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Title
Module
Semester
Day/Time
Core
Greek Civilization
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
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: Greek Civilization
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Jeffrey Champlin, Tracy Colony, David Hayes, Hans Stauffacher, Giulia Clabassi
Bard College Berlin's core curriculum begins with a semester-long engagement with Plato’s Republic in dialogue with the main works and movements that shaped its cultural and intellectual context. The Republic offers a unique point of entry into the epochal philosophical, political, and literary achievements of fifth and fourth-century Athens. Through its depiction of Socrates in conversation, it draws us into a dialogue about ethical, political, aesthetic, and epistemic questions that are fundamental to human life. Rather than a series of separate treatises, the Republic addresses its themes as the subject of a dynamic and open investigation that transcends disciplinary boundaries as we have come to conceive them. And while it may be said to contain a social contract theory, a theory of psychology, a theology, a critique of mimetic art, a theory of education, and a typology of political regimes, it is reducible to none of these. In its aspiration and scope, the Republic offers an illuminating starting point for the endeavour of liberal education. Moreover, as an exemplar of open and critical inquiry, both in Plato’s time and beyond, the figure of Socrates is a vital resource for our own engagements with the contemporary world.
In this course, we will be particularly attentive to the dialogic character of Plato’s writing in its exchanges with other authors, genres and modes of thought. In the first week we read Plato’s Apology of Socrates as an introduction to the figure of Socrates. We will then read the Near Eastern works; The Epic of Gilgamesh and the poetry of Enheduana which anticipate many of the themes we will encounter throughout the course. We will also read Euripides’ The Bacchae and Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and the lyric poetry of Sappho to trace the important dialogues that the Republic opens with tragedy, comedy and lyric poetry. Attending to the interlocutors with which the Republic is engaged, we will strive to better understand and evaluate its own poetics and arguments.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Greek Civilization
IS101 Plato’s Republic and Its Interlocutors
Fall 2023Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow, Jeffrey Champlin, Tracy Colony, David Hayes, Hans Stauffacher, Giulia Clabassi
Bard College Berlin's core curriculum begins with a semester-long engagement with Plato’s Republic in dialogue with the main works and movements that shaped its cultural and intellectual context. The Republic offers a unique point of entry into the epochal philosophical, political, and literary achievements of fifth and fourth-century Athens. Through its depiction of Socrates in conversation, it draws us into a dialogue about ethical, political, aesthetic, and epistemic questions that are fundamental to human life. Rather than a series of separate treatises, the Republic addresses its themes as the subject of a dynamic and open investigation that transcends disciplinary boundaries as we have come to conceive them. And while it may be said to contain a social contract theory, a theory of psychology, a theology, a critique of mimetic art, a theory of education, and a typology of political regimes, it is reducible to none of these. In its aspiration and scope, the Republic offers an illuminating starting point for the endeavour of liberal education. Moreover, as an exemplar of open and critical inquiry, both in Plato’s time and beyond, the figure of Socrates is a vital resource for our own engagements with the contemporary world.
In this course, we will be particularly attentive to the dialogic character of Plato’s writing in its exchanges with other authors, genres and modes of thought. In the first week we read Plato’s Apology of Socrates as an introduction to the figure of Socrates. We will then read the Near Eastern works; The Epic of Gilgamesh and the poetry of Enheduana which anticipate many of the themes we will encounter throughout the course. We will also read Euripides’ The Bacchae and Aristophanes’ Assemblywomen and the lyric poetry of Sappho to trace the important dialogues that the Republic opens with tragedy, comedy and lyric poetry. Attending to the interlocutors with which the Republic is engaged, we will strive to better understand and evaluate its own poetics and arguments.
Syllabus
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: Renaissance Art and Thought
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Clio Nicastro, Laura Scuriatti, Anastassia Kostrioukova
In this course we examine the visual and intellectual culture of Renaissance Florence. A sustained engagement with a number of principal monuments in Florentine painting, sculpture, and architecture provides the basis for a consideration of key values within the development of Renaissance art that also shape, more broadly, the thought, cultural practices, and everyday experiences of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Renaissance could be characterized as an historical period in which the visual arts played the leading role in the culture as a whole. Thus the focus on works of visual art, in a dialogue with literary, philosophical, and political texts of the period, opens a consideration of trans-disciplinary problems such as the emergence of new models of subjectivity and objectivity, the relationship between religious and secular experiences, the framing of early modern political thought, and the origins of the scientific method. The course is structured around four principal topics, each a defining value for the visual arts between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries that is also central to the development of Renaissance thought: self-reflexivity, perspective, harmony and grace, humanism. The direct experience, evaluation, and interpretation of individual works of art are a crucial part of the course, and with this in mind there will be several visits to Berlin museums – specifically, the Gemäldegalerie and the Bode Museum, with their extensive Renaissance collections – to encounter works of art firsthand.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Renaissance Art and Thought
IS102 Renaissance Florence
Fall 2023Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Geoff Lehman, Katalin Makkai, Clio Nicastro, Laura Scuriatti, Anastassia Kostrioukova
In this course we examine the visual and intellectual culture of Renaissance Florence. A sustained engagement with a number of principal monuments in Florentine painting, sculpture, and architecture provides the basis for a consideration of key values within the development of Renaissance art that also shape, more broadly, the thought, cultural practices, and everyday experiences of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Renaissance could be characterized as an historical period in which the visual arts played the leading role in the culture as a whole. Thus the focus on works of visual art, in a dialogue with literary, philosophical, and political texts of the period, opens a consideration of trans-disciplinary problems such as the emergence of new models of subjectivity and objectivity, the relationship between religious and secular experiences, the framing of early modern political thought, and the origins of the scientific method. The course is structured around four principal topics, each a defining value for the visual arts between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries that is also central to the development of Renaissance thought: self-reflexivity, perspective, harmony and grace, humanism. The direct experience, evaluation, and interpretation of individual works of art are a crucial part of the course, and with this in mind there will be several visits to Berlin museums – specifically, the Gemäldegalerie and the Bode Museum, with their extensive Renaissance collections – to encounter works of art firsthand.
Syllabus
Programs: BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Core
Concentration: Core
Module: Senior Core Colloquium
Day/Time: Mon, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner, Nassim Abi Ghanem, Nina Tecklenburg (for students pursuing a Creative Component)
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 in structure and style, as well as peer review and constructive feedback. Including the participation of thesis supervisors and other faculty members, this course meets in fall term and in spring term.
Syllabi: Tecklenburg, Abi Ghanem, Wagner
Concentration: Core
Module: Senior Core Colloquium
IS123 Academic Research in the Social Sciences
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner, Nassim Abi Ghanem, Nina Tecklenburg (for students pursuing a Creative Component)
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 in structure and style, as well as peer review and constructive feedback. Including the participation of thesis supervisors and other faculty members, this course meets in fall term and in spring term.
Syllabi: Tecklenburg, Abi Ghanem, Wagner
Core
Origins of Political Economy
Fall 2023
Wed & Fri, 1045-1215; Kai Koddenbrock's section: Wed, 1045-1215 & Thur, 0900-1030
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: Origins of Political Economy
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1045-1215; Kai Koddenbrock's section: Wed, 1045-1215 & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Coordinators: Jeffrey Champlin, Kai Koddenbrock, Gale Raj-Reichert, Boris Vormann, Aysuda Köleman
This course explores the intellectual history of the contemporary disciplines of economics, political science and sociology, by examining the historical origins of the discourse and practice known as “political economy”: the means and processes by which societies and populations provide for their own survival and development. It offers an introduction to the reach and implications of this endeavor, its relationship to questions of law, sovereignty and political representation. It equally addresses changing state-market relationships and normative discourses about the best ways to organize societies as they echo in the liberal and critical traditions of Western political thought. In keeping with its attention to the formative history of modern categories and disciplines of knowledge, the course also addresses the ways in which changes in the (understanding of) political economy have led to disciplinary specializations and certain blind spots in linking development and underdevelopment, enlightenment and exclusion. It allows students to understand, draw upon and critique the historical formulation of contemporary problems and concerns such as the foundations of political freedom, the nature of markets, the sources and circulation of wealth, the social impact of inequality and racism, and the connection and differentiation between the economic and political spheres.
Syllabus
Concentration: Core
Module: Origins of Political Economy
IS303 Origins of Political Economy
Fall 2023Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1045-1215; Kai Koddenbrock's section: Wed, 1045-1215 & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Coordinators: Jeffrey Champlin, Kai Koddenbrock, Gale Raj-Reichert, Boris Vormann, Aysuda Köleman
This course explores the intellectual history of the contemporary disciplines of economics, political science and sociology, by examining the historical origins of the discourse and practice known as “political economy”: the means and processes by which societies and populations provide for their own survival and development. It offers an introduction to the reach and implications of this endeavor, its relationship to questions of law, sovereignty and political representation. It equally addresses changing state-market relationships and normative discourses about the best ways to organize societies as they echo in the liberal and critical traditions of Western political thought. In keeping with its attention to the formative history of modern categories and disciplines of knowledge, the course also addresses the ways in which changes in the (understanding of) political economy have led to disciplinary specializations and certain blind spots in linking development and underdevelopment, enlightenment and exclusion. It allows students to understand, draw upon and critique the historical formulation of contemporary problems and concerns such as the foundations of political freedom, the nature of markets, the sources and circulation of wealth, the social impact of inequality and racism, and the connection and differentiation between the economic and political spheres.
