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Semester Classes

Foto: Miriam Prüßner

Regular Semester Classes

The International Undergraduate Study Program (IUSP) takes courses from the university's regular course catalogue. Usually, classes take place two hours per week.
Important: Each class, whether held in English or German, is being supported by tutorials (obligatory!) in English with four hours per week, especially for IUSP students. In the tutorials, students are working up the contents of the lecture, not only of the first eight weeks the IUSP participants are staying, but also the contents of the second half of the German semester. In addition, the tutors work more deeply on the topic with the students and deepen their knowledge.

The IUSP students give presentations and write essays on the topics according to the respective class and tutorial. Generally, marks are given for oral work (presentations, performance in class etc.) and written work (reports, bibliographies, homework, essays etc.).

Class Choice: We are adding classes as they come in from the professors, and will start publishing classes from December on for the Spring semester, and from July on for the Fall semester.* As soon as the list will be complete, we will notify all students, and ask for their class choice in an email. We will ask for their final decision after their arrival in Marburg. Only students with the language level B1.1 and above can enroll for classes held in German.

Note on Class Attendance
Please bear in mind that attendance is required in order to receive credit for IUSP classes. Failure to attend classes can result in grade cuts and/or a grade not being issued to you if you do not attend classes regularly. IUSP students do not have the option of simply sitting for the exam at the end of the semester without having attended classes. Health issues and other serious reasons for missing lectures are, of course, another matter. Please keep your teacher and/or the IUSP staff informed if you are unable to attend lectures.

*Please note:
Generally speaking, class descriptions are posted online later than what many colleges and universities outside of Germany are accustomed to. The reason for this lies in the differing academic calendars. The classes for the spring semester in Marburg are published in January; classes for the fall semester in Marburg are published in July. We recommend looking at classes from the previous academic year to get a feel for what classes will be offered in the corresponding semester of the current academic year. In most subject areas, similar courses are offered on a rotating basis one time each academic year. We do not offer the same classes every year/semester. Introductory-level courses, however, are generally repeated. Browsing through past catalogues can be helpful in giving you an idea of what courses may be offered and what courses may be counted towards your degree.
The descriptions in the class list are taken from our university course catalogue. It can be accessed, if of interest, through the word "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" in the menu of "Direkt-links" in the upper right corner of this page. By choosing the respective semester the original description can be found.

Class List Fall 2018

Subject Area: American Studies

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: Introduction to the Study of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (Survey of English Literature) (held in English)Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: Introduction to the Study of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (Survey of English Literature) (held in English)

    Lecture

    Tuesday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    This lecture class, accompanied by student tutorials, will introduce students to concepts, methods, and theories relevant in American, Canadian, and British literary and cultural studies. The class will offer you the tools which you will need and can recur to throughout your studies in all your study programs. Key concerns will be questions of genre, literary epochs, reading methodologies, and the practical analysis of texts chosen for this class. Students will become aware of how norms and perspectives shape our understanding of cultural products and how interculturality and (inter)cultural competence have become key factors in a constantly changing world. The course will also serve as an introduction to the study programs (BA, LA), to the organization of students’ learning environment, the understanding of good academic practice (e.g., how to avoid plagiarism and how to use the MLA guidelines for the preparation of research papers), and to the use of social media as omnipresent teaching and learning tools. The class will make use of the e-learning platform ILIAS and its chatroom for open discussions. All students are expected to use the services provided and the tutorials offered.

    Required Reading:
    Meyer, Michael. English and American Literatures. 4th ed. Tübingen: Francke, 2011.
    Kate Chopin, The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Biographical and Historical Contexts, Criticism. Norton Critical Editions. 1899. New York: Norton, 2017. (or 1994 if necessary).
    Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) (any edition)
    Some additional short reading material (e.g., poems and short stories) will be available on ILIAS by the beginning of the semester.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: “O Canada”: The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Donald Trump (held in English)Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: “O Canada”: The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Donald Trump (held in English)

    Seminar

    Tuesday 2pm - 4pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content:

    When Donald Trump was elected on November 8, 2016, real-estate management saw its opportunity and announced: “Moving to Canada? We can sell your home.” At the same time, the website of the Canadian immigration authority broke down because of too many people checking whether they could leave the U.S. and live in Canada. Youtube movie clips celebrate Canada as a place of refuge from the Trumpian atmosphere in the U.S. These events, too, are part of the history of the Underground Railroad because in the American cultural imagination the historical Underground Railroad is a secret pathway that helped slaves to escape from bondage to the U.S.-American Northern states as well as to Canada. The myths surrounding this crucial concept of American history are manifold and reveal binary notions of bondage and freedom, here and there, now and then. The hardships of slavery, of suffering during wars, and of a stifling and inhuman political atmosphere instill in people the desire for freedom to be found in an often idealized place. In this seminar, we will look at the journey of freedom seekers at different times in U.S.-American history and analyze the notion of the Underground Railroad in its historical development until today. Aspects such as mobility and migration, bondage and freedom, reading and representation, as well as race, class, and gender will help us entangle relationships of power and understand the longing for an almost utopian, actual as well as metaphorical “Canada” as central in worldwide immigration movements. Please note that presentations will not be “traditional” reports but will take on experimental features.

    Required Reading:
    Father Henson. Truth Stranger than Fiction: Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life (1858).
    Lewis, Sinclair. It Can’t Happen Here (1935).
    Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale (1985).
    Hill, Lawrence. The Book of Negroes or Someone Knows My Name (2008).
    Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. (2016).

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: Understanding Fake News: Theoretical and Practical Approaches in American Studies (held in English)Prof. Dr. Carmen Birkle: Understanding Fake News: Theoretical and Practical Approaches in American Studies (held in English)

    Seminar

    Tuesday 6pm - 8pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

     Content:

    “Fake News” as both term and phenomenon is omnipresent these days, not the least because of the present U.S.-American president. “Fake News” has become a buzzword that everyone uses, often without knowing what it means and where it comes from. In this seminar, we will look at the history of “Fake News” and some theoretical and practical approaches of how to deal with this phenomenon. Presentations will be performed, visualized, and narrated in order to critically shed light on the implementation of “Fake News” in contemporary U.S.-American society. We will discuss the role of academia in general and American Studies in particular in the creation of an opposition to “Fake News.” The structure of the seminar will be threefold: terminology – history – responsibility. Throughout the semester, the class will be working toward the final event at the end of the semester in the form of a mini-conference accompanied by an exhibition and a theatrical performance.

    Required Reading:
    Paul Levinson, Fake News in Real Context (2017).
    Further reading material will be available on ILIAS by the beginning of the semester.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Christina Maria Koch: Talk-Radio: A Cultural History (held in English)Christina Maria Koch: Talk-Radio: A Cultural History (held in English)

    Seminar

    Wednesday 4pm - 6pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    From the first experiments in the early 1900s via the invention of radio broadcasting and the creation of networks and stations until the popularization of television, radio revolutionized the U.S.-American media landscape. As Michelle Hilmes said, unlike other media at the time, radio enabled media experiences shared simultaneously with thousands of people – and it was self-reflexive about this “unifying power.” Since its coexistence with TV broadcasting, radio has continued to be an important factor in shaping a national self-image and public discourse, both in talk and music formats. The ubiquity of audiovisual material on the internet, the evolution of digital platforms, and the emergence of new formats like podcasts has changed radio listening habits significantly, but (or consequently?) radio is alive and well.

    In this class, we will immerse ourselves in radio narratives and the cultural history of broadcasting talk on air, focusing on political talk-radio, radio drama, and podcast storytelling.

    We will discuss the cultural history and evolution of political talk-radio and focus on conservative “outrage media” such as the Rush Limbaugh Show. This section will include a hands-on workshop kindly offered and co-hosted by Prof. Rolf Kreyer (linguistics), in which we will analyze conservative talk radio’s political rhetoric, affective politics, and its use or co-construction of cultural narratives. We will meet on Monday, Nov. 26, from 10 am – 3 pm for the workshop. The extra class time will be compensated in December (fewer sessions).

    In another section of the seminar, we will discuss Orson Welles’ 1938 radio drama adaptation of H. G. Wells’ science fiction classic The War of the Worlds about a Martian invasion of Earth. Welles’ broadcast was long rumored to have caused a mass hysteria among gullible listeners, the extent of which has recently been downscaled in more cautious historical analysis. After comparing Wells’ original to the radio adaptation in terms of genre conventions, style, and content, we will discuss media anxieties, the power of narratives, and “fake news” debates in general.

