Course Search

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

EC211 Macroeconomics (Group A)

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Stephan Müller


Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. In this course, the functioning of the aggregate economy is introduced and analyzed starting from basic aggregate data measurement and concepts. It provides an overview of macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rate, and inflation. The course also evaluates the scope for policy intervention to improve macroeconomic performance. In the first part, we study the traditional short run model, including goods market and financial markets. In the second part, we will extend it to include medium run developments, such as labor market and inflation dynamics. In the third part, we take a long run perspective and study factors influencing the long run growth potential of a country. 
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

EC211 Macroeconomics (Group B) 

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1545-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Stephan Müller


Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. In this course, the functioning of the aggregate economy is introduced and analyzed starting from basic aggregate data measurement and concepts. It provides an overview of macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rate, and inflation. The course also evaluates the scope for policy intervention to improve macroeconomic performance. In the first part, we study the traditional short run model, including goods market and financial markets. In the second part, we will extend it to include medium run developments, such as labor market and inflation dynamics. In the third part, we take a long run perspective and study factors influencing the long run growth potential of a country. 
Prerequisite: Principles of Economics

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

EC302 Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Wed 1730-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Eife


In this course, we apply our knowledge of macroeconomics to major historical and contemporary developments and trends in the functioning of national and international economies. The course is structured around three main themes: Financial markets and expectations; open economy macroeconomics; and economic policy. Firstly, we  examine the mechanics of financial markets and the role of expectations in influencing household savings and firm investment decisions. We then turn to pathologies such as house price bubbles and other financial “manias” including the tulip mania in 17th century Holland. Open Economy Macroeconomics extends our standard macroeconomic model to the open economy. Financial flows across borders impose restrictions on monetary policy, and the flow of goods and services across countries complicates the implementation of fiscal policy by governments. The study of crises and other pathologies is instructive in this respect. We consider, for example, how the 1992 crisis of the European Monetary System (EMS) reinforced the commitment of the EU member states to completing the transition to a single currency. We conclude the course by consolidating our understanding of monetary and fiscal policy, addressing such questions as: are there limits to countries’ debts and deficits? How significant is seigniorage for government budgets, both historically and in contemporary contexts? What is “money financing”? How do countries finance wars? What are the causes and consequences of periods of hyperinflation, as exemplified by Germany in the 1920s? What are the costs and benefits of inflation and is there an optimal inflation rate? Throughout, we apply both classical and contemporary macroeconomic theories to understand and explain these questions and phenomena.
Prerequisites: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

EC313 Environmental and Resource Economics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits



The course centers on the economic analysis of environmental issues. We will start by addressing market failures related to the environment and to the management of natural resources. Throughout the course we will discuss both global and local environmental issues (e.g., global and local resources held in common, energy production, climate change, water pollution, overfishing, etc.). Our goal will be to review and critique the policy instruments provided by economics and management science to overcome market failures. We also confront the practical issues affecting the application of these instruments, including the question of how monetary values can be assigned to environmental goods. 

× 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

FA104 Introduction to the Art of Porcelain-Making

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits

Professor(s): Maria Volokhova


Discover the world of “white gold”. This is what the precious porcelain has always been called because of its special properties: white, translucent, graceful, non-porous material that is harder than ceramics and not that easy to produce. During playful and creative experimentation with the material and through trying out a variety of decorative possibilities, we uncover the fundamental principles of porcelain casting. The course involves studying porcelain and its properties, creating an individual piece, building a plaster mold, and casting a limited edition in porcelain.

× 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

FA107 Ceramics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1400-1715
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.

× 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

FA113 Introduction to Glass Making

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1000-1300
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 €50 for participation in this course to cover material expenses.

× 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

FA260 Dance Out. (DO) liberation, possession and film

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1000-1315
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 media.

× 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
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA298 Virtual Reality Showcase

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 1400-1715
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.

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

HI240 Research Creation: Historical and Artistic Responses to 1945 and the Post-War Migration Regime

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Marion Detjen


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)
 
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 migration, displacement, and exile. This semester the BCB class focuses on 1945, the end of the Second World War 80 years ago, and its effects on and consequences for migration and movement globally. In the “Research” part of the class we will gain an overview of the relevant global historical events and the concept of the “migration regime” before delving into primary sources from three different regions. These include legal documents, pictures, historical film footage, and letters. We draw on historical methods used by history scholars to analyze such sources. Students then develop a topic for their individual projects on 1945 from a region of their choice, and research the original historical sources that they want to work with. In the “Creation” part of the class, students will translate their research into works of art – preferably zines, poems, collages, or other combinations of text and images that can be printed.
 
In three shared online sessions with the Bogotá and the Johannesburg groups we will learn about our partner classes’ responses to migration and the arts, and discuss individual student projects with a global perspective. Projects from all three campuses will be presented in public events in Berlin, Bogotá and Johannesburg, and on the OSUN Research Creation website. Our closing event at BCB will be a mixed faculty-student-artist conference on the significance of 1945 today that combines historical and artistic approaches.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

HI244 Global History Lab

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 US credits

Professor(s): Louise Thatcher


The Global History Dialogues Project was created to expand the range of voices that research and write global history. This course connects learners from around the world as they acquire the skills to become researchers and share new historical narratives with peers and the wider public. We will focus on histories of border crossing: stories of how people move, and how borders shape their movement.
Students develop an understanding of the fundamentals of the academic discipline of history and different approaches to global and social histories of mobility and bordering. Participants learn the practical skills of oral and archival history research, and discuss the ethics, etiquette, and potential pitfalls of research in local context. With these skills, students have the opportunity to conduct their own research project, from idea to presentation and publication. It is suitable for students with or without a background in academic history. This course is part of the Global History Lab (https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/research/projects-centres/global-history-lab/), which uses online and offline teaching to bring Bard College Berlin students together with students on campuses around the world, enabling intercultural exchange of ideas and global reflection about global history narratives. You can see research projects from previous students here: https://globalhistorydialogues.org/

× 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, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

HI328 East European Studies and Exiled Scholars During the Cold War

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ostap Sereda


Fulfills OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements

This course explores the academic culture and identity politics of East European exile scholarship in the West after WWII. It considers the institutional and intellectual history of emerging East European studies in North American and West European universities, and the influence of the “Cold War university” on the academic mapping and conceptual understanding of Eastern Europe. The course will focus on diverse individual scholars, public activists and academic projects concentrating on Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and the Baltic countries. The academic projects of East European migrant communities in the West are conventionally studied as efforts at preserving pre-Soviet ethnic heritages and forms of knowledge in émigré academic institutions.  In this course, their role and inner dynamic will be analyzed in a transnational perspective, with special attention to those exiled East European scholars who belonged to several national spheres and were key communicators between Western academia and their migrant communities. We will analyze how displacement influenced individual careers and research paths, and pay attention to the contested background of selected exiled scholars.  The course will highlight how academic communication across the Iron Curtain contributed to international academic exchange, and how the East European migrant communities tried to influence academic politics and historical study in the West. In the concluding part of the course, we will discuss whether and how the exiled East European scholars changed paradigms of Western approaches to Eastern Europe and offered an alternative to the Soviet academic projects.

× 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
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar: Working Cultures, Urban Cultures

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)

Professor(s): Florian Duijsens, Agata Lisiak


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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT120 Introduction to Critical and Cultural Theory

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 0900-1030
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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT142 Writing Fiction

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT212 Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 1230-1545
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Clare Wigfall


With over nineteen 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 historical fiction, 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 Annie Proulx to Carmen Maria Machado, or Katherine Mansfield to George Saunders, the selected reading will cast the net wide to throw you into 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 offer the opportunity to talk about how to submit work to literary journals, or space can be found to give focus to a subject uniquely inspiring to the group. Plus, there will of course be a chance to share new work with the world at the end-of-semester reading, always a well-attended event. 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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT220 The Short Story – A Modern Genre?

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Laura Scuriatti


What are the differences between tales, fables, parables and short stories? How have these short forms evolved in the history of literature, and in what way have they shaped other literary forms and literary criticism? Starting from early examples of tales in folklore and early modern literature, the course will center on the short story as a modern genre in the 19th and early 20th centuries in (mostly) European literature, and will offer in parallel a survey of major currents of literary criticism and theory, including Russian formalism, narratology, structuralism, theories focused on close and distant reading, cultural history, psychoanalytic criticism, critical theory and reader-response criticism. A particular focus of the course will be the modernist short story and its circulation: with its roots in the commercial world of popular magazines and newspapers, the short story evolved in the 20th century into a genre that was seen as particularly suited for experimental narrative techniques. What was perceived as a shift from a plot-driven to a more formal or analytical format also produced specific theories about short forms and their relation to the novel. The short story came to be regarded as a genre peculiarly well suited to addressing aspects of modernity. Among the authors read in class are: Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Zora Neale Hurston, Guy de Maupassant, James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, Henry James, Giovanni Verga.  The course is taught in collaboration with the Centre for European Modernism Studies (CEMS) at the University of Perugia (IT).

