılıç, David Hayes, Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Hans Stauffacher, E. Cameron Wilson
AY/BA1/Begin in Berlin Core Course
In this course, we trace the development of the concept of love from its roots in diverse intellectual traditions to its cultural prominence in the European Middle Ages. Perhaps in no other time or place has a single concept held as much cultural power. Yet the meaning of love was sharply contested: both the cloister and aristocratic court claimed love as its domain. Moreover, the secular and religious meanings of love were capable of a rich interplay. Focusing upon this interplay, the course traces the journey of a specific form of love (fin’amor or so-called “courtly love”) from Muslim-ruled, multicultural al-Andalus to Occitania (Provence) to Northern France in the 12th century. Although the Medieval world seems alien to us, and in many ways has come to stand for what we now reject, its images and ideals of love formed, as C.S. Lewis says, “the background of European literature for eight hundred years,” and still exert their influence on contemporary culture.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Medieval Literatures and Cultures
IS104 Forms of Love (Group E-H)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony, Sinem Kılıç, David Hayes, Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Hans Stauffacher, E. Cameron Wilson
AY/BA1/Begin in Berlin Core Course
In this course, we trace the development of the concept of love from its roots in diverse intellectual traditions to its cultural prominence in the European Middle Ages. Perhaps in no other time or place has a single concept held as much cultural power. Yet the meaning of love was sharply contested: both the cloister and aristocratic court claimed love as its domain. Moreover, the secular and religious meanings of love were capable of a rich interplay. Focusing upon this interplay, the course traces the journey of a specific form of love (fin’amor or so-called “courtly love”) from Muslim-ruled, multicultural al-Andalus to Occitania (Provence) to Northern France in the 12th century. Although the Medieval world seems alien to us, and in many ways has come to stand for what we now reject, its images and ideals of love formed, as C.S. Lewis says, “the background of European literature for eight hundred years,” and still exert their influence on contemporary culture.
Syllabus
Core
Senior Core Colloquium
Spring 2024
Mon 09:00-12:15
Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Senior Core Colloquium
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner, Nina Tecklenburg
This seminar is a training in the methods of academic research. Focusing on representative contemporary research in the humanities and the social sciences, it supports students in proceeding with their own individual research projects by focusing on the essential elements of independent scholarly work: the choice of a topic or object of study; the outline of the main components of an article or scholarly paper; finding, gathering, collating and interpreting the sources needed for the project; correct citation, attribution, and bibliographical documentation, and lastly, the effective presentation of the final work, as well as peer review and constructive feedback. Including the participation of thesis supervisors and other faculty members, this course accompanies the first semester of preparation for the thesis project.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Senior Core Colloquium
IS123 Academic Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner, Nina Tecklenburg
This seminar is a training in the methods of academic research. Focusing on representative contemporary research in the humanities and the social sciences, it supports students in proceeding with their own individual research projects by focusing on the essential elements of independent scholarly work: the choice of a topic or object of study; the outline of the main components of an article or scholarly paper; finding, gathering, collating and interpreting the sources needed for the project; correct citation, attribution, and bibliographical documentation, and lastly, the effective presentation of the final work, as well as peer review and constructive feedback. Including the participation of thesis supervisors and other faculty members, this course accompanies the first semester of preparation for the thesis project.
Syllabus
Core
Early Modern Science
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Katalin Makkai, Maria Avxentevskaya, Anastassia Kostrioukova
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
IS212 Early Modern Science (a cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) (Group A+B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Katalin Makkai, Maria Avxentevskaya, Anastassia Kostrioukova
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Core
Early Modern Science
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Katalin Makkai, Maria Avxentevskaya, Anastassia Kostrioukova
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
IS212 Early Modern Science (a cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) (Group C+D)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Katalin Makkai, Maria Avxentevskaya, Anastassia Kostrioukova
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Core
Early Modern Science
Spring 2024
Mon & Tue 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
Day/Time: Mon & Tue 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gilad Nir
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Early Modern Science
IS212 Early Modern Science (a cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) (Group E)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Tue 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gilad Nir
BA2 Core Course
The course seeks to introduce the scientific advances of the early modern period (with particular focus on the seventeenth century): the developments that defined the principles, methods and frameworks of modern natural science as it exists today. We not only explore the philosophical basis and conclusions of this historical development, but its experimental procedures, and come to an understanding of their practical form and the meaning of their results. In the first section, we concentrate on the new understanding of space, matter and motion deriving from the cosmologies and mechanical theories of this era (the basis of modern physics). In the second, we consider the remarkable advances in the life sciences at this period (examining anatomical and medical texts), and finally, attend to the emergence of what came to be called "chemistry" out of the mystical practice of alchemy. Included in the course are visits to exhibitions and collections in Berlin, which will help us to reflect on the way in which scientific practices and their discoveries have been historicized, and why we ought to enhance our critical awareness of such historicizing.
Syllabus
Core
Modernism
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Modernism
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Group A Clio Nicastro , Group B Laura Scuriatti
BA3-4/PY Core Course
Modernism is generally thought of as a period characterized in literature and art by radical experimentation, by the invention and re-invention of new forms, and by an aesthetic that privileged the present, the modern, the new. As such, it also reacted to and reflected on the process of modernization and different notions of modernity. Modernism was, in fact, a complex constellation of phenomena that saw close interaction among the arts, literature, politics, philosophy, science and economics, and that questioned the most basic categories of aesthetic, political and philosophical thought. The course will focus on three related topics, which will be investigated in relation to each other through a variety of philosophical and theoretical texts, literature, artworks and architecture from across the globe: 1) theories of modernism, modernity and modernization; 2) the role played cities as increasingly dominant cultural centers, hegemonic forces and subject matter of modernist literature and the arts; 3) the increasing expansion of industry, colonization and global commerce, with a particular focus on literary responses to the perceived dehumanization brought about by technological advancement, bureaucracy and exploitation of the environment.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Modernism
IS322 Modernism Core course - Global Modernisms (Group A & Group B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Group A Clio Nicastro , Group B Laura Scuriatti
BA3-4/PY Core Course
Modernism is generally thought of as a period characterized in literature and art by radical experimentation, by the invention and re-invention of new forms, and by an aesthetic that privileged the present, the modern, the new. As such, it also reacted to and reflected on the process of modernization and different notions of modernity. Modernism was, in fact, a complex constellation of phenomena that saw close interaction among the arts, literature, politics, philosophy, science and economics, and that questioned the most basic categories of aesthetic, political and philosophical thought. The course will focus on three related topics, which will be investigated in relation to each other through a variety of philosophical and theoretical texts, literature, artworks and architecture from across the globe: 1) theories of modernism, modernity and modernization; 2) the role played cities as increasingly dominant cultural centers, hegemonic forces and subject matter of modernist literature and the arts; 3) the increasing expansion of industry, colonization and global commerce, with a particular focus on literary responses to the perceived dehumanization brought about by technological advancement, bureaucracy and exploitation of the environment.
Syllabus
Core
Modernism
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Modernism
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Group C Laura Scuriatti, Group D James Harker
BA3-4/PY Core Course
Modernism is generally thought of as a period characterized in literature and art by radical experimentation, by the invention and re-invention of new forms, and by an aesthetic that privileged the present, the modern, the new. As such, it also reacted to and reflected on the process of modernization and different notions of modernity. Modernism was, in fact, a complex constellation of phenomena that saw close interaction among the arts, literature, politics, philosophy, science and economics, and that questioned the most basic categories of aesthetic, political and philosophical thought. The course will focus on three related topics, which will be investigated in relation to each other through a variety of philosophical and theoretical texts, literature, artworks and architecture from across the globe: 1) theories of modernism, modernity and modernization; 2) the role played cities as increasingly dominant cultural centers, hegemonic forces and subject matter of modernist literature and the arts; 3) the increasing expansion of industry, colonization and global commerce, with a particular focus on literary responses to the perceived dehumanization brought about by technological advancement, bureaucracy and exploitation of the environment.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Modernism
IS322 Modernism Core course - Global Modernisms (Group C & Group D)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Group C Laura Scuriatti, Group D James Harker
BA3-4/PY Core Course
Modernism is generally thought of as a period characterized in literature and art by radical experimentation, by the invention and re-invention of new forms, and by an aesthetic that privileged the present, the modern, the new. As such, it also reacted to and reflected on the process of modernization and different notions of modernity. Modernism was, in fact, a complex constellation of phenomena that saw close interaction among the arts, literature, politics, philosophy, science and economics, and that questioned the most basic categories of aesthetic, political and philosophical thought. The course will focus on three related topics, which will be investigated in relation to each other through a variety of philosophical and theoretical texts, literature, artworks and architecture from across the globe: 1) theories of modernism, modernity and modernization; 2) the role played cities as increasingly dominant cultural centers, hegemonic forces and subject matter of modernist literature and the arts; 3) the increasing expansion of industry, colonization and global commerce, with a particular focus on literary responses to the perceived dehumanization brought about by technological advancement, bureaucracy and exploitation of the environment.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aya Soika
This course examines art works and buildings in the city of Berlin which have been, in one way or the other, witness to what historian Eric Hobsbawm has described as “The Age of Extremes.” The twentieth century was a uniquely destructive and creative era, characterized by political extremism, two world wars, revolutions, divisions and radical social change. In art and architecture, the tension between avant-gardist experiment, traditionalist reaction and the increasing impact of popular culture and mass media led to an unprecedented variety of artistic production and architectural construction, turning Berlin into a cultural capital that is still defined by its dynamism, aesthetic pluralism and architectural eclecticism. Students will learn about historical developments through iconic works from Berlin’s unique art museums or buildings such as Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, the Berlin Parliament or the rebuilt “City Palace.” The New National Gallery’s exhibition “Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society 1945-2000” sets the tone for this exploration of some of the key debates of modernist theory and its subsequent breakdown since the late 1960s.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
AH227 Witness to the Age of Extremes: Art and Architecture in Berlin
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aya Soika
This course examines art works and buildings in the city of Berlin which have been, in one way or the other, witness to what historian Eric Hobsbawm has described as “The Age of Extremes.” The twentieth century was a uniquely destructive and creative era, characterized by political extremism, two world wars, revolutions, divisions and radical social change. In art and architecture, the tension between avant-gardist experiment, traditionalist reaction and the increasing impact of popular culture and mass media led to an unprecedented variety of artistic production and architectural construction, turning Berlin into a cultural capital that is still defined by its dynamism, aesthetic pluralism and architectural eclecticism. Students will learn about historical developments through iconic works from Berlin’s unique art museums or buildings such as Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, the Berlin Parliament or the rebuilt “City Palace.” The New National Gallery’s exhibition “Extreme Tension. Art between Politics and Society 1945-2000” sets the tone for this exploration of some of the key debates of modernist theory and its subsequent breakdown since the late 1960s.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gregor Quack
The link between the visual arts and armed conflict is as old as the concept of art itself. Art objects have long been used to celebrate past military victories or as symbolic and psychological weapons. Time and again, artists and their works have been targets and victims of wartime devastation. In the history of Western art, new, pompous monuments of victory are as much a part of Western art history as recurring episodes of looting and iconoclasm. This seminar will explore how the centuries-old connection between carnage and creation has been both sustained and transformed since the early days of modernism in the mid-19th century, a period that not only gave birth to the grand ambitions of the "total work of art," but also to the unprecedented destructive power unleashed by "total war. From there, we will discuss if and how changes in artistic thought can be correlated with ever-changing weaponry and imperial geopolitical constellations, from the early days of industrialized armaments to the complex, digital, and highly asymmetrical battlefields of the present. What happened to older forms, such as the monument, in an era when many realized that there was little to celebrate in the victories won in wars that teetered on the brink of nuclear annihilation? Should the preservation of cultural and artistic heritage change its tactics depending on where the threats come from? Is the difference between propaganda and activist art just a matter of perspective? While global in scope, the seminar will anchor our analysis of archives, artworks, and artists in Berlin. Students will also be encouraged and supported to pursue their own research in relation to context with which they are familiar or in which they have a particular interest.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
AH230 Art and War
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gregor Quack
The link between the visual arts and armed conflict is as old as the concept of art itself. Art objects have long been used to celebrate past military victories or as symbolic and psychological weapons. Time and again, artists and their works have been targets and victims of wartime devastation. In the history of Western art, new, pompous monuments of victory are as much a part of Western art history as recurring episodes of looting and iconoclasm. This seminar will explore how the centuries-old connection between carnage and creation has been both sustained and transformed since the early days of modernism in the mid-19th century, a period that not only gave birth to the grand ambitions of the "total work of art," but also to the unprecedented destructive power unleashed by "total war. From there, we will discuss if and how changes in artistic thought can be correlated with ever-changing weaponry and imperial geopolitical constellations, from the early days of industrialized armaments to the complex, digital, and highly asymmetrical battlefields of the present. What happened to older forms, such as the monument, in an era when many realized that there was little to celebrate in the victories won in wars that teetered on the brink of nuclear annihilation? Should the preservation of cultural and artistic heritage change its tactics depending on where the threats come from? Is the difference between propaganda and activist art just a matter of perspective? While global in scope, the seminar will anchor our analysis of archives, artworks, and artists in Berlin. Students will also be encouraged and supported to pursue their own research in relation to context with which they are familiar or in which they have a particular interest.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
The course focuses on the evolution of history painting in Europe over a span of five centuries. We will start by exploring the artistic theory of the 15th century when the term “history” being applied to painting mainly referred to the “narrative” centered around religious and mythological subjects. Then we will trace the rich tradition of this highest form of painting throughout the epochs and discuss the most interesting examples. Finally, we will pay attention to the 19th century when artists became increasingly fascinated by history as a real past with all its temporal and national specificity and diversity. We will see how they reinvented history painting, drawing inspiration from and relying on the works of historians, historical novels, historical documents, and collections of historical artifacts. We will analyze the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Menzel, Degas, Manet, and others. Supplementing our classroom discussions, we will also visit two major Berlin art museums – the Gemäldegalerie and Alte Nationalgalerie (here Menzel’s depictions of scenes from the life of Frederick the Great will be particularly interesting for us).
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
AH240 History of History Painting
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
The course focuses on the evolution of history painting in Europe over a span of five centuries. We will start by exploring the artistic theory of the 15th century when the term “history” being applied to painting mainly referred to the “narrative” centered around religious and mythological subjects. Then we will trace the rich tradition of this highest form of painting throughout the epochs and discuss the most interesting examples. Finally, we will pay attention to the 19th century when artists became increasingly fascinated by history as a real past with all its temporal and national specificity and diversity. We will see how they reinvented history painting, drawing inspiration from and relying on the works of historians, historical novels, historical documents, and collections of historical artifacts. We will analyze the masterpieces of Caravaggio, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Menzel, Degas, Manet, and others. Supplementing our classroom discussions, we will also visit two major Berlin art museums – the Gemäldegalerie and Alte Nationalgalerie (here Menzel’s depictions of scenes from the life of Frederick the Great will be particularly interesting for us).
Economics, Politics
Elective, Philosophy and Society
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This course will examine the trajectory of the museum as a site of memory production from the late 19th century until the present. The museum’s inception as constitutive of the colonial enterprise will be used as a frame to evaluate the cultural, historical, political, and aesthetic factors that have led to the transformation of the museum’s traditional function from archivist and collector of national/cultural heritage to a transnational institution embedded in the global market and global cultural discourses on memories of violence, cultural heritage, trauma and colonial plunder. Each section of the course will look at museum formations and specifically their memorative programing in various settings with a special focus on the relationship to the history of violence and colonialism and its ongoing contemporary ramifications in the Middle East, Europe and North America. Some of the various and interconnected questions that this course will raise include: What happens when the subjects of a museum are alive rather than objects of spectacle relegated to the past? What power dialectic is involved in the life of a museum and (how) does the contemporary museum engage communities’ memories in this power dynamic? Why is the museum's role as facilitator of memory still relevant in light of the instantaneous audiovisual archives that accelerated media technologies of seeing and experiencing art? How do museums continue to be embedded in the global military industrial complex and global financial capital flows, and how does corporate investments in the memory industry become evident?