    Lastly, we will study new long-form radio storytelling with a case study of the documentary serial podcast S-Town, which starts out as a murder mystery and becomes an intimate, arguably voyeuristic portrait of a small town inhabitant and his social environment. We will investigate the serial from a narratological perspective, study the role of reporter/host/narrator Brian Reed, production aspects, and how podcasting has influenced documentary and journalism, and discuss documentary/narrative ethics.

    Literature:
    Wells, H. G. The War of the Worlds. Edited by Andy Sawyer. London, Penguin Classics, 2005. (Please purchase this edition.)

    S-Town from Serial Productions, 2017, https://stownpodcast.org/. (CN: suicide, self-harm)

    Additional required literature and recordings will be made available via ILIAS or the library reserve shelf (Semesterapparat).

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Franziska Külbel: Borderlands: Latinx Literature and Culture in U.S. America (held in English)Franziska Külbel: Borderlands: Latinx Literature and Culture in U.S. America (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 2pm - 4pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content and aims:
    Hispanic, Latino/a, Chicano/a, Spanish-American, Mexican-American, South-American… all these terms and more may denote a part of the population of the United States of America that has, for centuries, been romanticized, marginalized, stereotyped and discriminated against. This proseminar will take a closer look at Latinx-American culture, the Borderlands between Latinx-America and U.S. American culture, through the eyes of literature.
    This class will serve as an introduction to Latinx-American fiction while giving insights into its historical and cultural contexts. Students will be introduced to and will practice its analysis based on close reading and the study of secondary texts. Being an avid reader, as well as keen on debating in class are the two main prerequisites for this class. It will build on your reading of the texts, as well as your willingness to engage in critical thinking.

    Books you have to purchase:

    T.C. Boyle. The Tortilla Curtain (1995).
    Ernesto Quiñonez. Bodega Dreams (2000).
    Gaby Rivera. Juliet Takes a Breath (2016).

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Johanna Heil: (Contemporary) American Poetry (held in English)Dr. Johanna Heil: (Contemporary) American Poetry (held in English)

    Seminar

    Wednesday 10am - 12pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content: 

    In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand, in defiance of their opinion—
    the raw material of poetry in
    all its rawness, and
    that which is on the other hand,
    genuine, then you are interested in poetry.
    (Marianne Moore, “Poetry”)

    Can you say of yourself that you are interested in poetry? In the condensation of language? In metaphor, rhythm, rhyme, and meter?
    Or can’t you really tell? Haven’t you read enough poetry?
    Either way, this class is designed to cater to students different levels of pervious engagement with poetry: the first third of the class will serve as an introduction to / review of versification and the history of American poetry: we will review traditional verse forms, the form and function of rhyme and meter, and other formal aspects of poetry, and we will look at a variety of poetic forms including free verse, imagist poetry, concrete poetry, and prose poetry. Reading a selection of canonical American poems, we will look at formal aspects of poetry, at the use of language, and at the evocation of imagery through words; we will also practice reading and reciting poetry.
    After this general introduction, we will turn to four contemporary books of poetry: Daniel Borzutzky’s The Performance of Becoming Human, Claudia Rankine’s American Citizen, Julia Cohen’s I Was not Born, and Jason Reynold’s verse novel Long Way Down. We will interrogate the form and content and think about the work that poetic language can do in times of crises.

    This class will be based on the students’ active participation; this will require thorough preparation of the texts at home.


    Please note that Julia Cohen’s I Was not Born will probably have to be ordered from the press directly—ordering in groups will save you shipping costs.

    Content Note: The contemporary poetry assigned for this class address issues of mental illness, suicide, racial discrimination, refuge, and violence against human bodies.


    You will have to purchase the following texts:
    Borzutzky, Daniel. The Performance of Becoming Human. Brooklyn Arts Press, 2016.
    Rankine, Claudia. American Citizen. Penguin, 2014.
    Cohen, Julia. I Was not Born. Noemi Press, 2014.
    Reynold, Jason. Long Way Down. Faber and Faber, 2018.

    All other material will be made available via ILIAS.

Subject Area: Archeology

Subject Area: Business Administration and Economics

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Michael Kirk: Development Economics: Introduction held in English)Prof. Dr. Michael Kirk: Development Economics: Introduction held in English)

    Lecture & Exercise

    Monday 12pm - 2pm & 2pm - 4pm

    Content: 

    Lecture and tutorial deal with key questions of economic development of so-called Third World Countries. Students get an understanding of the complexity of the term “development”, of actors in development cooperation as well as an overview of the history of development economics and its embeddedness in modern economics. Students will learn about the role and problems of growth in the development process. They will be able to critically assess relevant development theories, the magnitude of the poverty problem in developing countries and its implications for population, equity and environmental issues.

    1. Key Problems of Economic Development
    2. Poverty and Inequality: Definition, Measurement, Implications
    3. What is „Development“?
    4. Actors in Development Cooperation
    5. History of Development Economics
    6. Development Theories: A Synopsis
    − Classic Theories on Economic Development
    − Growth Theories
    − Trade and Structuralist Theories and Development
    7. Population Growth and Economic Development
    8. Environment and Development 

    Literature:
    Banerjee, A. & E. Duflo (2011), Poor Economics, A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty, New York.
    Easterly W. (2003), Can Foreign Aid Buy Growth? Journal of Economic Perspectives 17 (3): 23-48
    Krugman, Paul R. & M. Obstfeld (2008), International Economics, 8th ed., Boston etc.
    Mankiw N.G., D. Romer und D.N. Weil (1992), A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth, Quarterly Journal of Economics: 407-437
    Meier, G. & J. Rauch (2000/2005), Leading Issues in Economic Development, 7./8. ed., New York,
    Perkins, D. Radelet,S., D. Lindauer & S. Block, (2013), Economics of Development, 7th ed., New York, etc.
    Ray (1998), Development Economics, Princeton,
    Schultz, T.P. & J. Strauss (eds.), (2008), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol 4, North Holland.
    Todaro, M. & E. Smith (2009), Economic Development, 10th ed, Harlow

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Bernhard Nietert: Entscheidung, Finanzierung und Investition (held in German)Prof. Dr. Bernhard Nietert: Entscheidung, Finanzierung und Investition (held in German)

    Lecture

    Monday 6pm - 8pm

    Content: 

    -    Research Questions

    ·    How should I make decisions?

    ·    How can I separate good real investments and good funding opportunities from bad ones?

    ·    What is risk? How can I measure and manage it?

    -    Content

    1   Introduction

    1.1     Basics

    1.2     Basics of decision theory

    1.3     Types of investments and financing

    2   Investment evaluation under certainty

    2.1     Determination of cash flows under certainty

    2.2    A first approach to investment evaluation under certainty: problem and fundamentals

    2.3     Classical investment evaluation under certainty

    2.4     Modern investment evaluation under certainty

    3   Financing evaluation under certainty

    3.1     Introduction

    3.2     Financing that is directly related to investment

    3.3     Financing that is not related to investment

    4   Risk

    4.1     Getting to know risk

    4.2     Determination of cash flows under risk

    4.3     Management of risk

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Ahmed Badreldin: Introduction to the Economies of the Middle East (held in English)Dr. Ahmed Badreldin: Introduction to the Economies of the Middle East (held in English)

    Lecture

    Tuesday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    This course is intended as an introduction to basic economic systems and concepts followed by a comprehensive overview of the economies of the region. The goal is to provide students with a solid basis and understanding of the economies of the region and equip them to analyze these in an objective critical manner.

    Aims of the Lecture:
    1. Introduce basic economic concepts and systems that are found in the region.
    2. Provide an in-depth analysis of representative economies of the region.
    3. Encourage critical thinking and objective analysis for MENA-Economy-related topics to expand horizons and encourage/motivate topics for further research.

    Learning Objectives:
    1. The course is designed to equip students with the necessary tools that would allow them to think and analyze economic problems witnessed in the MENA region in a systematic theory based approach.
    2. After attending the course, participants should be able to make educated comments on ongoing economic discussions in the region.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Schulte: Introduction to Institutional Economics (held in English)Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Schulte: Introduction to Institutional Economics (held in English)

    Tandem-teaching, mixture of lecture & exercises in all sessions; online assignments (on ILIAS)

    Day & Time Lecture: Monday 8am - 10am AND  Wednesday 12pm - 2pm

    Day & Time Exercise: Monday 4pm - 6pm on the following dates:

    29.10.2018                                         

    12.11.2018                                         

    26.11.2018          

    10.12.2018

    Learning objectives:
    Students acquire an understanding for institutions as solutions for society's cooperation and coordination problems. With instruction and background, students are enabled to understand cultural differences with respect to institutional settings. Students acquire the competence to apply different institutional economics approaches to simple problems and to assess alternative institutional solutions with formal methods.