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT225 Children, Rights and Storytelling

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

Children are both specifically vulnerable and highly symbolic figures, requiring extra protection and lending themselves to specific kinds of policy and advocacy. In this course we will explore international systems and structures set up for protecting children’s rights, the way activists and allied writers and artists have historically used child cases to motivate action for children’s and wider human rights, and current issues and challenges in child protection. Across the course we will pay special attention to narrative and visual storytelling as a part of human rights work, exploring legal conventions, testimony, novels and films through a rhetorical lens and with an eye towards questions of ethics and efficacy. Case studies may include the “disappeared” children of the Dirty War in Argentina, the Australian “Stolen Generations” and North American and Chinese indigenous boarding school policy, child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, age determination in German and UK asylum cases, and both forcible displacement and the challenge of protecting children from conflict in Ukraine. As part of the OSUN Network Collaborative Course “Children’s Rights,” the seminar will also create space to learn with experts and students from across the network and about children’s rights issues impacting partner campuses. In addition to written exams and papers, students will develop creative or research projects (dossiers, advocacy resources, etc) in groups on selected topics.

In addition to written exams and papers, students will develop creative or research projects (dossiers, advocacy resources, etc) in groups on selected topics and class representatives from across OSUN partner institutions will come to Berlin in May to join us for an in-person student conference and expert-led trips to human rights institutions.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT237 The Odyssey

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1730-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): David Hayes


We will closely read Homer’s epic poem, with special attention to the theme of the difficult restoration, even rehabilitation, of its hero after twenty years of suffering in war and wandering. We will aim to understand the poem’s numerous fairy-tale or fantasy elements as meaningful parts of this story of a man’s struggle to “win his soul.” Concepts important to the poem that we will be discussing throughout the course include: hospitality, anger, eating, storytelling, camaraderie and friendship, sex and marriage, heroism and post-heroism; humanity, monstrousness, and divinity; coming-of-age and growing old; violence and intelligence; and the values of travel and home. It is recommended that students taking this class read Homer’s Iliad as preparation.

× 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, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT242 Utopian and Dystopian Visions

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Sladja Blažan


Fulfills Human Rights Certificate requirement

Fiction has always sought to create other words, either full of promising, paradisal allure, or laden with doom and disaster. What specifically characterizes these kinds of narratives, which seem to seek not to represent present-day reality as it is but to create a total system that is either alternative to current conditions, or presages a terrible future? Of course, both utopian and dystopian fictions do reflect the actual contexts in which they were written, bearing the imprint of social tensions, hopes, and fears, or perhaps even aiming to show that (in the case of dystopias) we have already arrived at the nightmare to come, or that (in utopian dreams) we have the capacity to transcend existing injustices and abuses. In this course, we will cover the history of modern utopian and dystopian literature from the Renaissance to the present, including the role of technology, the environment, and political and economic systems of thought. Our goal will also be to see how such texts examine the problems affecting their own historical moment. How did the perception of the nature of an ideal / defective society change? We will think about the values of literary utopias and dystopias for social theory. Our final goal will be to imagine differently. What kinds of stories are going to shift the prevailing narrative of what it means to be human? Authors addressed include, among others, Margaret Cavendish, Edward Bellamy, Begum Rokeya, E. M. Forster, Margaret Atwood, Vandana Singh, and Novuyo Rosa Tshuma.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT320 European Romanticism: The Spirit of an Age in Literature

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Jeffrey Champlin




This course studies key authors of German and English Romanticism who wrestle with the legacy of the French Revolution through literary renewal. Best known for its flights of imagination, the Romantic movement also envisions new modes of knowing and living together. Authors such as Percy Shelley and Hegel envision a bold expansion of Enlightenment promises. Yet the Terror and Napoleonic Wars also violently tested such aspirations. In this context, Wordsworth and the Grimm Brothers take a more concrete path, going to the people for new literary impulses. The formal innovation of writing of the time expresses this rich clash of universal and particular in poetry, aphorisms, fairy tales, essays, and novels. We'll place particular emphasis on authors who lived in Berlin, including Fichte, Hegel, Kleist, Hoffmann, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, and the nearby Schlegel brothers (in Jena). English authors include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Percy and Mary Shelley.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT333 German Literary History

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon & Wed 0900-1030
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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

LT348 Queer(ing) Narratives: Race, Gender and Sexuality in America

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 0900-1215 (online)
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Kathy-Ann Tan


This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (OOC)

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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

MA151 Introduction to Statistics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Eife


The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in economics and politics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing. 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.

This course also fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL115 Foundations of Political Theory

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 0900-1215
Credits:  8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Raysmith


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. 

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL277 Medical Ethics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 1000-1300
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 as we experience them today.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL323 The Ancient Quarrel Between Poetry and Philosophy

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Fri 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Gilad Nir


This course concerns the fraught relationship between aesthetics, politics and morality. Ever since Plato proposed to banish the poets from the ideal state, philosophers have sought to delimit the power of the arts and to bring it under control. From Rousseau through Hegel to Tolstoy, the worry that art might fail to serve a higher moral goal led to the relegation of art to an inferior status. Yet other philosophers — such as Schiller, Nietzsche, and Heidegger — have sided with poetry in this ancient quarrel, and recognized art’s claim to address human existence in ways that philosophy could not, and thereby to enhance both our individual experience and our political life. Recent discussions of the relevance of literature to the work done in moral philosophy — by Murdoch, Cavell, Nussbaum, and Diamond — show that the ancient quarrel is far from having been resolved. And for some contemporary philosophers, such as Jacques Rancière, its resolution requires a reconfiguration of our understanding, coming to see politics as inherently aesthetic and aesthetics as inherently political. 

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL343 Marxist Social and Political Thought

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Riaz Partha Khan


This course offers an introduction to Marxist social theory as a distinct tradition of political thought and action. Given the breadth of the subject matter, the course is organized around two overarching themes: (a) the relations of state, society, and individual as seen through (b) the link between theory and praxis in this tradition. The first part of the course explores the conceptual origins of Marx’s political thought in light of its encounters with German Idealism, the French Revolution, and British political economy. We begin with the early critique of Enlightenment and Hegelian thought in order to trace the origins of the materialist conception of history that grounds Marx’s political economy after 1857 in response to political and industrial revolutions. The second part constitutes the bulk of the course as we explore the diverse traditions and dialogues in Marxist thought and politics. We begin with the forms and critiques of organized Marxist-Leninist systems by sampling the works of different schools of emerging Marxist thought in the early twentieth century. Next, we examine the conceptions of society, state, law, ideology, class, and the individual in the Critical Theory of Frankfurt School and Structural Marxism, respectively, as well as post-Marxist thought. In the final part of the course, we turn to critical dialogues in Marxist theories of race, imperialism, feminism, postcolonialism, and culture.

× 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, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL360 Interpreting the French Revolution

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow


Fulfills OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements

The French revolution of 1789 was a source of inspiration and horror to many people beyond the country of its unfolding, and long after the time of its actual occurrence. The principles associated with the Revolution— popular sovereignty and the “rights of man”– and its resonant slogan of “liberty, equality, fraternity” called for a radical departure from a political system based on divine-right and social hierarchy. Yet within a few years, revolutionary change gave way to factional conflict, Terror and epic warfare on a planetary scale, the memory of which haunted the succeeding generations. Often considered as the birth date of modernity, 1789 and its aftershocks were also the crucible in which modern ideologies were forged. This is not only because the Revolution fashioned a global political vocabulary that inspired revolutionary struggles worldwide. Competing efforts to grasp its meaning, explain its causes, and evaluate its effects gave impetus to the main currents – conservatism, liberalism, socialism - that continue to shape modern politics. In this course, we’ll encounter the main personages and learn about the key phases and events that constituted the French Revolution. Taking Tocqueville as our guide, we’ll ponder the intellectual and practical causes of this world historical event, trace the controversies surrounding its interpretation, and consider its relevance today.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PL365 Germany After the Reelection of Donald Trump

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Timo Lochocki


Following Donald Trump’s reelection as President of the United States, Germany might be described as the world’s most powerful liberal democracy. The precise consequences of Trump’s return to power cannot yet be gauged, but it is certain that the other longstanding centers of influence in Europe, namely France and the UK, have been significantly weakened by internal polarization. In contrast to these other countries, Germany’s population is growing significantly, and it can boast much lower levels of public debt, allowing potential future investment in infrastructure and services for citizens. We can also expect that Germany’s next government will be led by a political party committed to the democratic process, which can no longer be an automatic expectation in the French or US contexts. In essence, therefore, Germany enjoys auspicious advantages in an uncertain and dangerous world. What will it make of these advantages? How will it stabilize and preserve democratic institutions? What is in store in the realm of economic and social policy? How will Germany’s relations with other countries develop? And what will be the implications of the US election for its role in the European Union and its foreign and security policy more generally?

