Germany

This course covers image representation in frequency domain, Fourier transform, sampling theorem, Filtering, Wiener Filter, image enhancement, edge detection, Hough transform, segmentation, interest operators, mathematical morphology, vectorization, texture, sceletonization, medical axis and distance transform, contour/line tracing and -smoothing, Gestalt psychology, and grouping.

With contributions from fields like cultural history and theory, social and cultural anthropology, design, arts and media studies, the lecture series "Dis/Entangling material futures" renders visible the multiple entanglements and disentanglement associated with the making and unmaking of material futures. Contributions also highlight a variety of methodological approaches, knowledge constellations, and modes of critique emerging at the intersections of the humanities, social sciences, arts, design, and curatorial practices. They require addressing what is at stake when conducting material research, from inside as well as outside of established institutions (academic or otherwise).

This course approaches Cinematic Chinatown intersectionally by situating it within cultural, social, political, and economic contexts, and addressing its relationship to racialized capitalism, labor, citizenship, identity, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, disability, inequality, globalization, transnationalism, diaspora, and colonialism, and intertwined with the production, circulation, and utility of Cinematic Chinatown as text, image, sound, space, artifact, technology, and discourse--Chinatown as a commodified sign. Key objectives include the analysis and critical interrogation of the function (social, political, economic, cultural, etc.) of Cinematic Chinatown within varying networks of power relations, the discussion of theoretical frameworks and concepts related to the representations of Chinatown within the field of cultural studies and media studies, a better understanding of the global flow and consumption of images and its effects on a planetary, globalized, transnational scale, and an understanding of how this affects our own imagination of Othered spaces here in Germany.

This course is designed for beginners with basic knowledge of German. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning. This course helps students expand their competences in listening, speaking, reading and writing within four weeks, deepen their knowledge of grammar as well as knowledge of the German culture. It enables students to deal with everyday situations in a German-speaking environment and to conduct simple conversations. Students develop reading strategies that allow them to understand simple newspaper and magazine articles as well as more detailed short literary texts. In addition, students improve their essay writing skills and are able to write short texts on different topics, revise and proofread them.

In 2017 for the first time since World War II, a right-wing populist party entered the German Bundestag. What came as a massive shock to many political observers in Germany, was merely the expression of a trend stretching across industrialized countries for a couple of decades now: the return of the illiberal right. This course tries to find explanations for the success of the AfD and other right-wing movements or parties, with a specific focus on Germany and the East-West divide that less than 35 years ago still cut Europe and Germany in two halves. This looks for answers to questions such as: Why do people vote for right-wing populist parties? What lesson can the history of right-wing extremism offer for contemporary politics? Can the experience of forceful and rapid change among citizens of formerly Communist states explain the prominence of Illiberalism in Eastern Germany and, potentially, beyond? The course is divided into three parts, which deal with the past, present and future of Illiberalism respectively. For each part, the course undertakes an excursion within Berlin and discuss a Berlin-based movie to demonstrate how the traces of Illiberalism can be found throughout the city.

In this course, students read works on German democracy written in American perspective. Students alternate between theoretical texts and those which cover pivotal moments in German history: the revolution of 1848, the institution of democracy in the German Empire, its suspension under Hitler, and the fate of democracy in Germany divided.