    Content:
    The course introduces institutions as systems of rules and sanctions which govern economic transactions and social interactions. Several institutions (markets, laws, social norms, political institutions, etc.); the modes through which they are developed; and their impact on individual behaviour are discussed. Important theoretical approaches from the field of institutional economics are applied. Different institutional solutions to social dilemmas are examined.

    Resources:
    Most of the material covered in the course is based on the text book by Groenewegen, Spinthoven and van den Berg (2010): Institutional Economics – An Introduction. Students who want to prepare themselves for the course are advised to read this book.

    All course material is exclusively provided through the online learning system ILIAS.

    Organization:
    Lectures, exercises, and discussions will alternate, so that there is no clear separation between lecture slot and exercise slot. Students will be asked to solve different kinds of online assignments (available on ILIAS), which will help them to become familiar with course concepts and prepare for the exam.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Financial Accounting around the World - Empirical Evidence (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Financial Accounting around the World - Empirical Evidence (held in English)

    Seminar

    Day & Time: Considering the regular schedule of the IUSP-program, a first appointment with the participants will be arranged via email.

    Pre-requisites: Basic knowledge of financial accounting and/or corporate financing is helpful, but not required.Participants should, however, be interested in the economic analysis on firm and/or country level.

    Course description:
    In the last years countries around the world have either adopted the capital marketoriented International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) or adjusted their national standards accordingly. As the IFRS are deeply linked to a corporate governance system typical for the US or Great Britain companies are supposed to be primarily financed by equity and/or debt offered on well-developed capital markets, employed managers (and not the equity holders themselves) manage companies, decisions of and in firms are typically made with a strict reference to market parameters, ownership is characterized by high rates of free float and labor markets are characterized by a “hire and fire”-philosophy. Against this background the question arises if and in how far this model of corporate governance is suitable for other countries, in particular in Europa and Asia, as financing patterns and the institutional environment in those countries are different in many ways. Based on samples of the 100 biggest corporations from different countries, given annual reports as the main “database”
    and a prepared checklist for the analysis participants are supposed to analyze the financing patterns and the capital market environment empirically to derive and discuss
    implications for the standardsetting process. Thus the main question is: Are capital market-based accounting standards suitable for economies around the world?
    Participants can either work individually or in groups of up to three students. The results of the individual or joint work have to be presented at different stages of the project
    and a short final essay has to be handed in.

    Literature:
    Alexander, David/Nobes, Christopher [2013]: Financial Accounting – An International Introduction, 5th Edition, Pearson: Harlow.
    Penman, Stephen H. [2013]: Financial Statement Analysis and Security Valuation, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill: New York.
    Weygandt, Jerry J./Kimmel, Paul D./Kieso, Donald E. [2013]: Financial Accounting – IFRS Edition, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Empirical Comparative Corporate Governance - International Case Studies (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Empirical Comparative Corporate Governance - International Case Studies (held in English)

    Seminar

    Day & Time: Considering the regular schedule of the IUSP-program, a first appointment with the participants will be arranged via email.

    Pre-requisites: Due to the variety of topics specific skills / knowledge are / is not required in advance. Participants should, however, be interested in the economic analysis on firm and/or country level.

    Course description:
    Driven by the idea that national corporate governance systems differ due to several path dependencies such as different cultures, traditions etc. the seminar aims at exploring
    those differences by an empirical analysis of selected topics from the field of “comparative corporate governance”. Based on samples of the 100 biggest corporations from countries around the world, given annual reports as the main “database” and a prepared checklist for the analysis participants are supposed to do joint work in groups of up to three students. Topics include a wide variety of issues such as ownership and control, financing patterns, the use of capital market institutions, board structure, corporate social responsibility-mechanisms, corporate governance codices and manager compensation. The results of the joint work have to be presented at different stages of the project and a short final essay has to be handed in. Assistance will be given on a regular basis.

    Literature:
    Goergen, Marc [2012]: International Corporate Governance, Pearson: Harlow.
    Larcker, David/Tayan, Brian [2001]: Corporate Governance Matters, Pearson: Upper Saddle River.
    Mallin, Christine A. (Ed.) [2011]: Handbook on International Corporate Governance - Country Analyses, 2nd Edition, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham/Northampton.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Institutional Activism, Share Repurchases and Hostile Take Overs in Europe (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Institutional Activism, Share Repurchases and Hostile Take Overs in Europe (held in English)

    Seminar

    Day & Time: Considering the regular schedule of the IUSP-program, a first appointment with the participants will be arranged via email.

    Pre-requisites: Participants should have some basic knowledge of corporate finance.

    Course description:
    Since the mid-1990s, capital market-orientation seems to be the guiding principle of legal reforms as well as of scientific research. The seminar aims to examine the capital
    market-orientation of large enterprises in Europe based on selected indicators (namely institutional activism, share repurchases and hostile takeovers). Participants
    are supposed to perform an empirical study as a content analysis relying on annual reports and related sources. An appropriate template for a structured analysis is provided
    for by the chair. Starting with a short theoretical introduction the results of the analysis have to be made up in a report (term paper) and are to be presented at different
    stages of the project in the seminar. Participants are supposed to do joint work in groups of up to three students. Assistance will be given on a regular basis.

    Literature:
    Black, B.S. [1992]: Agents watching Agents: The Promise of Institituional Investor Voice, in: UCLA Law Review, Vol. 39(4), p. 811-893.
    Black, B.S. [1992]: The Value of Institutional Investor Monitoring: The Empirical Evidence, in: UCLA Law Review, Vol. 39(4), p. 895-939.
    Larcker, D./Tayan, B. [2015]: Corporate Governance Matters, 2nd Edition, Pearson: Upper Saddle River.
    OECD [2011]: The Role of Institutional Investors in Promoting Good Corporate Governance, OECD Publishing.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Corporate Valuation - An International Case Study (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls: Corporate Valuation - An International Case Study (held in English)

    Seminar

    Day & Time: Considering the regular schedule of the IUSP-program, a first appointment with the participants will be arranged via email.

    Pre-requisites: Participants should have some basic knowledge of corporate finance.

    Course description:
    The valuation of firms is one of the most difficult tasks in “practical business” as the valuation has to account for uncertainty concerning the future cash flows as well as
    the cost of capital. The course deals with the theorectical and practical problems of such a valuation process based on a real world case study from the global telecommunication
    industry. Topics include a variety of issues such as the derivation of a future firm strategy, the evaluation of management forecasts, the estimation of firm cash flows and the capital market-based determination of the cost of equity and debt. Participants are supposed to do joint work in groups of up to three students. The results of the joint work have to be presented at different stages of the project and a short final essay has to be handed in. Assistance will be given on a regular basis.

    Literature:
    Berk, J. / DeMarzo, P. [2013]: Corporate Finance, 3rd Ed., Pearson: Upper Saddle River.
    Copeland, T.E. / Weston, J.F. / Sastri, K. [2005]: Financial Theory and Corporate Policy, 4th Ed., Addison-Wesley: London.
    Holthausen, R.W./Zmijewski, M.E. [2014]: Corporate Valuation – Theory, Evidence & Practice, Cambridge Business Publishers: Cambridge.
    Titman, S./Martin, J.D. [2016]: Valuation, 3rd Ed., Pearson: Upper Saddle River

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls:  Executive Compensation & Firm Performance - Concepts and Cases (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sascha Mölls:  Executive Compensation & Firm Performance - Concepts and Cases (held in English)

    Seminar

    Day & Time: Considering the regular schedule of the IUSP-program, a first appointment with the participants will be arranged via email.

    Pre-requisites: Due to the variety of topics specific skills / knowledge are / is not required in ad-vance. Participants should, however, be interested in the economic analysis on firm and/or country level.

    Course description:
    Driven by the idea that economic systems differ due to several path dependencies such as different cultures, traditions etc. the seminar aims at exploring differences in managerial remuneration and its consequences for firm performance. Based on samples of the 100 biggest corporations from countries around the world, given an-nual reports as the main “database” and a prepared checklist for the analysis partici-pants are supposed to do joint work in groups of up to three students. Topics include a wide variety of renumeration issues, particularly different compensation structures as well as different degrees of capital market-orientation. The results of the joint work have to be presented at different stages of the project and a short final essay has to be handed in. Assistance will be given on a regular basis.