× 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, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS119 Nation-States and Democracy

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Riaz Partha Khan, Boris Vormann, Aysuda Kölemen


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS146 Globalization and International Relations

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715

Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock, Aaron Allen


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.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS179 Postcolonial Theory and Politics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1545-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Aysuda Kölemen


How do the forms of knowledge produced by nineteenth-century European imperialism continue to influence the manner in which formerly colonized countries and regions are perceived and understood today? This course examines the ways in which the discipline of political science has been shaped by an historical power imbalance between Europe and the 'Global South,' and explores how postcolonial theory--the study of the conditions and process of decolonization--can be applied to that field. We consider issues such as the material and cultural impact of colonialism; movements for national liberation; efforts at nation-building, in order to critically examine the modes in which scholarly knowledge about non-Western history, politics and society have been constructed and reproduced. In the second part of the course, we contextualize postcolonial theory by surveying selected contexts and exploring the relationship between the political and the postcolonial. Our inquiry will be structured thematically, addressing--along with colonialism and decolonization--topics such as the nature of the authoritarian state, varieties of nationalism, the politics of gender and sexuality, cultural politics, the relationship between the military and the state, development and humanitarian aid, forms of war, revolution, and the phenomenon of enforced population displacement.

× 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, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS185 Introduction to Policy Analysis

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1545-1715

Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

This course introduces students to policy analysis and policy making. 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.

× 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, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

PS215 Arab Politics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1545-1900

Professor(s): Usahma Darrah


This course is designed to introduce students to the politics of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including the Arab Gulf States. The 22 countries that make up the Arab League (AL) are diverse but they share a common language and a public space. We will explore Islam and its historic development, as well as the interaction of Arab peoples with European and American power. Second, we will use foundational concepts from history, political science, sociology and political economy to study the emergence of modern Arab States and their role in International Relations. This will also include Arab relations with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Finally, we will focus on internal and development issues that drive regional politics in the Maghreb, Egypt, the Mashreq and the Arab Gulf States. 

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS302 Global Institutions and the Global South

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert


This course focuses on examining global public policies and their impacts on lower-income countries located in the Global South. We understand ‘global’ public policy to mean policies which have a direct or indirect cross-border or transnational effect. This includes policies developed and enforced at the national level which ‘reach’ countries in the Global South, as well as policies established at the intergovernmental or international level which set out rules for many countries. The aim of the course is for students to understand which questions to ask and generally to critically examine the analytical tools available to assess global policy impacts on economies, communities, and the environment in the Global South. An important aspect of our discussions will be understanding the ways in which different policymaking institutions function and the influence different actors (and their politics) have on the policymaking process and outcomes. The specific global policies and issues covered in the course are climate change, intellectual property rights rules (and their impact on vaccines), international trade, international labor standards, migration, and foreign aid.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS314 Postcolonial Political Economy I: The Struggle for National Liberation and Self-Determination in the Global South

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 0900-1215

Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock


This is the first in a series of advanced seminars studying the quest for self-determination and national liberation in the Global South. The ‘Global South’, a contested term in itself, has served to name not only the persistence of a bifurcated world order but also to designate the aspiration for stronger collective action by formerly colonized countries. This aspiration is also expressed in terms like “Bandung” the ‘New International Economic Order” from the 1960s and 1970s, and the “G77+” or the “BRICS,” with its expanded membership in recent years. “National liberation” similarly denotes the attempts to overcome colonial oppression, and the ability of the nation and the people comprising it to express themselves and to pursue their priorities. To understand the promises and pitfalls of national liberation and self-determination in the Global South historically and in the present, we consider the obstacles encountered in this process, and critically review two dominant explanatory narratives: the continued impact and operation—in new forms—of imperialism, and the emphasis on political incapacity and corruption. Choosing 3-4 country case studies proposed by students taking the class (perhaps focusing on their own nation of origin), we will jointly investigate their history and current efforts to escape from the legacy and present-day encroachments of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. Colonialism has taken different forms across the world, and has left varying traces in Africa, Asia and the Americas, depending on the historical moment at which the imperial power ceased direct territorial control, and depending on the degree of conflict and interference that characterized the independence and post-independence phase. Colonialism gave rise to a range of revolutionary and transformative projects in its wake, which pursued divergent programs of development and change. Ideally drawing on a tricontinental selection of case studies, we will learn about these particularities. Engaging with the relevant historical, sociological, anthropological and political-economic literature on the country contexts we choose, we will get a nuanced and broad understanding of their historical trajectory, their contemporary challenges, and social and political potential for the future. Over the seminar, and in future iterations of this seminar, we may create a web-based repository of histories of the Global South’s quest for self-determination and a short documentary movie as part of the final graded component in addition to written work.

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS355 Building Sustainable Peace

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1545-1715
Credits:

8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

How is peace sustained? Why does peace last in some contexts and break down in others? Armed conflict and state repression continue to dominate contemporary affairs, while systematic challenges hinder processes of just and sustainable peace. In parallel to these developments, a complex range of initiatives arising from civil society and social movements, in search of sustainable peace, have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. The aims of this course are, firstly, to introduce the various causes of direct and structural violence. Secondly, we look at the conditions under which peace can be achieved, and the obstacles faced in securing peace in the short- and long-term; while also highlighting the different strategies that can be designed. Thirdly, the course delves into a wide range of armed conflict case studies and examines the peace processes and movements promoting nonviolent social change. In so doing, we reflect on applying theory to current global and local events involving reconciliation processes. Lastly, we examine contemporary debates on the various post-conflict tools - such as power-sharing systems, disarmament and reintegration (DDR), and security sector reforms (SSR) - analyzing their relevance to creating reconciliation between adversaries, along with reconstruction, and a sustainable and durable peace.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS369 Critical Geopolitics

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits:

8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s):  Boris Vormann


As a field of study, geopolitics examines the spatial dimensions of interstate power relations. Modern thinking about geopolitics emerged at the turn to the 20th century, as the British Empire unraveled and new colonial and hegemonial disputes erupted. After World War II, geopolitics lost much of its analytical lure, due to the fact that the Nazi regime had built many of its political claims on such geostrategic considerations (Lebensraum). After the fall of the Iron Curtain, new transportation and communication technologies seemed to make distance and space irrelevant categories for political thinking and action, given the plummeting of transaction costs and globalization processes. Climate change and depleting resources, renationalization tendencies, large-scale infrastructural development projects and resurfacing territorial conflicts have all led to a reinvigoration of geopolitical thinking and practice in the very recent past. What potential futures does this imply for cooperation and for conflict? This course critically engages conceptual and theoretical texts in geopolitics, examines historical examples, and explores three of today’s most pertinent geopolitical relationships: China’s one-belt-one road initiative, Russia’s territorial ambitions, and the reinvention of transatlantic relations.

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS372 Community, Civil Society, and Social Movements

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 0900-1215

Professor(s): Kalia Sumrin


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

Collective action is a necessary condition for any form of change– social, political, or economic. Often emerging in the realm of civil society, collective action can be organized formally such as through NGOs, International NGOS (INGOS), advocacy groups, welfare, and charity-based organizations, informally such as through community-based organizations, identity politics, social movements, or have a hybrid format such as social enterprises and government sponsored NGOs (GoNGOs). In its interaction with the state and the market, collective action can be pursued for different agendas. The aim of this course is to introduce students to theories of collective action, civil society, and social movement. Students will engage with concepts such as social capital, frames, contention, civility, citizenship etc drawn from literature on sociology of organizations, economic sociology, and political sociology. Each session will involve a class activity where we will apply these theories and concepts to real world case studies from a wide range of contexts such as Black Lives Matter movement in the US, business lobbies in Europe, peasants’ unions in India, migrant workers’ rights organizations in Southeast Asia, environmental organizations in Africa, and International NGOs working cross-nationally. Our focus will be to understand how the organizational mission, structure, and leadership, interact with the broader social and political context to produce different forms and agendas of collective actions. More broadly, the course will orient students on how the local, regional, national and the global are linked through identitarian, spatial, digital, or imagined communities of action, and how they lead to changes in society, market, and state.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PS390 German Foreign Policy and National Security Decision-Making

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Aaron Allen


This multidisciplinary course explores the structural evolution of the Federal Republic of Germany’s role in the world since the end of World War II to the current Zeitenwende. Through an interactive approach, students will be able to contextualize contemporary German foreign policy challenges from their geographic, material, and ideational roots. Furthermore, course activities and assignments are tailored to assist students in becoming foreign policy practitioners fully capable of applying national security decision theories. The curriculum threads together historical cases, international relations scholarship, and security studies in order to provide a holistic understanding of all the constituent parts influencing Germany’s external posture. Why is contemporary Germany often referred to as a reluctant leader?  What are the unique attributes of German-style foreign policy that are currently undergoing reconsideration by the incumbent Ampelkoalition? A critical appraisal of topics such as the institutions shaping elite policy-making, the legacy of the Cold War and reunification, relations with the European Union, and the triangulation between the great powers of the United States, Russia and China offers students the necessary tools to answer these core questions. The complementary emphasis on professional development will allow participants to garner practical skills through simulations, seminar debates, and presentations.

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

PT149 Civic Engagement and Engaged Research: Berlin Lab

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1545-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

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 local government works in Berlin and how concerned Berliners have addressed the shortage of adequate housing and the city’s colonial past; more generally how to work with and against existing institutional and legal structures; 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. 