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
AH325 Memory, Violence and the Postcolonial Museum
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This course will examine the trajectory of the museum as a site of memory production from the late 19th century until the present. The museum’s inception as constitutive of the colonial enterprise will be used as a frame to evaluate the cultural, historical, political, and aesthetic factors that have led to the transformation of the museum’s traditional function from archivist and collector of national/cultural heritage to a transnational institution embedded in the global market and global cultural discourses on memories of violence, cultural heritage, trauma and colonial plunder. Each section of the course will look at museum formations and specifically their memorative programing in various settings with a special focus on the relationship to the history of violence and colonialism and its ongoing contemporary ramifications in the Middle East, Europe and North America. Some of the various and interconnected questions that this course will raise include: What happens when the subjects of a museum are alive rather than objects of spectacle relegated to the past? What power dialectic is involved in the life of a museum and (how) does the contemporary museum engage communities’ memories in this power dynamic? Why is the museum's role as facilitator of memory still relevant in light of the instantaneous audiovisual archives that accelerated media technologies of seeing and experiencing art? How do museums continue to be embedded in the global military industrial complex and global financial capital flows, and how does corporate investments in the memory industry become evident?
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Geoff Lehman
“He was part of my dream, of course—but then I was part of his dream, too!” (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass). Alice’s reflection upon her dream evokes something of the oneiric experience that can be part of one’s encounter with a work of art: the dialogue between the specific universe the artwork invites us to enter—with its own logic, kinds of seeing, and means of expression—and the viewer as subject, bringing her or his own desires and experiences to its interpretation. One important aspect of this encounter could be described, in psychoanalytic terms, as a relationship between the unconscious wishes, drives, and memories of the viewing subject, on the one hand, and the unconscious qualities of the work itself, both in its production and—especially—in its visual character (its “optical unconscious”), on the other. Major topics for the course include: psychoanalytic interpretations of art; the relationship between the oneiric, the imaginative, and the theatrical; contemplation, daydreaming, schizophrenia, nightmares, and other altered states of consciousness in relation to the experience of artworks; the oneiric and visual narrativity; the place of (self-)reflexivity or its absence in immersive art. Artists whose works we study include Wang Ximeng, Mirza Ali, Goya, De Chirico, Dalí, Miller, Varo, Kahlo, Fellini, Tarkovsky, Kentridge, and Kusama. Readings will be from Lewis Carroll, De Quincey, Woolf, Freud, Jung, Carrington, Borges, Bachelard, and others.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
AR315 Through the Looking-Glass: Art and the Oneiric
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Geoff Lehman
“He was part of my dream, of course—but then I was part of his dream, too!” (Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass). Alice’s reflection upon her dream evokes something of the oneiric experience that can be part of one’s encounter with a work of art: the dialogue between the specific universe the artwork invites us to enter—with its own logic, kinds of seeing, and means of expression—and the viewer as subject, bringing her or his own desires and experiences to its interpretation. One important aspect of this encounter could be described, in psychoanalytic terms, as a relationship between the unconscious wishes, drives, and memories of the viewing subject, on the one hand, and the unconscious qualities of the work itself, both in its production and—especially—in its visual character (its “optical unconscious”), on the other. Major topics for the course include: psychoanalytic interpretations of art; the relationship between the oneiric, the imaginative, and the theatrical; contemplation, daydreaming, schizophrenia, nightmares, and other altered states of consciousness in relation to the experience of artworks; the oneiric and visual narrativity; the place of (self-)reflexivity or its absence in immersive art. Artists whose works we study include Wang Ximeng, Mirza Ali, Goya, De Chirico, Dalí, Miller, Varo, Kahlo, Fellini, Tarkovsky, Kentridge, and Kusama. Readings will be from Lewis Carroll, De Quincey, Woolf, Freud, Jung, Carrington, Borges, Bachelard, and others.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Microeconomics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Prerequisite: Mathematics for Economics
Microeconomics is the study of how individual economic units (households and firms) interact to determine outcomes (allocation of goods and services) in a market setting. This course further develops principles and analytical methods introduced by the “Principles of Economics” and the “Mathematics for Economics” courses. The first part of the course deals with the consumer side. We will study the underlying assumptions about consumer preferences and behavior that lead to the creation of individual and market demands. The second part of the course deals with the theory of the firm (i.e., how production and costs create individual and market supply). The third part of the course deals with the market as a whole, combining consumer-based demand with producer-based supply. Here we also study issues related to the efficiency of markets and the workings of welfare economics. Finally, we will learn positive and normative characteristics of alternative market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.
Prerequisites: Principles of Economics and Mathematics for Economics.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Microeconomics
EC210 Microeconomics (Group A)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Prerequisite: Mathematics for Economics
Microeconomics is the study of how individual economic units (households and firms) interact to determine outcomes (allocation of goods and services) in a market setting. This course further develops principles and analytical methods introduced by the “Principles of Economics” and the “Mathematics for Economics” courses. The first part of the course deals with the consumer side. We will study the underlying assumptions about consumer preferences and behavior that lead to the creation of individual and market demands. The second part of the course deals with the theory of the firm (i.e., how production and costs create individual and market supply). The third part of the course deals with the market as a whole, combining consumer-based demand with producer-based supply. Here we also study issues related to the efficiency of markets and the workings of welfare economics. Finally, we will learn positive and normative characteristics of alternative market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.
Prerequisites: Principles of Economics and Mathematics for Economics.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Microeconomics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Prerequisite: Mathematics for Economics
Microeconomics is the study of how individual economic units (households and firms) interact to determine outcomes (allocation of goods and services) in a market setting. This course further develops principles and analytical methods introduced by the “Principles of Economics” and the “Mathematics for Economics” courses. The first part of the course deals with the consumer side. We will study the underlying assumptions about consumer preferences and behavior that lead to the creation of individual and market demands. The second part of the course deals with the theory of the firm (i.e., how production and costs create individual and market supply). The third part of the course deals with the market as a whole, combining consumer-based demand with producer-based supply. Here we also study issues related to the efficiency of markets and the workings of welfare economics. Finally, we will learn positive and normative characteristics of alternative market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.
Prerequisites: Principles of Economics and Mathematics for Economics.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Microeconomics
EC210 Microeconomics (Group B)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Prerequisite: Mathematics for Economics
Microeconomics is the study of how individual economic units (households and firms) interact to determine outcomes (allocation of goods and services) in a market setting. This course further develops principles and analytical methods introduced by the “Principles of Economics” and the “Mathematics for Economics” courses. The first part of the course deals with the consumer side. We will study the underlying assumptions about consumer preferences and behavior that lead to the creation of individual and market demands. The second part of the course deals with the theory of the firm (i.e., how production and costs create individual and market supply). The third part of the course deals with the market as a whole, combining consumer-based demand with producer-based supply. Here we also study issues related to the efficiency of markets and the workings of welfare economics. Finally, we will learn positive and normative characteristics of alternative market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly.
Prerequisites: Principles of Economics and Mathematics for Economics.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Macroeconomics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics
This course familiarizes students with the main models that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The module begins by examining theories that seek to explain long-term economic growth. We then focus our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run business cycles, the periods of recession and boom that occur on a regular basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of governments and central banks in stabilizing the economy. After an analysis of investment and inflation, we connect the building blocks to an integrated macroeconomic consensus model to explain the development of inflation, interest rates and GDP. We apply this theoretical knowledge to a range of current economic issues.
Concentration: Economics
Module: Macroeconomics
EC211 Macroeconomics (Group A)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics
This course familiarizes students with the main models that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The module begins by examining theories that seek to explain long-term economic growth. We then focus our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run business cycles, the periods of recession and boom that occur on a regular basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of governments and central banks in stabilizing the economy. After an analysis of investment and inflation, we connect the building blocks to an integrated macroeconomic consensus model to explain the development of inflation, interest rates and GDP. We apply this theoretical knowledge to a range of current economic issues.
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Macroeconomics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics
This course familiarizes students with the main models that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The module begins by examining theories that seek to explain long-term economic growth. We then focus our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run business cycles, the periods of recession and boom that occur on a regular basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of governments and central banks in stabilizing the economy. After an analysis of investment and inflation, we connect the building blocks to an integrated macroeconomic consensus model to explain the development of inflation, interest rates and GDP. We apply this theoretical knowledge to a range of current economic issues.
Concentration: Economics
Module: Macroeconomics
EC211 Macroeconomics (Group B)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics
This course familiarizes students with the main models that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The module begins by examining theories that seek to explain long-term economic growth. We then focus our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run business cycles, the periods of recession and boom that occur on a regular basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of governments and central banks in stabilizing the economy. After an analysis of investment and inflation, we connect the building blocks to an integrated macroeconomic consensus model to explain the development of inflation, interest rates and GDP. We apply this theoretical knowledge to a range of current economic issues.
Economics
Choice, Resources, and Development, Global Economic Systems
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Choice, Resources, and Development, Global Economic Systems
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Eife
prerequisite: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics
This course addresses fundamentals of network analysis, exploring the intricate relationship between industry networks and economic development. It places a strong emphasis on the art of visualizing networks and fosters an intuitive command of the necessary technical skills. The initial part of the course covers the fundamentals of graphs and network theory. Students will learn how to analyze networks: How to recognize the key players in a network, how to assess the stability of a network and how to identify patterns, clusters, and other valuable information hidden within the network structure. Visualizing networks will take center stage in the course, and the required basics of linear algebra and the programming language Python will be provided. Prior knowledge of linear algebra or Python is not required to take the course. In the second part of the course, we apply our knowledge of network theory to study how industry networks shape countries’ export patterns and influence their economic development prospects. We study how information about industry networks is used to provide policy advice to governments in developing countries. The course closes with an evaluation of the possibilities of industrial policy to influence a country’s industrial structure and to raise people’s well-being.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Choice, Resources, and Development, Global Economic Systems
EC251 Industry Networks and Economic Development
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Eife
prerequisite: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics
This course addresses fundamentals of network analysis, exploring the intricate relationship between industry networks and economic development. It places a strong emphasis on the art of visualizing networks and fosters an intuitive command of the necessary technical skills. The initial part of the course covers the fundamentals of graphs and network theory. Students will learn how to analyze networks: How to recognize the key players in a network, how to assess the stability of a network and how to identify patterns, clusters, and other valuable information hidden within the network structure. Visualizing networks will take center stage in the course, and the required basics of linear algebra and the programming language Python will be provided. Prior knowledge of linear algebra or Python is not required to take the course. In the second part of the course, we apply our knowledge of network theory to study how industry networks shape countries’ export patterns and influence their economic development prospects. We study how information about industry networks is used to provide policy advice to governments in developing countries. The course closes with an evaluation of the possibilities of industrial policy to influence a country’s industrial structure and to raise people’s well-being.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Global Economic Systems
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Wed 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Eife
prerequisites: Macroeconomics, Mathematics for Economics
This explores the economic relationships between countries, covering both trade and monetary issues. We will review key concepts and theories and apply them to relevant real-world examples. Examples such as Brexit, the impact of Covid on international trade flows, the German unification, the war in Ukraine, the global financial crisis 2007-2009, and the Napoleonic wars early in the 19th century will serve as a basis to critically evaluate countries’ macroeconomic landscapes and to evaluate policy options available to governments around the world. In the first part of this course, we will look at why countries trade and how trade affects people’s welfare. We cover topics such as the Dutch disease, the gravity equation, Ricardian trade, Heckscher-Ohlin trade and trade due to increasing returns. We then look at the instruments of trade policy such as tariffs, subsidies and voluntary export restraints, and discuss the pros and cons of trade regulations. Part 1 closes with a discussion of the arguments for and against free trade. In the second part, we learn the key concepts of the balance of payments and national accounting. We then ask “What is money?” and discuss interest rates, exchange rates and optimum currency areas. We cover in-depth the main theories before turning to monetary policy where we discuss how central banks fix exchange rates in practice, how currency attacks may be avoided, and why currency reserves are important. After a historical overview of the international monetary system, we study significant historical events such as the collapse of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, and the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Global Economic Systems
EC314 International Economics
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Wed 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Eife
prerequisites: Macroeconomics, Mathematics for Economics
This explores the economic relationships between countries, covering both trade and monetary issues. We will review key concepts and theories and apply them to relevant real-world examples. Examples such as Brexit, the impact of Covid on international trade flows, the German unification, the war in Ukraine, the global financial crisis 2007-2009, and the Napoleonic wars early in the 19th century will serve as a basis to critically evaluate countries’ macroeconomic landscapes and to evaluate policy options available to governments around the world. In the first part of this course, we will look at why countries trade and how trade affects people’s welfare. We cover topics such as the Dutch disease, the gravity equation, Ricardian trade, Heckscher-Ohlin trade and trade due to increasing returns. We then look at the instruments of trade policy such as tariffs, subsidies and voluntary export restraints, and discuss the pros and cons of trade regulations. Part 1 closes with a discussion of the arguments for and against free trade. In the second part, we learn the key concepts of the balance of payments and national accounting. We then ask “What is money?” and discuss interest rates, exchange rates and optimum currency areas. We cover in-depth the main theories before turning to monetary policy where we discuss how central banks fix exchange rates in practice, how currency attacks may be avoided, and why currency reserves are important. After a historical overview of the international monetary system, we study significant historical events such as the collapse of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, and the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Syllabus
Economics
Ethics and Economic Analysis
Spring 2024
Mon & Fri 15:45-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Ethics and Economic Analysis
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
prerequisite: Microeconomics
This course offers an introduction to the theoretical, methodological and ethical foundation of economics. The first part examines the foundations of rational-choice theory. We assess its underlying axioms and principles from a normative and a descriptive perspective. We examine the interpretation of economic models and the metaphysical underpinnings of economics. The second part focuses on methods employed by economists in testing theories and establishing facts, laws and causal relations. We examine how and under which conditions theses methods work, and what kind of question they can answer. In the third part we examine the ethical foundations of welfare economics. Topics will include the moral limits of markets, theories of well-being, inequality and distributive justice, and the evaluation of economic outcomes and policies.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Ethics and Economic Analysis
EC318 Philosophy of Economics
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
prerequisite: Microeconomics
This course offers an introduction to the theoretical, methodological and ethical foundation of economics. The first part examines the foundations of rational-choice theory. We assess its underlying axioms and principles from a normative and a descriptive perspective. We examine the interpretation of economic models and the metaphysical underpinnings of economics. The second part focuses on methods employed by economists in testing theories and establishing facts, laws and causal relations. We examine how and under which conditions theses methods work, and what kind of question they can answer. In the third part we examine the ethical foundations of welfare economics. Topics will include the moral limits of markets, theories of well-being, inequality and distributive justice, and the evaluation of economic outcomes and policies.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Thu 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Thu 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): John Kleckner
This studio art course explores contemporary and historical approaches to drawing and collage. Suitable for all levels of artistic ability, the goal is to enhance aesthetic comprehension and personal expression through the creation of mixed-media drawings and collages. We begin by transcribing embodied experience into visual compositions, attending to our perceptual awareness to strengthen the coordination of mind, eyes, and hands. Course activities will ask students to: make analytical drawings of figure / object arrangements, develop conceptual methods of composing, make abstractions from nature by working outdoors, gather materials from Berlin's famous Flohmärkte (flea markets) to use in collages and assemblages, work collaboratively on large-scale drawings, and experiment with innovative combinations of text and imagery. A core theme will be exploring the potential to generate new and surprising content from the juxtaposition of found printed fragments and hand-drawn lines. Of special interest for our class discussions will be works created by current and historical Berliners, such as Dada artist Hannah Höch. The majority of classes are studio work sessions. There will also be several group critiques, slideshow presentations, and artist studio / gallery visits. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios” exhibition at the BCB Factory and a printed publication of student artworks. Students are expected to be self-motivated, open to exploring new ways of working, and comfortable sharing their artworks during class discussions.