    Literature:
    Larcker, David/Tayan, Brian [2015]: Corporate Governance Matters, 2nd Edition, Pearson: Upper Saddle River (Chapter 8).
    Mallin, Christine A. (Ed.) [2011]: Handbook on International Corporate Governance - Country Analyses, 2nd Edition, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham/Northampton.
    Murpyh, Kevin J. (1985): Corporate Performance and Managerial Remuneration, in: Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 7, 11-42.

Subject Area: English Studies

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: The Eighteenth Century: From the Augustans to Early Romanticism (held in English)Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: The Eighteenth Century: From the Augustans to Early Romanticism (held in English)

    Lecture

    Monday 12pm - 2pm

    Content:

    An overview of the literary production of eighteenth-century Britain, looking at central authors and texts and interpreting them in their historical and literary contexts. The lectures will start with the authors of the "Augustan Age" (Pope, Swift, Gay), then have a look at the "Rise of the Novel" (Defoe, Fielding, Richardson) and the "Age of Johnson" and finish with a study of “exotic” aspects such as the Gothic Novel (Walpole, Radcliffe) and the poetry of early Romanticism (Gray, Smart, Blake), not forgetting the writing of women in the eighteenth century.

    Although this is a lecture, questions on the part of students are of course encouraged. Some of the background material will be shared on Ilias, but unfortunately, if you really want to know more about the works dealt with, you will have to READ them.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: Brexit in English Literature (held in English)Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: Brexit in English Literature (held in English)

    Seminar

    Tuesday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    Brexit, the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, is a topic that has dominated British and European politics for several years now. But its repercussions go beyond the mere political sphere, and Brexit has also become an important theme in recent literary texts. In this class, we will discuss several literary works dealing with the Brexit theme, amongst them novels, a political satire, a play and some poems. I expect students to keep informed not only about British and European politics but also to have read the texts at the beginning of the term.

    Participants will be able to discuss literary works within the context of their literary, political and historical knowledge.

    Literature:
    Billingham, Mark. Love Like Blood..2017.
    Craig, Amanda. The Lie of the Land. 2017.
    Duffy, Carol Ann, and Rufus Norris. My Country: A Work in Progress. 2017.
    Johnson, Stanley. Kompromat. 2017.

    Close reading of the literary texts involved. Discussion of these texts in the light of historical, political and cultural information on the theme of Brexit.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: The Canadian Prairies: Poems, Plays, and Novels (held in English)Prof. Dr. Martin Kuester: The Canadian Prairies: Poems, Plays, and Novels (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    In this seminar, we will read and discuss seminal texts from the Canadian Prairies, having a look at an important long poem, two novels and a play from this geographical (as well as cultural and political) region of Canada. As the novelist and literary scholar Henry Kreisel remarked, the Prairie is "a state of mind." We will try to trace and understand this state of mind by analyzing these significant literary works.

    Literature:
    Robert Kroetsch, Seed Catalogue
    Margaret Laurence, The Diviners
    Kelly Rebar, Bordertown Café
    Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman’s Boy

    Close reading of the literary texts involved. Discussion of these texts in the light of geographical, historical, political and cultural information on this Canadian and North American region.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Early Modern Revenge Tragedies (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Early Modern Revenge Tragedies (held in English)

    Lecture

    Wednesday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    Early modern revenge tragedies are a theatrical subgenre that is defined by specific generic conventions. Based on Seneca’s (4 BC-AD 65) plays, early modern revenge tragedies such as Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1590), William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (c 1590) and Hamlet (c 1600), as well as Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy (c.1606) negotiate the (inner) conflicts of the avenger, document the progress of the protagonist's revenge plot, and often end with the death of both the murderer and the avenger himself.

    This lecture is designed to introduce to the genre of revenge tragedies as such, and its most well-known plays such as the ones mentioned above.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Concepts of Leadership: Shakespeare’s History Plays (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Concepts of Leadership: Shakespeare’s History Plays (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 12pm - 2pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content:

    Shakespeare's History Plays – unjustifiedly - tend to be not his most popular ones with readers and theatre audiences. They are, however, a fascinating field of negotiation of such topical and timeless issues as the legitimacy of political power and leadership, various concepts of rulership, and the demonstration of individual abilities and character strenghts. After an introduction to the history and culture of the so called 'Early Modern Period' we will deal with various political systems from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century and relate them to the following plays: William Shakespeare: Richard III, Richard II, Henry IV (part I),and  Henry V. There will be a compulsory introductory test on the contents of these four plays in the first session.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Independent / “Unruly” Women in Early Modern Plays (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Independent / “Unruly” Women in Early Modern Plays (held in English)

    Seminar

    Tuesday 4pm - 6pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content:

    Early modern England has been constructed as a primarily patriarchal society, in which men had authority over women. Society stressed a daughter's duties to her father, a wife's duties to her husband and the virtues of chastity and obedience. Widows, however, could inherit important responsibilities from their fathers and from their husbands, and in noble society, widowhood even created some very wealthy and powerful women. Furthermore, it was a woman, that is, Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) who presided over a golden age in English history, and the most important playwrights of her time have depicted female characters in very different ways. After a general introduction to the topic and cultural background, we will focus on the ‘unruly’ women in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (c. 1597), Macbeth (1606) and The Merchant of Venice (c. 1598), as well as John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1613-14) There will be a compulsory introductory test on the contents of these four plays in the first session.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Children’s Literature (held in English)Prof. Dr. Sonja Fielitz: Children’s Literature (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 10am - 12pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content: 

    Children’s Literature has only recently been acknowledged a field of academic significance and merit. It will be the aim of this class to approach texts we all passionately enjoyed in our childhood from a ‘new’, that is, critical, point of view. After attempts of a definition (“what is children’s literature?”) and a brief historical overview of the cultural constructs of childhood over the centuries, we will approach and discuss classics from the so-called Golden Age of British Children’s Literature, that is, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865), Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows (1908), Francis Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (1911), and A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (1926). There will be a compulsory introductory test on the contents of these four narrative texts in the first session.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Alessandra Boller: «the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world» : The Writings of Kazuo Ishiguro, Nobel-Prize Winner (held in English)Alessandra Boller: «the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world» : The Writings of Kazuo Ishiguro, Nobel-Prize Winner (held in English)

    Seminar

    Tuesday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    When Kazuo Ishiguro was, somewhat surprisingly, awarded the Nobel-Prize in Literature in 2017, the committee explained that "in novels of great emotional force, [Ishiguro] has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

    While this explanation might appear cryptic, it actually summarises and mirrors Ishiguro’s special and powerful novels very well. Proceeding from the committee’s short explanation, this seminar will explore the writer’s topics and techniques, discussing aspects such as memory, trauma and loss, our access to the past and the present, ethics and technology, personal and societal failings. Besides, we will also focus on reader-response, magical realism and the cultural work of Ishiguro’s writings.

    We are going to discuss Ishiguro’s most recent novels Never Let Me Go and The Buried Giant, one or two of his short stories and at least one film adaptation of his novels. Students are required to select, read and do research on one further novel by Ishiguro and to present the results in class.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Malte Unterweg: Shaping Literary Worlds: J.R.R. Tolkien (held in English)Malte Unterweg: Shaping Literary Worlds: J.R.R. Tolkien (held in English)

    Seminar

    Wednesday 2pm - 4pm

    Please note: The IUSP has only 5 spots in this class!

    Content:

    In this winter term we will venture into one of the most beloved worlds in literary history: Middle-earth. We will engage with the works J. R. R. Tolkien, the father of the modern fantasy genre, which is gaining popularity ever since the publication of his works. The seminar will have a closer look at a selection of the author’s work varying in tone, type and perspective, ranging from The Silmarillion, over The Hobbit or There and Back Again to his major work, The Lord of the Rings.

    The seminar explores the social circumstances in which these novels were written, as well as the historical background of the period, the sources used, and the biographical context of the author. However, it is mostly interested in the shaping of a rich and detailed literary world that inspired following generations of writers and countless other works. It discusses themes such as questions of genre, philosophical ideas, religion, social criticism, and the creation of literary worlds. A strong emphasis will be laid on critical responses to the novels and modern adaptations of them on the screen. Participants must be familiar with the book series revolving around Middle-earth at the beginning of term.