Syllabus
Economics
Principles of Economics
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Principles of Economics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
This course is an introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. It elaborates the basic model of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market, and examines several ways in which the real world deviates from this model, including monopoly, minimum wages, and other price controls, taxes, and government regulation. The assumptions concerning human behavior that underlie economics are presented and critiqued. The course is also concerned with the aggregate behavior of modern economies: growth and measurement of the economy, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, government spending, and its impact, and international trade. Part of the course focuses on the government tools used to influence economic growth and individuals' behavior.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Principles of Economics
EC110 Principles of Economics (Group A)
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
This course is an introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. It elaborates the basic model of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market, and examines several ways in which the real world deviates from this model, including monopoly, minimum wages, and other price controls, taxes, and government regulation. The assumptions concerning human behavior that underlie economics are presented and critiqued. The course is also concerned with the aggregate behavior of modern economies: growth and measurement of the economy, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, government spending, and its impact, and international trade. Part of the course focuses on the government tools used to influence economic growth and individuals' behavior.
Syllabus
Economics
Principles of Economics
Fall 2023
Mon, 1400-1530 & Tue, 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Principles of Economics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon, 1400-1530 & Tue, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
This course is an introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. It elaborates the basic model of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market, and examines several ways in which the real world deviates from this model, including monopoly, minimum wages, and other price controls, taxes, and government regulation. The assumptions concerning human behavior that underlie economics are presented and critiqued. The course is also concerned with the aggregate behavior of modern economies: growth and measurement of the economy, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, government spending, and its impact, and international trade. Part of the course focuses on the government tools used to influence economic growth and individuals' behavior.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Principles of Economics
EC110 Principles of Economics (Group B)
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon, 1400-1530 & Tue, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
This course is an introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. It elaborates the basic model of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market, and examines several ways in which the real world deviates from this model, including monopoly, minimum wages, and other price controls, taxes, and government regulation. The assumptions concerning human behavior that underlie economics are presented and critiqued. The course is also concerned with the aggregate behavior of modern economies: growth and measurement of the economy, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, government spending, and its impact, and international trade. Part of the course focuses on the government tools used to influence economic growth and individuals' behavior.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Behavioral Economics
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to economic questions. Experiments are used in economics to test the descriptive accuracy of economic models, to study behavior in cases where theory provides ambiguous predictions (or no predictions), and also to test the effectiveness of economic policies. The course aims to introduce experimental economics and its various applications in economics. We will conduct some of the experiments in the classroom, providing the participants in the course with first-hand experience of the economic situations that are being thought through. The course consists of three parts: In the first part: “the methodology of experimental economics,” we introduce experimental economics. We discuss the merits (and limits) of experiments, and the principles of conducting and analyzing an experiment. In the second part “Applications: Influential experiments in economics”, we survey some of the seminal research in experimental (and behavioral) economics (e.g. on markets, bargaining, biases and heuristics under uncertainty, guessing games and predictions, experiments related to the environment and to climate change, etc.). In the third (short) part, students will present their own pilot studies.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed Principles of Economics and Microeconomics
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Behavioral Economics
EC212 Experimental Economics
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to economic questions. Experiments are used in economics to test the descriptive accuracy of economic models, to study behavior in cases where theory provides ambiguous predictions (or no predictions), and also to test the effectiveness of economic policies. The course aims to introduce experimental economics and its various applications in economics. We will conduct some of the experiments in the classroom, providing the participants in the course with first-hand experience of the economic situations that are being thought through. The course consists of three parts: In the first part: “the methodology of experimental economics,” we introduce experimental economics. We discuss the merits (and limits) of experiments, and the principles of conducting and analyzing an experiment. In the second part “Applications: Influential experiments in economics”, we survey some of the seminal research in experimental (and behavioral) economics (e.g. on markets, bargaining, biases and heuristics under uncertainty, guessing games and predictions, experiments related to the environment and to climate change, etc.). In the third (short) part, students will present their own pilot studies.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed Principles of Economics and Microeconomics
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Econometrics
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Economics is in many ways an applied science deeply anchored in real-world phenomena that can be measured and quantified. In order to answer important quantitative questions and in particular assess the descriptiveness of economic theories, the economist needs to collect data and assess the empirical relationships between objects of interest. Since most economic data is non-experimental, a main task of the econometrician is trying to find out whether events that are correlated also stand in causal relationship with each other. And in particular to test the accuracy of economic theories specifying a causal relationship between factors/events. This course expands on the basic statistics course by applying and developing core statistical notions within an economic context. In particular, we will learn how to estimate linear regressions and their requirements for causal inference. We will also learn how to deal with cases when the requirements are not fully met (e.g., the endogeneity problem, the binary outcome model, etc.). The course develops literacy in applied economics, and the capacity to analyze field data, as well as cultivating the ability to assess claims made in that field through critique of methods of econometric analysis. The course will introduce students to the statistical software package Stata, which will be used to analyze data applying the methods learned.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed Statistics and Microeconomics
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Econometrics
EC320 Econometrics
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Israel Waichman
Economics is in many ways an applied science deeply anchored in real-world phenomena that can be measured and quantified. In order to answer important quantitative questions and in particular assess the descriptiveness of economic theories, the economist needs to collect data and assess the empirical relationships between objects of interest. Since most economic data is non-experimental, a main task of the econometrician is trying to find out whether events that are correlated also stand in causal relationship with each other. And in particular to test the accuracy of economic theories specifying a causal relationship between factors/events. This course expands on the basic statistics course by applying and developing core statistical notions within an economic context. In particular, we will learn how to estimate linear regressions and their requirements for causal inference. We will also learn how to deal with cases when the requirements are not fully met (e.g., the endogeneity problem, the binary outcome model, etc.). The course develops literacy in applied economics, and the capacity to analyze field data, as well as cultivating the ability to assess claims made in that field through critique of methods of econometric analysis. The course will introduce students to the statistical software package Stata, which will be used to analyze data applying the methods learned.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed Statistics and Microeconomics
Syllabus
Economics
Choice, Resources, and Development
Fall 2023
Mon 1730-1900 & Tue 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Module: Choice, Resources, and Development
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 1730-1900 & Tue 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Game theory is a fundamental discipline in the fields of economics, political science, biology, and beyond, as it provides a systematic framework for analyzing strategic interactions among rational decision-makers. This undergraduate course in Game Theory offers students a comprehensive introduction to the core concepts, principles, and applications of this fascinating field. The course begins with an overview of the basic components of game theory, including players, strategies, payoffs, and extensive and normal form representations. Students will learn how to model different types of games, ranging from simple two-player games to more complex multi-player scenarios, and study various solution concepts such as dominant strategies, Nash equilibrium, and subgame perfection. Throughout the course, students will explore various classical games, including the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Battle of the Sexes, and the Tragedy of the Commons. By examining these games, students will gain insight into real-world situations such as social dilemmas, competition, cooperation, and bargaining. Furthermore, applications of game theory in diverse fields will be discussed, ranging from economics and business strategy to politics, law, and environmental issues. The course will include interactive discussions and problem-solving exercises to enhance students' understanding of the concepts and their practical applications.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Module: Choice, Resources, and Development
EC325 Strategy: An Introduction to Game Theory
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon 1730-1900 & Tue 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
Game theory is a fundamental discipline in the fields of economics, political science, biology, and beyond, as it provides a systematic framework for analyzing strategic interactions among rational decision-makers. This undergraduate course in Game Theory offers students a comprehensive introduction to the core concepts, principles, and applications of this fascinating field. The course begins with an overview of the basic components of game theory, including players, strategies, payoffs, and extensive and normal form representations. Students will learn how to model different types of games, ranging from simple two-player games to more complex multi-player scenarios, and study various solution concepts such as dominant strategies, Nash equilibrium, and subgame perfection. Throughout the course, students will explore various classical games, including the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Battle of the Sexes, and the Tragedy of the Commons. By examining these games, students will gain insight into real-world situations such as social dilemmas, competition, cooperation, and bargaining. Furthermore, applications of game theory in diverse fields will be discussed, ranging from economics and business strategy to politics, law, and environmental issues. The course will include interactive discussions and problem-solving exercises to enhance students' understanding of the concepts and their practical applications.