Studio work is the priority, this course will require a significant amount of time working outside of class sessions. Prospective students should email their questions to the professor directly at: [email protected]
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA103 Found Fragments and Layered Lines: mixed-media techniques for drawing and collage
Spring 2024Day/Time: Thu 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): John Kleckner
This studio art course explores contemporary and historical approaches to drawing and collage. Suitable for all levels of artistic ability, the goal is to enhance aesthetic comprehension and personal expression through the creation of mixed-media drawings and collages. We begin by transcribing embodied experience into visual compositions, attending to our perceptual awareness to strengthen the coordination of mind, eyes, and hands. Course activities will ask students to: make analytical drawings of figure / object arrangements, develop conceptual methods of composing, make abstractions from nature by working outdoors, gather materials from Berlin's famous Flohmärkte (flea markets) to use in collages and assemblages, work collaboratively on large-scale drawings, and experiment with innovative combinations of text and imagery. A core theme will be exploring the potential to generate new and surprising content from the juxtaposition of found printed fragments and hand-drawn lines. Of special interest for our class discussions will be works created by current and historical Berliners, such as Dada artist Hannah Höch. The majority of classes are studio work sessions. There will also be several group critiques, slideshow presentations, and artist studio / gallery visits. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios” exhibition at the BCB Factory and a printed publication of student artworks. Students are expected to be self-motivated, open to exploring new ways of working, and comfortable sharing their artworks during class discussions.
Studio work is the priority, this course will require a significant amount of time working outside of class sessions. Prospective students should email their questions to the professor directly at: [email protected]
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): April Gertler
The Slow Photo is an introduction to black and white photography. The class will focus on learning how to use a manual camera and finding one’s way in an analogue darkroom. Students will be exposed to the rich photographic history of Berlin through presentations, discussions and historical walks. The historical component of the class will cover works by Berlin-based photographers from Helga Paris to Michael Schmidt. Assignments throughout the semester will mirror various photo styles used in the examples discussed, from portraiture to street photography. Camera techniques and black and white printing will be the fundamental basis of the class. Students will leave the class understanding the time commitment and concentration it takes to produce beautiful black and white analog images.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA106 Beginners Black and White Photography Class: The Slow Photo
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): April Gertler
The Slow Photo is an introduction to black and white photography. The class will focus on learning how to use a manual camera and finding one’s way in an analogue darkroom. Students will be exposed to the rich photographic history of Berlin through presentations, discussions and historical walks. The historical component of the class will cover works by Berlin-based photographers from Helga Paris to Michael Schmidt. Assignments throughout the semester will mirror various photo styles used in the examples discussed, from portraiture to street photography. Camera techniques and black and white printing will be the fundamental basis of the class. Students will leave the class understanding the time commitment and concentration it takes to produce beautiful black and white analog images.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Carla Åhlander
This course is an introduction to digital photography with a focus on artistic expression. The course is aimed at those who want to learn digital photography at a basic level and develop their photographic work into a project. The course includes in-class critiques and discussions on the choice of method, technique and subject matter, as well as possible forms of presentation. Parts of the course will consist of looking at works by contemporary and historical photographers, as well as introductions to the technical and theoretical tools you will need to work on your project. We will ask questions such as: “what is my own way of seeing something?”; “what is my own point of view?"
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA108 Beginners in Digital Photography - Your own point of view
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Carla Åhlander
This course is an introduction to digital photography with a focus on artistic expression. The course is aimed at those who want to learn digital photography at a basic level and develop their photographic work into a project. The course includes in-class critiques and discussions on the choice of method, technique and subject matter, as well as possible forms of presentation. Parts of the course will consist of looking at works by contemporary and historical photographers, as well as introductions to the technical and theoretical tools you will need to work on your project. We will ask questions such as: “what is my own way of seeing something?”; “what is my own point of view?"
Syllabus
Programs: BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 10:00-13:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Eddy Steinhauer
Taught by international Berlin-based artist and curator Eddy Steinhauer, this course introduces a studio experience in sculpture with an emphasis on materials and methods. Eddy Steinhauer’s 3-dimensional artistic practice is guided by formal, material and contextual concerns and influenced by (natural) history, theories of evolution and identity, and processes of community building. Students in the course will be exposed to diverse media and a range of techniques. We will explore ideas circulating in contemporary culture, and use them as inspiration for making objects or installations that speak to the critical issues facing our society. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of a variety of materials—
including clay, plaster, wood, and acrylics—and acquire a fundamental knowledge of the principles of sculpture: addition, subtraction, substitution, and multiplicity. Moreover, students will develop essential skills in using basic hand and power tools, along with the approaches needed for realizing their artistic aims. Class lectures, presentations, discussions, and critiques will offer insights into central developments in the medium of sculpture, while selected readings will complement the projects and studio sessions. The objective of the class is to guide students in creating a cohesive portfolio while refining the skills required to present their results professionally to the public.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA110 Beginning Sculpture
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 10:00-13:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Eddy Steinhauer
Taught by international Berlin-based artist and curator Eddy Steinhauer, this course introduces a studio experience in sculpture with an emphasis on materials and methods. Eddy Steinhauer’s 3-dimensional artistic practice is guided by formal, material and contextual concerns and influenced by (natural) history, theories of evolution and identity, and processes of community building. Students in the course will be exposed to diverse media and a range of techniques. We will explore ideas circulating in contemporary culture, and use them as inspiration for making objects or installations that speak to the critical issues facing our society. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of a variety of materials—
including clay, plaster, wood, and acrylics—and acquire a fundamental knowledge of the principles of sculpture: addition, subtraction, substitution, and multiplicity. Moreover, students will develop essential skills in using basic hand and power tools, along with the approaches needed for realizing their artistic aims. Class lectures, presentations, discussions, and critiques will offer insights into central developments in the medium of sculpture, while selected readings will complement the projects and studio sessions. The objective of the class is to guide students in creating a cohesive portfolio while refining the skills required to present their results professionally to the public.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Janina Schabig
This beginners’ introduction course teaches the technical foundations of video making. You will be introduced to different kinds of cameras, learn all about your camera and how to use its manual settings, work with natural and studio lighting, record and design your own sound and learn how to edit in Adobe Premiere. We will look at feature films, documentaries, and experimental video art and vlogging to examine a range of different creative shooting styles, and will use these sources for inspiration in hands-on workshops and small assignments throughout the semester. We will work on individual as well as group projects and will create a body of work ranging from short sound pieces to full videos. The goal of this course is to give you an understanding of the various creative choices within the art of making a video and the technical knowledge to help realize your visions.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA188 The Art of Making Videos
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Janina Schabig
This beginners’ introduction course teaches the technical foundations of video making. You will be introduced to different kinds of cameras, learn all about your camera and how to use its manual settings, work with natural and studio lighting, record and design your own sound and learn how to edit in Adobe Premiere. We will look at feature films, documentaries, and experimental video art and vlogging to examine a range of different creative shooting styles, and will use these sources for inspiration in hands-on workshops and small assignments throughout the semester. We will work on individual as well as group projects and will create a body of work ranging from short sound pieces to full videos. The goal of this course is to give you an understanding of the various creative choices within the art of making a video and the technical knowledge to help realize your visions.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 09:30-12:30 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Surya Gied
This studio arts painting course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of painting, emphasizing materials and process-oriented learning. Painting provides a direct means of “seeing” by engaging all the senses of the individual artist in the activity of making images. Expression and discovery through a studio course serve to heighten visual awareness, or the capacity to observe and understand space. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with various painting materials and techniques, including acrylic, watercolor, and gouache, among others. This class will provide in-depth painting instructions and cover topics such as color theory, composition, brushwork, etc. Alongside this hands-on approach, the course incorporates a range of references to art history, exploring the works of various artists, including their reception, background and historical context. These insights will open a space in which a deeper understanding of the art form is acquired, allowing students to incorporate this into their work. The concrete framework for this course includes individual and group discussions, practical exercises in the form of short workshops, and exhibition discussions linked to excursions.
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA215 Painting and Beyond
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 09:30-12:30 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Surya Gied
This studio arts painting course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of painting, emphasizing materials and process-oriented learning. Painting provides a direct means of “seeing” by engaging all the senses of the individual artist in the activity of making images. Expression and discovery through a studio course serve to heighten visual awareness, or the capacity to observe and understand space. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with various painting materials and techniques, including acrylic, watercolor, and gouache, among others. This class will provide in-depth painting instructions and cover topics such as color theory, composition, brushwork, etc. Alongside this hands-on approach, the course incorporates a range of references to art history, exploring the works of various artists, including their reception, background and historical context. These insights will open a space in which a deeper understanding of the art form is acquired, allowing students to incorporate this into their work. The concrete framework for this course includes individual and group discussions, practical exercises in the form of short workshops, and exhibition discussions linked to excursions.
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Magdalena Emmerig
In this practicing arts seminar, students will learn about various forms of spatial design. The idea is to create immersive spaces. In the context of theater, immersion describes an experience in which the division between stage and audience is non-existent and the visitor becomes part of the play. It can also describe a spatial experience in which the visitor encounters a closed, artificial world. The course aims to convey an artistic exploration of architecture and an introduction to spatial design. What narratives does a space contain and how can the experience of the space be designed? In the seminar we will explore different artistic approaches. We will look at architectural works by visual artist Gregor Schneider, stage designs by Anna Viebrock and the artist duo Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller. We will visit theatre performances and exhibitions to encounter and reflect on spatial experiences. During the semester, students will collect visual material from which mood boards will be developed. They will learn to elaborate a conceptual approach for their own spatial setting and explore different modes of visualization, from drawing/painting to model building. In the second half of the semester, the focus will be on working with the model to create different kinds of atmosphere, for example through spatial changes and lighting design. In addition, we will do a workshop on theater lighting to become familiar with varieties of lighting materials. At the end of the semester, each student presents their own spatial design.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA250 Immersive Spatial Experiences
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Magdalena Emmerig
In this practicing arts seminar, students will learn about various forms of spatial design. The idea is to create immersive spaces. In the context of theater, immersion describes an experience in which the division between stage and audience is non-existent and the visitor becomes part of the play. It can also describe a spatial experience in which the visitor encounters a closed, artificial world. The course aims to convey an artistic exploration of architecture and an introduction to spatial design. What narratives does a space contain and how can the experience of the space be designed? In the seminar we will explore different artistic approaches. We will look at architectural works by visual artist Gregor Schneider, stage designs by Anna Viebrock and the artist duo Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller. We will visit theatre performances and exhibitions to encounter and reflect on spatial experiences. During the semester, students will collect visual material from which mood boards will be developed. They will learn to elaborate a conceptual approach for their own spatial setting and explore different modes of visualization, from drawing/painting to model building. In the second half of the semester, the focus will be on working with the model to create different kinds of atmosphere, for example through spatial changes and lighting design. In addition, we will do a workshop on theater lighting to become familiar with varieties of lighting materials. At the end of the semester, each student presents their own spatial design.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Jeremy Woodruff
This course provides a theoretical basis in sound studies as a jumping-off point for empirical and artistic research in sound. The course culminates in the development of sound works, theoretical writing and presentations. Sound studies has been called the anthropology of sound – we will consider the significance of sound in history, film, music, media, science and technology, cultural studies, psychology, politics and sociology, disability studies, gender studies, post-colonial studies and more; how have developments in all these fields affected contemporary modes of listening? We will explore concepts behind sound sculptures, sound installations, sound art for the white cube, for public space or in performances and socially engaged art, to discuss the implications of embodied listening both for individuals and for the public. On the applied level, the sonic worlds of objects and their resonant qualities will be experienced using contact microphones and transducers, through the inaudible worlds of electromagnetic waves, or through the propagation of sound through water and other mediums. From field recordings we will extend beyond the concept of soundscape and the aural environment to generate abstract sound textures and sonic fictions; investigating noise, low-fi, feedback and resonance, while learning methods how to work with “errors,” probability, and other intuitive approaches. This course is designed to introduce you to dealing at once both discursively and practically with sound to integrate theorization, new skills and knowledge into artistic practices through readings and hands-on experimentation.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA289 Practice-Based Sound Studies
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Jeremy Woodruff
This course provides a theoretical basis in sound studies as a jumping-off point for empirical and artistic research in sound. The course culminates in the development of sound works, theoretical writing and presentations. Sound studies has been called the anthropology of sound – we will consider the significance of sound in history, film, music, media, science and technology, cultural studies, psychology, politics and sociology, disability studies, gender studies, post-colonial studies and more; how have developments in all these fields affected contemporary modes of listening? We will explore concepts behind sound sculptures, sound installations, sound art for the white cube, for public space or in performances and socially engaged art, to discuss the implications of embodied listening both for individuals and for the public. On the applied level, the sonic worlds of objects and their resonant qualities will be experienced using contact microphones and transducers, through the inaudible worlds of electromagnetic waves, or through the propagation of sound through water and other mediums. From field recordings we will extend beyond the concept of soundscape and the aural environment to generate abstract sound textures and sonic fictions; investigating noise, low-fi, feedback and resonance, while learning methods how to work with “errors,” probability, and other intuitive approaches. This course is designed to introduce you to dealing at once both discursively and practically with sound to integrate theorization, new skills and knowledge into artistic practices through readings and hands-on experimentation.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sophie Lee
Daily life unfolds via the glow of the screen. As the auto-fictive turn merges with the ascendance of an attention economy, we are all tasked with narrating our lives in real-time. Experience becomes content; subjectivity, our cultural and social capital. What impact does this have on artists’ moving image practices? What new vernaculars emerge from the primacy of the screen, and how do new forms of distribution shape different encounters with video? In this course we will consider how video’s proliferation in everyday life imbues the medium with a particular urgency, and seek accordingly to find euphoric new ways of making. We will consider the use of autobiography and performance in the moving image, looking here to the legacies of queer and feminist filmmaking practices. This is a hands-on, participatory course with weekly filmmaking assignments. Individual inquiry will be paired with radical modes of collaboration, allowing us to challenge traditional notions of authorship. We will look at contemporary artists working with the moving image and contextualize these works within existing legacies of experimental filmmaking. We will also draw on a wide range of other sources including cultural theory, poetry, music videos and Hollywood cinema in our bid to give form to what it feels like to live now. The focus of this course will not be on technical instruction, but rather on providing students with the conceptual and aesthetic tools with which to develop their own artistic language, and to bring their own works from idea to realization.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA290 Touch Screen: Contemporary Moving Image Practices
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sophie Lee
Daily life unfolds via the glow of the screen. As the auto-fictive turn merges with the ascendance of an attention economy, we are all tasked with narrating our lives in real-time. Experience becomes content; subjectivity, our cultural and social capital. What impact does this have on artists’ moving image practices? What new vernaculars emerge from the primacy of the screen, and how do new forms of distribution shape different encounters with video? In this course we will consider how video’s proliferation in everyday life imbues the medium with a particular urgency, and seek accordingly to find euphoric new ways of making. We will consider the use of autobiography and performance in the moving image, looking here to the legacies of queer and feminist filmmaking practices. This is a hands-on, participatory course with weekly filmmaking assignments. Individual inquiry will be paired with radical modes of collaboration, allowing us to challenge traditional notions of authorship. We will look at contemporary artists working with the moving image and contextualize these works within existing legacies of experimental filmmaking. We will also draw on a wide range of other sources including cultural theory, poetry, music videos and Hollywood cinema in our bid to give form to what it feels like to live now. The focus of this course will not be on technical instruction, but rather on providing students with the conceptual and aesthetic tools with which to develop their own artistic language, and to bring their own works from idea to realization.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Carla Åhlander
This course combines photo analysis and practical photo work. This is a critique-based class in which we develop our awareness of what a narrative is, and how the meaning of a photograph is created. In addition to producing their own photo series, participants will become skilled in looking at, reading and talking about photographs. We will deal with issues such as subjectivity and objectivity, private and public, as well as technical issues like light situations. The workshop will include collaborations between students. Together we will explore a variety of aesthetic, practical and conceptual issues, asking questions like "What is my attitude to the topic?" or "Where does this narrative begin or end?". In class there will be photographic assignments which are to be presented during the same class – for this, everyone needs to bring their own digital camera (even a phone camera will suffice). Students will also be given assignments to be executed from one week to the next and presented in class. Each student will focus on and develop one larger project from around
the middle of the semester until the end. They will also produce a written text that explores the process and concepts behind the work. The end of the semester will be marked with either a group show, "Open Studios", or another type of public presentation.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA308 Advanced Photography: Finding the Stories
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Carla Åhlander
This course combines photo analysis and practical photo work. This is a critique-based class in which we develop our awareness of what a narrative is, and how the meaning of a photograph is created. In addition to producing their own photo series, participants will become skilled in looking at, reading and talking about photographs. We will deal with issues such as subjectivity and objectivity, private and public, as well as technical issues like light situations. The workshop will include collaborations between students. Together we will explore a variety of aesthetic, practical and conceptual issues, asking questions like "What is my attitude to the topic?" or "Where does this narrative begin or end?". In class there will be photographic assignments which are to be presented during the same class – for this, everyone needs to bring their own digital camera (even a phone camera will suffice). Students will also be given assignments to be executed from one week to the next and presented in class. Each student will focus on and develop one larger project from around
the middle of the semester until the end. They will also produce a written text that explores the process and concepts behind the work. The end of the semester will be marked with either a group show, "Open Studios", or another type of public presentation.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): John Kleckner
This advanced studio course is designed to cultivate technical and conceptual abilities within the field of contemporary painting. A central focus of this course will be ideas, issues, and techniques relating to realism, illusionism, and mimetic representation in paint. We take our starting point from Donald Judd’s observation that “actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface” to investigate possibilities and problems of “realistic” representation. Students will develop and pursue individual creative projects while reflecting on the power and politics of the gaze / vantage point / perspectival space, while considering mimesis as metaphor, scrutinizing surface textures, and experiencing the differences between using photographic references, direct observation, and visual memory / imagination. Artworks will primarily be made with oil and acrylic paints, but experimentation with other materials is encouraged and supported. Weekly sessions will include slideshow presentations, readings, and discussions, yet the majority of our time will be spent painting.