× 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, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

PT325 The European Union: Institutions, Policies, Procedures 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Mon 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Berit Ebert


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

The institutions and political processes of the European Union (EU), summed up in the concept of supranationality, offer a unique construct of international collaboration that was developed with clear goals by founding members. This course will analyze the institutions that have developed over the more than 70-year history of the Union: the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the Committee of the Regions, as well as the European Economic and Social Committee.  We will also compare the institutions’ supranational characteristics with those of the nation-state and of international organizations. Major cases tried in the European Court of Justice and key legal principles that have shaped the Union’s political advances will be interpreted. We will discuss some of the European Union’s current political developments, among them the European electoral-law reform, the reform of the judicial system in Poland, the rule-of-law mechanism, gender equality, as well as migration and asylum regulations. For the latter, we will be joined by Deborah Amos, Ferris Professor in Residence at Princeton University and her students taking a trip to Berlin in October. Students will engage with original EU policy documents to acquire the skills of analyzing and interpreting them. At the end of the seminar, they will have a solid knowledge of the functioning of the Union’s institutions, and the capacity to evaluate legal texts, treaty provisions, and policy approaches, enabling a clearer judgement regarding the future of the European project.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

SC301 Performing Science and Medicine: The Lab, the Clinic and the Public Realm

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Sasha Bergstrom-Katz, Michele Luchetti


Suitable for multi-disciplinary artists and humanities students alike, this course addresses the relationship between science, medicine, and society through a discussion of critical texts and creative activities inspired by art, performance, and theater. It uses works of theater and contemporary art alongside critical texts from the history, philosophy, and sociology of science and medicine to develop a conversation about the ways in which performances of science in the laboratory, the clinic and in the public sphere communicate key concepts and practices. These include ideas of objectivity, rationality, trust, power, as well as modes of faith and healing. The increasing complexity of science and its interactions with the social realm call for an expansion of traditional humanistic methodologies to encompass approaches that foster personal engagement, curiosity, creativity, and active criticism. For this reason, the course integrates seminar-style discussions of core historical, philosophical, and sociological topics on science and society with practical sessions that rely on arts-based activities to stimulate a creative first-person engagement with these topics. Further, it contributes to a timely study of the relationship between art and science. The overarching goal of the course is twofold. On the one hand, it aims at providing participants with key skills to critically engage and discuss issues related to science and society; on the other hand, it exposes them to a vast array of arts-based activities through writing, performance and art-making workshops during which they can act on their critical engagement and exercise a number of skills that are widely transferable within and outside of academia and art. Divided into three sections: Performing Experiments, Performing Medicine, and Public Performances, the course aims at a new understanding of the relation between science and medicine. 

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

SE301 Evidence and Inquiry: Open Source Research for Human Rights

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Fred Abrahams and Marija Ristic


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirement
 
This course introduces students to the rapidly evolving field of open source investigations, including the tools and techniques to document and expose human rights violations. Beginning with a survey of the field, including the origins and developments of open source research, the course offers hand-on training in the skills needed to discover, preserve, verify and present evidence of abuse, with a continued focus on ethical considerations, digital security and the well-being of researchers. Using investigations from human rights groups, media, and courts, the course will critically assess the impact and limitations of open source research in advancing accountability, rule of law and social change. Guest speakers from Berlin and elsewhere will share their insights and experiences.

× 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, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

SO202 A Lexicon of Migration

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon & Wed 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Agata Lisiak


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

As one of the most important features of today's globalized world, migration remains highly debated on local, national, and international levels. Migration is assigned various meanings and statuses (high-skilled and low-skilled, legal and illegal, documented and undocumented, forced and voluntary, restricted and unrestricted), which are, in turn, contested in multiple ways through grassroots activism, academic and artistic interventions, as well as the work of local and international NGOs. Today, migration affects nearly everyone regardless of their own migratory status, and many contemporary societies – especially, but not exclusively their urban centers – have been described as postmigrant, multicultural or superdiverse. This course critically explores migration from global and local perspectives, emphasizing the postcolonial and neocolonial power geometries that produce specific forms of human mobility. Drawing on a range of primary texts (UN documents, first-person narratives, poetry) and analytical contributions from migration studies, cultural studies, anthropology, urban sociology, human geography, and philosophy, students will examine diverse social experiences and meanings of migration, as well as a range of related concepts such as belonging, border, citizenship, refugeedom, and solidarity, among others. Through in-class discussions, guest lectures, and off-campus visits students will deepen understanding of migration regimes, migration discourses, and migrant infrastructures in various geographical and historical contexts. Designed by scholars and educators from across the Bard International Network (AlQuds Bard College in Palestine, American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, Bard College in the United States, and Bard College Berlin in Germany), the course aims at advancing students’ understanding of migration both in the specific local contexts in which they study, as well as from international perspectives. Through a series of joint assignments, students will have a unique opportunity to engage with their peers and professors from other campuses.

× 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: Art and Aesthetics, Artistic Practice, Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric
Module: Elective

SO324 Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 0900-1030
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. 

× 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

IS104 Forms of Love

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1045-1215 OR Tue & Thur 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Giulia Clabassi, Sinem Kılıç, David Hayes, Geoff Lehman, Hans Stauffacher


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.

× 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

IS123 Academic Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 0900-1215
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.

× 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

IS212 Early Modern Science

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1045-1215 OR Tue & Thur 1400-1530 OR Tue & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Maria Avxentevskaya, Gilad Nir, Thomas Raysmith, Hans Stauffacher, Giulia Clabassi


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.

× Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core, Study Abroad
Concentration: Core
Module: Modernism

IS322 Modernism

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1045-1215 OR Tue & Thur 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): James Harker, Laura Scuriatti, Clio Nicastro


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.

× 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, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

AH230 Art and War

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Gregor Quack


Fulfills OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements

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.

× 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, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

AH318 Spaces of Appearance: Exhibitions as Counter-Public Spheres

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Elisa R. Linn


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

The seminar addresses curatorial practices in relation to counter-public spheres and spaces of representation. It moves between curatorial theory and exhibition-making and unfolds around specific sites and types of material, archival and theoretical. We draw on Hannah Arendt’s idea of space as created through actions, as well as José Esteban Muñoz's concept of "disidentification," to explore the possibility of exhibitions and performances that are site-specific, rooted in everyday life, and challenging to the closed institutional frameworks that can constitute the dominant public sphere. Our key material frames of reference will be the collections of the Schwules Museum Berlin, and the site of which Bard College Berlin is part, a former embassy quarter of the now defunct German Democratic Republic. Other inspirations for our work include Echoes of the Brother Countries (2024), Simon Njami’s concept of Xenopolis, and interdisciplinary activist and artistic initiatives, including the GDR's Sonntags Club e.V. or Botschaft e.V.

× 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: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

AH320 The Exhibition – A New Western Ritual?

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Dorothea von Hantelmann


Museums and exhibitions derive their social function from the fact that they uphold certain values and concepts within society. Looking at art spaces historically as a series of decisive moments of transformation, we will explore the format of the exhibition as a modern ritual site in which central aspects of the modern socio-economic order – such as the individual, the object, or notions of progress – were, and continue to be, practiced and cultivated. What can the early modern cabinets of curiosities in the 16th century tell us about the emergence of an initial consumer culture? Can we retrace the entire history of individualization by following the increase of wall space between paintings in 19th- and 20th-century galleries? And what does the current transformation of white cubes into time-based experiential spaces tell us about early 21st-century societies? Combining historical and theoretical approaches, we’ll draw from sources of museum history, anthropology, and cultural history in order to understand the changing social role of art institutions over time. Looking at utopian institutional models of the 1960s and a selection of contemporary approaches, we will then also discuss the parameters of new arts institutions for today. We may find that the transformations of our epoch are asking for a new kind of ritual, to follow and perhaps replace that of the exhibition.

× 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: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

AR204 Art and Interpretation

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Geoff Lehman


Describing a painting, the art historian Leo Steinberg wrote: “The picture conducts itself the way a vital presence behaves. It creates an encounter.” In this course, we will encounter works of art to explore the specific dialogue each creates with a viewer and the range of interpretive possibilities it offers. More specifically, the course will examine various interpretive approaches to art, including formal analysis, iconography, social and historical contextualism, aestheticism, phenomenology, and psychoanalysis. Most importantly, we will engage interpretation in ways that are significant both within art historical discourse and in addressing larger questions of human experience and (self-)knowledge, considering the dialogue with the artwork in its affective (emotional) as well as its intellectual aspects. The course will be guided throughout by sustained discussion of a small number of individual artworks, with a focus on pictorial representation (painting, drawing, photography), although sculpture and installation art will also be considered. We will look at works from a range of different cultural traditions, and among the artists we will focus on are Xia Gui, Giorgione, Bruegel, Mirza Ali, Velázquez, Hokusai, Manet, Picasso, Man Ray, Martin, and Sherman. Readings will focus on texts in art history and theory but also include philosophical and psychoanalytic texts (Pater, Wölfflin, Freud, Merleau-Ponty, Barthes, Clark, and Krauss, among others). Visits to Berlin museums to experience works of art firsthand are an integral part of the course.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Microeconomics

EC210 Microeconomics (Group A)

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Israel Waichman


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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Microeconomics

EC210 Microeconomics (Group B)

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Israel Waichman


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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Global Economic Systems

EC302 Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue & Wed 1730-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Eife