Syllabus
Economics
Mathematics, Mathematics and Science Requirement
Fall 2023
Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Mathematics, Mathematics and Science Requirement
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
This course focuses on the mathematical tools important for the study of economics: analytic geometry, functions of a single variable, functions of two variables, calculus, integrals, and linear algebra (matrices, determinants, systems of linear equations, and methods for solving them). A large part of the course will deal with optimization in one or more variables and will also cover financial math and first-order difference equations. The course will also be of interest to any student with a general interest in mathematics, or who does not intend advanced specialization in economics but wishes to become informed regarding the essential mathematical building blocks of economics as a discipline.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Mathematics, Mathematics and Science Requirement
MA120 Mathematics for Economics
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Stephan Müller
This course focuses on the mathematical tools important for the study of economics: analytic geometry, functions of a single variable, functions of two variables, calculus, integrals, and linear algebra (matrices, determinants, systems of linear equations, and methods for solving them). A large part of the course will deal with optimization in one or more variables and will also cover financial math and first-order difference equations. The course will also be of interest to any student with a general interest in mathematics, or who does not intend advanced specialization in economics but wishes to become informed regarding the essential mathematical building blocks of economics as a discipline.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.
Syllabus
Economics
Mathematics and Science Requirement, Statistics
Fall 2023
Mon & Wed, 1045-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Mathematics and Science Requirement, Statistics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in political science and economics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. To facilitate students’ ability to understand and critically engage with these methods, examples of quantitative social science research are discussed throughout the course. Classes are complemented with exercises to build students’ skills in applying the learned methods independently. Many of these exercises use data from public opinion surveys, which cover a wide range of social, economic, and political topics. Working with this survey data, students will also have the opportunity to explore research questions of their own. At the end of the course, students will be able to read and engage with the majority of modern quantitative research. They also will be well prepared to pursue a variety of more advanced quantitative research courses.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.
Syllabus
Concentration: Economics
Modules: Mathematics and Science Requirement, Statistics
MA151 Introduction to Statistics
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Johannes Leutgeb
The goal of this course is to introduce students to quantitative methods in political science and economics. The course covers the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, including probability theory, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. To facilitate students’ ability to understand and critically engage with these methods, examples of quantitative social science research are discussed throughout the course. Classes are complemented with exercises to build students’ skills in applying the learned methods independently. Many of these exercises use data from public opinion surveys, which cover a wide range of social, economic, and political topics. Working with this survey data, students will also have the opportunity to explore research questions of their own. At the end of the course, students will be able to read and engage with the majority of modern quantitative research. They also will be well prepared to pursue a variety of more advanced quantitative research courses.
This course fulfills the mathematics and science requirement for humanities students.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): E. Cameron Wilson
This course is for students who use English as a second or additional language, who want to strengthen their academic writing skills. We will read and discuss texts exploring linguistic issues from a variety of perspectives (e.g., scientific, social, philosophical). Students will develop their own academic voices in response to these texts through informal writing activities in and out of class. Formal writing assignments will increase in length and complexity over the course of the semester, culminating in researching, drafting, revising and editing a term paper on an issue of the student’s choice related to the intersection of language and culture.
Module: Elective
EL211 Academic Writing Seminar: Language & Culture
Fall 2023Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): E. Cameron Wilson
This course is for students who use English as a second or additional language, who want to strengthen their academic writing skills. We will read and discuss texts exploring linguistic issues from a variety of perspectives (e.g., scientific, social, philosophical). Students will develop their own academic voices in response to these texts through informal writing activities in and out of class. Formal writing assignments will increase in length and complexity over the course of the semester, culminating in researching, drafting, revising and editing a term paper on an issue of the student’s choice related to the intersection of language 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, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Mon, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers the 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. For registration, please send a brief statement of interest to Joon Park ([email protected]).
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA107 Ceramics I (Group A)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers the 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. For registration, please send a brief statement of interest to Joon Park ([email protected]).
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri, 1545-1900
Credits:
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers the 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. For registration, please send a brief statement of interest to Joon Park ([email protected]).
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA107 Ceramics I (Group B)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Fri, 1545-1900
Credits:
Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Joon Park
This studio course covers the 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. For registration, please send a brief statement of interest to Joon Park ([email protected]).
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Wed, 1000-1300
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nadania Idriss
During the class that 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 take students on a journey from the positive form to thinking about negative and hollow spaces. We will also teach students 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 for 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
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA113 Introduction to Mold-Making and Mold-Blowing
Fall 2023Day/Time: Wed, 1000-1300
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Nadania Idriss
During the class that 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 take students on a journey from the positive form to thinking about negative and hollow spaces. We will also teach students 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 for 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
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Fri, 0930-1245
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Eva Burghardt
In addition to ongoing movement training as an essential foundation, the focus of this course will be on exploring the crossover of dance and visual arts, looking at dance and choreography outside of its usual context, the theater space. Drawing from contemporary dance and improvisation techniques, students will train their body as an “instrument,” deepening its awareness, sense of presence and musicality, practicing listening to oneself as well as the others. Starting from this inner awareness, we bring attention to our surroundings, making connections to other bodies, objects, space and architecture. Weather permitting, we will leave the dance floor and take our explorations out into the neighborhood to work site-specifically. How can we refresh our eyes and reshape experiences of known places with our present body? How can the experience of the surroundings inspire, inform and bring form to the dances within us or create relationships with the environment we live in? How does our body relate to forms, lines, textures, colors, sounds, or the history or memories of a place? How does it change our experience of a place as a dancer or spectator? Open score improvisations and tasks will be given to be explored individually and with the group. A final presentation, including sketches, experiments and scores created by students will be shown at the end of the semester. Throughout the course, we will look at and discuss works from artists who had a big impact in widening the understanding of dance and choreography, crossing the borders between dance and visual arts. From postmodern artists Trisha Brown, Simone Forti and Anna Halprin to contemporary artists such as Tino Sehgal, William Forsythe, Willi Dorner or Anne Imhoff.
Two off-site excursions to performances in Berlin, including discussions and a written reflection afterwards, will be an integral part of the course.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA156 Dance Lab: Body Space Image. Dance and Visual Arts
Fall 2023Day/Time: Fri, 0930-1245
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Eva Burghardt
In addition to ongoing movement training as an essential foundation, the focus of this course will be on exploring the crossover of dance and visual arts, looking at dance and choreography outside of its usual context, the theater space. Drawing from contemporary dance and improvisation techniques, students will train their body as an “instrument,” deepening its awareness, sense of presence and musicality, practicing listening to oneself as well as the others. Starting from this inner awareness, we bring attention to our surroundings, making connections to other bodies, objects, space and architecture. Weather permitting, we will leave the dance floor and take our explorations out into the neighborhood to work site-specifically. How can we refresh our eyes and reshape experiences of known places with our present body? How can the experience of the surroundings inspire, inform and bring form to the dances within us or create relationships with the environment we live in? How does our body relate to forms, lines, textures, colors, sounds, or the history or memories of a place? How does it change our experience of a place as a dancer or spectator? Open score improvisations and tasks will be given to be explored individually and with the group. A final presentation, including sketches, experiments and scores created by students will be shown at the end of the semester. Throughout the course, we will look at and discuss works from artists who had a big impact in widening the understanding of dance and choreography, crossing the borders between dance and visual arts. From postmodern artists Trisha Brown, Simone Forti and Anna Halprin to contemporary artists such as Tino Sehgal, William Forsythe, Willi Dorner or Anne Imhoff.
Two off-site excursions to performances in Berlin, including discussions and a written reflection afterwards, will be an integral part of the course.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Tue, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Janina Schabig
This beginners’ introduction course teaches the foundations of video making. You will be introduced to professional video and audio equipment throughout the semester. In hands-on workshops you will learn all about your camera and how to use its manual settings, how to light a scene and record sound as well as the basics of editing in Adobe Premiere. We will explore different genres to examine a range of creative shooting styles and use what we examine as inspiration for assignments that we will work on individually as well as in small groups to create a body of work ranging from short video exercises to full productions. The goal of this course is to give you an understanding of the various creative choices within the art of making videos, and the technical knowledge to help realize your visions.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
FA188 The Art of Making Videos
Fall 2023Day/Time: Tue, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS Credits, 4 U.S. Credits
Professor(s): Janina Schabig
This beginners’ introduction course teaches the foundations of video making. You will be introduced to professional video and audio equipment throughout the semester. In hands-on workshops you will learn all about your camera and how to use its manual settings, how to light a scene and record sound as well as the basics of editing in Adobe Premiere. We will explore different genres to examine a range of creative shooting styles and use what we examine as inspiration for assignments that we will work on individually as well as in small groups to create a body of work ranging from short video exercises to full productions. The goal of this course is to give you an understanding of the various creative choices within the art of making videos, and the technical knowledge to help realize your visions.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group A)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Manuel Gebhardt
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Professor(s): Ursula Kohler
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group B)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Professor(s): Ursula Kohler
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group C)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Ursula Kohler
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group D)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Ursula Kohler
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1400-1530
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM101 German Beginner A1 (Group E)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1400-1530
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1730-1930
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM150 German Conversation
Fall 2023Day/Time: Wed & Fri, 1730-1930
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group A)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1545-1715
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group B)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1545-1715
Professor(s): Ariane Faber
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, Fri: 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM151 German Beginner A2 (Group C)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, Fri: 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aleksandra Kudriashova
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group A)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sebastian Brass
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group B)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1045-1215
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1400-1530
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group C)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1400-1530
Professor(s): Christiane Bethke
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1545-1715
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM201 German Intermediate B1 (Group D)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 1545-1715
Professor(s): Julia Gehring
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM251 German Intermediate B2
Fall 2023Day/Time: Mon, Wed, & Fri, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, German Studies, Study Abroad
Module: German Language
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1000-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Students enrolled in this differentiated C-level German course will reach a proficiency level up to C2. Depending on the level and interest of the individual student, the topics covered in C1 will be extended and deepened with additional C2 level material. At the end of the course, students sit a graded exam to obtain a C1 or C2 qualification.
