German

The focus of this class is on the collection and creation of different data sets on Berlin that are stored in a systems atlas. Students work with the digital tools of the Conscious City Lab and use the lab environment to present their results. They apply digital mapping techniques, including GIS and Arduino, among others, and learn to interpret urban data.

This course introduces students to the discipline of global history and discusses what is special about a global historical perspective, how global history can be differentiated from other approaches to historical science, which topics and questions global history focuses on, and what controversy provoked this new access. The course builds on these topics to explore various aspects of the so-called first wave of globalization in the nineteenth century. The second part of the course focuses on historical case studies and how global history can be presented. A stated goal of the study of global history is to overcome patterns of national historical interpretation and Eurocentric perspectives, and to investigate global transfers, networks, and exchange processes.

This seminar introduces both the theoretical perspective of European integration and selected fields of political-economic engagement with the subject. Among other topics, it covers the areas of work and migration, capitalist location competition (taxes, industry, labor), monetary policy, the euro crisis, and trade policy.

Since transnational migration and refugee movements in 2015 have increasingly transcended European external and internal borders and in many cases reached the heart of Europe, European migration and border policies have become the focus of political and scientific debates. Various forms of migration and border control in Europe are being discussed, the standardization and expansion of which have been observable for several decades. These processes of regulation and control of migration are investigated through migration and border research that is critical towards power and domination. This concerns especially the contested negotiations for freedom of movement, rights, participation and affiliation between a large number of actors - not least the migrants themselves. The research perspective focuses on institutions, stability and structures, as well as on conflicts, resistances, dynamics and transformations in the creation and development of migration and border political realities. The theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions of the research field also bring together the claims and the endeavors to always reflect on the practice and function of academic knowledge production and to include it in the analysis. The seminar, which introduces the central debates of critical migration and border research, first provides an overview of classical approaches to migration and border research and the normative and socio-theoretical criticisms of them. Based on this, the second part discusses the concept of the migration and border regime, which forms the basis of the seminar. Against this background, the third part deals with interdisciplinary perspectives on empirical research fields, such as European migration and border policy, spatial analyses of borders, critical perspectives on integration, citizenship, and migrant resistance as well as the integration of migration and gender.

This pre-semester course prepares foreign students for academic study at a German university. The focus is on the improvement of oral and written expression as well as grammar and lexical proficiency. The course covers selected topics on German politics and society within a historical context. In addition, excursions are planned to introduce students to German culture. Students work with cultural topics in everyday situations and broaden their intercultural knowledge. They are introduced to independent learning methods and familiarize themselves with typical learning situations at German universities. In this class at the B2 level according to CEFR, students consolidate their knowledge of grammar and study complex structures. They systematically expand their vocabulary and include abstract terms and topics. The course includes exercises to improve oral and written communication such as doing research, structuring, presenting, and discussing. Writing skills are enhanced through different types of academic texts and handouts.

This course introduces students to the cultural history of Berlin and its current cultural scene. With historic and literary texts and films, the course gives an overview of the most important eras of Berlin's cultural history, including the Wilhelminian era, the Weimar Republic, the time of National Socialism, the Cold War, the division of the city after the Second World War and the city's reunification as well as present day Berlin. This class discusses aspects of architecture and city development, media history, everyday culture and trends as well as political and ideological movements and ways of thought. Excursions are an integral part of the course.

This seminar theoretically and empirically discusses the commodification of knowledge and its availability to all. It also considers copying as a form of theft of piracy. It looks at concepts such as knowledge, creativity, innovation and intellectual property rights from a range of perspectives on International and Comparative Political Economy. Various cases are studied wherein actors argue over the protection of knowledge goods.