Class size is limited to ensure each student has adequate studio space and additional time with the instructor for individual feedback and support. Evaluations and critiques will occur at midterm and at the end of term. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios'' exhibition at the BCB Factory and the “ArtSeen'' zine of student artworks.
Studio work is the priority; this course will require a significant amount of time working outside of class sessions. Previous experience with painting required. Prospective students should email inquiries to the instructor directly at: [email protected]
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA317 Advanced Painting: Illusionistic Surfaces
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): John Kleckner
This advanced studio course is designed to cultivate technical and conceptual abilities within the field of contemporary painting. A central focus of this course will be ideas, issues, and techniques relating to realism, illusionism, and mimetic representation in paint. We take our starting point from Donald Judd’s observation that “actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface” to investigate possibilities and problems of “realistic” representation. Students will develop and pursue individual creative projects while reflecting on the power and politics of the gaze / vantage point / perspectival space, while considering mimesis as metaphor, scrutinizing surface textures, and experiencing the differences between using photographic references, direct observation, and visual memory / imagination. Artworks will primarily be made with oil and acrylic paints, but experimentation with other materials is encouraged and supported. Weekly sessions will include slideshow presentations, readings, and discussions, yet the majority of our time will be spent painting.
Class size is limited to ensure each student has adequate studio space and additional time with the instructor for individual feedback and support. Evaluations and critiques will occur at midterm and at the end of term. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios'' exhibition at the BCB Factory and the “ArtSeen'' zine of student artworks.
Studio work is the priority; this course will require a significant amount of time working outside of class sessions. Previous experience with painting required. Prospective students should email inquiries to the instructor directly at: [email protected]
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Tue 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Katy Kirnbach
This advanced painting course is taught by Berlin-based painter Katy Kirbach, whose paintings use color to open up conversations with 20th- century art and design. Accordingly, the seminar is designed to deepen our visual, material, and cultural understanding of color. It will begin with the Interaction of Color, Josef Albers’ 1963 book which introduced an experimental approach to the study of color, prioritizing practice before theory. This approach to color has taught generations of artists, designers, and architects, and will encourage slow looking, questioning what we see, and why. Through exercises with Color-Aid paper and then paint, color will be shown to be highly malleable, changing relative to its surroundings. Concurrent with studio exercises, we will build our understanding of color through readings and slideshows, learning how a range of contemporary artists think about and use color in their practices. In the second half of the semester we will take this new level of color literacy into independent studio work, focusing on the development of an individual understanding of color in practice. We will consider the social, political, and perceptual implications of color as both subject and object. Students are expected to have prior painting experience, a willingness to experiment, and be highly motivated to make and discuss art. Evaluations and critiques occur at midterm and at the end of the term. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios” exhibition. This course requires a significant investment of time outside of class sessions.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA318 Advanced Painting: Color in Practice
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue 09:30-12:45 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Katy Kirnbach
This advanced painting course is taught by Berlin-based painter Katy Kirbach, whose paintings use color to open up conversations with 20th- century art and design. Accordingly, the seminar is designed to deepen our visual, material, and cultural understanding of color. It will begin with the Interaction of Color, Josef Albers’ 1963 book which introduced an experimental approach to the study of color, prioritizing practice before theory. This approach to color has taught generations of artists, designers, and architects, and will encourage slow looking, questioning what we see, and why. Through exercises with Color-Aid paper and then paint, color will be shown to be highly malleable, changing relative to its surroundings. Concurrent with studio exercises, we will build our understanding of color through readings and slideshows, learning how a range of contemporary artists think about and use color in their practices. In the second half of the semester we will take this new level of color literacy into independent studio work, focusing on the development of an individual understanding of color in practice. We will consider the social, political, and perceptual implications of color as both subject and object. Students are expected to have prior painting experience, a willingness to experiment, and be highly motivated to make and discuss art. Evaluations and critiques occur at midterm and at the end of the term. The semester culminates in the “Open Studios” exhibition. This course requires a significant investment of time outside of class sessions.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): April Gertler
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA325 The Photo Zine: A Subversive Phenomenon
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): April Gertler
The concept of a “Zine” (pronounced ‘zeen') refers to small-circulation (typically an edition of 100 or less), self-published works of original or appropriated images and texts, often reproduced using a copy machine / printer / duplicator. Zines, or ‘fanzines' can be traced back to the 1940s. They emerged from science fiction literature initially, created by fans who generated small self-published magazines about the stories they loved. Zines famously played a significant role in the punk movement of the 1970s and continue to be found in many subcultures. They often embrace a "do-it-yourself" ethos, challenging established norms of professional design and publishing. Zines offer an alternative, confident, and self-aware mode of expression. Photography is an essential component of most Zines. The Zine funcitons as a space for visual story telling, but can also be used to create a preview of an ongoing photographic project. Historically, the kind of photography used in Zines is highly diverse, ranging from personal photographs made specifically for the Zine, to found images from any source. This class will work with printers, copy machines and a RISO duplicator to create Photo Zines and explore the joys of the limited edition Photo Zine and how it can become an important mode of self expression. We will work with image and text, using found images and also found text to creating photographs and text specific to the formats we will explore. The class will visit Schikkimikki - a Zine library that has Zines from all over the world in their collection. At the end of this class, each student will leave the class with a small library consisting of their own Photo Zines and those made by the other students in the class.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 10:00-13:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Avi Feldman
Taught by curator and writer Avi Feldman, who runs a gallery in Wannsee, this course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of a district with particular historical interest in Berlin. Wannsee is a place of radical contradictions. Surrounded by forests, parks and castles, it has since the 19th century attracted both affluent industrialist and artists. Long known as a popular destination for summer excursions and water sports, its name is at the same time forever darkened by association with the Wannsee Konferenz of 1942, when the Holocaust was planned by the officials of the Nazi regime. Following World War II, Wannsee’s strategic location between Berlin and Potsdam (the capital city of Brandenburg), made it a border zone between West and East Berlin. Against this backdrop, the course will explore Wannsee’s political, social and environmental landscapes, past and present. Students address theoretical and archival materials, to reflect on cultural and artistic movements from the early twentieth century, such as Lebensreform (‘life-reform’) and Ausdruckstanz (‘Expressionist dance’). As well as examining the contemporary relevance of these movements, the course explores recent video, performance and installation works made in and about Wannsee by Berlin-based Israeli visual artist Yael Bartana in consultation with Shelley Harten, curator of the Jewish museum Berlin. These works and conversations offer an opportunity to consider recent research on trauma and performance art that raises themes of salvation and the desire for change. Field research will include meeting local residents engaged in political and artistic practices, visits to Wannsee’s inter-religious cemetery; to Glienicker Brücke (the "Bridge of Spies"); the Strandbad Wannsee (an open-air lido, and now also protected historical monument, where choreographer Rudolf von Laban worked); and Schwanenwerder, once the home of renowned Jewish art collectors and public figures displaced by Nazi figures such as Albert Speer (Hitler’s architect) and Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Propaganda Minister).
About a third of the sessions will take place on weekends at the Wannsee Contemporary Gallery (in Wannsee).
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA351 Wannsee: Laboratory for the Future
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 10:00-13:15
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Avi Feldman
Taught by curator and writer Avi Feldman, who runs a gallery in Wannsee, this course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of a district with particular historical interest in Berlin. Wannsee is a place of radical contradictions. Surrounded by forests, parks and castles, it has since the 19th century attracted both affluent industrialist and artists. Long known as a popular destination for summer excursions and water sports, its name is at the same time forever darkened by association with the Wannsee Konferenz of 1942, when the Holocaust was planned by the officials of the Nazi regime. Following World War II, Wannsee’s strategic location between Berlin and Potsdam (the capital city of Brandenburg), made it a border zone between West and East Berlin. Against this backdrop, the course will explore Wannsee’s political, social and environmental landscapes, past and present. Students address theoretical and archival materials, to reflect on cultural and artistic movements from the early twentieth century, such as Lebensreform (‘life-reform’) and Ausdruckstanz (‘Expressionist dance’). As well as examining the contemporary relevance of these movements, the course explores recent video, performance and installation works made in and about Wannsee by Berlin-based Israeli visual artist Yael Bartana in consultation with Shelley Harten, curator of the Jewish museum Berlin. These works and conversations offer an opportunity to consider recent research on trauma and performance art that raises themes of salvation and the desire for change. Field research will include meeting local residents engaged in political and artistic practices, visits to Wannsee’s inter-religious cemetery; to Glienicker Brücke (the "Bridge of Spies"); the Strandbad Wannsee (an open-air lido, and now also protected historical monument, where choreographer Rudolf von Laban worked); and Schwanenwerder, once the home of renowned Jewish art collectors and public figures displaced by Nazi figures such as Albert Speer (Hitler’s architect) and Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Propaganda Minister).
About a third of the sessions will take place on weekends at the Wannsee Contemporary Gallery (in Wannsee).
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Dorothea von Hantelmann
The 20th century was not yet out of its teens. What was anyone to make of the porcelain urinal Marcel Duchamp submitted to a New York art exhibition? Fountain, with its signature R Mutt and the date 1917, was photographed and remembered. It became art, and so changed art forever. Every once in a while, artworks change how we define and talk about art. Through six guiding themes – “Material Culture”, “Participation,” the “Collapse of ‘high’ and ‘low’”, “Gender,” “Postcolonialism” and “Anthropocene” – we will discuss artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries that have set new standards within these discourses. Among the artists addressed will be Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Lygia Clark, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ana Mendieta, Robert Smithson, Pierre Huyghe and Arthur Jafa. We want to understand how artworks can represent and simultaneously influence the cultural Zeitgeist and discourse of their time. We also want to comprehend how the iconic status of an artwork can change over time: is Duchamp still, or has he again become, contemporary? Can we look at Duchamp differently when we see him through the lens of Jeff Koons? Or Andy Warhol? What characterizes an “iconic artwork” of today? Our discussions in class will be enriched by readings (authors will include Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, Edouard Glissant and Bruno Latour) and accompanied by field trips to museums and exhibitions in the city of Berlin. Some of these field trips may take place on Saturdays, and changes to the course schedule will be made accordingly.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FA366 Game changers in 20th and 21st century Art
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Dorothea von Hantelmann
The 20th century was not yet out of its teens. What was anyone to make of the porcelain urinal Marcel Duchamp submitted to a New York art exhibition? Fountain, with its signature R Mutt and the date 1917, was photographed and remembered. It became art, and so changed art forever. Every once in a while, artworks change how we define and talk about art. Through six guiding themes – “Material Culture”, “Participation,” the “Collapse of ‘high’ and ‘low’”, “Gender,” “Postcolonialism” and “Anthropocene” – we will discuss artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries that have set new standards within these discourses. Among the artists addressed will be Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Lygia Clark, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ana Mendieta, Robert Smithson, Pierre Huyghe and Arthur Jafa. We want to understand how artworks can represent and simultaneously influence the cultural Zeitgeist and discourse of their time. We also want to comprehend how the iconic status of an artwork can change over time: is Duchamp still, or has he again become, contemporary? Can we look at Duchamp differently when we see him through the lens of Jeff Koons? Or Andy Warhol? What characterizes an “iconic artwork” of today? Our discussions in class will be enriched by readings (authors will include Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, Edouard Glissant and Bruno Latour) and accompanied by field trips to museums and exhibitions in the city of Berlin. Some of these field trips may take place on Saturdays, and changes to the course schedule will be made accordingly.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Fri 15:45-19:45
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri 15:45-19:45
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Kerstin Honeit
Within discourses around the art of the moving image, the (dis/embodied) film voice is often overlooked even though it decisively shapes perceptions of what is being seen. Since its beginnings, sound cinema’s politics of representation were as much an acoustic matter as a visual one. Right up to the present day, film dubbing and voice-overs helped to reinforce stereotypes on screen by minoritizing, replacing and silencing. Yet, at the same time, as queer subcultures and practices of experimental film making demonstrate, the disembodied voice can become a tool for undoing and critiquing the hegemonic gaze. In this class of moving image production, we will analyze historical and contemporary mainstream movies, experimental films and social media practices to delve into the politics of the dis/embodied film voice. Then, collectively, with an awareness of intersectionality, we will develop strategies of working with the voice as a tool for critical artistic practice via playful performative research (recording / filming sessions, movie karaoke), accompanied by reading and discussing relevant texts. Translating this knowledge of the dis/embodied voice and its relationship(s) to the moving image, students will work in teams and collaborate in the production of their final filmic project.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FM335 “Seeing Voices and Queering Film”: dis/embodied voicing and the moving image
Spring 2024Day/Time: Fri 15:45-19:45
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Kerstin Honeit
Within discourses around the art of the moving image, the (dis/embodied) film voice is often overlooked even though it decisively shapes perceptions of what is being seen. Since its beginnings, sound cinema’s politics of representation were as much an acoustic matter as a visual one. Right up to the present day, film dubbing and voice-overs helped to reinforce stereotypes on screen by minoritizing, replacing and silencing. Yet, at the same time, as queer subcultures and practices of experimental film making demonstrate, the disembodied voice can become a tool for undoing and critiquing the hegemonic gaze. In this class of moving image production, we will analyze historical and contemporary mainstream movies, experimental films and social media practices to delve into the politics of the dis/embodied film voice. Then, collectively, with an awareness of intersectionality, we will develop strategies of working with the voice as a tool for critical artistic practice via playful performative research (recording / filming sessions, movie karaoke), accompanied by reading and discussing relevant texts. Translating this knowledge of the dis/embodied voice and its relationship(s) to the moving image, students will work in teams and collaborate in the production of their final filmic project.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Wed 15:45-19:00 & Tue 19:30-22:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00 & Tue 19:30-22:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Matthias Hurst
A traditional, even primordial, motif in literature and film, the artificial human has today become a fascinating subject not only of fiction but of a range of other discourses and practices, from natural science to economic development. As replications or Doppelgängers of human beings, computers and AI exist both in fantastic stories and in reality, invading and influencing ever larger domains of human life and endeavor. What once was pure fiction is now applied science. In films, androids, cyborgs, and computers are more than mere machines; they figure as critical reflections on the possibilities and limits of technological progress and embody the central ideas of posthumanism. Through the (iconic and emblematic) figure of the robot, the genre of science fiction has addressed changing cultural attitudes toward technology, the human body and gender roles, as well as commenting on the phenomenon of consciousness and the nature of human intelligence. In this course we watch and discuss films like Metropolis (1927), Blade Runner (1982), Terminator (1984), Ghost in the Shell (1995), A.I. (2001), Her (2013) and Ex Machina (2015), which tell stories of robots, computers and AI and thus explore both the glorious potential and the imminent dangers of the interplay between human creativity and technological invention.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
FM340 Rage Against the Machine: Robots, Computers, and AI in Film
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 15:45-19:00 & Tue 19:30-22:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Matthias Hurst
A traditional, even primordial, motif in literature and film, the artificial human has today become a fascinating subject not only of fiction but of a range of other discourses and practices, from natural science to economic development. As replications or Doppelgängers of human beings, computers and AI exist both in fantastic stories and in reality, invading and influencing ever larger domains of human life and endeavor. What once was pure fiction is now applied science. In films, androids, cyborgs, and computers are more than mere machines; they figure as critical reflections on the possibilities and limits of technological progress and embody the central ideas of posthumanism. Through the (iconic and emblematic) figure of the robot, the genre of science fiction has addressed changing cultural attitudes toward technology, the human body and gender roles, as well as commenting on the phenomenon of consciousness and the nature of human intelligence. In this course we watch and discuss films like Metropolis (1927), Blade Runner (1982), Terminator (1984), Ghost in the Shell (1995), A.I. (2001), Her (2013) and Ex Machina (2015), which tell stories of robots, computers and AI and thus explore both the glorious potential and the imminent dangers of the interplay between human creativity and technological invention.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
Spring 2024
Wed & Fri 17:30-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Denis Skopin
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
The goal of this course is to introduce the students to Russian history through the study of corresponding photographic records. The priority will be given to the photographs illustrating the phenomena and events that shaped Russian society: Tsarist Russia’s penitentiary system and colonial policy, Revolution, WWI and WWII, Stalinist terror, but also the continuing war in Ukraine. In addition to the study of visual documents, we’ll read and discuss the most important theoretical and historical texts devoted to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and to today’s Russia. A particular emphasis will be put on the Stalinist period. We will begin by exploring official Stalinist imagery – posters, photographic collages created by loyal Soviet artists, but also the famous illustrated book White Sea-Baltic canal (1934) with photographs by Alexander Rodchenko, the circulation of which was subsequently prohibited. We’ll then see some rare photographic records from the Gulag showing victims and perpetrators. Finally, we will examine the ways ordinary Soviet citizens of the Stalin era handled the communist leaders’ portraits and how they were punished for showing disrespect for such representations. Special attention will be paid to the manipulation of snapshots, and in particular, the falsification of historical photographs and the practice of editing family photographs for political reasons.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Methods in Social and Historical Studies
HI125 Russian History through Photographs: from the 19th Century to the Present Day
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed & Fri 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Denis Skopin
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
The goal of this course is to introduce the students to Russian history through the study of corresponding photographic records. The priority will be given to the photographs illustrating the phenomena and events that shaped Russian society: Tsarist Russia’s penitentiary system and colonial policy, Revolution, WWI and WWII, Stalinist terror, but also the continuing war in Ukraine. In addition to the study of visual documents, we’ll read and discuss the most important theoretical and historical texts devoted to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and to today’s Russia. A particular emphasis will be put on the Stalinist period. We will begin by exploring official Stalinist imagery – posters, photographic collages created by loyal Soviet artists, but also the famous illustrated book White Sea-Baltic canal (1934) with photographs by Alexander Rodchenko, the circulation of which was subsequently prohibited. We’ll then see some rare photographic records from the Gulag showing victims and perpetrators. Finally, we will examine the ways ordinary Soviet citizens of the Stalin era handled the communist leaders’ portraits and how they were punished for showing disrespect for such representations. Special attention will be paid to the manipulation of snapshots, and in particular, the falsification of historical photographs and the practice of editing family photographs for political reasons.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective
Spring 2024
Thu 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Thu 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Marion Detjen
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This cross-campus class, taught in collaboration with Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa) explores the way research-based art-making generates new kinds of knowledge about exile, displacement, and diaspora. This semester, in view of the global crisis accelerated by the events in Israel/Palestine and the many threats to the public sphere, the BCB class focuses on friendship and memory, as well as histories of friendship in exile and “dark times,” as practiced and theorized by Hannah Arendt. In the “Research” part of the class we will read and possibly challenge Arendt's seminal texts on friendship, while also addressing parts of her correspondences with friends, and the poetry and literature to which she referred. We will discuss the political and aesthetic implications of these sources for our contemporary experience. Students will develop a topic for their individual research, which has to be historically and theoretically informed but is free to make use of Arendt’s concepts. In the shared online sessions with the Bogotá and the Johannesburg groups we will learn about their responses to “dark times,” to the memory of exile, and to the undermining of the public sphere. We discuss individual student projects with a global perspective.