Syllabus
Module: German Language
GM352 German Advanced C1/C2
Fall 2023Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1000-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ariane Friedländer
Students enrolled in this differentiated C-level German course will reach a proficiency level up to C2. Depending on the level and interest of the individual student, the topics covered in C1 will be extended and deepened with additional C2 level material. At the end of the course, students sit a graded exam to obtain a C1 or C2 qualification.
Syllabus
Elective
Fall 2023
Thur, 1400-1530
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Artistic Practice and Society, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Electives, Study Abroad
Module: Elective
Day/Time: Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Agata Lisiak, Asli Vatansever
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and OSUN Human Right Certificate requirements
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. Participation in this seminar depends on successful and timely application for the Internship Program.
Syllabus
Module: Elective
IS331 Berlin Internship Seminar: Working Cultures, Urban Cultures (Groups A&B)
Fall 2023Day/Time: Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits (in combination with an internship)
Professor(s): Agata Lisiak, Asli Vatansever
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and OSUN Human Right Certificate requirements
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. Participation in this seminar depends on successful and timely application for the Internship Program.
Syllabus
Politics
International Studies and Globalization
Fall 2023
Mon & Wed, 1730-1900
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: International Studies and Globalization
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1730-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aaron Allen
In the social sciences, globalization is often defined as an increase in the mobility of various factors and actors. This definition includes heightened flows of finance capital, the rise of global production networks in expanding divisions of labor as well as the movement of people and ideas. This course uses standard international relations theories as a starting point to examine how growing networks of exchange and circulation have altered political calculation, economic geographies, and governmental arrangements. A particular focus will be placed on the political processes that have facilitated and increased mobility over time, from the emergence of the interstate system in the late nineteenth century, to the globalization of trade and interdependence in our own historical moment. This course will explore new actor constellations and shifting power arrangements in more detail with regards to transnational environmental issues, asymmetric warfare, and humanitarian interventions. In so doing, this course will consider the ways in which the phenomena and levels of globalization challenge the traditional paradigms of the social sciences and prompt a new formulation of the field of international relations.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: International Studies and Globalization
IN110 Globalization and International Relations
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1730-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Aaron Allen
In the social sciences, globalization is often defined as an increase in the mobility of various factors and actors. This definition includes heightened flows of finance capital, the rise of global production networks in expanding divisions of labor as well as the movement of people and ideas. This course uses standard international relations theories as a starting point to examine how growing networks of exchange and circulation have altered political calculation, economic geographies, and governmental arrangements. A particular focus will be placed on the political processes that have facilitated and increased mobility over time, from the emergence of the interstate system in the late nineteenth century, to the globalization of trade and interdependence in our own historical moment. This course will explore new actor constellations and shifting power arrangements in more detail with regards to transnational environmental issues, asymmetric warfare, and humanitarian interventions. In so doing, this course will consider the ways in which the phenomena and levels of globalization challenge the traditional paradigms of the social sciences and prompt a new formulation of the field of international relations.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1730-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony
What is the basis for ethical action? Since its beginnings, philosophy has confronted this question. In this course we will read some of the central texts in Western philosophy that have attempted to come to terms with it. Starting with Socrates and focusing on the works of Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Emerson, Nietzsche, and Levinas we will trace a tradition which has sought to understand and elaborate the possible grounds and scope of ethical action. The approach of the course will be predominantly chronological and we will engage in close readings of these seminal texts with an eye to their historical context and reception. However, we will also approach their concepts and vocabularies as possible starting points for ethics within our own current historical situation.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
PL105 Introduction to Ethics
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1730-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tracy Colony
What is the basis for ethical action? Since its beginnings, philosophy has confronted this question. In this course we will read some of the central texts in Western philosophy that have attempted to come to terms with it. Starting with Socrates and focusing on the works of Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Emerson, Nietzsche, and Levinas we will trace a tradition which has sought to understand and elaborate the possible grounds and scope of ethical action. The approach of the course will be predominantly chronological and we will engage in close readings of these seminal texts with an eye to their historical context and reception. However, we will also approach their concepts and vocabularies as possible starting points for ethics within our own current historical situation.
Syllabus
Politics
Moral and Political Thought
Fall 2023
Thur, 1000-1300
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Thur, 1000-1300
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sinem Kılıç
Throughout the history of Western philosophy, the importance of Arabic philosophy has long been underestimated. For G. W. F. Hegel, for example, Arabic philosophy had “no content of any interest” whatsoever, and was therefore “not philosophy, but mere manner.” Although this position is no longer likely to find many academic adherents today, most institutions still do not offer any courses dedicated to Arabic philosophy and therefore continue to leave this pivotal part of our West-Eastern intellectual history unaddressed.
In this course on Arabic philosophy, we will mainly focus on the period between the 9th and the 12th century, when Muslim, Christian, and Jewish philosophers composed their works in the Arabic language and transferred philosophical questions from the ancient Greek tradition into their falsafa (Arabic for ‘philosophy’).
We will read representative texts of major thinkers like al-Kindī, ar-Rāzī, al-Fārābī, Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), al-Ghazālī, Ibn Bāǧǧa (Avempace), Ibn Ṭufaīl, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Gabirol and Maimonides, but also modern intellectuals like Abdallah Laroui and Fatema Mernissi. By providing an overview of the multifaceted tradition of Arabic philosophy, this course aims to shed light on the rich heritage of falsafa as a vital component of intellectual tradition within the Islamicate world.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
PL170 Falsafa: Introduction to Arabic Philosophy
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Thur, 1000-1300
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sinem Kılıç
Throughout the history of Western philosophy, the importance of Arabic philosophy has long been underestimated. For G. W. F. Hegel, for example, Arabic philosophy had “no content of any interest” whatsoever, and was therefore “not philosophy, but mere manner.” Although this position is no longer likely to find many academic adherents today, most institutions still do not offer any courses dedicated to Arabic philosophy and therefore continue to leave this pivotal part of our West-Eastern intellectual history unaddressed.
In this course on Arabic philosophy, we will mainly focus on the period between the 9th and the 12th century, when Muslim, Christian, and Jewish philosophers composed their works in the Arabic language and transferred philosophical questions from the ancient Greek tradition into their falsafa (Arabic for ‘philosophy’).
We will read representative texts of major thinkers like al-Kindī, ar-Rāzī, al-Fārābī, Ibn Miskawayh, Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), al-Ghazālī, Ibn Bāǧǧa (Avempace), Ibn Ṭufaīl, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Gabirol and Maimonides, but also modern intellectuals like Abdallah Laroui and Fatema Mernissi. By providing an overview of the multifaceted tradition of Arabic philosophy, this course aims to shed light on the rich heritage of falsafa as a vital component of intellectual tradition within the Islamicate world.
Syllabus
Politics
Philosophy and Society
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sam Dolbear
This course provides a survey of the work of philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), one of the most significant thinkers of the twentieth century. It will explore Benjamin’s diverse oeuvre, from his writings on history, politics, and aesthetics, to those on urban life, experience, and technology. Though grounded on weekly close readings on the level of the paragraph and the sentence, the course will also jump out of the texts, to take account of larger cultural, political and philosophical currents. It will do this by placing Benjamin within a network of contemporaries and interlocutors, including those not typically named, such as the sexologist and palm-reader Charlotte Wolff and the fashion journalist Helen Grund. It will also find context outside of the classroom, by engaging through field trips with Berlin, the city of Benjamin's birth and the subject of his memoir Berlin Childhood around 1900, to explore how his writings can be traced onto the present. By the end of the course, students will have a wide and detailed appreciation of Benjamin’s work and be able to produce rigorous yet creative responses to it.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
PL317 Walter Benjamin: Theory, History, Context
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Sam Dolbear
This course provides a survey of the work of philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), one of the most significant thinkers of the twentieth century. It will explore Benjamin’s diverse oeuvre, from his writings on history, politics, and aesthetics, to those on urban life, experience, and technology. Though grounded on weekly close readings on the level of the paragraph and the sentence, the course will also jump out of the texts, to take account of larger cultural, political and philosophical currents. It will do this by placing Benjamin within a network of contemporaries and interlocutors, including those not typically named, such as the sexologist and palm-reader Charlotte Wolff and the fashion journalist Helen Grund. It will also find context outside of the classroom, by engaging through field trips with Berlin, the city of Benjamin's birth and the subject of his memoir Berlin Childhood around 1900, to explore how his writings can be traced onto the present. By the end of the course, students will have a wide and detailed appreciation of Benjamin’s work and be able to produce rigorous yet creative responses to it.