In this course, we apply our knowledge of macroeconomics to major historical and contemporary developments and trends in the functioning of national and international economies. The course is structured around three main themes: Financial markets and expectations; open economy macroeconomics; and economic policy. Firstly, we  examine the mechanics of financial markets and the role of expectations in influencing household savings and firm investment decisions. We then turn to pathologies such as house price bubbles and other financial “manias” including the tulip mania in 17th century Holland. Open Economy Macroeconomics extends our standard macroeconomic model to the open economy. Financial flows across borders impose restrictions on monetary policy, and the flow of goods and services across countries complicates the implementation of fiscal policy by governments. The study of crises and other pathologies is instructive in this respect. We consider, for example, how the 1992 crisis of the European Monetary System (EMS) reinforced the commitment of the EU member states to completing the transition to a single currency. We conclude the course by consolidating our understanding of monetary and fiscal policy, addressing such questions as: are there limits to countries’ debts and deficits? How significant is seigniorage for government budgets, both historically and in contemporary contexts? What is “money financing”? How do countries finance wars? What are the causes and consequences of periods of hyperinflation, as exemplified by Germany in the 1920s? What are the costs and benefits of inflation and is there an optimal inflation rate? Throughout, we apply both classical and contemporary macroeconomic theories to understand and explain these questions and phenomena.
Prerequisites: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Choice, Resources, and Development

EC313 Environmental and Resource Economics

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Fri 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits



The course centers on the economic analysis of environmental issues. We will start by addressing market failures related to the environment and to the management of natural resources. Throughout the course we will discuss both global and local environmental issues (e.g., global and local resources held in common, energy production, climate change, water pollution, overfishing, etc.). Our goal will be to review and critique the policy instruments provided by economics and management science to overcome market failures. We also confront the practical issues affecting the application of these instruments, including the question of how monetary values can be assigned to environmental goods. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Elective

EC322 Geographies of Global Capitalism

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Thur 1545-1900
Credits:

 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Mikael Omstedt


This course examines the geographies of global capitalism. Taking an “integral” approach, the course introduces students to the historical geographies, governing logics, and foundational institutions of capitalism as an encompassing social order, not just an economic system. The course has two emphases: (i) an introduction to capitalism as a historically and geographically specific social order, bound in time and space; and (ii) an overview of how market relations interact with a complex array of non-market relations that are, indeed, fundamental to the continual reproduction of this order. A key objective will be to familiarize students with the basic outlines of capitalism as a particular way of organizing the political economy of modern societies, and to introduce them to the various ways that it has been theorized in the critical social sciences and humanities. We will consider the origins of capitalism and its global expansion; the interaction between social relations of production and the circulation of commodities and money; capitalism’s relationship to race and gender; the role of the state; and capitalism’s embeddedness within—and transformation of—the natural world. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA103 Found Fragments and Layered Lines: Mixed-Media Techniques for Drawing and Collage

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 0930-1245
Credits:

 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. 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 in order 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 composition, 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 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, so this course will require a significant amount of time working outside of class sessions. Prospective students should email their questions to the professor directly.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA106 Beginners Black and White Photography Class: The Slow Photo

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 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 a historical walk through parts of the city. 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 historical 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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA108 Beginners in Digital Photography - Your own point of view

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 0900-1215
Credits:  8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
 

Professor(s): Carla Åhlander


This course is designed for beginners who are interested in exploring digital photography both through basic technical strategies and creative expression. Students learn the fundamentals of the camera, including exposure, composition, and lighting. Alongside mastering technical skills, participants engage in picture analysis, examining how images communicate meaning and emotion. Throughout the course, we complete a series of assignments and longer projects that emphasize creative exploration, including experiments with controlled lighting. The course centers on regular in-class critiques and discussions. A key focus will be different kinds of portrait photography, approached from multiple perspectives with a view to exploring the construction of identity and memory. Themes such as family, gender, history, class, stereotypes, and questions of representation in general, will guide the creative process. Lectures provide inspiration from a range of photo artists who have dealt with similar themes in various ways, from Jo Spence to Juan Pablo Echeverri. In addition, we reflect on photography's role in shaping societal clichés, while considering the balance between uniqueness and originality in our own work.
By the end of the course, students will not only gain confidence in their technical abilities but also deepen their understanding of photography as a powerful medium for self-expression and social commentary.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA110 Beginning Sculpture 

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1000-1200
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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA112 Marble Stone Sculpture

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Fri 1000-1300
Credits:  8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
 

Professor(s): Raphael Beil, Tobia Silvotti


This seminar introduces students to basic techniques of working stone by hand, using simple, traditional tools such as hammers and various chisels. The aim is to create our own marble sculpture. Along the way, we learn how to handle the necessary tools, from the first rough work, to the differentiation and finally the partial grinding and polishing of the marble. We learn the basics of three-dimensional form, proportion and structure. In order to create our own work of art, we also discuss the possible sources of creativity, and ways of accessing inspiration and the imagination to create a very individual sculpture. The seminar will conclude with a presentation of all sculptures and joint analysis of the different artistic languages present in the works. The workshops will be accompanied by lectures on the works and public sculpture projects of Raphael Beil and other contemporary sculptors. Weather permitting, our workshops will take place in a sheltered beautiful garden in Reinickendorf on the grounds of Monopol. Tools, possibly light machinery and work tables as well as work protection will be provided. No previous experience is necessary to participate in the course.
Please note there is a fee of €40 for participation in this course to cover material expenses.

× 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: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA188 The Art of Making Videos

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Charity Ellis


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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA215 Painting and Beyond

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 0930-1245
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 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 to “see” 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, and 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 diverse art history references, exploring the works of various artists, including their mode of perception, background and historical context. These insights will open a space through which a deeper understanding of the art form is gained, and students can incorporate this new perspective into their work. The concrete framework for this course includes individual and group discussions, as well as practical exercises in the form of short workshops and exhibition discussions linked to excursions.  

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA235 Chronicle of a season - Documentary Filmmaking

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits

Professor(s): Janina Schabig


This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

Adapted from the title of Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch’s famous 1960 Paris documentary "Chronicle of a Summer", this is a joint film production course taught simultaneously on six different campuses (Bard Annandale, Bard Berlin, Al Quds, AUCA, BRAC, EHU). The goal of the course is to create a cinematic chronicle of each locality. The theme of these synchronized chronicles is also derived from Morin and Rouch’s film; each chronicle takes as its prompt the deceptively simple question, “Are you happy?”. By using this device, Chronicle of a Summer reveals a city filled with inhabitants considering ways in which colonialism, war, capital, race, and gender shape their personal and social experiences. In our course, we aim to capture the complexities of contemporary life in specific locations within a limited time frame, guided by the similarly evocative question: “What is your dream?”

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA308 Finding the Stories

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Carla Åhlander


This course combines photo analysis and practical photo work. We develop our awareness of what constitutes a narrative, and consider how the meaning of a photograph is created. In addition to producing their own photo series, the participants will become skilled at looking at, interpreting 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 subject-matter?" or “Where does this narrative begin or end?"

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA317 Advanced Painting: Illusionistic Surfaces

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 0930-1245
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, and perspectival space; while also 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 arts building at Monopol Berlin.
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]

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA325 The Photo Zine: A Subversive Phenomenon

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
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 functions as a space for visual storytelling, 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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FA351 Wannsee: Laboratory for the Future

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1000-1315
Credits:  8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
 

Professor(s): Avi Feldman


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

Taught by curator and writer Avi Feldman, who runs a gallery in Wannsee, this course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of a district of 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).

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

FM210 The Transformation of the World: An Introduction to Film Studies

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon & Thur 1400-1530, Tue 1930-2200 (Film Screening)
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Matthias Hurst


French film theorist, critic and filmmaker Jean Mitry claimed that film connects with a “deep psychological reality and satisfies our desire to understand the world and each other in a powerful yet necessarily partial way. The aesthetics of film is based on this psychological truth and need. And so cinema is the greatest of the arts because it meets this need by showing us the process of the transformation of the world." This course is an introduction to Film Studies addressing the basic ideas of film history and theory, cinematic language and visual storytelling, while at the same time exploring the function and the aesthetics of film as artistic expression that comments on our experience of reality and its transformations through profound historical, political, technological, cultural and social processes in the 20th and early 21st centuries. We will watch and discuss films by, among others, Claire Denis, Federico Fellini, Ari Folman, Werner Herzog, David Lynch, Terrence Malick, Yasujirȏ Ozu, and Orson Welles that mirror the human condition, our relation to the world and the critical consciousness of the modern and postmodern age, in which unsettling change seems to be the only constant.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

FM326 Time Travel in Film

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1930-2200 (Film Screening), Tue 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Matthias Hurst


Film is a time machine. Its invention in 1895 coincided with the publication of H. G. Wells' famous novel The Time Machine, which treated time as a fourth dimension through which we can move in any direction. Film invites us to travel to the past, to revive and experience what is long gone. It also shows us visions of the future, representing ideas and concepts of things to come. And while the very structure of filmic storytelling is based largely on "the manipulation of time" (D. Bordwell), the medium and its narrative possibilities seem to be unlimited as regards temporal explorations, to a degree that is bewildering, even mind-bending. This course is dedicated to the variety of filmic different approaches to the concept of time and to the theme of time travel in narrative films. Our examples include The Time Machine (1960, George Pal), Last Year at Marienbad (1961, Alain Resnais), La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker) Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis), Twelve Monkeys (1995, Terry Gilliam), The Butterfly Effect (2004, Eric Press and J. Mackye Gruber), Safety Not Guaranteed (2012, Colin Trevorrow), Predestination (2014, Michael and Peter Spierig), Tenet (2020, Christopher Nolan). We also discuss different theoretical and philosophical implications of these time travel films.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Politics
Module: Elective

MA110 Mathematical Foundations 

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Wed 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Stephan Müller


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. After successfully completing this course they will have to take (the more advanced) Mathematics for Economics course in the fall semester.

