German

Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that began in the United States in the 1860s, and has had a huge influence on international philosophical debate up until the beginning of the twentieth century. Pragmatism discusses epistemological and moral-philosophical issues from the perspective of an actor who is denied absolute certainty, and therefore faces the constant fallibility of his convictions. In this way, pragmatism grants an interesting perspective to basic philosophical concepts, such as experience, knowledge and subjectivity. This seminar assists students in developing the basic positions of pragmatism and opening up this tradition in all its historical depth and breadth. The contributions of Peirce, James, Dewey, Rorty, and modern contemporary authors are all covered. The readiness to read the required philosophical texts in their English original is a prerequisite for the seminar.

This advanced German conversation course focuses on presenting, speaking in front of an audience, speaking with each other in a group. The course objective is to improving oral expression. Each course participant will give a presentation on a current topic of general interest.

This course for foreign students is designed to improve students’ language skills and vocabulary. Areas of focus include grammar, conversation, writing exercises, and listening and reading exercises. In addition, excursions are planned to introduce students to German culture. Students work with cultural and historical 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. The B2 level is split into two consecutive courses, the B2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the B2.2 course covers the second half of the level.

This course for foreign students is designed to improve students’ language skills and vocabulary. Areas of focus include grammar, conversation, writing exercises, and listening and reading exercises. In addition, excursions are planned to introduce students to German culture. Students work with cultural and historical 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 A2 level according to CEFR, students review and learn basic grammar points and are systematically introduced to basic vocabulary. All four skills are developed and applied to everyday situations and some study-related situations.

The use of the Internet is accompanied by extensive transfers of private data to hard-to-survey data management and non-transparent institutions. This lecture series "Internet and Privacy" strives to explain the details of Internet usage rarely known by the general public, and to support the debate on a solid, factual basis. It seeks to help optimize the tremendous benefits of the Internet, while preserving informational self-determination and pointing out alternatives to conventional techniques.

The Business Administration module covers a broad spectrum of economics topics which include the following: business administration – a definition; sustainability and business plans as a model; industry structures, competitive advantages, and business models; marketing; presentation of founding teams; knowledge protection and licensing; financing and investment; internal and external accounting; personnel management; company leadership.

The seminar uses the example of astronomy to explore the question of whether and how vision and evidence interact with astronomical modeling. Does what we see depend on the particular cosmology? The aim is to discuss this question across epochs and to analyze it from prehistoric, Mesopotamian, ancient, and Islamic astronomy to the Renaissance and early modern times to modern times.

This course covers the following topics: definitions, notations and repetition of basic principles of mechanics; elastic body in general spatial movement, theoretical foundations for the modeling elastic bodies in MKS programs; fundamentals for solving dynamic tasks using FEM or other discretizing methods; model reduction; algorithms for solving the large-scale general matrix eigenvalue problem; response spectra method; attenuation; measurement of modal parameters (modal analysis) and model updating; controllability and observability. It is a combination of lecture and an exercise class going over problems.

In this course, students learn to participate in discussions on various topics, to voice their opinions in a clear and structured manner, and to react spontaneously to the contributions of others. They acquire language structures and skills in order to reproduce complex information and to give sophisticated presentations. Students practice extracting important information and specific details from texts taken from different academic fields. Videos and listening exercises help students to understand longer academic texts as well as to identify information about specific aspects of a topic. Regular writing assignments help students to practice structuring texts, presenting and justifying opinions on current issues, and writing personal accounts, formal letters, summaries, and reviews. The class addresses current events as well as news and points of view surrounding the topics of university, research, and international exchange. Students also improve their language skills for applications and professional life. This class sometimes has a special focus on media, politics, and current events.