Syllabus
Politics
Philosophy and Society
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hans Stauffacher
Freedom is one of the core concepts of modern political thought. This course will focus on seminal conceptions of freedom in European philosophy from the 17th to the 19th centuries that continue to shape our thinking today. But we will look at these conceptions through the lens of the supposed opposite of freedom: slavery.
Philosophers like Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill, Marx, and Nietzsche defined freedom in contrast to slavery. Strikingly, though, they rarely – if ever – paid any attention to the real-life slavery in the Americas, a system they were at least indirectly complicit in. Instead, they drew their examples from Greek and Roman antiquity and the Bible or operated with abstract ideas of slavery. Taking this disturbing observation as a starting point, we will discuss if and to what extent the classical western concepts of freedom can still provide answers to big questions such as: What is freedom? Are there different kinds of freedom? How do we gain freedom? For one person to be free, must another person be un-free? Where, when, and how can we be truly free? We will proceed in four steps: first, we will look at some pre-modern origins of modern concepts of freedom, like the Hebrew and Greek Bible, ancient Greek philosophy, and medieval theology. Second, we will discuss the aforementioned classical positions. Third, we will confront them with perspectives from (formerly) enslaved or colonized people. And fourth, we will discuss critical reflections on the western tradition of thinking about freedom from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
PL340 Freedom and Slavery in Western Philosophy
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hans Stauffacher
Freedom is one of the core concepts of modern political thought. This course will focus on seminal conceptions of freedom in European philosophy from the 17th to the 19th centuries that continue to shape our thinking today. But we will look at these conceptions through the lens of the supposed opposite of freedom: slavery.
Philosophers like Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill, Marx, and Nietzsche defined freedom in contrast to slavery. Strikingly, though, they rarely – if ever – paid any attention to the real-life slavery in the Americas, a system they were at least indirectly complicit in. Instead, they drew their examples from Greek and Roman antiquity and the Bible or operated with abstract ideas of slavery. Taking this disturbing observation as a starting point, we will discuss if and to what extent the classical western concepts of freedom can still provide answers to big questions such as: What is freedom? Are there different kinds of freedom? How do we gain freedom? For one person to be free, must another person be un-free? Where, when, and how can we be truly free? We will proceed in four steps: first, we will look at some pre-modern origins of modern concepts of freedom, like the Hebrew and Greek Bible, ancient Greek philosophy, and medieval theology. Second, we will discuss the aforementioned classical positions. Third, we will confront them with perspectives from (formerly) enslaved or colonized people. And fourth, we will discuss critical reflections on the western tradition of thinking about freedom from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Syllabus
Politics
Moral and Political Thought, Understanding Politics
Fall 2023
Wed, 1400-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Moral and Political Thought, Understanding Politics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock, Gale Raj-Reichert, Boris Vormann
Laying the foundation for the politics track in the Economics, Politics and Social Thought (EPST) program, this class covers three aspects of what an academic engagement with politics presupposes. First, it provides an introduction to key concepts (nation, democracy, power, federalism, etc.), debates (e.g. state-market relations, subsidiarity, etc.), and traditions (e.g., liberalism, realism, Marxism, etc.) in political science. As such, it also facilitates a deeper understanding of the role of political science as an academic discipline within the broader range of social science traditions. Second, the course explores historical developments of the recent past, providing students with an overview of actors and institutions at various scales within and beyond nation-states. Finally, the course introduces students to foundational methodological tools and academic skills. As such, students will gain familiarity with central concepts, debates and theory traditions in political science and its subfields, deepen their understanding of major developments, players and power relationships in recent global political history, and develop foundational methodological skills.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Moral and Political Thought, Understanding Politics
PS129 Understanding Politics
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Wed, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kai Koddenbrock, Gale Raj-Reichert, Boris Vormann
Laying the foundation for the politics track in the Economics, Politics and Social Thought (EPST) program, this class covers three aspects of what an academic engagement with politics presupposes. First, it provides an introduction to key concepts (nation, democracy, power, federalism, etc.), debates (e.g. state-market relations, subsidiarity, etc.), and traditions (e.g., liberalism, realism, Marxism, etc.) in political science. As such, it also facilitates a deeper understanding of the role of political science as an academic discipline within the broader range of social science traditions. Second, the course explores historical developments of the recent past, providing students with an overview of actors and institutions at various scales within and beyond nation-states. Finally, the course introduces students to foundational methodological tools and academic skills. As such, students will gain familiarity with central concepts, debates and theory traditions in political science and its subfields, deepen their understanding of major developments, players and power relationships in recent global political history, and develop foundational methodological skills.
Syllabus
Politics
Comparative Politics
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Comparative Politics
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
While postcolonial scholars have had enduring impact on disciplines such as anthropology, history, art history and comparative literature, their influence on the study of the political systems and political thought from and about the “Global South,” or the non-western world, has been less impactful. This opposition to postcolonialism as a theoretical and conceptual lens in the study of Comparative Politics is related to the endurance of Eurocentric perspectives on the Global South and the impact of their colonial histories. Dominant theories of democracy, revolutions, displacement, humanitarianism and civil wars, for instance, continue to be trapped in orientalist frameworks of analysis. Against this backdrop, this course has two central aims. The first is to encourage students to question the epistemological foundations of the study of postcolonial societies and politics so they learn to critically question the context in which the scholarly body of knowledge about non-western history, politics and society has been constructed and produced. The second aim of the course is to contextualize such theories by focusing on the region known as the “Middle East” with some cross-reference to various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in order to uncover the relationship between the political and the postcolonial. The course will run thematically and cover topics such as colonialism and decolonization, the authoritarian state, nationalism(s), the politics of gender and sexuality, the politics of culture, military states, development and humanitarian aid, oil, the “global war on terror”, wars, displacement and revolutions.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Comparative Politics
PS179 Postcolonial Politics: The Middle East and Beyond
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
While postcolonial scholars have had enduring impact on disciplines such as anthropology, history, art history and comparative literature, their influence on the study of the political systems and political thought from and about the “Global South,” or the non-western world, has been less impactful. This opposition to postcolonialism as a theoretical and conceptual lens in the study of Comparative Politics is related to the endurance of Eurocentric perspectives on the Global South and the impact of their colonial histories. Dominant theories of democracy, revolutions, displacement, humanitarianism and civil wars, for instance, continue to be trapped in orientalist frameworks of analysis. Against this backdrop, this course has two central aims. The first is to encourage students to question the epistemological foundations of the study of postcolonial societies and politics so they learn to critically question the context in which the scholarly body of knowledge about non-western history, politics and society has been constructed and produced. The second aim of the course is to contextualize such theories by focusing on the region known as the “Middle East” with some cross-reference to various countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in order to uncover the relationship between the political and the postcolonial. The course will run thematically and cover topics such as colonialism and decolonization, the authoritarian state, nationalism(s), the politics of gender and sexuality, the politics of culture, military states, development and humanitarian aid, oil, the “global war on terror”, wars, displacement and revolutions.
Syllabus
Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Public Policy
Fall 2023
Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Public Policy
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Coordinator: Aaron Allen
This multidisciplinary course explores the structural evolution of the United States’ role in the world and the institutions shaping elite policy-making. Through an interactive approach, students will be able to contextualize contemporary American 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 America’s external posture. How did a nation once known for its relatively isolationist disposition become a global superpower and key enforcer of the liberal international order? What are the unique attributes of American-style foreign policy that have remained consistent across presidential administrations since the end of World War II? A critical appraisal of topics such as hard and soft power, alliances, globalization and multilateralism, bureaucratic politics, and the rise of the military industrial complex 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.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Modules: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics, Public Policy
PS271 US Foreign Policy
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Coordinator: Aaron Allen
This multidisciplinary course explores the structural evolution of the United States’ role in the world and the institutions shaping elite policy-making. Through an interactive approach, students will be able to contextualize contemporary American 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 America’s external posture. How did a nation once known for its relatively isolationist disposition become a global superpower and key enforcer of the liberal international order? What are the unique attributes of American-style foreign policy that have remained consistent across presidential administrations since the end of World War II? A critical appraisal of topics such as hard and soft power, alliances, globalization and multilateralism, bureaucratic politics, and the rise of the military industrial complex 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.
Syllabus
Politics
Public Policy
Fall 2023
Fri, 0900-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Public Policy
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tobias Wuttke
This course engages on the topic of economic development in a context of ‘globalisation’, understood here as the rising interconnectedness of economic activity across borders, since World War II. It will pay particular attention to the needs and ambitions of so-called developing countries and on the different ways that they have pursued economic development historically until today. In this course, we will unpack both the opportunities as well as the constraints that globalisation presents for developing countries. We examine how policies adopted in the Global North shape the conditions of action for countries in the Global South who must still increase income levels in order to improve living standards for their citizens. A special focus will be on so-called industrial policies, which are increasingly being used as a tool to achieve developmental objectives in the Global South, while in the Global North they are deployed to pursue the greening of the economy, to aim for global leadership in emerging technologies, and to navigate geopolitical changes and conflicts. We will engage with readings and concepts from global political economy, heterodox and orthodox development economics, development studies and the international business literature. Along the way, the course addresses theories of economic development and the role of the state, the emergence of global value chains and global production networks and the role of transnational corporations, the history of globalisation, the US-China Trade War, the success story of East Asian economies, and the general implications of the green transition for the global economy.