This course also fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Statistics

MA151 Introduction to Statistics 

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Eife


The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in economics and politics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing. 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.

This course also fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Electives, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

SC215 Reflecting Human-Environment Relations (Through Sound)

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Wed 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Francisca Rocha Gonçalves


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

In light of the serious impact of human activities on the environment, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and noise pollution, we must rethink our relationship with the natural world. A significant barrier to this reimagining is the long-lasting division between ‘culture’ and ‘nature’ in Western thought. Through a cross-disciplinary approach that includes acoustic ecology, the arts, environmental artistic activism, and natural history, this foundational course reflects on recent and ongoing efforts to dismantle such a divide, providing students with a blend of theoretical and practical knowledge. Students will critically examine the reasons behind the societal separation of nature and culture and how this division has shaped our environmental perceptions and actions. They will develop a deeper appreciation of the interconnectedness of all life forms and the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in addressing complex ecological issues. Approaches include investigating how soundscapes and acoustic ecology can challenge conventional boundaries of the nature-culture divide, reflecting on the potential of creative expression to re-connect culture and nature, examining the role of environmental artistic activism in addressing noise pollution and ecosystem impact, and engaging in hands-on practical activities and fieldwork to connect theory with real-world experiences. Alongside the practical activities, students will engage with critical theoretical readings by thinkers such as Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, and Jane Bennett, as well as composers and sound ecologists such as Murray Schafer and Hildegard Westerkamp. These readings will offer insights into the historical separation of nature and culture, the contemporary efforts to overcome this divide, the broader implications of the Anthropocene, and how artists work to create awareness of the environmental crisis.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

TH161 Performance Practice

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue 0900-1300
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Siegmar Zacharias

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Literature and Rhetoric, Politics
Module: Elective

TH209 Curtain up: Theater in Berlin

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Nina Tecklenburg


Berlin’s performing arts landscape is absolutely unique: with seven state ensemble theaters, large-scale institutions hosting international theater, dance and performance festivals, three prestigious opera houses, and a vibrant independent performing arts scene including renowned theater artists, groups and venues, Berlin is one of the most popular performing arts locations in the world. In this course, we will attend various performances at theater institutions and independent venues (such as HAU, Volksbühne, Gorki Theater, Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Berliner Ensemble, Sophiensaele, Komische Oper, Schaubühne, Ballhaus Ost, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Deutsches Theater) to train our artistic and intellectual capacities in watching and analyzing performances and their specific contexts. In addition to studying the history, artistic program, and institutional framework of different Berlin venues and their artists, this course offers an introduction to becoming a professional theatergoer and performance expert with a nuanced understanding of the aesthetics and politics of theatrical events. By learning to apply methods of performance analysis, artistic response, reflection formats, or performative writing, students develop skills essential for anyone interested in performance making, critiquing and curating. Classes will be held alternately in the theater and on campus.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentrations: Economics, Ethics and Politics, Politics
Module: Elective

TH326 Adapting Novels for the Stage: Virginia Woolf’s Orlando

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Thur 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Julia Hart


Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece Orlando is fairytale-like portrait of a young aristocrat who barely ages over the course of four hundred years and seven historical periods, changing gender and witnessing the state of flux affecting people, systems, nature and what is right or wrong. Orlando is funny, malicious, provocative, and an exploration of gender fluidity. How can theater artists attempt to dramatize a famous and complex novel such as Orlando and transform it into material for the theatre? How do you even begin to create your own theatrical language or tackle practical issues like conjuring the sense of time passing on stage? This seminar will explore different contemporary methods of adapting literary works for the theater. Our work will not be solely about reproducing, but will focus more on reinvention.  First, students will learn ways to develop a conceptual approach to creating a piece of theatre inspired by the themes, language, and story of Woolf’s Orlando. In a workshop setting, students will work together as directors and dramaturges to adapt sections of Orlando into a script for the stage. In the second half of the semester, students will form teams to further develop their scripts and experiment with stage ideas in the rehearsal room as actors and directors. Throughout the semester, we will also study and examine director Katie Mitchell’s 2019 production of Orlando at the Schaubühne Berlin and other recent /German theater productions of Orlando at the Schauspiel Hannover, Deutsches Theater and the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

EC322 Geographies of Global Capitalism

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Thur 1545-1900
Credits:

 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Mikael Omstedt


This course examines the geographies of global capitalism. Taking an “integral” approach, the course introduces students to the historical geographies, governing logics, and foundational institutions of capitalism as an encompassing social order, not just an economic system. The course has two emphases: (i) an introduction to capitalism as a historically and geographically specific social order, bound in time and space; and (ii) an overview of how market relations interact with a complex array of non-market relations that are, indeed, fundamental to the continual reproduction of this order. A key objective will be to familiarize students with the basic outlines of capitalism as a particular way of organizing the political economy of modern societies, and to introduce them to the various ways that it has been theorized in the critical social sciences and humanities. We will consider the origins of capitalism and its global expansion; the interaction between social relations of production and the circulation of commodities and money; capitalism’s relationship to race and gender; the role of the state; and capitalism’s embeddedness within—and transformation of—the natural world. 

× 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

GM101 German Beginner A1

Spring 2025

Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits



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× 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

GM150 German Conversation 

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Mon & Wed 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner


     

× 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

GM151 German Beginner A2 

Spring 2025

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

GM201 German Intermediate B1

Spring 2025

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

GM251 German Intermediate B2 

Spring 2025

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

GM352 German Advanced C1/C2

Spring 2025

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1000-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer


 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences

HI244 Global History Lab

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 US credits

Professor(s): Louise Thatcher


The Global History Dialogues Project was created to expand the range of voices that research and write global history. This course connects learners from around the world as they acquire the skills to become researchers and share new historical narratives with peers and the wider public. We will focus on histories of border crossing: stories of how people move, and how borders shape their movement.
Students develop an understanding of the fundamentals of the academic discipline of history and different approaches to global and social histories of mobility and bordering. Participants learn the practical skills of oral and archival history research, and discuss the ethics, etiquette, and potential pitfalls of research in local context. With these skills, students have the opportunity to conduct their own research project, from idea to presentation and publication. It is suitable for students with or without a background in academic history. This course is part of the Global History Lab (https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/research/projects-centres/global-history-lab/), which uses online and offline teaching to bring Bard College Berlin students together with students on campuses around the world, enabling intercultural exchange of ideas and global reflection about global history narratives. You can see research projects from previous students here: https://globalhistorydialogues.org/

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

HI328 East European Studies and Exiled Scholars During the Cold War

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ostap Sereda


Fulfills OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements

This course explores the academic culture and identity politics of East European exile scholarship in the West after WWII. It considers the institutional and intellectual history of emerging East European studies in North American and West European universities, and the influence of the “Cold War university” on the academic mapping and conceptual understanding of Eastern Europe. The course will focus on diverse individual scholars, public activists and academic projects concentrating on Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and the Baltic countries. The academic projects of East European migrant communities in the West are conventionally studied as efforts at preserving pre-Soviet ethnic heritages and forms of knowledge in émigré academic institutions.  In this course, their role and inner dynamic will be analyzed in a transnational perspective, with special attention to those exiled East European scholars who belonged to several national spheres and were key communicators between Western academia and their migrant communities. We will analyze how displacement influenced individual careers and research paths, and pay attention to the contested background of selected exiled scholars.  The course will highlight how academic communication across the Iron Curtain contributed to international academic exchange, and how the East European migrant communities tried to influence academic politics and historical study in the West. In the concluding part of the course, we will discuss whether and how the exiled East European scholars changed paradigms of Western approaches to Eastern Europe and offered an alternative to the Soviet academic projects.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PL115 Foundations of Political Theory 

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Fri 0900-1215
Credits:  8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Thomas Raysmith


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. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Elective, Moral and Political Thought

PL277 Medical Ethics 

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Thur 1000-1300
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 as we experience them today.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PL323 The Ancient Quarrel Between Poetry and Philosophy

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue & Fri 0900-1030
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Gilad Nir


This course concerns the fraught relationship between aesthetics, politics and morality. Ever since Plato proposed to banish the poets from the ideal state, philosophers have sought to delimit the power of the arts and to bring it under control. From Rousseau through Hegel to Tolstoy, the worry that art might fail to serve a higher moral goal led to the relegation of art to an inferior status. Yet other philosophers — such as Schiller, Nietzsche, and Heidegger — have sided with poetry in this ancient quarrel, and recognized art’s claim to address human existence in ways that philosophy could not, and thereby to enhance both our individual experience and our political life. Recent discussions of the relevance of literature to the work done in moral philosophy — by Murdoch, Cavell, Nussbaum, and Diamond — show that the ancient quarrel is far from having been resolved. And for some contemporary philosophers, such as Jacques Rancière, its resolution requires a reconfiguration of our understanding, coming to see politics as inherently aesthetic and aesthetics as inherently political. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PL343 Marxist Social and Political Thought 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Riaz Partha Khan