In the “Creation” part of the course, young artists and BCB alums will, during workshops and in individual sessions, help students translate their research projects into artistic projects, in a medium of their choice. Projects from all three campuses will be presented in public exhibitions in Berlin, Bogotá and Johannesburg, and on the Research Creation website. The art production will be supervised, and the exhibition will be curated by BCB Professor Dorothea von Hantelmann.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
HI255 Research-Creation: Developing Artistic Responses to the History of Exile and of Friendship in Dark Times
Spring 2024Day/Time: Thu 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Marion Detjen
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This cross-campus class, taught in collaboration with Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa) explores the way research-based art-making generates new kinds of knowledge about exile, displacement, and diaspora. This semester, in view of the global crisis accelerated by the events in Israel/Palestine and the many threats to the public sphere, the BCB class focuses on friendship and memory, as well as histories of friendship in exile and “dark times,” as practiced and theorized by Hannah Arendt. In the “Research” part of the class we will read and possibly challenge Arendt's seminal texts on friendship, while also addressing parts of her correspondences with friends, and the poetry and literature to which she referred. We will discuss the political and aesthetic implications of these sources for our contemporary experience. Students will develop a topic for their individual research, which has to be historically and theoretically informed but is free to make use of Arendt’s concepts. In the shared online sessions with the Bogotá and the Johannesburg groups we will learn about their responses to “dark times,” to the memory of exile, and to the undermining of the public sphere. We discuss individual student projects with a global perspective.
In the “Creation” part of the course, young artists and BCB alums will, during workshops and in individual sessions, help students translate their research projects into artistic projects, in a medium of their choice. Projects from all three campuses will be presented in public exhibitions in Berlin, Bogotá and Johannesburg, and on the Research Creation website. The art production will be supervised, and the exhibition will be curated by BCB Professor Dorothea von Hantelmann.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Martin Widmann
This course is designed to give students a broad and comprehensive understanding of German literary history, from the emergence of German as a written language to the present day. Through readings of representative works from formative periods such as Enlightenment, Romanticism and Modernism, and literary movements such as Naturalism and Expressionism, we will explore the evolution of aesthetic ideas within their historical contexts. We will also consider how the writing of national literary histories establishes and reflects ideas about national identity at a given time. Our survey will pay attention to canonized writers such as Lessing, Goethe, Kleist, Heine, Droste-Hülshoff, Rilke, Thomas Mann, Bachmann or Herta Müller. To complement these readings, we will also consider historically marginalized voices and outsiders, and engage with renegotiations of established narratives through seminal texts of literary theory like Deleuze/Guattari’s concept of “minor literature” or Sylvia Bovenschen’s Imaginierte Weiblichkeit. Conversations with guest speakers from the literary world will offer contemporary perspectives on selected key texts.
Reading material and discussions will be in German and English. Students should have at least German B1 competence. Throughout the course, students will develop specialist vocabulary and skills enabling them to write about and discuss literary works in German.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
LT333 German Literary History
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Martin Widmann
This course is designed to give students a broad and comprehensive understanding of German literary history, from the emergence of German as a written language to the present day. Through readings of representative works from formative periods such as Enlightenment, Romanticism and Modernism, and literary movements such as Naturalism and Expressionism, we will explore the evolution of aesthetic ideas within their historical contexts. We will also consider how the writing of national literary histories establishes and reflects ideas about national identity at a given time. Our survey will pay attention to canonized writers such as Lessing, Goethe, Kleist, Heine, Droste-Hülshoff, Rilke, Thomas Mann, Bachmann or Herta Müller. To complement these readings, we will also consider historically marginalized voices and outsiders, and engage with renegotiations of established narratives through seminal texts of literary theory like Deleuze/Guattari’s concept of “minor literature” or Sylvia Bovenschen’s Imaginierte Weiblichkeit. Conversations with guest speakers from the literary world will offer contemporary perspectives on selected key texts.
Reading material and discussions will be in German and English. Students should have at least German B1 competence. Throughout the course, students will develop specialist vocabulary and skills enabling them to write about and discuss literary works in German.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Mathematics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Pueschel
This course focuses on the (basic) tools important for the study of political science and economics: analytic geometry, functions of a single variable, and calculus. The course will also be of interest for any student with a general interest in mathematics, or who does not intend advanced specialization in economics. This course is highly recommended for students who want to specialize in economics, but do not have a strong background in mathematics. In case of strong math background, students can test out of this course at the beginning of the spring semester. After successfully completing this course (or testing out) they will take (the more advanced) Mathematics for Economics course in the fall semester.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Mathematics
MA110 Mathematical Foundations
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Pueschel
This course focuses on the (basic) tools important for the study of political science and economics: analytic geometry, functions of a single variable, and calculus. The course will also be of interest for any student with a general interest in mathematics, or who does not intend advanced specialization in economics. This course is highly recommended for students who want to specialize in economics, but do not have a strong background in mathematics. In case of strong math background, students can test out of this course at the beginning of the spring semester. After successfully completing this course (or testing out) they will take (the more advanced) Mathematics for Economics course in the fall semester.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Statistics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Maria Vang Uttenthal
The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in political science and economics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. To facilitate students’ ability to understand and critically engage with these methods, examples of quantitative social science research are discussed throughout the course. Classes are complemented with exercises to build students’ skills in applying the learned methods independently. Many of these exercises use data from public opinion surveys, which cover a wide range of social, economic, and political topics. Working with this survey data, students will also have the opportunity to explore research questions of their own. At the end of the course, students will be able to read and engage with the majority of modern quantitative research. They also will be well prepared to pursue a variety of more advanced quantitative research courses.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Statistics
MA151 Introduction to Statistics
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Maria Vang Uttenthal
The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in political science and economics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. To facilitate students’ ability to understand and critically engage with these methods, examples of quantitative social science research are discussed throughout the course. Classes are complemented with exercises to build students’ skills in applying the learned methods independently. Many of these exercises use data from public opinion surveys, which cover a wide range of social, economic, and political topics. Working with this survey data, students will also have the opportunity to explore research questions of their own. At the end of the course, students will be able to read and engage with the majority of modern quantitative research. They also will be well prepared to pursue a variety of more advanced quantitative research courses.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Spring 2024
Wed 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Day/Time: Wed 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Raymith
This course takes a global and historical approach to political theory. We will address questions such as those concerning the forms and legitimacy of political institutions, the nature and scope of political authority, the rights and responsibilities of individuals, and the relations between states. In doing so, we will cover many of the core topics of both historical and contemporary political theory, including justice, rights, law, religion, equality, property, industrialization, capitalism, globalization, colonialism, historical injustice, race, gender, sexuality, immigration, and human-nonhuman relations. Our focus each week will be the analysis of two to three primary texts. This will provide an in-depth understanding of the debates, positions, and arguments in political theory. Yet students will also develop a broad overview of the field by reading texts from contemporary analytic and Continental philosophy, African philosophy, Arabic philosophy, as well as ancient Indian, Chinese, and Greek philosophy.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
PL110 Introduction to Political Theory
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Thomas Raymith
This course takes a global and historical approach to political theory. We will address questions such as those concerning the forms and legitimacy of political institutions, the nature and scope of political authority, the rights and responsibilities of individuals, and the relations between states. In doing so, we will cover many of the core topics of both historical and contemporary political theory, including justice, rights, law, religion, equality, property, industrialization, capitalism, globalization, colonialism, historical injustice, race, gender, sexuality, immigration, and human-nonhuman relations. Our focus each week will be the analysis of two to three primary texts. This will provide an in-depth understanding of the debates, positions, and arguments in political theory. Yet students will also develop a broad overview of the field by reading texts from contemporary analytic and Continental philosophy, African philosophy, Arabic philosophy, as well as ancient Indian, Chinese, and Greek philosophy.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Spring 2024
Mon & Wed 09:00-10:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow
A brilliant figure of the Florentine Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli has gone down the centuries as the epitome of manipulativeness, callousness, and the immoral pursuit of power. But who was this man? And what did he do - and write - to deserve this notoriety? Indeed, does he deserve it? In this course we shall grapple with the life and thought of Niccolò Machiavelli by engaging with his most influential works – The Prince, Florentine Histories, The Discourses on Livy - and his often ignored play La Mandragola [The Mandrake]. We’ll measure Machiavelli’s political vision against the historical vicissitudes of his time, and against what he himself designated as his main intellectual opponents: Christian Aristotelianism and the Platonic tradition of political philosophy. Taking note of current controversies about the meaning and intention of Machiavelli’s writings, we shall strive to hone our own judgment by considering these writings both on their own terms and in their own context, as well as in light of their subsequent reception and outsized influence on modern politics in the West and beyond.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
PL215 Machiavelli's Arts
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow
A brilliant figure of the Florentine Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli has gone down the centuries as the epitome of manipulativeness, callousness, and the immoral pursuit of power. But who was this man? And what did he do - and write - to deserve this notoriety? Indeed, does he deserve it? In this course we shall grapple with the life and thought of Niccolò Machiavelli by engaging with his most influential works – The Prince, Florentine Histories, The Discourses on Livy - and his often ignored play La Mandragola [The Mandrake]. We’ll measure Machiavelli’s political vision against the historical vicissitudes of his time, and against what he himself designated as his main intellectual opponents: Christian Aristotelianism and the Platonic tradition of political philosophy. Taking note of current controversies about the meaning and intention of Machiavelli’s writings, we shall strive to hone our own judgment by considering these writings both on their own terms and in their own context, as well as in light of their subsequent reception and outsized influence on modern politics in the West and beyond.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Spring 2024
Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
The debate about climate change and the resulting contemporary ecological crisis has prominently brought into focus the relation between humankind and environment. Over the past decades, thinkers in the field of environmental ethics developed various approaches to determine correct ways of human acting in relation to nature. In order to grasp and evaluate these positions, we will – in a first step – study traditional ethical theories (consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics): we will discuss their premises and the conclusions they suggest in regard to moral commitments. Building on this fundament, we will evaluate contemporary approaches to the field of environmental ethics in view of their validity and soundness. The seminar aims for students to acquire the competence to develop their own ethical stances and to advocate for their moral judgments. On our way, we will analyze the implication of anthropocentric and physiocentric arguments (caring for nature for the sake of humankind or for the sake of nature itself?), touching on the realms of human rights, animal rights, (global) justice, sustainability, ecopolitics (e.g. sumac kawsay, a concept of the “good life” alongside nature), ecofeminism and moral psychology (how can we bridge the gap between knowing what is right and doing what is right?). Readings will include Immanuel Kant, David Hume, J.S. Mill, and Martha Nussbaum (part I) as well as Donna Haraway, Vittorio Hösle, Hans Jonas, Christine Korsgaard, Angelika Krebs, Bruno Latour, Catriona McKinnon, Peter Singer, and Val Plumwood (part II).
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
PL250 Ethics in the Face of Ecological Crisis
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
The debate about climate change and the resulting contemporary ecological crisis has prominently brought into focus the relation between humankind and environment. Over the past decades, thinkers in the field of environmental ethics developed various approaches to determine correct ways of human acting in relation to nature. In order to grasp and evaluate these positions, we will – in a first step – study traditional ethical theories (consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics): we will discuss their premises and the conclusions they suggest in regard to moral commitments. Building on this fundament, we will evaluate contemporary approaches to the field of environmental ethics in view of their validity and soundness. The seminar aims for students to acquire the competence to develop their own ethical stances and to advocate for their moral judgments. On our way, we will analyze the implication of anthropocentric and physiocentric arguments (caring for nature for the sake of humankind or for the sake of nature itself?), touching on the realms of human rights, animal rights, (global) justice, sustainability, ecopolitics (e.g. sumac kawsay, a concept of the “good life” alongside nature), ecofeminism and moral psychology (how can we bridge the gap between knowing what is right and doing what is right?). Readings will include Immanuel Kant, David Hume, J.S. Mill, and Martha Nussbaum (part I) as well as Donna Haraway, Vittorio Hösle, Hans Jonas, Christine Korsgaard, Angelika Krebs, Bruno Latour, Catriona McKinnon, Peter Singer, and Val Plumwood (part II).