Concentration: Politics
Module: Public Policy
PS362 Globalization, Development and Industrial Policy
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Tobias Wuttke
This course engages on the topic of economic development in a context of ‘globalisation’, understood here as the rising interconnectedness of economic activity across borders, since World War II. It will pay particular attention to the needs and ambitions of so-called developing countries and on the different ways that they have pursued economic development historically until today. In this course, we will unpack both the opportunities as well as the constraints that globalisation presents for developing countries. We examine how policies adopted in the Global North shape the conditions of action for countries in the Global South who must still increase income levels in order to improve living standards for their citizens. A special focus will be on so-called industrial policies, which are increasingly being used as a tool to achieve developmental objectives in the Global South, while in the Global North they are deployed to pursue the greening of the economy, to aim for global leadership in emerging technologies, and to navigate geopolitical changes and conflicts. We will engage with readings and concepts from global political economy, heterodox and orthodox development economics, development studies and the international business literature. Along the way, the course addresses theories of economic development and the role of the state, the emergence of global value chains and global production networks and the role of transnational corporations, the history of globalisation, the US-China Trade War, the success story of East Asian economies, and the general implications of the green transition for the global economy.
Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This course offers an introduction to an over one hundred-year-old history of conflictual claims to modern nation-state territory in Palestine/Israel; the politics of the contentious and charged sentiments it has generated; the attempts to address this history, and how as onlookers of the turmoil in that part of the world we experience and process it. Studied through an interdisciplinary lens, including key readings, theories and insights on the subject from the fields of international politics, history, anthropology, environmental studies, gender studies, media and cultural studies, the course will grapple with the fundamental concepts and themes that define and shape the politics of Palestine/Israel. These include: the histories of contested nationalisms; land, ecologies and urban change; borders, walls and securitization; displacements and exile; “peace-building”; refugees and humanitarianism/ the UN and NGOs; media, art and the politics of representation. Besides the key scholarly literature covered, primary sources such as film and documentaries, literary works, memoirs, archival resources, images and maps will also be studied. By the end of the course students will be able to critically think about and analyze the events of the past 100 years that have played a key role in shaping the politics of Palestine/Israel and the ways in which we understand it, in a nuanced and thoughtful way.
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
PS387 Palestine / Israel
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Hanan Toukan
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This course offers an introduction to an over one hundred-year-old history of conflictual claims to modern nation-state territory in Palestine/Israel; the politics of the contentious and charged sentiments it has generated; the attempts to address this history, and how as onlookers of the turmoil in that part of the world we experience and process it. Studied through an interdisciplinary lens, including key readings, theories and insights on the subject from the fields of international politics, history, anthropology, environmental studies, gender studies, media and cultural studies, the course will grapple with the fundamental concepts and themes that define and shape the politics of Palestine/Israel. These include: the histories of contested nationalisms; land, ecologies and urban change; borders, walls and securitization; displacements and exile; “peace-building”; refugees and humanitarianism/ the UN and NGOs; media, art and the politics of representation. Besides the key scholarly literature covered, primary sources such as film and documentaries, literary works, memoirs, archival resources, images and maps will also be studied. By the end of the course students will be able to critically think about and analyze the events of the past 100 years that have played a key role in shaping the politics of Palestine/Israel and the ways in which we understand it, in a nuanced and thoughtful way.
Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Fall 2023
Mon, 1400-1715
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
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Timo Lochocki
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate requirement.
This seminar aims to contextualize the recent political developments in Western democracies in the light of recent research. Our primary focus will be the topic of political polarization. We focus on understanding what societal and political processes alternately benefit from and prevent polarization. Our findings will be applied to the recent political developments in the USA, UK, France and Germany. The class has four goals: firstly, to comprehend the underlying processes currently defining political developments in liberal democracies; secondly, to understand polarization as the root cause for most contemporary political challenges; thirdly, to acquire a detailed understanding of what societal and political processes are driving polarization and how to work against them; and finally, to critically reflect upon the role of the academic system in contemporary political debates. At the end of the seminar, students should understand what is pulling our societies apart and how to reunite them.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
PS388 Contemporary Political Polarization and How to Address it
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Timo Lochocki
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate requirement.
This seminar aims to contextualize the recent political developments in Western democracies in the light of recent research. Our primary focus will be the topic of political polarization. We focus on understanding what societal and political processes alternately benefit from and prevent polarization. Our findings will be applied to the recent political developments in the USA, UK, France and Germany. The class has four goals: firstly, to comprehend the underlying processes currently defining political developments in liberal democracies; secondly, to understand polarization as the root cause for most contemporary political challenges; thirdly, to acquire a detailed understanding of what societal and political processes are driving polarization and how to work against them; and finally, to critically reflect upon the role of the academic system in contemporary political debates. At the end of the seminar, students should understand what is pulling our societies apart and how to reunite them.
Syllabus
Politics
International Studies and Globalization
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: International Studies and Globalization
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and is a core course for the OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Citizenship is traditionally a concept associated with nation-states, and at base signifies the status of belonging to a bounded political order and the rights and duties this entails. Yet economic, legal, and technological globalization increasingly call state boundaries into question. Transnational challenges such as climate change, forced migration, epidemics, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism also require collective action on a global scale. In this context, global citizenship has been promoted both as a sensibility and as an emerging reality. This course explores the notion of "global citizenship" from its philosophical foundations. We also address cultural and political perspectives, thinking critically about what global citizenship can and should mean. Building on these investigations, we explore the contemporary experiences and movements through which a future idea or reality of global citizenship might be shaped. The heart of the course will be in an interdisciplinary exploration of two of the transnational problems already noted above – climate change and ethno-nationalist conflicts – through readings and discussion of novels, historical work, film, social theory, social scientific research, and policy documents. We present and compare rising political and social movements relevant to the definition of the category of the citizen across the globe. Texts will include essays by Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas, Edward Said, Martha Nussbaum, Craig Calhoun, along with Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines, Tayib Salih's Season of Migration to the North, Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior and Michael Winterbottom's In This World.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: International Studies and Globalization
PT150 Global Citizenship
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Nassim Abi Ghanem
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and is a core course for the OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Citizenship is traditionally a concept associated with nation-states, and at base signifies the status of belonging to a bounded political order and the rights and duties this entails. Yet economic, legal, and technological globalization increasingly call state boundaries into question. Transnational challenges such as climate change, forced migration, epidemics, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism also require collective action on a global scale. In this context, global citizenship has been promoted both as a sensibility and as an emerging reality. This course explores the notion of "global citizenship" from its philosophical foundations. We also address cultural and political perspectives, thinking critically about what global citizenship can and should mean. Building on these investigations, we explore the contemporary experiences and movements through which a future idea or reality of global citizenship might be shaped. The heart of the course will be in an interdisciplinary exploration of two of the transnational problems already noted above – climate change and ethno-nationalist conflicts – through readings and discussion of novels, historical work, film, social theory, social scientific research, and policy documents. We present and compare rising political and social movements relevant to the definition of the category of the citizen across the globe. Texts will include essays by Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Jürgen Habermas, Edward Said, Martha Nussbaum, Craig Calhoun, along with Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines, Tayib Salih's Season of Migration to the North, Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior and Michael Winterbottom's In This World.