    The seminar will enable students to develop a critical understanding of narrative structures, raise their awareness of literature as a medium through which values are affirmed and debated, show new theoretical approaches to J. R. R. Tolkien and deepen their skills of close reading, historical contextualisation and comparative analysis.

Subject Area: German Studies

Subject Area: History

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Christian Kleinschmidt: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Europa nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg (held in German)(Lecture)Prof. Dr. Christian Kleinschmidt: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Europa nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg (held in German)(Lecture)

    Lecture (Can be attended without attending the exercise.)

    Wednesday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    Die Vorlesung wird, neben der überblicksartigen Darstellung der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (Wirtschaftssysteme; Europäische Integration; Industrielle Beziehungen) von der Rekonstruktionsphase bis zu den Veränderungen Ende der 1980er Jahre, auch auf den gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Wandel (Jugend, Familie, Konsum, Wohlfahrtsstaat, Mobilität etc.) in Europa eingehen und dies an ausgewählten Beispielen vertiefen.

    Literatur
    Gerold Ambrosius: Wirtschaftsraum Europa. Vom Ende der Nationalökonomien, Frankfurt/Main 1996; Gerold Ambrosius/William H. Hubbard: Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Europas im 20. Jahrhundert, München 1986; Stephen Braodberry, Kevin H. O’Rourke (ed.): The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Vol. 2: 1870 to the Present, Cambridge 2010; Gerhard Brunn: Die europäische Einigung von 1945 bis heute, Stuttgart 2002 (auch über die Bundeszentrale f. polit. Bildung zu beziehen); Carlo M. Cipolla/Knut Borchardt (Hg.): Europäische Wirtschaftsgeschichte Bd.5: Die europäischen Volkswirtschaften im 20. Jahrhundert, Stuttgart, New York 1986; Barry Eichengreen: The European Economy since 1945: coordinated capitalism and beyond, Princeton 2007; Eberhard Eichenhofer: Geschichte des Sozialstaats in Europa. Von der „sozialen Frage“ bis zur Globalisierung, München 2007; Handbuch der europäischen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, hg. von Wolfram Fischer u.a., Bd. 5 und 6, Stuttgart 1985 u. 1987; Harold James: Geschichte Europas im 20. Jahrhundert. Fall und Aufstieg 1914-2001, München 2004; Hartmut Kaelble: Sozialgeschichte Europas. 1945 bis zur Gegenwart, München 2007 (auch über die Bundeszentrale f. polit. Bildung zu beziehen); Jan Hesse/Christian Kleinschmidt/Alfred Reckendrees/Ray Stokes: Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte des modernen Europa, Baden-Baden 2013 (im Erscheinen); Manuel Schramm: Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Westeuropas seit 1945, Köln u.a. 2018; Göran Therborn: Die Gesellschaften Europas 1945-2000. Ein soziologischer Vergleich, Frankfurt/Main 2000.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Christian Kleinschmidt: Ausgewählte Themen der Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte nach 1945 (held in German)(Exercise)Prof. Dr. Christian Kleinschmidt: Ausgewählte Themen der Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte nach 1945 (held in German)(Exercise)

    Exercise (Can be attended without attending the lecture.) (Master level)

    Thursday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    In der Übung werden ausgewählte Themen der Vorlesung anhand von Quellen und wissenschaftlicher Literatur vertieft.
    Die Übung kann auch unabhängig von der Vorlesung besucht werden.

    Literatur
    Gerold Ambrosius: Wirtschaftsraum Europa. Vom Ende der Nationalökonomien, Frankfurt/Main 1996; Gerold Ambrosius/William H. Hubbard: Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Europas im 20. Jahrhundert, München 1986; Gerhard Brunn: Die europäische Einigung von 1945 bis heute, Stuttgart 2002 (auch über die Bundeszentrale f. polit. Bildung zu beziehen); Stephen Braodberry, Kevin H. O’Rourke (ed.): The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe, Vol. 2: 1870 to the Present, Cambridge 2010; Carlo M. Cipolla/Knut Borchardt (Hg.): Europäische Wirtschaftsgeschichte Bd.5: Die europäischen Volkswirtschaften im 20. Jahrhundert, Stuttgart, New York 1986; Barry Eichengreen: The European Economy since 1945: coordinated capitalism and beyond, Princeton 2007; Eberhard Eichenhofer: Geschichte des Sozialstaats in Europa. Von der „sozialen Frage“ bis zur Globalisierung, München 2007; Handbuch der europäischen Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, hg. von Wolfram Fischer u.a., Bd. 5 und 6, Stuttgart 1985 u. 1987; Harold James: Geschichte Europas im 20. Jahrhundert. Fall und Aufstieg 1914-2001, München 2004; Hartmut Kaelble: Sozialgeschichte Europas. 1945 bis zur Gegenwart, München 2007 (auch über die Bundeszentrale f. polit. Bildung zu beziehen); Jan Hesse/Christian Kleinschmidt/Alfred Reckendrees/Ray Stokes: Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte des modernen Europa, Baden-Baden 2013 (im Erscheinen); Manuel Schramm: Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Westeuropas seit 1945, Köln u.a. 2018; Göran Therborn: Die Gesellschaften Europas 1945-2000. Ein soziologischer Vergleich, Frankfurt/Main 2000.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Eckardt Conze: Pariser Konferenz und Versailler Vertrag: Kriegsende und Friedensschluss 1918/19 (held in German)Prof. Dr. Eckardt Conze: Pariser Konferenz und Versailler Vertrag: Kriegsende und Friedensschluss 1918/19 (held in German)

    Lecture

    Friday 10am - 12pm

    Content: 

    Vor fast genau 100 Jahren wurde mit der Pariser Konferenz und dem Versailler Vertrag der Versuch unternommen, den Ersten Weltkrieg zu beenden und eine friedliche internationale Ordnung zu schaffen. Dieses Jubiläum wird in Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit in den kommenden Monaten einige Aufmerksamkeit finden. Die Vorlesung behandelt die Genese des Friedensschlusses aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg heraus, blickt auf die Ziele und Interessen unterschiedlicher Akteure und fragt nicht zuletzt nach Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der Friedenskonferenz und der aus ihr hervorgegangenen Friedensverträge. Ein Akzent liegt auf dem Versailler Vertrag mit Deutschland, aber es werden auch andere internationale und globale Dimensionen der Thematik berücksichtigt.

    Literature:
    E. Conze: Die große Illusion. Versailles 1919 und die Neuordnung der Welt, München 2018.
    E. Kolb: Der Frieden von Versailles, München 2005.
    Klaus Schwabe (Hg.): Quellen zum Friedensschluss von Versailles, Darmstadt 1997.

Subject Area: Media Studies 

Subject Area: Peace and Conflict Studies

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Timothy Williams: Vergleichende Perspektiven auf Autokratien und Gewalt in Südostasien (held in German)Timothy Williams: Vergleichende Perspektiven auf Autokratien und Gewalt in Südostasien (held in German)

    Seminar

    Monday 10am - 12pm

    Please note: Required German Language Level: B2.2

    Content:

    Auch innerhalb des bunten Sammelsuriums an Konzepten von Demokratie und Autokratie wird man in Südostasien keine Fälle mit Reinformen von Demokratie oder Autokratie finden. Stattdessen findet man Regierungssysteme vor, die Elemente von beiden vereinen. Zudem nutzen diese verschiedenen Fälle Gewalt auf ganz unterschiedlicher Weise, um Machtansprüche Geltung zu verschaffen. In diesem Kurs werden verschiedene Fälle Südostasiens untersucht werden, um Einblicke in diesen Nexus von Gewalt, Autokratie und Demokratie zu erlangen. Hierbei geht es auch um aktuelle Entwicklungen und Veränderungsprozesse.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Kerstin Zimmer: Einführung in die Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (held in German)Dr. Kerstin Zimmer: Einführung in die Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (held in German)

    Lecture & Exercise

    Tuesday 10am - 12pm AND Thursday 2pm - 6pm

    Content: to come

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Thorsten Bonacker: Sexuelle Rechte als globales Konfliktfeld  (held in German)Prof. Dr. Thorsten Bonacker: Sexuelle Rechte als globales Konfliktfeld  (held in German)