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Spring 2024
Thu 10:00-13:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Thu 10:00-13:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sinem Derya Kılıç
The decisions taken in medical treatment are often the subject of complex philosophical and moral debate, drawing on concepts and principles that long predate new technological developments. This course addresses the ethical basis of medical research and practice, including distinct ideas of autonomy, health, well-being, and disease. We cover some of the most prominent and fraught issues that have arisen in the legal regulation of medical care, such as euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, cultural and historical differences surrounding questions of reproduction, and issues of information-flow, informed consent, privacy, truth-telling and confidentiality, as well as questions of medical racism, social justice and rights to healthcare, human research, genetic enhancement, and the ethical dilemmas that arise during global pandemics, the effects of which we are still experiencing today.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought
PL277 Medical Ethics
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Thu 10:00-13:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sinem Derya Kılıç
The decisions taken in medical treatment are often the subject of complex philosophical and moral debate, drawing on concepts and principles that long predate new technological developments. This course addresses the ethical basis of medical research and practice, including distinct ideas of autonomy, health, well-being, and disease. We cover some of the most prominent and fraught issues that have arisen in the legal regulation of medical care, such as euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, cultural and historical differences surrounding questions of reproduction, and issues of information-flow, informed consent, privacy, truth-telling and confidentiality, as well as questions of medical racism, social justice and rights to healthcare, human research, genetic enhancement, and the ethical dilemmas that arise during global pandemics, the effects of which we are still experiencing today.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Philosophy and Society
Spring 2024
Mon 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Chun Xu
Our current era of "Big Data" is not without precedent. Throughout the course of human history, various societies have experienced times of information and data explosion precipitated by the advent of new technologies as well as social and epistemic shifts. Previously unquantifiable, unrepresentable, invalid, and inconsequential knowledge became relevant and authoritative, and was subsequently used for reference, analysis, and calculation, informing not only political discourse and decision-making, but also efforts to comprehend the patterns of our universe. What defined data across knowledge cultures? What were the key technological developments that caused episodes of data acceleration in the past? How did different data practices, such as data collection, analysis, and representation, shape the ways in which data has been used and understood? What was the role of data in the shaping of power dynamics in colonial empires and nation-states? Our course will examine the epistemologies, technologies, practices and politics of data in disparate global contexts. We will begin with the earliest forms of data storage and transmission, such as cuneiform writing and early forms of statistics. We will look at how the invention of printing, the spread of literacy and the development of technologies such as land surveying gave rise to new ideals of governance and bolstered the power of nation-states. We will also study the more recent technological advances that have made the big data of our time possible, such as computers, the Internet, and the cloud. In addition to lectures and discussions, the course will include readings from primary and secondary sources, as well as case studies and guest lectures from experts in the field. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the historical context and evolution of the contemporary concept of "Big Data" and will be equipped to critically evaluate the current discourse around data and its implications for society today.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
PL307 History of Data
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Chun Xu
Our current era of "Big Data" is not without precedent. Throughout the course of human history, various societies have experienced times of information and data explosion precipitated by the advent of new technologies as well as social and epistemic shifts. Previously unquantifiable, unrepresentable, invalid, and inconsequential knowledge became relevant and authoritative, and was subsequently used for reference, analysis, and calculation, informing not only political discourse and decision-making, but also efforts to comprehend the patterns of our universe. What defined data across knowledge cultures? What were the key technological developments that caused episodes of data acceleration in the past? How did different data practices, such as data collection, analysis, and representation, shape the ways in which data has been used and understood? What was the role of data in the shaping of power dynamics in colonial empires and nation-states? Our course will examine the epistemologies, technologies, practices and politics of data in disparate global contexts. We will begin with the earliest forms of data storage and transmission, such as cuneiform writing and early forms of statistics. We will look at how the invention of printing, the spread of literacy and the development of technologies such as land surveying gave rise to new ideals of governance and bolstered the power of nation-states. We will also study the more recent technological advances that have made the big data of our time possible, such as computers, the Internet, and the cloud. In addition to lectures and discussions, the course will include readings from primary and secondary sources, as well as case studies and guest lectures from experts in the field. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the historical context and evolution of the contemporary concept of "Big Data" and will be equipped to critically evaluate the current discourse around data and its implications for society today.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Philosophy and Society
Spring 2024
Wed 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Yuan Tao
The course traces the shifts in the theories of sense perception from the Aristotelian philosophical tradition to early modern mechanical science. By looking at a selection of important works, such as that of Aristotle, Averroes, Roger Bacon, Aquinas, Versalius, Galileo and Descartes, we discern the changing practices and methods of philosophy, mechanics and medicine that underly shifts in the overall theoretical framework. The course will be divided into three sections. First we will examine the theory of sense perception in Aristotle’s De anima II in light of his philosophical principles and scientific practices. We will also briefly touch upon other traditions in the classical period, such as the Platonic and Galenic tradition. In the subsequent section, we will look at how the Aristotelian commentary tradition and the rise of scholasticism generated new questions and debates on sense perception through the works of Averroes, Roger Bacon, and Aquinas. Finally, we will consider the turn away from Aristotelianism in the early modern period in the midst of rapid technical advancements and heightened practical interests manifest in the works of Versalius, Galileo and Descartes. Students will be required to engage in the close reading of primary sources, as well as in the critical reception of selected secondary literature. The completion of the course requires weekly short responses to the reading materials and a final research paper on any chosen topic related to the course. Beyond familiarizing students with the theories and practices of the study of sense perception before 1700, the course aims to prepare young scholars to confidently reconstruct arguments and analyze them with an historical awareness taking into consideration the scientific practices at the time and what the historical actors wanted to achieve with their theories.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Philosophy and Society
PL350 The World of the Senses before 1700: Sense Perception in Aristotelianism and Beyond
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Yuan Tao
The course traces the shifts in the theories of sense perception from the Aristotelian philosophical tradition to early modern mechanical science. By looking at a selection of important works, such as that of Aristotle, Averroes, Roger Bacon, Aquinas, Versalius, Galileo and Descartes, we discern the changing practices and methods of philosophy, mechanics and medicine that underly shifts in the overall theoretical framework. The course will be divided into three sections. First we will examine the theory of sense perception in Aristotle’s De anima II in light of his philosophical principles and scientific practices. We will also briefly touch upon other traditions in the classical period, such as the Platonic and Galenic tradition. In the subsequent section, we will look at how the Aristotelian commentary tradition and the rise of scholasticism generated new questions and debates on sense perception through the works of Averroes, Roger Bacon, and Aquinas. Finally, we will consider the turn away from Aristotelianism in the early modern period in the midst of rapid technical advancements and heightened practical interests manifest in the works of Versalius, Galileo and Descartes. Students will be required to engage in the close reading of primary sources, as well as in the critical reception of selected secondary literature. The completion of the course requires weekly short responses to the reading materials and a final research paper on any chosen topic related to the course. Beyond familiarizing students with the theories and practices of the study of sense perception before 1700, the course aims to prepare young scholars to confidently reconstruct arguments and analyze them with an historical awareness taking into consideration the scientific practices at the time and what the historical actors wanted to achieve with their theories.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Boris Vormann, Riaz Partha-Khan
Why and how do political systems differ from one another? Which processes have led to the formation of distinct political regimes? And how do these historical variations affect politics today? In addressing these questions in a wide set of contexts, this course provides an introduction to key theoretical approaches and concepts in the comparative study of politics. The focus will be on core topics in political development such as state and nation-building, the role of the state in the economy, its relationship to civil society and processes of democratization. We will also look at different types of political regimes, electoral and party systems—and the ways in which they affect the structure, functioning, and social role of political institutions. We explore these topics from a comparative perspective in combining theoretical texts with case studies. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand important topics in domestic politics, grasp the diversity of political systems and regimes, and analyze current political developments.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Comparative Politics, Elective
PS119 Nation-States and Democracy (Group A)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Boris Vormann, Riaz Partha-Khan
Why and how do political systems differ from one another? Which processes have led to the formation of distinct political regimes? And how do these historical variations affect politics today? In addressing these questions in a wide set of contexts, this course provides an introduction to key theoretical approaches and concepts in the comparative study of politics. The focus will be on core topics in political development such as state and nation-building, the role of the state in the economy, its relationship to civil society and processes of democratization. We will also look at different types of political regimes, electoral and party systems—and the ways in which they affect the structure, functioning, and social role of political institutions. We explore these topics from a comparative perspective in combining theoretical texts with case studies. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand important topics in domestic politics, grasp the diversity of political systems and regimes, and analyze current political developments.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Boris Vormann, Riaz Partha-Khan
Why and how do political systems differ from one another? Which processes have led to the formation of distinct political regimes? And how do these historical variations affect politics today? In addressing these questions in a wide set of contexts, this course provides an introduction to key theoretical approaches and concepts in the comparative study of politics. The focus will be on core topics in political development such as state and nation-building, the role of the state in the economy, its relationship to civil society and processes of democratization. We will also look at different types of political regimes, electoral and party systems—and the ways in which they affect the structure, functioning, and social role of political institutions. We explore these topics from a comparative perspective in combining theoretical texts with case studies. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand important topics in domestic politics, grasp the diversity of political systems and regimes, and analyze current political developments.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Comparative Politics, Elective
PS119 Nation-States and Democracy (Group B)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Boris Vormann, Riaz Partha-Khan
Why and how do political systems differ from one another? Which processes have led to the formation of distinct political regimes? And how do these historical variations affect politics today? In addressing these questions in a wide set of contexts, this course provides an introduction to key theoretical approaches and concepts in the comparative study of politics. The focus will be on core topics in political development such as state and nation-building, the role of the state in the economy, its relationship to civil society and processes of democratization. We will also look at different types of political regimes, electoral and party systems—and the ways in which they affect the structure, functioning, and social role of political institutions. We explore these topics from a comparative perspective in combining theoretical texts with case studies. By the end of the course, students will be able to understand important topics in domestic politics, grasp the diversity of political systems and regimes, and analyze current political developments.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, International Studies and Globalization
Spring 2024
Tue 17:30-20:45
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, International Studies and Globalization
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue 17:30-20:45
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock
The discipline of International Relations is devoted to the study of relations between states and societies in the international order. This international order is highly unequal. Some states and societies tend to benefit from the international order, while others are under constant pressure to adapt, and consequently find themselves in numerous relationships of dependency from which they can break free only with difficulty. At the same time, these societies, located in the so-called Global South, are particularly badly affected by the climate crisis. In this seminar, we first address the historical emergence of the current international order, and reflect on how the discipline of International Relations considers this order. In the second section of the course, we will familiarize ourselves with the conceptual tools for analyzing the interplay of coloniality, political economy, and climate crisis. In the third section, we discuss current geopolitical challenges and the role of states and international organizations in addressing these.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, International Studies and Globalization
PS146 International Relations and World Politics: Between Political Economy, Coloniality and the Climate Crisis
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue 17:30-20:45
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock
The discipline of International Relations is devoted to the study of relations between states and societies in the international order. This international order is highly unequal. Some states and societies tend to benefit from the international order, while others are under constant pressure to adapt, and consequently find themselves in numerous relationships of dependency from which they can break free only with difficulty. At the same time, these societies, located in the so-called Global South, are particularly badly affected by the climate crisis. In this seminar, we first address the historical emergence of the current international order, and reflect on how the discipline of International Relations considers this order. In the second section of the course, we will familiarize ourselves with the conceptual tools for analyzing the interplay of coloniality, political economy, and climate crisis. In the third section, we discuss current geopolitical challenges and the role of states and international organizations in addressing these.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Policy Analysis
Spring 2024
Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Policy Analysis
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert
This course introduces students to policy analysis and policymaking. Public policies are courses of action undertaken by governments to solve societal problems by changing behavior. They include laws, regulations, incentives, and providing services, goods and information. It is important to remember that policies not only include what governments choose to do but also what they choose not to do. Policies by individual governments, groups of governments and intergovernmental organizations can impact outcomes for people, communities, industries, and the environment in different parts of the world. As an introductory course, during the first part of the course, we will spend time learning about and discussing what characterizes and defines a public policy, and how such policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. During the second half, we will apply these foundational concepts by examining and discussing real-world policy case studies addressing current policy problems within a domestic and global context. With this course, students will gain an understanding of a holistic approach to public policy and policy analysis. Students will also learn how to communicate about policy problems, options and recommendations verbally, visually, and in writing.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Policy Analysis
PS185 Introduction to Policy Analysis (Group A)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert
This course introduces students to policy analysis and policymaking. Public policies are courses of action undertaken by governments to solve societal problems by changing behavior. They include laws, regulations, incentives, and providing services, goods and information. It is important to remember that policies not only include what governments choose to do but also what they choose not to do. Policies by individual governments, groups of governments and intergovernmental organizations can impact outcomes for people, communities, industries, and the environment in different parts of the world. As an introductory course, during the first part of the course, we will spend time learning about and discussing what characterizes and defines a public policy, and how such policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. During the second half, we will apply these foundational concepts by examining and discussing real-world policy case studies addressing current policy problems within a domestic and global context. With this course, students will gain an understanding of a holistic approach to public policy and policy analysis. Students will also learn how to communicate about policy problems, options and recommendations verbally, visually, and in writing.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Policy Analysis
Spring 2024
Fri 10:15-13:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Policy Analysis
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Fri 10:15-13:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert
This course introduces students to policy analysis and policymaking. Public policies are courses of action undertaken by governments to solve societal problems by changing behavior. They include laws, regulations, incentives, and providing services, goods and information. It is important to remember that policies not only include what governments choose to do but also what they choose not to do. Policies by individual governments, groups of governments and intergovernmental organizations can impact outcomes for people, communities, industries, and the environment in different parts of the world. As an introductory course, during the first part of the course, we will spend time learning about and discussing what characterizes and defines a public policy, and how such policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. During the second half, we will apply these foundational concepts by examining and discussing real-world policy case studies addressing current policy problems within a domestic and global context. With this course, students will gain an understanding of a holistic approach to public policy and policy analysis. Students will also learn how to communicate about policy problems, options and recommendations verbally, visually, and in writing.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Policy Analysis
PS185 Introduction to Policy Analysis (Group B)
Spring 2024Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Fri 10:15-13:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert
This course introduces students to policy analysis and policymaking. Public policies are courses of action undertaken by governments to solve societal problems by changing behavior. They include laws, regulations, incentives, and providing services, goods and information. It is important to remember that policies not only include what governments choose to do but also what they choose not to do. Policies by individual governments, groups of governments and intergovernmental organizations can impact outcomes for people, communities, industries, and the environment in different parts of the world. As an introductory course, during the first part of the course, we will spend time learning about and discussing what characterizes and defines a public policy, and how such policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated. During the second half, we will apply these foundational concepts by examining and discussing real-world policy case studies addressing current policy problems within a domestic and global context. With this course, students will gain an understanding of a holistic approach to public policy and policy analysis. Students will also learn how to communicate about policy problems, options and recommendations verbally, visually, and in writing.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Wed 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock
Fifteen years after the last big financial crisis, a new financial crisis is on the horizon, with collapsing banks in the US and Switzerland. These developments contradict the widespread assumption that fundamental changes had occurred since the seismic events of 2008. Financial markets are thus again at the center of current controversies about the future of global capitalism, not least because European societies are still wrestling with the consequences of the previous crash. Despite the importance of financial markets, however, there is a lack of basic analysis from the perspective of political science of the role of the key actors, institutions, and instruments that constitute the essential structure of these markets. Moreover, it remains unclear how the social sciences beyond economics can contribute to the analysis (and critique) of financial markets. This seminar therefore has several central objectives: it offers a comprehensive overview of the functioning of financial markets from A as in asset manager to Z as in zero-interest rates. In addition, it examines the importance of financial markets and financial institutions in capitalist democracies, especially the part they play in exacerbating inequalities. At the same time, we consider how financial markets are constructed in political terms: their emergence from ideas, interests and institutions. Participants will thus gain a better understanding of fundamental dynamics of political economy, especially in relation to the interplay of national and transnational processes.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
PS289 Introduction to Money, Finance and Financial Markets for the Social Sciences
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock
Fifteen years after the last big financial crisis, a new financial crisis is on the horizon, with collapsing banks in the US and Switzerland. These developments contradict the widespread assumption that fundamental changes had occurred since the seismic events of 2008. Financial markets are thus again at the center of current controversies about the future of global capitalism, not least because European societies are still wrestling with the consequences of the previous crash. Despite the importance of financial markets, however, there is a lack of basic analysis from the perspective of political science of the role of the key actors, institutions, and instruments that constitute the essential structure of these markets. Moreover, it remains unclear how the social sciences beyond economics can contribute to the analysis (and critique) of financial markets. This seminar therefore has several central objectives: it offers a comprehensive overview of the functioning of financial markets from A as in asset manager to Z as in zero-interest rates. In addition, it examines the importance of financial markets and financial institutions in capitalist democracies, especially the part they play in exacerbating inequalities. At the same time, we consider how financial markets are constructed in political terms: their emergence from ideas, interests and institutions. Participants will thus gain a better understanding of fundamental dynamics of political economy, especially in relation to the interplay of national and transnational processes.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 US
Professor(s): Jana Lozanoska
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective
PS295 Visual Evidence in Human Rights
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 US
Professor(s): Jana Lozanoska
The course is designed to examine the growing use of visual evidence to expose human rights violations, and the way this evidence has been deployed and displayed in a variety of forums (media, art exhibitions, courts). It will focus on visual evidence produced through open source intelligence OSINT but also visual evidence produced by research agencies (Forensic Architecture, Mnemonics), and recorded in initiatives like the Syrian Archives project. We will become familiar with the Berkley Protocol on Open Source Investigation and will consider the distinctions between investigation, documentation and archiving. The course investigates the conceptual issues arising from the connections between visuality, representation, power, and truth. Ultimately, our deliberations address fundamental questions about the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. We also explore the following questions: What is evidence, and particularly what is visual evidence in human rights? Who produces the visual evidence and how it can be employed to determine violation/s, in particular when these are systematic in character?