Syllabus
Politics
Moral and Political Thought
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Agata Lisiak
This course fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Named after bell hooks’ 2000 essay collection Feminism Is for Everybody, and with an essential transnational focus, this course offers an introduction to feminism as a political movement to end sexist oppression across differences. Students will discuss, try out, and question various feminist theories and methodologies to critically examine a range of cultural, social, and economic issues across geographical and historical contexts. While acknowledging the importance of one’s personal experience in finding feminism and committing to it, this course also invites students to look beyond the personal and focus on political projects connected with feminism to seek out solidarity-yielding connections. Among other topics, we will discuss the demands of early socialist women’s rights activists, queer feminist formations in the Global South, transfeminist activism in Latin America and beyond, sex workers’ struggles across borders, decolonial feminist interventions in Europe, and the connections between gender justice and environmental justice. Bringing together feminist contributions from sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, political science, activism, and more, the course will also serve as an introduction to the work of such influential thinkers as Sara Ahmed, Angela Davis, Silvia Federici, Alexandra Kollontai, Audre Lorde, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Françoise Vergès, and Clara Zetkin, among many others. Students will employ feminist methodologies as a means to question established knowledge paradigms and dominant intellectual traditions derived from the Global North. Designed jointly by scholars and educators from across the Open Society University 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) and scholars affiliated with Off-University, the course is part of OSUN‘s Transnational Feminism, Solidarity, and Social Justice project. Through a series of shared readings and assignments, students will have a unique opportunity to engage with peers and professors from other OSUN campuses, thereby building local and international alliances, challenging dogma, and experimenting with powerful forms of feminist expression.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Moral and Political Thought
PT160 Transnational Feminism Is for Everybody
Fall 2023Level: Foundational
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 1045-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Agata Lisiak
This course fulfills Civic Engagement Certificate requirement
Named after bell hooks’ 2000 essay collection Feminism Is for Everybody, and with an essential transnational focus, this course offers an introduction to feminism as a political movement to end sexist oppression across differences. Students will discuss, try out, and question various feminist theories and methodologies to critically examine a range of cultural, social, and economic issues across geographical and historical contexts. While acknowledging the importance of one’s personal experience in finding feminism and committing to it, this course also invites students to look beyond the personal and focus on political projects connected with feminism to seek out solidarity-yielding connections. Among other topics, we will discuss the demands of early socialist women’s rights activists, queer feminist formations in the Global South, transfeminist activism in Latin America and beyond, sex workers’ struggles across borders, decolonial feminist interventions in Europe, and the connections between gender justice and environmental justice. Bringing together feminist contributions from sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, political science, activism, and more, the course will also serve as an introduction to the work of such influential thinkers as Sara Ahmed, Angela Davis, Silvia Federici, Alexandra Kollontai, Audre Lorde, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Françoise Vergès, and Clara Zetkin, among many others. Students will employ feminist methodologies as a means to question established knowledge paradigms and dominant intellectual traditions derived from the Global North. Designed jointly by scholars and educators from across the Open Society University 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) and scholars affiliated with Off-University, the course is part of OSUN‘s Transnational Feminism, Solidarity, and Social Justice project. Through a series of shared readings and assignments, students will have a unique opportunity to engage with peers and professors from other OSUN campuses, thereby building local and international alliances, challenging dogma, and experimenting with powerful forms of feminist expression.
Syllabus
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner
OSUN network course at Bard College Berlin and BRAC University
As a political project with deep roots in the Enlightenment, feminism has been concerned with the relationship between individuals and their political and social communities from its inception. For centuries women had experienced that the societies they inhabited did not consider them as individuals, citizens and members of the community with equal rights. The course examines a variety of feminist projects as they grew out of these experiences, and took on distinctive shapes, developing practices and theoretical frameworks all geared toward assessing, questioning and refashioning women’s places, voices and legal status in their respective societies, thus also addressing notions of community, collectivity, and democracy. We will also look at today’s globally connected community-building practices and examine how these joint efforts have given way to newly conceived notions of society and community in intersectional feminist theories. Students will examine texts and practices of reading, writing, and conversation ranging from the sociability cultivated by elite women during the Haskala (the Jewish Enlightenment in Germany) to contemporary feminist theories of intersectionality, via the literary and political works of feminist artists and activists through the twentieth century. Amongst the authors read in the course are: Henriette Herz, Rahel Varnhagen, Hannah Arendt, Fanny Lewald, George Sand, Germaine de Stael, Mary Wollstonecraft, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, Alexandra Kollontai, Virginia Woolf, Georg Simmel, Ferdinand Tönnies, Claudia Jones, Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, Uma Narayan, Saba Mahmood, Gloria Anzaldúa, Alice Walker, Luisa Passerini, bell hooks, Adrienne Rich, Silvia Federici, Judith Butler, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Amina Jamal, Michael Hart, Antonio Negri, Ann Ferguson, Dubravka Ugresic, and Carmen Gaite. As part of the course, students from both campuses (BCB and BRAC) will work on group assignments throughout the semester, aimed at preparing a course lexicon and online resources together with faculty. The results of the collaborative work will be presented at a final workshop with all participants in Berlin.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Philosophy and Society
PT241 Feminism and Community
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1400-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ulrike Wagner
OSUN network course at Bard College Berlin and BRAC University
As a political project with deep roots in the Enlightenment, feminism has been concerned with the relationship between individuals and their political and social communities from its inception. For centuries women had experienced that the societies they inhabited did not consider them as individuals, citizens and members of the community with equal rights. The course examines a variety of feminist projects as they grew out of these experiences, and took on distinctive shapes, developing practices and theoretical frameworks all geared toward assessing, questioning and refashioning women’s places, voices and legal status in their respective societies, thus also addressing notions of community, collectivity, and democracy. We will also look at today’s globally connected community-building practices and examine how these joint efforts have given way to newly conceived notions of society and community in intersectional feminist theories. Students will examine texts and practices of reading, writing, and conversation ranging from the sociability cultivated by elite women during the Haskala (the Jewish Enlightenment in Germany) to contemporary feminist theories of intersectionality, via the literary and political works of feminist artists and activists through the twentieth century. Amongst the authors read in the course are: Henriette Herz, Rahel Varnhagen, Hannah Arendt, Fanny Lewald, George Sand, Germaine de Stael, Mary Wollstonecraft, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, Alexandra Kollontai, Virginia Woolf, Georg Simmel, Ferdinand Tönnies, Claudia Jones, Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, Uma Narayan, Saba Mahmood, Gloria Anzaldúa, Alice Walker, Luisa Passerini, bell hooks, Adrienne Rich, Silvia Federici, Judith Butler, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Amina Jamal, Michael Hart, Antonio Negri, Ann Ferguson, Dubravka Ugresic, and Carmen Gaite. As part of the course, students from both campuses (BCB and BRAC) will work on group assignments throughout the semester, aimed at preparing a course lexicon and online resources together with faculty. The results of the collaborative work will be presented at a final workshop with all participants in Berlin.
Syllabus
Politics
Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Fall 2023
Wed, 1545-1900
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, German Studies, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Michael Thomas Taylor
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate requirement.
This course is held in German and engages pressing debates in German media today, asking about the issues and forms of discourse that shape German politics and social life. It is structured around visits to cultural sites, events, and organizations in Berlin, along with topics chosen from current media by the participants in cooperation with the instructor. These may include visits to museums, political parties, NGOs, or media producers. Reflecting the ongoing shift of public life to online venues, we will also examine the virtual presence of these traditionally site-based forms of publicness in relation to old and new media. In addition to the study of current public debates and civic engagement, the purpose of this course is to refine and advance your ability to articulate yourself verbally and in writing through constant vocabulary building.
NB: Students taking the class should have a B2 proficiency level in German or higher
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
PT320 Discussing Deutschland: What Germans Are Talking About Today
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Wed, 1545-1900
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Michael Thomas Taylor
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate requirement.
This course is held in German and engages pressing debates in German media today, asking about the issues and forms of discourse that shape German politics and social life. It is structured around visits to cultural sites, events, and organizations in Berlin, along with topics chosen from current media by the participants in cooperation with the instructor. These may include visits to museums, political parties, NGOs, or media producers. Reflecting the ongoing shift of public life to online venues, we will also examine the virtual presence of these traditionally site-based forms of publicness in relation to old and new media. In addition to the study of current public debates and civic engagement, the purpose of this course is to refine and advance your ability to articulate yourself verbally and in writing through constant vocabulary building.
NB: Students taking the class should have a B2 proficiency level in German or higher
Syllabus
Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Fall 2023
Thur, 0900-1215
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
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thur, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Berit Ebert
Fulfills OSUN 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.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
PT325 The European Union: Institutions, Policies, Procedures
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Thur, 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Berit Ebert
Fulfills OSUN 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.
Syllabus
Politics
Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Fall 2023
Tue 0900-1215
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Taught simultaneously at Bard College Berlin and NSYSU Taiwan, this OSUN network collaborative course will examine two visions of modern society elaborated by classical liberalism on the one hand, and the left radical tradition on the other. Probing the different understandings of human rights as a normative ideal and its role in each of those visions, the course will trace how these understandings played out in the modern history of the Mandarin speaking world. Our point of departure will be Tocqueville’s assertion in the Introduction to Democracy in America that democracy, defined by the principles of equality and popular sovereignty, is on the rise the world over. As Tocqueville anticipated, whether modern democratic societies enshrine and protect individual rights or sacrifice them on the altar of national sovereignty and omnipotent statehood would depend on a host of factors that shape the trajectory of modernization. A key among those factors is how the modern age itself is understood.
After tracing a paradigmatic liberal conceptualization of modernity and human rights, and its comprehensive critique by Marx and Lenin, we will take up the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) as case studies. Starting from similar cultural legacies and related ideological standpoints, and both embracing the Leninist vision, in the course of the 20th century China and Taiwan developed two distinct and idiosyncratic paths to modernity. To understand how and why this happened, in the second part of the course we will trace the political history and probe the theoretical and cultural debates about human rights that have shaped modern Taiwan and China respectively.
The course will culminate with a one-day conference on current human rights practices in China and Taiwan, and their significance for the politics of Asia-Pacific and the world, to be hosted at Bard College Berlin.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Advanced Topics in Global and Comparative Politics
PT340 Modern Society and Human Rights: the case of China and Taiwan
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue 0900-1215
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Ewa Atanassow
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Taught simultaneously at Bard College Berlin and NSYSU Taiwan, this OSUN network collaborative course will examine two visions of modern society elaborated by classical liberalism on the one hand, and the left radical tradition on the other. Probing the different understandings of human rights as a normative ideal and its role in each of those visions, the course will trace how these understandings played out in the modern history of the Mandarin speaking world. Our point of departure will be Tocqueville’s assertion in the Introduction to Democracy in America that democracy, defined by the principles of equality and popular sovereignty, is on the rise the world over. As Tocqueville anticipated, whether modern democratic societies enshrine and protect individual rights or sacrifice them on the altar of national sovereignty and omnipotent statehood would depend on a host of factors that shape the trajectory of modernization. A key among those factors is how the modern age itself is understood.