    Seminar 

    Thursday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    Die Rechte sexueller Minderheiten sowie Frauenrechte und insbesondere reproduktive Rechte rund um Verhütung, Schwangerschaft und Geburt sind in verschiedenen internationalen Abkommen garantiert. Diese verweisen oft darauf, dass sexuelle Rechte letztlich sexualitätsbezogene Menschenrechte und demzufolge unteilbar und universell gültig sind. Wegweisend für diese Interpretation war der Wandel von einem bevölkerungspolitischen zu einem menschenrechtlichen Verständnis von Familienplanung und Sexualität, der international Mitte der 1990er Jahre einsetzte. Gleichzeitig zeichnete sich weltweit ein Trend zur Liberalisierung sexualpolitischer Regelungen ab, etwa zu Abtreibungen, gleichgeschlechtlicher Ehe, zur Akzeptanz homosexuellen Lebensformen und zu umfassender Sexualaufklärung. Allerdings ist diese Liberalisierung zum einen gegen massiven gesellschaftlichen Widerstand – international unter anderem durch die sogenannte „unheilige Allianz“ (Hulme 2009) aus konservativen Staaten wie dem Vatikan, US-Regierungen und einigen islamischen Staaten – erkämpft worden. Zum anderen erleben wir in jüngster Zeit eine starke Politisierung sexueller und reproduktiver Rechte durch konservative Akteure, die in der Literatur auch als „norm antipreneurs“ (Bloomfield & Scott 2017) bezeichnet werden, also als Normunternehmer, die ein nicht-liberales Verständnis von Sexualpolitik durchsetzen wollen.
    In dem Seminar sollen Konflikte um sexuelle Rechte auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen nachvollzogen und beispielhaft diskutiert werden: Konflikte um internationale Regelungen sowie innergesellschaftliche Konflikte in verschiedenen westlichen und nicht-westlichen Gesellschaften etwa um Abtreibungsregelungen, Sexualkundeunterricht oder die Einführung von Mehrgeschlechtlichkeit.

    Ziel ist es, ein vertieftes Verständnis der Entwicklung sexualpolitischer Normierungen auf internationaler und gesellschaftlicher Ebene zu erhalten und Konflikte darüber auch einordnen zu können. Insbesondere soll am Beispiel sexueller Rechte die in der soziologischen Literatur verbreitete These kritisch diskutiert werden, dass Globalisierung mit Liberalisierung einher geht. Studierende sollen darüber hinaus in dem Seminar lernen, sich kritisch mit unterschiedlichen Positionen auseinanderzusetzen und die eigene Wertorientierung zu reflektieren.

    Literatur
    Bloomfield A. & S. Scott (Hg.) 2017: Norm Antipreneurs and the Politics of Resistance to Global Normative Change. London: Routledge.
    Bonacker, T., von Heusinger, J. & Zimmer, K. (2014): Reproduktive Gesundheit in der Weltgesellschaft zwischen Politisierung und Rationalisierung. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 24(3), 309-338.
    Boyle, E. (2002): Female Genital Cutting. Cultural Conflict in the Global Community.
    Boyle, E., Kim, M. & Longhofer, W. (2015): Abortion Liberalization in World Society, 1960-2009. American Journal of Sociology,121(3), 882-913.
    Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
    Lembke, U. (Hg.) 2017: Regulierungen des Intimen. Sexualität und Recht im modernen Staat. Wiesbaden: Springer.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Kerstin Zimmer: Welcome to Rosania! (held in English)Dr. Kerstin Zimmer: Welcome to Rosania! (held in English)

    Simulation

    November, 10. & 11. AND November 17. & 18. 

    Content: 

    Welcome to Rosania! Rosania is a country in conflict and you are an actor involved in resolving the ongoing civil war. The lot decides on your role and function within the conflict  context. By enacting your role and interacting with other conflict parties, you will learn about conflict resolution while actively take part in understanding the events in Rosania.
    Through your participation, Rosania could move to a peaceful society depending on choices faced and decisions made by you and the fellow actors. 
    In three different simulations, students assume the role of actors in a fictional conflict. The three simulations are based on the same initial conflict. However, there are lapses in time as well as changes of level between the simulations, so that conflicts are played through by drawing on different actors and at different phases.
    To start, an internal conflict is simulated (1s t simulation) which then escalates into an international conflict (2nd simulation) which subsequently, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, has to be regulated at the local level (3 rd simulation).
    The aim of the seminar is to explore different methods of conflict resolution through a practical, applied approach. The participants have the opportunity to try out different mechanisms of conflict resolution to experience the complexity of conflicts and to improve their soft skills such as reflecting on their own point of view as well as their degree of empathy.


    Structure of the Seminar:
    The seminar is structured in blocks. It comprises of a preparatory meeting,
    three days of simulations and a final meeting.

    Method: Simulation (Planspiel)
    Examination: Essay (10 pages)
    Active participation during all three simulation games is expected for passing the course.

Subject Area: Philosophy

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Greg Sax: Philosophy of Science in the Scientific Revolution (held in English)Dr. Greg Sax: Philosophy of Science in the Scientific Revolution (held in English)

    Seminar

    Monday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    The subject of the seminar is the development of the philosophy of science (causation and the laws of nature, the nature of space and time, the structure of theories, a priori factual knowledge, and the role of observation and experiment) from ancient Greek astronomy to Copernicus’s heliocentrism and the Scientific Revolution of the 16th to 18th centuries.

    Literature:
    Readings will probably include selections from:
    -Descartes, Principles of Philosophy (1644)
    -Spinoza, Ethics (1677)
    -Leibniz, Discourse on Metaphysics (1686)
    , Monadology (1714)
    -The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence
    -Newton, Principia Mathematica (1687)
    -Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
    -Berkley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710)
    , 3 Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713)
    -Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-1740)
    , An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)
    -Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution (1957).

Subject Area: Political Science

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Wajid Tahir: Development Aid and Gender Relations: Lessons from Aid Recipient Countries (held in English)Dr. Wajid Tahir: Development Aid and Gender Relations: Lessons from Aid Recipient Countries (held in English)

    Seminar

    Friday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) have focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment throughout the world. To achieve these goals, both developed and developing countries are striving to utilize appropriate and effective development aid. For several decades, donor countries have provided Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries for broad purposes (e.g., infrastructure, health programs); however, since the Beijing Submit (1995), MGDs and SGDs, donor countries have placed special emphasis assistance for women’s economic development, nutrition and security.
    Both aid providers and recipients have agreed to new partnerships and modalities (delivery systems), which are designed to align development activities under the broader framework of ‘Women and Development’. The signatories of ‘Paris Deceleration 2005 on Aid Effectiveness’ and ‘Jakarta Deceleration 2007 on Gender Equality and Aid Effectiveness’
    committed to increase the representation of women’s voices in national development planning (i.e., to take a gender mainstreaming agenda).
    Donors pledged continuous fiscal support and recipients ensured prosper utilization, but the desired targets and commitments were not achieved. As a result, the developing countries continue to face several challenges in promoting gender equality in their societies.
    This course will examine the factors that impede the women’s empowerment in different segments of life despite availability of international aid. The course will cover a sequence of processes that involve policy design, planning, implementation and evaluation of outcomes of aid-based development initiatives focused on women. The course has been divided into four parts. Part one: Introduces the basic concepts of ‘development aid’, ‘gender equality’, ‘women’s empowerment’, and ‘gender and development’. Part two: Reviews various theories and approaches to addressing the issue of ‘Gender and Development’ in a broader perspective, including review the Feminist Approach (to development), Gender & Development Approach, Participatory Development Approach, and re-positioning of feminism in ‘Gender and Development’ discourse. Part three: Describes the practical strategies used in ‘Gender and Development’. It reviews the role of the state in designing effective public policies, programs and projects to ensure women’s empowerment in their societies. The students will learn to what extent existing policies and projects are aligned with women’s needs, and how successful they have been. Part four:
    Presents case studies from education, health, and employment sectors highlighting women’s empowerment approaches. The critical readings and discussions examine to what extent recipient countries are conceptualizing, planning, and implementing ‘aid’ programs that will achieve ‘Gender Equality’ objectives in their societies, as well as to determine how near or far from the SGDs they are at present.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Sanjeev Thavarajah: The African Human Rights System (held in English)Sanjeev Thavarajah: The African Human Rights System (held in English)

    Seminar (Master level)

    Thursday 8am - 10am

    Content:

    Please take a look at the syllabus.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Hubert Zimmermann: Key Controversies in European Integration (held in English)Prof. Dr. Hubert Zimmermann: Key Controversies in European Integration (held in English)

    Seminar (Master level)

    Friday 10am - 12pm

    Please note: Prerequisite for attending this seminar is having basic knowledge of the European Union!