This course offers an introduction to Marxist social theory as a distinct tradition of political thought and action. Given the breadth of the subject matter, the course is organized around two overarching themes: (a) the relations of state, society, and individual as seen through (b) the link between theory and praxis in this tradition. The first part of the course explores the conceptual origins of Marx’s political thought in light of its encounters with German Idealism, the French Revolution, and British political economy. We begin with the early critique of Enlightenment and Hegelian thought in order to trace the origins of the materialist conception of history that grounds Marx’s political economy after 1857 in response to political and industrial revolutions. The second part constitutes the bulk of the course as we explore the diverse traditions and dialogues in Marxist thought and politics. We begin with the forms and critiques of organized Marxist-Leninist systems by sampling the works of different schools of emerging Marxist thought in the early twentieth century. Next, we examine the conceptions of society, state, law, ideology, class, and the individual in the Critical Theory of Frankfurt School and Structural Marxism, respectively, as well as post-Marxist thought. In the final part of the course, we turn to critical dialogues in Marxist theories of race, imperialism, feminism, postcolonialism, and culture.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PL360 Interpreting the French Revolution 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow


Fulfills OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements

The French revolution of 1789 was a source of inspiration and horror to many people beyond the country of its unfolding, and long after the time of its actual occurrence. The principles associated with the Revolution— popular sovereignty and the “rights of man”– and its resonant slogan of “liberty, equality, fraternity” called for a radical departure from a political system based on divine-right and social hierarchy. Yet within a few years, revolutionary change gave way to factional conflict, Terror and epic warfare on a planetary scale, the memory of which haunted the succeeding generations. Often considered as the birth date of modernity, 1789 and its aftershocks were also the crucible in which modern ideologies were forged. This is not only because the Revolution fashioned a global political vocabulary that inspired revolutionary struggles worldwide. Competing efforts to grasp its meaning, explain its causes, and evaluate its effects gave impetus to the main currents – conservatism, liberalism, socialism - that continue to shape modern politics. In this course, we’ll encounter the main personages and learn about the key phases and events that constituted the French Revolution. Taking Tocqueville as our guide, we’ll ponder the intellectual and practical causes of this world historical event, trace the controversies surrounding its interpretation, and consider its relevance today.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PL365 Germany After the Reelection of Donald Trump

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Thur 1545-1900
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Timo Lochocki


Following Donald Trump’s reelection as President of the United States, Germany might be described as the world’s most powerful liberal democracy. The precise consequences of Trump’s return to power cannot yet be gauged, but it is certain that the other longstanding centers of influence in Europe, namely France and the UK, have been significantly weakened by internal polarization. In contrast to these other countries, Germany’s population is growing significantly, and it can boast much lower levels of public debt, allowing potential future investment in infrastructure and services for citizens. We can also expect that Germany’s next government will be led by a political party committed to the democratic process, which can no longer be an automatic expectation in the French or US contexts. In essence, therefore, Germany enjoys auspicious advantages in an uncertain and dangerous world. What will it make of these advantages? How will it stabilize and preserve democratic institutions? What is in store in the realm of economic and social policy? How will Germany’s relations with other countries develop? And what will be the implications of the US election for its role in the European Union and its foreign and security policy more generally?

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Comparative Politics

PS119 Nation-States and Democracy

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Riaz Partha Khan, Boris Vormann, Aysuda Kölemen


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: International Studies and Globalization

PS146 Globalization and International Relations 

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715

Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock, Aaron Allen


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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PS179 Postcolonial Theory and Politics

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1545-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Aysuda Kölemen


How do the forms of knowledge produced by nineteenth-century European imperialism continue to influence the manner in which formerly colonized countries and regions are perceived and understood today? This course examines the ways in which the discipline of political science has been shaped by an historical power imbalance between Europe and the 'Global South,' and explores how postcolonial theory--the study of the conditions and process of decolonization--can be applied to that field. We consider issues such as the material and cultural impact of colonialism; movements for national liberation; efforts at nation-building, in order to critically examine the modes in which scholarly knowledge about non-Western history, politics and society have been constructed and reproduced. In the second part of the course, we contextualize postcolonial theory by surveying selected contexts and exploring the relationship between the political and the postcolonial. Our inquiry will be structured thematically, addressing--along with colonialism and decolonization--topics such as the nature of the authoritarian state, varieties of nationalism, the politics of gender and sexuality, cultural politics, the relationship between the military and the state, development and humanitarian aid, forms of war, revolution, and the phenomenon of enforced population displacement.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Policy Analysis

PS185 Introduction to Policy Analysis

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1545-1715

Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

This course introduces students to policy analysis and policy making. 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.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PS215 Arab Politics 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue 1545-1900

Professor(s): Usahma Darrah


This course is designed to introduce students to the politics of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including the Arab Gulf States. The 22 countries that make up the Arab League (AL) are diverse but they share a common language and a public space. We will explore Islam and its historic development, as well as the interaction of Arab peoples with European and American power. Second, we will use foundational concepts from history, political science, sociology and political economy to study the emergence of modern Arab States and their role in International Relations. This will also include Arab relations with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Finally, we will focus on internal and development issues that drive regional politics in the Maghreb, Egypt, the Mashreq and the Arab Gulf States. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Public Policy

PS302 Global Institutions and the Global South 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1400-1530
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Gale Raj-Reichert


This course focuses on examining global public policies and their impacts on lower-income countries located in the Global South. We understand ‘global’ public policy to mean policies which have a direct or indirect cross-border or transnational effect. This includes policies developed and enforced at the national level which ‘reach’ countries in the Global South, as well as policies established at the intergovernmental or international level which set out rules for many countries. The aim of the course is for students to understand which questions to ask and generally to critically examine the analytical tools available to assess global policy impacts on economies, communities, and the environment in the Global South. An important aspect of our discussions will be understanding the ways in which different policymaking institutions function and the influence different actors (and their politics) have on the policymaking process and outcomes. The specific global policies and issues covered in the course are climate change, intellectual property rights rules (and their impact on vaccines), international trade, international labor standards, migration, and foreign aid.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PS314 Postcolonial Political Economy I: The Struggle for National Liberation and Self-Determination in the Global South 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed 0900-1215

Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock


This is the first in a series of advanced seminars studying the quest for self-determination and national liberation in the Global South. The ‘Global South’, a contested term in itself, has served to name not only the persistence of a bifurcated world order but also to designate the aspiration for stronger collective action by formerly colonized countries. This aspiration is also expressed in terms like “Bandung” the ‘New International Economic Order” from the 1960s and 1970s, and the “G77+” or the “BRICS,” with its expanded membership in recent years. “National liberation” similarly denotes the attempts to overcome colonial oppression, and the ability of the nation and the people comprising it to express themselves and to pursue their priorities. To understand the promises and pitfalls of national liberation and self-determination in the Global South historically and in the present, we consider the obstacles encountered in this process, and critically review two dominant explanatory narratives: the continued impact and operation—in new forms—of imperialism, and the emphasis on political incapacity and corruption. Choosing 3-4 country case studies proposed by students taking the class (perhaps focusing on their own nation of origin), we will jointly investigate their history and current efforts to escape from the legacy and present-day encroachments of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. Colonialism has taken different forms across the world, and has left varying traces in Africa, Asia and the Americas, depending on the historical moment at which the imperial power ceased direct territorial control, and depending on the degree of conflict and interference that characterized the independence and post-independence phase. Colonialism gave rise to a range of revolutionary and transformative projects in its wake, which pursued divergent programs of development and change. Ideally drawing on a tricontinental selection of case studies, we will learn about these particularities. Engaging with the relevant historical, sociological, anthropological and political-economic literature on the country contexts we choose, we will get a nuanced and broad understanding of their historical trajectory, their contemporary challenges, and social and political potential for the future. Over the seminar, and in future iterations of this seminar, we may create a web-based repository of histories of the Global South’s quest for self-determination and a short documentary movie as part of the final graded component in addition to written work.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PS355 Building Sustainable Peace 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1545-1715
Credits:

8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

How is peace sustained? Why does peace last in some contexts and break down in others? Armed conflict and state repression continue to dominate contemporary affairs, while systematic challenges hinder processes of just and sustainable peace. In parallel to these developments, a complex range of initiatives arising from civil society and social movements, in search of sustainable peace, have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners. The aims of this course are, firstly, to introduce the various causes of direct and structural violence. Secondly, we look at the conditions under which peace can be achieved, and the obstacles faced in securing peace in the short- and long-term; while also highlighting the different strategies that can be designed. Thirdly, the course delves into a wide range of armed conflict case studies and examines the peace processes and movements promoting nonviolent social change. In so doing, we reflect on applying theory to current global and local events involving reconciliation processes. Lastly, we examine contemporary debates on the various post-conflict tools - such as power-sharing systems, disarmament and reintegration (DDR), and security sector reforms (SSR) - analyzing their relevance to creating reconciliation between adversaries, along with reconstruction, and a sustainable and durable peace.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PS369 Critical Geopolitics