After tracing a paradigmatic liberal conceptualization of modernity and human rights, and its comprehensive critique by Marx and Lenin, we will take up the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) as case studies. Starting from similar cultural legacies and related ideological standpoints, and both embracing the Leninist vision, in the course of the 20th century China and Taiwan developed two distinct and idiosyncratic paths to modernity. To understand how and why this happened, in the second part of the course we will trace the political history and probe the theoretical and cultural debates about human rights that have shaped modern Taiwan and China respectively.
The course will culminate with a one-day conference on current human rights practices in China and Taiwan, and their significance for the politics of Asia-Pacific and the world, to be hosted at Bard College Berlin.
Syllabus
Politics
Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Fall 2023
Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Scholars, students, and other researchers around the world are routinely threatened, jailed, or punished. Sometimes they are simply trapped in a dangerous place, while in other cases they are deliberately targeted because of their identity or their work. Academic freedom, or freedom of thought and inquiry, is usually considered a basic human right, but its definition and content is essentially contested. This seminar will explore the idea of academic freedom by examining - and attempting to intervene in - situations where it is threatened. In conjunction with the human rights organization Scholars at Risk, we will investigate the cases of scholars currently living under threat and develop projects aimed at releasing them from detention or securing refuge for them. This will involve direct hands-on advocacy work with SAR, taking public positions and creating smart and effective advocacy campaigns for specific endangered students, teachers, and researchers. In order not to do this naively or uncritically, our action-oriented work will be paired throughout the semester with critical reflection on human rights and humanitarian advocacy more generally. Through readings about the historical rise of human rights and humanitarianism as paradigms for creating a better world--as well as the pitfalls of these paradigms--and by engaging with texts that outline the ethical and practical challenges of doing advocacy, we will together work towards creating an intellectual framework that allows us to be more attentive, deliberate and effective advocates for social change.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
PT358 Critical Human Rights and Humanitarian Advocacy/ Scholars At Risk
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon & Wed, 1545-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS credits, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Kerry Bystrom
This course is an OSUN Network Collaborative Course and a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
Scholars, students, and other researchers around the world are routinely threatened, jailed, or punished. Sometimes they are simply trapped in a dangerous place, while in other cases they are deliberately targeted because of their identity or their work. Academic freedom, or freedom of thought and inquiry, is usually considered a basic human right, but its definition and content is essentially contested. This seminar will explore the idea of academic freedom by examining - and attempting to intervene in - situations where it is threatened. In conjunction with the human rights organization Scholars at Risk, we will investigate the cases of scholars currently living under threat and develop projects aimed at releasing them from detention or securing refuge for them. This will involve direct hands-on advocacy work with SAR, taking public positions and creating smart and effective advocacy campaigns for specific endangered students, teachers, and researchers. In order not to do this naively or uncritically, our action-oriented work will be paired throughout the semester with critical reflection on human rights and humanitarian advocacy more generally. Through readings about the historical rise of human rights and humanitarianism as paradigms for creating a better world--as well as the pitfalls of these paradigms--and by engaging with texts that outline the ethical and practical challenges of doing advocacy, we will together work towards creating an intellectual framework that allows us to be more attentive, deliberate and effective advocates for social change.
Syllabus
Politics
Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Fall 2023
Mon, 1230-1530
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Civic Engagement, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon, 1230-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Cassandra Ellerbe
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements
The lived experience of the human body forms in many ways the cornerstone of human identity. As we move throughout the social world and interact with various human groups, we see that our bodies create, maintain and perpetuate power dynamics. However, certain human bodies are disproportionately exposed to numerous forms of violence and inequalities. In this course, we will explore and critically examine social justice movements from a body-centered perspective, as well as what bodies do in and how they affect such movements. Select case studies from various areas of the Global North and South and historical periods will assist us in this exploration. The goal here is to not only examine the interconnection between various forms of oppression such as colonialism, racism, environmental exploitation, militarized or police aggression, femicide etc., but also to understand the ways in which awareness of the body’s power and limitations (vulnerability or defiance) are experienced in relationship to participation in social justice movements. Utilizing an interdisciplinary and critical analytical approach to knowledge production; we will focus upon and interrogate why certain bodies are ascribed less value, considered to disrupt and question state sanctioned norms, and treated as readily disposable.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
SE291 Social Justice and the Body
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Mon, 1230-1530
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Cassandra Ellerbe
Fulfills OSUN Civic Engagement Certificate and OSUN Human Rights Certificate requirements
The lived experience of the human body forms in many ways the cornerstone of human identity. As we move throughout the social world and interact with various human groups, we see that our bodies create, maintain and perpetuate power dynamics. However, certain human bodies are disproportionately exposed to numerous forms of violence and inequalities. In this course, we will explore and critically examine social justice movements from a body-centered perspective, as well as what bodies do in and how they affect such movements. Select case studies from various areas of the Global North and South and historical periods will assist us in this exploration. The goal here is to not only examine the interconnection between various forms of oppression such as colonialism, racism, environmental exploitation, militarized or police aggression, femicide etc., but also to understand the ways in which awareness of the body’s power and limitations (vulnerability or defiance) are experienced in relationship to participation in social justice movements. Utilizing an interdisciplinary and critical analytical approach to knowledge production; we will focus upon and interrogate why certain bodies are ascribed less value, considered to disrupt and question state sanctioned norms, and treated as readily disposable.
Syllabus
Politics
Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Fall 2023
Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Certificate in Human Rights, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Fred Abrahams
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This workshop-oriented class teaches the practical skills of a human rights investigator: how to identify the topic and focus of an investigation, how to design an investigative strategy, how to conduct the fact-finding, and how to present findings. Covered topics include research design, interviewing victims and witnesses, interviewing officials, corroborating evidence, using new technologies, consulting experts and using secondary sources, mitigating security risks, and managing personal stress, wellbeing and resilience. Students will develop their writing and presentation skills to communicate human rights findings in clear, concise and compelling ways. Guest speakers from the human rights movement will occasionally join to present their experiences and advice.
Syllabus
Concentration: Politics
Module: Civic Engagement and Social Justice
SE301 Making the Case: Human Rights Research and Reporting
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Tue & Thur, 0900-1030
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Fred Abrahams
This is a core course for the OSUN Human Rights Certificate.
This workshop-oriented class teaches the practical skills of a human rights investigator: how to identify the topic and focus of an investigation, how to design an investigative strategy, how to conduct the fact-finding, and how to present findings. Covered topics include research design, interviewing victims and witnesses, interviewing officials, corroborating evidence, using new technologies, consulting experts and using secondary sources, mitigating security risks, and managing personal stress, wellbeing and resilience. Students will develop their writing and presentation skills to communicate human rights findings in clear, concise and compelling ways. Guest speakers from the human rights movement will occasionally join to present their experiences and advice.
Syllabus
Politics
Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
Fall 2023
Fri, 1400-1715
Programs: Academy Year, BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought, Study Abroad
Concentration: Politics
Module: Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Joshua Paul
Social science is often described as having two main methodological branches, “quantitative” and “qualitative.” This course concentrates on the approaches described by the term “qualitative,” and which are used in research on a wide variety of issues and topics, from urban sociology and history to peace and conflict studies. The central method of qualitative research is data-gathering from individual and collective testimony, using various data collection methods and feedback from the sources. We focus on a number of stages and procedures in the research process, such as the challenge of identifying a research puzzle, defining a research question, the carrying-out of qualitative data collection, the ethics of research methods, and the gathering and analysis of information. In our investigation, we will also look at scholarly research articles and their presentation and interpretation of research findings. Participants in the course will pursue their own research project in application of the methods and principles addressed in class.
Concentration: Politics
Module: Qualitative Methods in Social Sciences
SO203 How to do Social Research
Fall 2023Level: Advanced
Day/Time: Fri, 1400-1715
Credits: Credits: 8 ECTS, 4 U.S. credits
Professor(s): Joshua Paul
Social science is often described as having two main methodological branches, “quantitative” and “qualitative.” This course concentrates on the approaches described by the term “qualitative,” and which are used in research on a wide variety of issues and topics, from urban sociology and history to peace and conflict studies. The central method of qualitative research is data-gathering from individual and collective testimony, using various data collection methods and feedback from the sources. We focus on a number of stages and procedures in the research process, such as the challenge of identifying a research puzzle, defining a research question, the carrying-out of qualitative data collection, the ethics of research methods, and the gathering and analysis of information. In our investigation, we will also look at scholarly research articles and their presentation and interpretation of research findings. Participants in the course will pursue their own research project in application of the methods and principles addressed in class.
To view courses offered prior to Spring 2023, please visit the course archive.