    Content: to come

Subject Area: Psychology

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Carmen Lienen: Social Psychology and Politics (held in English)Carmen Lienen: Social Psychology and Politics (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    What is the connection between psychology and politics in everyday encounters? What is the relevance of politics to intergroup relations and systems of knowledge about belonging, nationalism and cultural groups? What are the psychological processes involved in social and political change? These and other questions will be discussed in the seminar Social Psychology and Politics, with reference to current political events. Theories of social representations, identity, prejudice, contact and post-colonialism as well as their practical applications will be critically explored. The aim of the seminar is to show students the relevance of social psychology outside the university context as well as the interplay between theory and practice.

    After completing this seminar, students will be familiar with theories in social psychology and able to apply their gained knowledge to political issues. Beyond that, students will have developed skills in scientific reading and presentation.

    The successful completion of the seminar requires continuous participation (e.g., through individual work, preparing readings, individual or group presentations, organising discussions). 

    Core literature

    Howarth, C., & Andreouli, E. (2017). The social psychology of everyday politics. London: Routledge.

    Tileagă, C. (2013). Political Psychology: Critical perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Christopher Cohrs: Psychology of Peace and Conflict (held in English)Prof. Dr. Christopher Cohrs: Psychology of Peace and Conflict (held in English)

    Lecture

    Thursday 10am - 12pm

    Please note: If you would like to attend this lecture, you would also have to attend the seminar Peace & Conflict: Research Methods.

    Content: 

    Based on Galtung's concepts of personal, structural and cultural violence as well as models of cycles of violence, the lecture gives an overview of the psychological factors and processes involved in peace, conflict, and violence at the interpersonal, intergroup, and international levels. It covers concepts, theories, empirical findings, as well as intervention programs. Some example topics include social identity, prejudice, enemy images, group-based emotions, collective memory, aggression, retribution, social dominance, relative deprivation, political protest, terrorism, intergroup contact, interactive problem-solving, intergroup reconciliation, forgiveness. 

    Core literature

    Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. D. (Eds.) (2001). Peace, conflict, and violence: Peace psychology for the 21st century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. [http://u.osu.edu/christie/about/peace-conflict-and-violence-peace-psychology-for-the-21st-century/]

    Tropp, L. R. (Ed.) (2012). The Oxford handbook of intergroup conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Adrian Rothers: Peace & Conflict: Research Methods (held in English)Adrian Rothers: Peace & Conflict: Research Methods (held in English)

    Seminar

    Thursday 12pm - 2pm

    Content:

    The seminar gives an introduction to quantitative methods of social psychological conflict research and a glance at qualitative research. The seminar focuses on experimental studies, survey analyses, and longitudinal designs. Participants will read and discuss research papers and gain practice in developing research designs.
    At the end of the seminar, participants will be familiar with relevant concepts such as sampling issues and their implications for scientific interpretations, data collection and interpretation, internal and external validity, causality and informational value. Primary goal of the seminar is that participants develop a framework for understanding implications and limitations of research methods in peace and conflict studies.
    The format of the seminar will be lecture-style with interactive sections. 

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Erik M. Müller: Personality Psychology (held in English)Prof. Dr. Erik M. Müller: Personality Psychology (held in English)

    Block Seminar

    October 24: 4pm - 6pm

    November 9: 12pm - 8pm

    November 10: 10am - 4pm

    November 23: 12pm - 8pm

    November 24: 10am - 4pm

    Content: to come

Subject Area: Religious Studies

Subject Area: Social and Cultural Anthropology

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Marion Näser-Lather: Protestkulturen (held in German)Dr. Marion Näser-Lather: Protestkulturen (held in German)

    Seminar

    Wednesday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    Die ökonomische und politische Krise seit 2008, die mit der Überschuldung insbesondere der südeuropäischen Staaten, sinkenden Löhnen, hoher Arbeitslosigkeit und einem Abbau von Sozialleistungen einherging, hat in vielen europäischen Ländern auf lokaler, regionaler wie nationaler Ebene zur Emergenz neuer Bewegungen der Solidarität und des Protestes geführt, beispielsweise in Form der so genannten Antiausteritätsbewegungen. Zudem hat sich die Protestlandschaft in den letzten Jahren verändert: Neben dem Trend der Gamifizierung von Protest und dem Phänomen der Wutbürger sind vermehrt Praktiken des alltäglichen und projektförmigen Protestes beobachtbar.

    Das Seminar möchte die Hintergründe dieser aktuellen Entwicklungen beleuchten. Dazu werden anhand kurzer Texte klassische wie aktuelle Theorien der Bewegungsforschung gemeinsam reflektiert und mögliche methodische Herangehensweise an die Ethnographie einer Bewegung diskutiert. Zudem werden einzelne Aspekte aktivistischen Handelns, etwa Kommunikations- und Protestpraktiken oder die Rolle von Emotionen für Bewegungen, beleuchtet. In Impulsreferaten sollen unterschiedliche aktivistische Gruppen vorgestellt werden. Gemeinsam wollen wir erarbeiten, was eine Bewegung ausmacht, welche Faktoren zur Erklärung ihres Auftretens und ihres (Miß-)Erfolgs beitragen und welche Formen widerständiges Handeln annehmen kann. Geplant ist zudem eine Tagesexkursion zu einem Protestereignis.

     Literatur:

    Balint, Iuditha/Dingeldein, Hannah/Lämmle, Kathrin (Hg.) (2014): Protest, Empörung, Widerstand. Konstanz: UVK Verl.-Ges.

    Della Porta, Donatella (2015): Social Movements in Times of Austerity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Della Porta, Donatella/Diani, Mario (1999): Social Movements: An introduction. Oxford u.a.: Blackwell.

    Gerbaudo, Paolo (2012): Tweets and the streets: Social media and contemporary activism. London: Pluto Press

    Lofland, John (1996): Social movement organizations: guide to research on insurgent realities. New York: de Gruyter.

    Schönberger, Klaus/Sutter, Ove (Hg.) (2009): Kommt herunter, reiht euch ein ... Eine kleine Geschichte der Protestformen sozialer Bewegungen. Berlin: Assoziation A.

    Warneken, Bernd Jürgen (Hg.): Massenmedium Straße. Zur Kulturgeschichte der Demonstration. Frankfurt am Main u.a.: Campus-Verlag

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Siegfried Becker: Verbrechen erinnern. Holocaust und kollektives Gedächtnis (held in German)Prof. Dr. Siegfried Becker: Verbrechen erinnern. Holocaust und kollektives Gedächtnis (held in German)

    Seminar

    Monday 8am - 10am

    Content:

    Wie erinnern wir den Holocaust? Bereits die früh veröffentlichten, in Bilder, Gedichte, Biographien gefassten Zeugenberichte reflektierten den drohenden Verlust der Erinnerungen. Erzählen können nur diejenigen, die überlebt haben, Zeugenschaft ablegen nur die, die das Grauen in den Vernichtungslagern selbst erfahren haben. Doch die Überlebenden werden älter, und mit den Zeugen sterben die Erinnerungen. Wir werden künftig neue Wege finden müssen, um die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Holocaust weiterzutragen.

    Dies betrifft nicht nur die Frage der medialen Vermittlung. Es setzt eine Reflexion narrativer Strukturen der Vermittlung voraus. Die Erfahrungen einer zerbrechenden Zeit, die Jörn Rüsennach dem Sinn der Geschichte fragen lässt, differenziert die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen historischer Sinnbildung nach den Schreckenserfahrungen des 20. Jahrhunderts auslotend, machen eine negative Dialektik der Sinnbildung erforderlich, den Versuch eines Erzählens des Nicht-Erzählbaren. Historisches Erzählen, sagt Rüsen, müsse sich heute selbst negieren, sich als Erzählen überwinden, um als historische Sinnbildung im Horizont moderner Zeiterfahrungen zu überzeugen. Nur dann, wenn das narrativ konfigurierte Sinngebilde einer Geschichte Abwesenheit, Mangel und Negation von Sinn noch an den gedeuteten Erfahrungsbeständen der Vergangenheit sichtbar und erkennbar mache, könne historisches Erzählen heute überzeugen. Eine Geschichte, die im Medium der historischen Erfahrung eine Sinnhaftigkeit in der zeitlichen Verfassung der menschlichen Welt und des menschlichen Selbst bruchlos aufscheinen lässt, so dass die präsentierte Geschichte eine geschlossene Sinngestalt hat, sei eine Lüge. Anders könne angesichts der Sinnlosigkeitserfahrungen des 20. Jahrhunderts, deren radikalste und zugleich typischste der Holocaust ist, nicht argumentiert werden.