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
The politics of representation refers to the oftentimes contentious struggle in society over the meaning of images, their circulation and reception. Representations of marginalized, racialized and sexualized groups such as migrants, ethnic minorities and women are significant sites of such tense debates, demonstrating how power relations and dominant identities are maintained. Building on the idea put forth by decolonial theorists that western civilization is a complex colonial matrix of power that has been created and controlled by men and institutions from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, this course examines this matrix’s interconnection to the varied religious, ethnic, racial and sexual minorities living in its midst. Specifically, the course aims to firstly, contextualize the various visual material produced about Europe’s “Others” and the public and scholarly discourses they propagate, and secondly, to survey the varied aesthetical and intellectual responses to such representations by engaging the wider debates and scholarship on the construction of racialized subjectivities and the distribution of power. This advanced module places particular emphasis on visual culture, decolonization theory, gender theory, queery theory and postcolonial studies to examine issues of image making, circulation, translation and reception, in a global context and transnational frame.
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
PS298 Europe’s Others: Gender, Racialization and the Politics of Representation
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
The politics of representation refers to the oftentimes contentious struggle in society over the meaning of images, their circulation and reception. Representations of marginalized, racialized and sexualized groups such as migrants, ethnic minorities and women are significant sites of such tense debates, demonstrating how power relations and dominant identities are maintained. Building on the idea put forth by decolonial theorists that western civilization is a complex colonial matrix of power that has been created and controlled by men and institutions from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, this course examines this matrix’s interconnection to the varied religious, ethnic, racial and sexual minorities living in its midst. Specifically, the course aims to firstly, contextualize the various visual material produced about Europe’s “Others” and the public and scholarly discourses they propagate, and secondly, to survey the varied aesthetical and intellectual responses to such representations by engaging the wider debates and scholarship on the construction of racialized subjectivities and the distribution of power. This advanced module places particular emphasis on visual culture, decolonization theory, gender theory, queery theory and postcolonial studies to examine issues of image making, circulation, translation and reception, in a global context and transnational frame.
Economics, Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Mon 15:45-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Berit Ebert
Commitment to peace as the underlying European narrative is not a special characteristic of post-World War II European integration. In fact, long before there was a European Union (EU) there were European concepts for superstructures and processes that would better enable peace on the Continent. These ideas informed the founding of the European Community for Steel and Coal, in 1951, as a peace project brought forth by the Treaty of Paris, and its galvanization in 1957, at the Treaty of Rome. This seminar looks at a variety of historical conceptions to better understand current political debates about the EU—questions about its legitimacy, its foreign and security policies, gender equity policy, challenges to the rule-of-law, and the concept of supranationality. The course will start with Pierre du Bois’s The Recovery of the Holy Land, which dates to 1306, and further elaborate upon Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s A Lasting Peace through the Federation of Europe (1782), Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation (1808). The seminar leads up to writings by twentieth-century figures such as philosopher Hannah Arendt, journalist Kurt Tucholsky, sociologist Max Weber, and philosopher Jürgen Habermas. We will focus on how an amalgam of these ideas has translated into the current EU framework, as expressed in the Treaties, key policies, and jurisprudence. During completion week, we will visit the main EU institutions in Brussels and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg (May 13– 16, 2024).
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
PS304 What is Europe?
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Berit Ebert
Commitment to peace as the underlying European narrative is not a special characteristic of post-World War II European integration. In fact, long before there was a European Union (EU) there were European concepts for superstructures and processes that would better enable peace on the Continent. These ideas informed the founding of the European Community for Steel and Coal, in 1951, as a peace project brought forth by the Treaty of Paris, and its galvanization in 1957, at the Treaty of Rome. This seminar looks at a variety of historical conceptions to better understand current political debates about the EU—questions about its legitimacy, its foreign and security policies, gender equity policy, challenges to the rule-of-law, and the concept of supranationality. The course will start with Pierre du Bois’s The Recovery of the Holy Land, which dates to 1306, and further elaborate upon Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s A Lasting Peace through the Federation of Europe (1782), Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s Addresses to the German Nation (1808). The seminar leads up to writings by twentieth-century figures such as philosopher Hannah Arendt, journalist Kurt Tucholsky, sociologist Max Weber, and philosopher Jürgen Habermas. We will focus on how an amalgam of these ideas has translated into the current EU framework, as expressed in the Treaties, key policies, and jurisprudence. During completion week, we will visit the main EU institutions in Brussels and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg (May 13– 16, 2024).
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement and is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
How and why do violent conflicts erupt and how are they resolved? Why do some states help in resolving conflicts? When are conflict and war amenable to the possibility of being ‘managed’? When is intervention essential or a mediation by third parties merited? Why do attempts at conflict resolution have a mixed record of success? Why do contexts with peace agreements relapse into violent conflict? This course covers the basic concepts in conflict life cycles from prevention to reconciliation. The course also exposes students to theoretical and empirical conceptualizations of conflict management and mediation, featuring a combination of scholarly, policy and practitioner perspectives on international relations in conflict management contexts. Moreover, we will also explore how local civic engagement and mediation by civil society are becoming more prominent in intra-state conflict management processes. In doing so, we pay attention to issues in contemporary debates on the various post-conflict processes—such as disarmament and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR)—analyzing their relevance to creating sustainable and durable peace.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Elective
PS355 War, Peace, and Mediation: Theory and Cases
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement and is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
How and why do violent conflicts erupt and how are they resolved? Why do some states help in resolving conflicts? When are conflict and war amenable to the possibility of being ‘managed’? When is intervention essential or a mediation by third parties merited? Why do attempts at conflict resolution have a mixed record of success? Why do contexts with peace agreements relapse into violent conflict? This course covers the basic concepts in conflict life cycles from prevention to reconciliation. The course also exposes students to theoretical and empirical conceptualizations of conflict management and mediation, featuring a combination of scholarly, policy and practitioner perspectives on international relations in conflict management contexts. Moreover, we will also explore how local civic engagement and mediation by civil society are becoming more prominent in intra-state conflict management processes. In doing so, we pay attention to issues in contemporary debates on the various post-conflict processes—such as disarmament and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR)—analyzing their relevance to creating sustainable and durable peace.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Public Policy
Spring 2024
Fri 09:00-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Public Policy
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tobias Wuttke
prerequisite: Policy Analysis
This course examines the impact on the Global South of policies implemented in the Global North to achieve objectives in the globalized economy pertaining to: improving competitiveness, conforming to globally agreed standards in regard to climate change, international trade, labour regulations and human rights. We will focus on policies developed and enforced at the national level as well as on policies established at the intergovernmental or international level. A special focus will be on so-called industrial policies, which are increasingly being used as a tool to achieve developmental objectives in the Global South, while in the Global North they are deployed to pursue the greening of the economy, to aim for global leadership in emerging technologies, and to navigate geopolitical changes and conflicts. We examine how policies adopted in the Global North shape the conditions of action for countries in the Global South who must still increase income levels in order to improve living standards for their citizens. We will engage with readings and concepts from interdisciplinary backgrounds, from global political economy, heterodox and orthodox development economics, development studies to the international business literature. Along the way, the course addresses theories of economic development and the role of the state; the emergence of global value chains and global production networks and the role of transnational corporations; the history of globalization, the US-China Trade War, and the success story of East Asian economies, and the general implications of the green transition for the global economy.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Public Policy
PS362 Globalization and Industrial Policy
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri 09:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tobias Wuttke
prerequisite: Policy Analysis
This course examines the impact on the Global South of policies implemented in the Global North to achieve objectives in the globalized economy pertaining to: improving competitiveness, conforming to globally agreed standards in regard to climate change, international trade, labour regulations and human rights. We will focus on policies developed and enforced at the national level as well as on policies established at the intergovernmental or international level. A special focus will be on so-called industrial policies, which are increasingly being used as a tool to achieve developmental objectives in the Global South, while in the Global North they are deployed to pursue the greening of the economy, to aim for global leadership in emerging technologies, and to navigate geopolitical changes and conflicts. We examine how policies adopted in the Global North shape the conditions of action for countries in the Global South who must still increase income levels in order to improve living standards for their citizens. We will engage with readings and concepts from interdisciplinary backgrounds, from global political economy, heterodox and orthodox development economics, development studies to the international business literature. Along the way, the course addresses theories of economic development and the role of the state; the emergence of global value chains and global production networks and the role of transnational corporations; the history of globalization, the US-China Trade War, and the success story of East Asian economies, and the general implications of the green transition for the global economy.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
Spring 2024
Thu 15:45-19:00
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thu 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Mariel Leonard
How can we develop knowledge and assess information about the social world around us? What are the steps involved in developing a plan for pursuing social research? What are the rationales of different research methods and how to use these techniques in practice? Crafting social science research requires diverse methodological tools. Such tools include a variety of instruments and techniques we use to acquire knowledge, which can be broadly grouped into two approaches: those which deal with the in-depth study of the qualities and traits of a small number of cases (qualitative), and those which quantify, measure and standardize the attributes of a larger set of cases to conduct statistical analysis (quantitative). This course will focus on qualitative approaches to social inquiry, providing students with the research skills and methodological knowledge to implement a research project. Throughout the course, students will comprehend the stages of the research process and develop the necessary skills to elaborate a researchable question, evaluate existing scholarship, conduct a literature review, set up a theoretical framework, derive theoretical-based or empirical-driven arguments, as well as discussing broader implications of research outcomes. Furthermore, the course will endow students with a portfolio of qualitative methods of analysis and data collection strategies to elaborate a comprehensive research design. Students are expected to implement the research skills and methodologies learnt throughout the course by conducting their own research projects.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
SO225 The Craft of Social Research: A Qualitative Approach
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thu 15:45-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Mariel Leonard
How can we develop knowledge and assess information about the social world around us? What are the steps involved in developing a plan for pursuing social research? What are the rationales of different research methods and how to use these techniques in practice? Crafting social science research requires diverse methodological tools. Such tools include a variety of instruments and techniques we use to acquire knowledge, which can be broadly grouped into two approaches: those which deal with the in-depth study of the qualities and traits of a small number of cases (qualitative), and those which quantify, measure and standardize the attributes of a larger set of cases to conduct statistical analysis (quantitative). This course will focus on qualitative approaches to social inquiry, providing students with the research skills and methodological knowledge to implement a research project. Throughout the course, students will comprehend the stages of the research process and develop the necessary skills to elaborate a researchable question, evaluate existing scholarship, conduct a literature review, set up a theoretical framework, derive theoretical-based or empirical-driven arguments, as well as discussing broader implications of research outcomes. Furthermore, the course will endow students with a portfolio of qualitative methods of analysis and data collection strategies to elaborate a comprehensive research design. Students are expected to implement the research skills and methodologies learnt throughout the course by conducting their own research projects.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Civic Engagement and Social Justice, Elective
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Civic Engagement and Social Justice, Elective
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Deborah Amos
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
In this course, students have the unique opportunity to work with an experienced reporter dedicated to reporting on the issue of forced migration. Deborah Amos is a U.S. based journalist. She covers the Middle East for National Public Radio. She also teaches “Migration Reporting” at Princeton University. She has won multiple awards for her reporting. Her most recent focus is on accountability, Syrian war crime trials in Germany and more recently, reporting on war crime trials and war crimes investigations in Ukraine. The class examines and reports on forced migrations as the result of wars and military conflicts. Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed the worldwide number of displaced people above 100 million. The grim milestone comes after forced displacement accelerated as a result of deadly conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. This flow of humanity has now eclipsed the level of forced migration precipitated by World War II. We will look at some of the consequences and responses in first- hand reporting. Berlin is on the front lines of this human movement, especially after 2015 when Germany opened its borders to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, later offering a home to Afghans and then to Ukrainians. These communities struggle to resettle, learn a new language and find jobs in a new place of asylum. The staggering numbers are a result, in part, of the international response to conflict. We live in an era known as the age of impunity, when its rare for war criminals to face accountability. However, the next decade could see accountability catch up with impunity. Germany is a leader in mounting war crime trials under “universal jurisdiction,’ convicting Syrian war criminals of crimes against humanity. German courts have so far convicted two ISIS members of genocide for crimes against Yazidis in Iraq. Berlin is a uniquely appropriate place from which to observe and report on this legal evolution. In this course, we will visit court rooms, communal kitchens, and companies that offer apprenticeships for newcomers. This course combines immigration policy analysis and the fundamentals of fact-based journalism and narrative reporting. The assignments will give students a foundation to report on migration issues and learn how fact-based reporting can contribute to civil debate on an issue that has become polarized and often divorced from the facts.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Civic Engagement and Social Justice, Elective
SO305 Reporting Forced Migration
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Deborah Amos
This is a course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
In this course, students have the unique opportunity to work with an experienced reporter dedicated to reporting on the issue of forced migration. Deborah Amos is a U.S. based journalist. She covers the Middle East for National Public Radio. She also teaches “Migration Reporting” at Princeton University. She has won multiple awards for her reporting. Her most recent focus is on accountability, Syrian war crime trials in Germany and more recently, reporting on war crime trials and war crimes investigations in Ukraine. The class examines and reports on forced migrations as the result of wars and military conflicts. Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed the worldwide number of displaced people above 100 million. The grim milestone comes after forced displacement accelerated as a result of deadly conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. This flow of humanity has now eclipsed the level of forced migration precipitated by World War II. We will look at some of the consequences and responses in first- hand reporting. Berlin is on the front lines of this human movement, especially after 2015 when Germany opened its borders to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, later offering a home to Afghans and then to Ukrainians. These communities struggle to resettle, learn a new language and find jobs in a new place of asylum. The staggering numbers are a result, in part, of the international response to conflict. We live in an era known as the age of impunity, when its rare for war criminals to face accountability. However, the next decade could see accountability catch up with impunity. Germany is a leader in mounting war crime trials under “universal jurisdiction,’ convicting Syrian war criminals of crimes against humanity. German courts have so far convicted two ISIS members of genocide for crimes against Yazidis in Iraq. Berlin is a uniquely appropriate place from which to observe and report on this legal evolution. In this course, we will visit court rooms, communal kitchens, and companies that offer apprenticeships for newcomers. This course combines immigration policy analysis and the fundamentals of fact-based journalism and narrative reporting. The assignments will give students a foundation to report on migration issues and learn how fact-based reporting can contribute to civil debate on an issue that has become polarized and often divorced from the facts.
