Germany

This course is designed for the beginner student who has no prior knowledge of German and does not major/minor in German. It enables students to get familiarized with the German language and to deal with everyday situations during their stay in Berlin. Students develop basic communicative competences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The foremost goal is for students to be able to navigate through daily activities in a German-speaking environment, such as ordering food in a restaurant, shopping at the grocery store/supermarket, getting around in the city, and conducting simple conversations about oneself (studies, hobbies, and fields of interest). Textbook: Momente A1 by Sandra Evan, and additional material, which is primarily dealing with everyday situations, helps students develop their individual language skills. One of the foci of the course is placed on Berlin and its surroundings. Therefore, students work with authentic material in class and on course-related excursions.

This course introduces students to various philosophical and sociological perspectives for analyzing and comparing welfare states. After defining the basic varieties of welfare states, the course explores how individuals interact with the welfare state and the role that politics, family, and the market have on the funding and distribution of welfare programs. To this end, students examine in depth several case studies from different countries. The course also incorporates philosophical justifications for each type of welfare state as well as any social justice implications.

The course examines the history of Jewish life in Berlin from its beginnings in the sixteenth century, to the literary salons of Rahel Levin and Henriette Herz in the nineteenth century and the descriptions of the musician Konrad Latte, who survived the persecution of the Jews during National Socialism under false identity. The history of German-Jewish life in Berlin did not come to an end in the horrors of the Holocaust, but came to life again after 1989 and has set new cultural accents in the Berlin of the twenty-first century.