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Wed & Fri 1045-1215
Credits:

8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s):  Boris Vormann


As a field of study, geopolitics examines the spatial dimensions of interstate power relations. Modern thinking about geopolitics emerged at the turn to the 20th century, as the British Empire unraveled and new colonial and hegemonial disputes erupted. After World War II, geopolitics lost much of its analytical lure, due to the fact that the Nazi regime had built many of its political claims on such geostrategic considerations (Lebensraum). After the fall of the Iron Curtain, new transportation and communication technologies seemed to make distance and space irrelevant categories for political thinking and action, given the plummeting of transaction costs and globalization processes. Climate change and depleting resources, renationalization tendencies, large-scale infrastructural development projects and resurfacing territorial conflicts have all led to a reinvigoration of geopolitical thinking and practice in the very recent past. What potential futures does this imply for cooperation and for conflict? This course critically engages conceptual and theoretical texts in geopolitics, examines historical examples, and explores three of today’s most pertinent geopolitical relationships: China’s one-belt-one road initiative, Russia’s territorial ambitions, and the reinvention of transatlantic relations.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice

PS372 Community, Civil Society, and Social Movements 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Thur 0900-1215

Professor(s): Kalia Sumrin


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

Collective action is a necessary condition for any form of change– social, political, or economic. Often emerging in the realm of civil society, collective action can be organized formally such as through NGOs, International NGOS (INGOS), advocacy groups, welfare, and charity-based organizations, informally such as through community-based organizations, identity politics, social movements, or have a hybrid format such as social enterprises and government sponsored NGOs (GoNGOs). In its interaction with the state and the market, collective action can be pursued for different agendas. The aim of this course is to introduce students to theories of collective action, civil society, and social movement. Students will engage with concepts such as social capital, frames, contention, civility, citizenship etc drawn from literature on sociology of organizations, economic sociology, and political sociology. Each session will involve a class activity where we will apply these theories and concepts to real world case studies from a wide range of contexts such as Black Lives Matter movement in the US, business lobbies in Europe, peasants’ unions in India, migrant workers’ rights organizations in Southeast Asia, environmental organizations in Africa, and International NGOs working cross-nationally. Our focus will be to understand how the organizational mission, structure, and leadership, interact with the broader social and political context to produce different forms and agendas of collective actions. More broadly, the course will orient students on how the local, regional, national and the global are linked through identitarian, spatial, digital, or imagined communities of action, and how they lead to changes in society, market, and state.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PS390 German Foreign Policy and National Security Decision-Making

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Aaron Allen


This multidisciplinary course explores the structural evolution of the Federal Republic of Germany’s role in the world since the end of World War II to the current Zeitenwende. Through an interactive approach, students will be able to contextualize contemporary German foreign policy challenges from their geographic, material, and ideational roots. Furthermore, course activities and assignments are tailored to assist students in becoming foreign policy practitioners fully capable of applying national security decision theories. The curriculum threads together historical cases, international relations scholarship, and security studies in order to provide a holistic understanding of all the constituent parts influencing Germany’s external posture. Why is contemporary Germany often referred to as a reluctant leader?  What are the unique attributes of German-style foreign policy that are currently undergoing reconsideration by the incumbent Ampelkoalition? A critical appraisal of topics such as the institutions shaping elite policy-making, the legacy of the Cold War and reunification, relations with the European Union, and the triangulation between the great powers of the United States, Russia and China offers students the necessary tools to answer these core questions. The complementary emphasis on professional development will allow participants to garner practical skills through simulations, seminar debates, and presentations.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

PT149 Civic Engagement and Engaged Research: Berlin Lab

Spring 2025
Level: Foundational

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 1545-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

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 local government works in Berlin and how concerned Berliners have addressed the shortage of adequate housing and the city’s colonial past; more generally how to work with and against existing institutional and legal structures; 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. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics

PT325 The European Union: Institutions, Policies, Procedures 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Mon 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Berit Ebert


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement

The institutions and political processes of the European Union (EU), summed up in the concept of supranationality, offer a unique construct of international collaboration that was developed with clear goals by founding members. This course will analyze the institutions that have developed over the more than 70-year history of the Union: the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the Committee of the Regions, as well as the European Economic and Social Committee.  We will also compare the institutions’ supranational characteristics with those of the nation-state and of international organizations. Major cases tried in the European Court of Justice and key legal principles that have shaped the Union’s political advances will be interpreted. We will discuss some of the European Union’s current political developments, among them the European electoral-law reform, the reform of the judicial system in Poland, the rule-of-law mechanism, gender equality, as well as migration and asylum regulations. For the latter, we will be joined by Deborah Amos, Ferris Professor in Residence at Princeton University and her students taking a trip to Berlin in October. Students will engage with original EU policy documents to acquire the skills of analyzing and interpreting them. At the end of the seminar, they will have a solid knowledge of the functioning of the Union’s institutions, and the capacity to evaluate legal texts, treaty provisions, and policy approaches, enabling a clearer judgement regarding the future of the European project.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

SC301 Performing Science and Medicine: The Lab, the Clinic and the Public Realm 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Sasha Bergstrom-Katz, Michele Luchetti


Suitable for multi-disciplinary artists and humanities students alike, this course addresses the relationship between science, medicine, and society through a discussion of critical texts and creative activities inspired by art, performance, and theater. It uses works of theater and contemporary art alongside critical texts from the history, philosophy, and sociology of science and medicine to develop a conversation about the ways in which performances of science in the laboratory, the clinic and in the public sphere communicate key concepts and practices. These include ideas of objectivity, rationality, trust, power, as well as modes of faith and healing. The increasing complexity of science and its interactions with the social realm call for an expansion of traditional humanistic methodologies to encompass approaches that foster personal engagement, curiosity, creativity, and active criticism. For this reason, the course integrates seminar-style discussions of core historical, philosophical, and sociological topics on science and society with practical sessions that rely on arts-based activities to stimulate a creative first-person engagement with these topics. Further, it contributes to a timely study of the relationship between art and science. The overarching goal of the course is twofold. On the one hand, it aims at providing participants with key skills to critically engage and discuss issues related to science and society; on the other hand, it exposes them to a vast array of arts-based activities through writing, performance and art-making workshops during which they can act on their critical engagement and exercise a number of skills that are widely transferable within and outside of academia and art. Divided into three sections: Performing Experiments, Performing Medicine, and Public Performances, the course aims at a new understanding of the relation between science and medicine. 

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Civic Engagement and Social Justice, Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences

SE301 Evidence and Inquiry: Open Source Research for Human Rights

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Mon 1400-1715
Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Fred Abrahams and Marija Ristic


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirement
 
This course introduces students to the rapidly evolving field of open source investigations, including the tools and techniques to document and expose human rights violations. Beginning with a survey of the field, including the origins and developments of open source research, the course offers hand-on training in the skills needed to discover, preserve, verify and present evidence of abuse, with a continued focus on ethical considerations, digital security and the well-being of researchers. Using investigations from human rights groups, media, and courts, the course will critically assess the impact and limitations of open source research in advancing accountability, rule of law and social change. Guest speakers from Berlin and elsewhere will share their insights and experiences.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Elective

SO202 A Lexicon of Migration 

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Mon & Wed 1045-1215
Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits

Professor(s): Agata Lisiak


Fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate and Human Rights Certificate requirements

This is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course (NCC)

As one of the most important features of today's globalized world, migration remains highly debated on local, national, and international levels. Migration is assigned various meanings and statuses (high-skilled and low-skilled, legal and illegal, documented and undocumented, forced and voluntary, restricted and unrestricted), which are, in turn, contested in multiple ways through grassroots activism, academic and artistic interventions, as well as the work of local and international NGOs. Today, migration affects nearly everyone regardless of their own migratory status, and many contemporary societies – especially, but not exclusively their urban centers – have been described as postmigrant, multicultural or superdiverse. This course critically explores migration from global and local perspectives, emphasizing the postcolonial and neocolonial power geometries that produce specific forms of human mobility. Drawing on a range of primary texts (UN documents, first-person narratives, poetry) and analytical contributions from migration studies, cultural studies, anthropology, urban sociology, human geography, and philosophy, students will examine diverse social experiences and meanings of migration, as well as a range of related concepts such as belonging, border, citizenship, refugeedom, and solidarity, among others. Through in-class discussions, guest lectures, and off-campus visits students will deepen understanding of migration regimes, migration discourses, and migrant infrastructures in various geographical and historical contexts. Designed by scholars and educators from across the Bard International Network (AlQuds Bard College in Palestine, American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, Bard College in the United States, and Bard College Berlin in Germany), the course aims at advancing students’ understanding of migration both in the specific local contexts in which they study, as well as from international perspectives. Through a series of joint assignments, students will have a unique opportunity to engage with their peers and professors from other campuses.

× Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences

SO324 Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences

Spring 2025
Level: Advanced

Day/Time: Tue & Thur 0900-1030
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.