Syllabus
Economics, Politics
Elective, Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences
Spring 2024
Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
Why do people vote the way they do? Why does violence erupt in some states while in other states it does not? Can development aid improve democratization and development? One way of answering these questions is through effective analysis of quantitative data. This course focuses on the different strategies of quantitative statistical analysis. We explore how to read, understand, and critically assess quantitative research. Students will engage in quantitative research design, testing hypotheses, unpacking causal mechanisms, and applying probability and regression analysis tools. Finally, students will learn how to present the interpreted data logically and systematically in research output. In this course, students will also learn the basics of R software to conduct statistical analysis. Towards the end of the course, we will also briefly explore social network analysis (SNA) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as alternative quantitative social science methods.
Syllabus
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Modules: Elective, Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences
SO324 Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
Why do people vote the way they do? Why does violence erupt in some states while in other states it does not? Can development aid improve democratization and development? One way of answering these questions is through effective analysis of quantitative data. This course focuses on the different strategies of quantitative statistical analysis. We explore how to read, understand, and critically assess quantitative research. Students will engage in quantitative research design, testing hypotheses, unpacking causal mechanisms, and applying probability and regression analysis tools. Finally, students will learn how to present the interpreted data logically and systematically in research output. In this course, students will also learn the basics of R software to conduct statistical analysis. Towards the end of the course, we will also briefly explore social network analysis (SNA) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as alternative quantitative social science methods.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed 10:00-13:00 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nadania Idriss
During this class, which will run once a week on Wednesdays from 10:00-13:00, students will learn the 2000-year-old technique of making molds that are used to make glass objects. We will go on a journey from the positive form to thinking about negative and hollow spaces. We will also learn how to cut and polish glass so that each object will go from prototype to working model to finished object. A pop-up show at the end of the class will allow all of us to reflect on the process and show our sculptures to a wider audience. Mold-blowing is a technique of shaping glass by using negative forms made of plaster. The gaffer (main glassblower) prepares the molten glass and blows it into the mold. Participants will learn to assist the gaffer and have an interactive experience of the process. This workshop is geared toward an experience of learning a new and exciting technique, so do not be discouraged if your piece is not successful. Join the class with lots of ideas and don't be afraid to try.
Please note there is a fee of €40 for participation in this course to cover material expenses.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA113 Introduction to Glass Making
Spring 2024Day/Time: Wed 10:00-13:00 at Monopol
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nadania Idriss
During this class, which will run once a week on Wednesdays from 10:00-13:00, students will learn the 2000-year-old technique of making molds that are used to make glass objects. We will go on a journey from the positive form to thinking about negative and hollow spaces. We will also learn how to cut and polish glass so that each object will go from prototype to working model to finished object. A pop-up show at the end of the class will allow all of us to reflect on the process and show our sculptures to a wider audience. Mold-blowing is a technique of shaping glass by using negative forms made of plaster. The gaffer (main glassblower) prepares the molten glass and blows it into the mold. Participants will learn to assist the gaffer and have an interactive experience of the process. This workshop is geared toward an experience of learning a new and exciting technique, so do not be discouraged if your piece is not successful. Join the class with lots of ideas and don't be afraid to try.
Please note there is a fee of €40 for participation in this course to cover material expenses.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon 10:00-13:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Justin F. Kennedy
Dance it out! Dance to get out of your own way! Dance out/with the spirits! Dance out all you already possess inside! ‘Dance Out’ is an experimental dance lab focused on the emancipatory potential of dancing and embodied knowledge. The overarching theme of the course is to use movement-, vocal-, imagination-based tasks and repetition to tap into spiritual communion. The core of the course involves a rigorous warm-up: including breathwork, guided meditation, Kundalini yoga exercises, Qi Gong and voice exercises to prepare for durational dance sessions (inspired by Authentic Movement), where students take turns witnessing (the gaze as material) and improvising in various altered states upheld for long durations, creating a deeply collective and conscious relationship to each other and the materials. Engaging in a stylistic and cultural hodgepodge, no physical coordinations are off limits, some of which may include headbanging, robotics, swarming, landscaping, learning simple choreographic sequences, open scores, singing together (choiring), and Body-Mind-Centering exercises. Known and unknown science fictions, cosmologies, myths, and imaginations (readings, hypnosis, dreamworks) will also be introduced to inform and form the dances, discursively framing the work in black queer diasporic studies. We will develop a range of performative skills, sliding along a spectrum of spirit possession/trance and tools for daily living. The final component of the course will be looking at various dances on film and filmed dance references that feature trance, possession and apocalypse/disaster, linking the dances to larger geopolitical movements and other artistic mediums.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA260 Dance Out. (DO) liberation, possession and film
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon 10:00-13:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Justin F. Kennedy
Dance it out! Dance to get out of your own way! Dance out/with the spirits! Dance out all you already possess inside! ‘Dance Out’ is an experimental dance lab focused on the emancipatory potential of dancing and embodied knowledge. The overarching theme of the course is to use movement-, vocal-, imagination-based tasks and repetition to tap into spiritual communion. The core of the course involves a rigorous warm-up: including breathwork, guided meditation, Kundalini yoga exercises, Qi Gong and voice exercises to prepare for durational dance sessions (inspired by Authentic Movement), where students take turns witnessing (the gaze as material) and improvising in various altered states upheld for long durations, creating a deeply collective and conscious relationship to each other and the materials. Engaging in a stylistic and cultural hodgepodge, no physical coordinations are off limits, some of which may include headbanging, robotics, swarming, landscaping, learning simple choreographic sequences, open scores, singing together (choiring), and Body-Mind-Centering exercises. Known and unknown science fictions, cosmologies, myths, and imaginations (readings, hypnosis, dreamworks) will also be introduced to inform and form the dances, discursively framing the work in black queer diasporic studies. We will develop a range of performative skills, sliding along a spectrum of spirit possession/trance and tools for daily living. The final component of the course will be looking at various dances on film and filmed dance references that feature trance, possession and apocalypse/disaster, linking the dances to larger geopolitical movements and other artistic mediums.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Miles Chalcraft
This virtual reality course provides an introduction to the basics of immersive technology. Students will learn to use an accessible VR social space to connect with others in virtual environments. They will use this platform to develop a personal showcase using 3D objects, photography, video, and sound, while simultaneously exploring how VR environments can be used as a space for presentation and performance. Students will create and modify their own individual walk-through space using drag-and-drop resources. They will learn to create objects from freely available software, such as SketchUp, TinkerCAD or Blender, and import and modify their own creations within their projects, allowing them to personalize their worlds. Additionally, the course will introduce students to the photographic process of photogrammetry for creating 3D representations of actual, real-world objects. Throughout the course, students will engage in interactive activities on a networked VR platform, allowing them to combine and share skillsets with one another. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the technology and skills necessary to create custom 3D virtual environments and have gained valuable insight into VR development and design, essential in fields such as game development, architecture, and product design.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA298 Virtual Reality Showcase
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Miles Chalcraft
This virtual reality course provides an introduction to the basics of immersive technology. Students will learn to use an accessible VR social space to connect with others in virtual environments. They will use this platform to develop a personal showcase using 3D objects, photography, video, and sound, while simultaneously exploring how VR environments can be used as a space for presentation and performance. Students will create and modify their own individual walk-through space using drag-and-drop resources. They will learn to create objects from freely available software, such as SketchUp, TinkerCAD or Blender, and import and modify their own creations within their projects, allowing them to personalize their worlds. Additionally, the course will introduce students to the photographic process of photogrammetry for creating 3D representations of actual, real-world objects. Throughout the course, students will engage in interactive activities on a networked VR platform, allowing them to combine and share skillsets with one another. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the technology and skills necessary to create custom 3D virtual environments and have gained valuable insight into VR development and design, essential in fields such as game development, architecture, and product design.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group A)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group C)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 15:45-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Module: German Language
GM150 German Conversation
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group A)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group C)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Urlsula Kohler
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group D)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Urlsula Kohler
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group E)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 17:30-19:00
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group A)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 09:00-10:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group C)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Module: German Language
GM251 German Intermediate B2 (Group A)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 10:45-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
German Language
Spring 2024
Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
This course is designed for students who are interested in developing their German language skills through building a vocabulary and a wide range of expressions for talking and writing about art. This B2-oriented course centers on a variety of artistic media and forms of representation that capture our Zeitgeist. We will analyze and discuss images, video installations, films, and theater productions with the aim of developing language tools students can use confidently and independently in art contexts. The course will thereby broaden and deepen the grammar and vocabulary introduced in a typical B2-level language class. Throughout the semester, we will take the topic of art beyond campus and visit galleries, museums, and artists in their studios. As in regular Bard College Berlin classes, students take bi-weekly tests and a final exam on materials covered in class and in a course reader designed by the instructor for teaching B2
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM251 German Intermediate B2: Über die Kunst zur Sprache: Talking and Writing about Art
Spring 2024Day/Time: Mon & Wed & Fri 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
This course is designed for students who are interested in developing their German language skills through building a vocabulary and a wide range of expressions for talking and writing about art. This B2-oriented course centers on a variety of artistic media and forms of representation that capture our Zeitgeist. We will analyze and discuss images, video installations, films, and theater productions with the aim of developing language tools students can use confidently and independently in art contexts. The course will thereby broaden and deepen the grammar and vocabulary introduced in a typical B2-level language class. Throughout the semester, we will take the topic of art beyond campus and visit galleries, museums, and artists in their studios. As in regular Bard College Berlin classes, students take bi-weekly tests and a final exam on materials covered in class and in a course reader designed by the instructor for teaching B2
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Module: German Language
GM352 German Advanced C1/C2
Spring 2024Day/Time: Tue & Thu 10:00-12:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Elective
Spring 2024
Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Florian Duijsens
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Students enrolled in the Bard College Berlin Internship Program are required to complete the Berlin Internship Seminar, an interdisciplinary course designed to accompany the internship experience. We will meet on a weekly basis and discuss contemporary ways of living and working in Berlin and beyond: What do we mean when we talk about work? Do we need to love what we do? What renders work in/visible? How is work gendered and classed? How is work organized temporally and spatially and how does it, in turn, affect the city and its residents? What distinguishes the spaces in which we live and work today? Which new forms of work have recently emerged in Berlin? Which of them seem to thrive? How do Berlin’s art institutions and citizen-activist organizations operate? Besides in-class discussions, invited lectures, and off-campus visits, the seminar offers a platform for the exchange of observations, reflections, and comments on individual internships.
Students must already be in the process of arranging an internship with Careers Office before registering. If a student has arranged their own internship, they should contact [email protected] to register your internship before enrolling in the course.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar: Working Cultures, Urban Cultures (Group A)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Florian Duijsens
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Students enrolled in the Bard College Berlin Internship Program are required to complete the Berlin Internship Seminar, an interdisciplinary course designed to accompany the internship experience. We will meet on a weekly basis and discuss contemporary ways of living and working in Berlin and beyond: What do we mean when we talk about work? Do we need to love what we do? What renders work in/visible? How is work gendered and classed? How is work organized temporally and spatially and how does it, in turn, affect the city and its residents? What distinguishes the spaces in which we live and work today? Which new forms of work have recently emerged in Berlin? Which of them seem to thrive? How do Berlin’s art institutions and citizen-activist organizations operate? Besides in-class discussions, invited lectures, and off-campus visits, the seminar offers a platform for the exchange of observations, reflections, and comments on individual internships.
Students must already be in the process of arranging an internship with Careers Office before registering. If a student has arranged their own internship, they should contact [email protected] to register your internship before enrolling in the course.
Syllabus
Elective
Spring 2024
Thu 14:00-15:30
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Asli Vatansever
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Students enrolled in the Bard College Berlin Internship Program are required to complete the Berlin Internship Seminar, an interdisciplinary course designed to accompany the internship experience. We will meet on a weekly basis and discuss contemporary ways of living and working in Berlin and beyond: What do we mean when we talk about work? Do we need to love what we do? What renders work in/visible? How is work gendered and classed? How is work organized temporally and spatially and how does it, in turn, affect the city and its residents? What distinguishes the spaces in which we live and work today? Which new forms of work have recently emerged in Berlin? Which of them seem to thrive? How do Berlin’s art institutions and citizen-activist organizations operate? Besides in-class discussions, invited lectures, and off-campus visits, the seminar offers a platform for the exchange of observations, reflections, and comments on individual internships.
Students must already be in the process of arranging an internship with Careers Office before registering. If a student has arranged their own internship, they should contact [email protected] to register your internship before enrolling in the course.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar: Working Cultures, Urban Cultures (Group B)
Spring 2024Day/Time: Thu 14:00-15:30
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Asli Vatansever
Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Students enrolled in the Bard College Berlin Internship Program are required to complete the Berlin Internship Seminar, an interdisciplinary course designed to accompany the internship experience. We will meet on a weekly basis and discuss contemporary ways of living and working in Berlin and beyond: What do we mean when we talk about work? Do we need to love what we do? What renders work in/visible? How is work gendered and classed? How is work organized temporally and spatially and how does it, in turn, affect the city and its residents? What distinguishes the spaces in which we live and work today? Which new forms of work have recently emerged in Berlin? Which of them seem to thrive? How do Berlin’s art institutions and citizen-activist organizations operate? Besides in-class discussions, invited lectures, and off-campus visits, the seminar offers a platform for the exchange of observations, reflections, and comments on individual internships.
Students must already be in the process of arranging an internship with Careers Office before registering. If a student has arranged their own internship, they should contact [email protected] to register your internship before enrolling in the course.
Syllabus
Politics
Elective, Public Policy
Spring 2024
Mon 14:00-17:15
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Elective, Public Policy
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Timo Lochocki
This seminar will be an exercise in applied policy consulting. We will focus on a scenario that political scientists deem probable in the coming few years: that Germany will become the key pillar of the Liberal West. If anti-democratic leaders are reelected in the USA (2024) and elected in France (2027), Germany will unquestionably be the most powerful liberal democracy in the world. Although exceeded by Japan in economic resources, Germany will be the most influential democracy in foreign policy terms due to its role in Europe. Our seminar will focus on the implications of this scenario for Liberal Democracy in Germany. Primarily, we address domestic and foreign policy dimensions: firstly, what policy approaches are necessary for safeguarding Liberal Democracy in Germany and in the EU if the US and France degenerate into anti-democratic regimes? And secondly, under what conditions can Germany even become a lighthouse of Liberalism for the liberal opposition in the US, France and other former liberal democracies? Ideally, students taking this class already have a strong knowledge of Germany's history and social structure, and of its financial and political systems.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Elective, Public Policy
PS397 Germany as Leader of the Liberal West?
Spring 2024Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 14:00-17:15
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Timo Lochocki
This seminar will be an exercise in applied policy consulting. We will focus on a scenario that political scientists deem probable in the coming few years: that Germany will become the key pillar of the Liberal West. If anti-democratic leaders are reelected in the USA (2024) and elected in France (2027), Germany will unquestionably be the most powerful liberal democracy in the world. Although exceeded by Japan in economic resources, Germany will be the most influential democracy in foreign policy terms due to its role in Europe. Our seminar will focus on the implications of this scenario for Liberal Democracy in Germany. Primarily, we address domestic and foreign policy dimensions: firstly, what policy approaches are necessary for safeguarding Liberal Democracy in Germany and in the EU if the US and France degenerate into anti-democratic regimes? And secondly, under what conditions can Germany even become a lighthouse of Liberalism for the liberal opposition in the US, France and other former liberal democracies? Ideally, students taking this class already have a strong knowledge of Germany's history and social structure, and of its financial and political systems.
Syllabus
To view courses offered prior to Spring 2023, please visit the course archive.