     Literaturhinweise:

    Bannasch, Bettina, und Almuth Hammer (Hrsg.): Verbot der Bilder – Gebot der Erinnerung. Mediale Repräsentationen der Schoah. Frankfurt a.M./New York 2004

    Elm, Michael, und Gottfried Kößler (Hrsg.): Zeugenschaft des Holocaust. Zwischen Trauma, Tradierung und Ermittlung. (Fritz Bauer Institut, Jahrbuch 2007 zur Geschichte und Wirkung des Holocaust) Frankfurt a. M./New York 2007

    Elm, Michael: Zeugenschaft im Film. Eine erinnerungskulturelle Analyse filmischer Erzählungen des Holocaust. Berlin 2008

    Erler, Hans (Hrsg.): Erinnern und Verstehen. Der Völkermord an den Juden im politischen Gedächtnis der Deutschen. Frankfurt/New York 2003

    Knigge, Volkhard, und Norbert Frei (Hrsg.): Verbrechen erinnern. Die Auseinandersetzung mit Holocaust und Völkermord. München 2002

    Kroh, Jens: Transnationale Erinnerung. Der Holocaust im Fokus geschichtspolitischer Initiativen. Frankfurt a. M./New York 2008.

    Rüsen, Jörn: Zerbrechende Zeit. Über den Sinn der Geschichte. Köln - Weimar - Wien 2001

    Young, James Edward: Beschreiben des Holocaust. Darstellung und Folgen der Interpretation. Aus dem Amerikanischen von Christa Schuenke. Frankfurt am Main 1992

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Ina Merkel: Männlichkeiten. Repräsentationen von Geschlecht in zeitgenössischen Medien (held in German)Prof. Dr. Ina Merkel: Männlichkeiten. Repräsentationen von Geschlecht in zeitgenössischen Medien (held in German)

    Seminar

    Thursday 10am - 12pm

    Content: Das Seminar verfolgt zwei Ziele: Einmal geht es darum herauszufinden, wie in der populären Kultur Männlichkeit dargestellt und inszeniert wird, welche Modelle hier in idealer Form verhandelt und inwiefern darin Realitäten verarbeitet werden, welche Männlichkeiten darin favorisiert oder abgewertet werden und was das mit den westlichen Vorstellungen von hegemonialer Männlichkeit zu tun hat. Zum anderen sollen Methoden der kulturwissenschaftlichen Medienanalyse vermittelt und dann am konkreten Material erprobt werden. Uns wird bei der exemplarischen Analyse ausgewählter Repräsentationen von Männlichkeit vor allem die Frage interessieren, warum bestimmte Inszenierungen so populär sind. Bitte suchen Sie sich in Vorbereitung auf das Seminar ein Beispiel, mit dem Sie sich genauer beschäftigen wollen. Sie können sowohl auf die öffentlichen Medien (Kino, Werbung, Musikvideos, YouTube-Filme, Volksmusiksendungen, Zeitschriften, Grafitties, usw.) zurückgreifen, als auch Formen der Selbstrepräsentation in sozialen Netzwerken, Blogs usw. untersuchen

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Dr. Ingo Schröder: Politische Autorität in nicht-staatlichen Gesellschaften: Vom Headman zum politischen Funktionär im indianischen Amerika (held in German)Dr. Ingo Schröder: Politische Autorität in nicht-staatlichen Gesellschaften: Vom Headman zum politischen Funktionär im indianischen Amerika (held in German)

    Seminar

    Wednesday 2pm - 4pm

    Content:

    Das Seminar widmet sich grundsätzlichen Fragen der Politischen Anthropologie anhand ethnographischer Beispiel aus der Vielfalt politischer Autoritätsformen indigener Gesellschaften der Amerikas und ihrer Kolonisierung. In weiten Teilen des amerikanischen Kontinents basierte politische Autorität zur Kontaktzeit nicht auf institutionalisierter Herrschaft, sondern auf einer für den europäischen Beobachter schwer fassbaren Kombination aus verwandtschaftlichen Verbindungen und persönlichen Qualitäten. In der Auseinandersetzung mit der politischen Ökonomie der kolonialen Situation und ihrer Inkorporation in staatliche Strukturen entwickelten die indigenen Gesellschaften neue, stärker zentralisierte Formen politischer Macht, die den Vorgaben der Interaktion mit dem kolonialen Staat entsprachen, ohne dass ältere Formen von Autorität vollständig verschwanden.

  • Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Prof. Dr. Karl Braun: Die Writing Culture Debatte revisited (held in German)Prof. Dr. Karl Braun: Die Writing Culture Debatte revisited (held in German)

    Seminar

    Monday 10am - 12pm

    Content:

    Ein Buch, das durchaus als mitauslösend für die “Writing-Culture-Debatte” der späten 70er und 80er Jahren gelten kann, ist während und auch nach dieser Debatte seltsam unbeachtet geblieben: Elenore Smith Bowen (d.i. Laura Bohannan), Return to Laughter (EA 1954), Ergebnis einer als Roman verfassten Feldforschung in Nigeria.
    In der zentralen Veröffentlichung zur Debatte (James Clifford, George E. Marcus (Ed.), Writing Culture. Poetics and Politics of Ethnography Berkeley et al. 1986) findet sich jedoch im einleitenden Text von James Clifford Partial Truths als Motto ein Zitat aus Bohannans Buch: “You'll need more tables than you think” (ebd. p. 1). Laura Bohannan, der klar gegliederte und in sich stimmige Ordnungskriterien für die Feldforschung unsicher geworden waren und die deshalb zur Form des Romans griff, treibt hier ein ironisches Spiel mit den tabellarischen Auflistungen, aus denen, und mit den Schreibtischen, auf denen die empirisch erforschte Gesellschaft wissenschaftlich zu Papier gebracht werden soll. In diesem kleinen Motto ist bereits der Kern der Debatte angesprochen: Aufzeichnungen, die der eigenen und die Feldforschung strukturierenden Logik folgen, und eine schriftliche Formgebung, bei welcher niemals ein wirklich umfassendes Gesamtbild der zu untersuchenden Gesellschaft entstehen und festgehalten werden kann.
    Eines steht fest: Die Writing-Culture-Debatte war keine „Rückkehr zum Lachen“ (welche die Begegnung sich fremder und damit für viele Missverständnisse offener Weltsichten hätte sinnvoll begleiten können), sondern eher eine verbitterte und fach-introvertierte Abrechnung mit den ethnologischen Disziplinen. Vor allem der Gründungsvater der Feldforschung, Bronislaw Malinowski, geriet durch die Veröffentlichung seines „Diary in the strict sense of the term“ (EA posthum London 1967) in die Kritik: Dieses Tagebuch stelle sowohl seine wissenschaftliche Autorität als auch die Ergebnisse der Trobiand-Monographien insgesamt in Frage. Dass Malinowski – mit der Psychoanalyse bestens vertraut – im intimen Tagebuch wohl eine Kontrolle der Gegenübertragung vorsuchte, schien, bei allem Theorie-Hype, niemanden zu interessieren. Für Fremdverstehen unabdingbar notwendige Bedeutungstheorien kamen ebenfalls nicht zum Tragen; und selbst Clifford Geertz, der den Begriff thick description (Gilbert Ryle) aus der sprachanalytischen Philosophie übernommen hatte, fand letztlich zu keiner semantisch motivierten Theorie der Bedeutung, sondern verblieb in der Grauzone zwischen Verstehen und Interpretieren (was nicht dasselbe ist).
    Das Seminar will die Debatte in den Grundzügen nachzeichnen und ihre Folgen bis heute – Schlagwort: Krise der Repräsentation, interpretative Ethnologie – bedenken. Dabei aber soll, ganz im Sinn Laura Bohannans, Einsicht und Erkenntnis des eigenen Tuns und Lachen zusammengeführt werden. Lernziel ist datenbasierte Auseinandersetzung mit ethnologischer Theorieproduktion sowie das Bedenken von Feldforschungsberichten als wissenschaftlicher wie literarischer Textsorte.

Subject: Sociology

Class Lists from Previous Semesters

Spring 2018

Fall 2017

Spring 2017

German Conversation Classes

The main goal of our Conversation Classes is to improve students' ability to communicate and interact in German. The classes focus on teaching students conversational techniques and strategies, improving students’ listening abilities, and strengthening students’ grasp of German grammar and vocabulary. The conversation classes will have the same language levels as the intensive German language classes.