Germany

Students further expand their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills with authentic texts and communication situations in the fields of everyday life, popular science, culture and society, and literature.

In this bridge class on the A2/B1 level according to CEFR, students learn to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). They study to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Students work to describe in simple terms aspects of their background, immediate environment, and matters in areas of immediate need. In addition, students learn to understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. They deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling to an area where German is spoken. Students learn to produce simple connected texts on topics that are familiar or of personal interest. They acquire skills to describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Topics are taken from Berlin and German history and culture and also include politics as well as intercultural topics and current events.

In this course, students learn about a number of key topics in the philosophy of mathematics. It ensure students are familiar with the main views such as Platonism, nominalism, logicism, formalism, intuitionism, and structuralism, as well as the main criticisms of each. Students learn about the philosophical significance of Russell’s paradox and Gödel’s incompleteness theorems. From here, they consider topics in the philosophy of mathematical practice, such as the nature of mathematical proofs, the use of diagrams in mathematical reasoning, explanation and understanding in mathematics, mathematical knowledge, and the ethics of mathematics.  

In the 19th century, the Tibetan Plateau was one of the last so-called "blank spots" on European maps, along with other regions of Central Asia. Due to its strategic position in Central Asia and growing economic interests, developing Tibet became an ambitious goal for many Europeans. The seminar examines in what form and with what motives different interest groups such as missionaries, traders, adventurers, scientists and colonial officials acquired and circulated knowledge about Tibet. Why was certain knowledge considered important? How was the collected knowledge interpreted, used and presented? The aim of the seminar is the methodical introduction of the students to colonial history in Asia and the discussion of the role of the so-calledGreat Game between Great Britain and Russia for supremacy in Central Asia, the effects of which reach into the present.
 

This course offers an introduction to the issues legal counsel encounter in connection with resolving international business disputes under U.S. law. The course uses lectures and interactive class discussions based on primary sources, including statutory and case law materials that the instructor provides, as well as hypothetical scenarios involving a German manufacturer confronting a variety of legal issues in connection with the distribution of its products into the U.S. market. 

Engineering Innovation introduces students to the concepts of innovative thinking and innovation practices. Using lectures, case studies, team exercises and guest speakers, the course teaches life skills in innovative thought and action that students can use in careers ranging from starting companies to executing research and development projects in large companies. Students examine the innovator’s mindset and explore the culture of innovation. In a real- work, hands-on way, students learn how to be innovative and understand why innovation is integral to commercial success in the 21st Century’s digital revolution. Innovation strategies and tactics are evaluated from the perspective of ideation; that is, transforming innovative problem-solving ideas into viable solutions that are produced, sold, consumed, and or implemented in society. Students develop an understanding of the importance of innovation – and how innovation is applied. A best practices approach is used to demonstrate how innovators conceive and implement impactful solutions for a variety of problems. Students learn how technology can serve as both a pathway and a roadblock in organizations committed to operating with an innovator’s mandate. Students are taught practical and applicable skills that can be applied in enterprises ranging from startup ventures to Fortune 100 companies.

On the basis of historical sources and overviews, this seminar presents the most important German protest movements. While the first part focuses on the great protest movements of the second half of the twentieth century, the second part is devoted to contemporary protest movements. Our special interest is the media support of the protest and the critical questioning of keywords like "Wutbürger".

This course focuses on the relationship between violent conflict and economic development. The first half of the course examines the concepts of conflict and development, as well as some associated theories. The second part focuses on the nexus between conflict and development, the cultural dimensions of conflict and development, and concludes with some policy interventions that could be applied to reduce the risk of conflict and accelerate development. Reference is made to some case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the spring of 2021 the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) began paying 122 people 1200€ a month, tax free, no strings attached, for three years. The study, which will compare their fortunes to those of a much larger group who also put their hand up to receive the money but were not among the lucky few, aims to contribute empirical evidence to the debate over the merits of a basic income. We will compare the idea of a basic income to other types of government benefits in cash and in kind, and engage with arguments for and against these different benefit types. We will analyze in detail the claim that a basic income would eliminate relative poverty and reduce income inequality by studying income inequality in Germany today. We will look at any data published by the German experiment, and compare its design to that of a two-year trial carried out in Finland in 2017–18. In this way the course will serve as an introduction to research methods in social policy. By the end of the semester you will have gained an overview of tax–transfer systems and of their role in reducing income inequality, and you will be in a position to engage in an informed way in debate over the promise of a basic income.

Scholarly inquiry into entertainment media is a bit of an outlier within media and communication studies in general and even media economics. Media’s supposed to provide information for citizens to make informed decisions, thus making substantial contributions to the functioning of democratic societies – a task too delicate to focus on distraction and amusement. (Almost) in contrast, demand for entertaining content is traditionally higher than for mere information. This applies to audiences and their willingness-to-pay, as well as consumer good suppliers and the advertising industry. Promoting various products and services is more effective in entertainment environments. Thus, scholarly inquiry into production, distribution and consumption of entertainment media is necessary. In the first part of the course, theoretic foundations are laid, discussing economic theories and the media business model, critical approaches to (entertainment) media and strategic media management. Information and entertainment as (in)congruent concepts are defined. The second part of the course sees us focusing on particular entertainment media markets from streaming video to music and social media.