Germany

The lecture covers four major aspects of HCI: 1. Understanding users (user behavior, user research techniques such as interviews and usability testing) 2. Designing user interfaces (principles of interface design for usability, interaction paradigms) 3. Evaluating interfaces (usability testing methods, identifying usability problems, iterative design based on user feedback) 4. Integrating HCI into system development (integrating the above aspects into an iterative product development cycle). The exercise section of the course applies the above theory in practice. Learning outcomes include: Apply HCI principles to design user-friendly interfaces; conduct fundamental user research and analyze user needs; understand principles of iterative prototyping and evaluation of interactive systems; communicate HCI concepts effectively.

There are two thoughts at the center of this class, which are to be challenged and clarified in discussion. The first thought is that all desire is somehow or other aimed at the good. The second thought is that all action is somehow or other subject to normative evaluation. The class challenges and clarifies these thoughts by close reading of parts of Plato's Republic and of contemporary texts. From Plato's Republic, the class focuses on the role of technical expertise (techne) in guiding action; on theory of the tripartite soul; and on the theory of desire and its objects. Students read contemporary works, especially by Christine Korsgaard, that deals with related themes and also touches on Plato's Republic. Students also read works by Rachel Barney, which is focused on the Republic and helps to forge a connection between Plato's text and these contemporary debates.

This course provides students with fundamental knowledge of the German architectural tradition through a historical survey of key buildings and urban spaces. Political, cultural, historical and technological factors are closely studied as influences on the process of design and final built forms. Throughout the course, representative architectural examples in Berlin are also studied. Students explore how the city is a particularly rich site to observe how numerous competing political visions and social movements influenced German architecture and urban development.

This introductory course explores the origins of universal civil rights in the USA with an emphasis on historical events, review of biography and legacy of significant activists and change makers from the USA and other countries. The course also presents cases to examine the relationship between the causes triggering civil rights development, and how these events can relate to impactful social events and movements in the last decade in different regions of the world. The course intends to provide a theoretical background, a historical review of events, and a social analysis of movements that students can study by using varied resources for data collection and examination of influential media resources or independent documentation of these processes.

This course provides students with insight and tools to analyze migration in 20th and 21st centuries, focusing on the major migration waves that have involved the USA and how it is also perceived as a transfer of knowledge, goods, capital and networks across borders. Demographic, economic, social, political and religious causes of migration are addressed through the analysis of specific case studies, which provide the students with a map of the most significant movements of people and their aftermaths in the decades to follow. The  instructor and different guest speakers pose a variety of questions such as, what are the definitions of migration? What is the role of states in defining and managing migration? Does it complement, compete with, subvert and/or foreshadow ethnic, national, religious, class and gender identities? What are the most vulnerable migrant groups? How do practices of migration cohabit with the state? What are the references in migration studies to concepts such as multiculturalism, toleration, diversity, collective rights, alienation and difference?

This seminar discusses the concept of genocide and the meaning of violence. As a first step, students read theoretical texts about genocide, mass violence, different forms of war and the Holocaust. Second, students study several examples of genocides in the modern and premodern periods. They analyze the specific nature of each and compare them to find out what unites and separates them. Students read theoretical texts about the concept of genocide and study the history of mass violence, war, and the Holocaust. Applying a global perspective, the course compares different forms of genocide and gets to the bottom of the question what unites and separates them.

This seminar engages students in a close reading and discussion of a selection of key texts in which Plotinus addresses problems surrounding his understanding of love. The main focus of this seminar is on Plotinus treatise Ennead 3.5, dedicated to the topic of love, which includes his interpretation of central parts of Plato’s Symposium. This seminar begins by looking at some central texts by Plato on love, esp. the speech by Diotima in the Symposium. No knowledge of Greek is required.  Students are reading all texts in English translation, but occasionally the Greek text is discussed.

This course focuses on the The European Union (EU) and how the EU is often accused of suffering from a ‘democratic deficit’.  Students examine how part of this argument is rooted in a notion that the EU is not visible enough in media, and that because of this, European citizens do not have enough information about what the EU does and how it functions to form informed opinions about EU policies and the EU as a system. The course also examines the problematic way in which the EU is presented, with a tendency towards a national and negative focus on European issues. Such arguments about the EU’s presence in the public sphere have become all the more important as the EU has experienced increased contestation over the last decades. How is the EU portrayed and debated in traditional and social media, and how does it matter for the EU’s democratic legitimacy? Students explore these topics and questions through recent literature and analyze empirical examples from different types of media.

In September 2023, 74 works from the 16th to 19th centuries from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art were brought to Berlin from Ukraine. Since then they have been studied, conserved, re-framed, and prepared for an exhibition starting in January 2025. In January, the Gemäldegalerie will exhibit the paintings removed from Odessa and put them in dialogue with the existing collection in Berlin. This seminar is devoted to the study of the paintings from Odessa and to the consideration of comparable paintings in Berlin, taking advantage of the juxtaposition of the two collections. It reflects upon the fate of works of art during times of war, considering the impact upon artistic and cultural heritage in the Ukraine since the Russian war of aggression. The history of the dispersal of works of art in Berlin in the 20th century provides a comparative history. The exhibition brings to the forefront works of art by important artists that were previously little-known and little-studied: Francesco Granacci, Frans Hals, Bernardo Strozzi, and others.

The full-scale Russian war against Ukraine has a fundamental impact on almost every aspect of societal, political, and economic life in all countries of the post-soviet space. While it is yet too early to fully understand and assess the multiple dimensions of this “Zeitenwende”, this course tries to take stock of some of the repercussions visible so far. These analyses not only focus on the present violent dynamic in the region, but also include still relevant legacies of the shared Soviet past as well as the - intended and unintended – changes which shape the future of the societies, the political systems and the geopolitical orientation of the countries directly or indirectly affected by the war. In order to enable a deeper understanding of these complex developments, scholars from the region are invited as co-teachers to (parts of) the seminar. If possible, they also establish (virtual) contacts between student groups in their countries of origin and the participants of the project seminar. It is the aim of these collaborative efforts to look at the ongoing war and its possible consequences from the perspective of the affected populations. One main focus is on Ukraine, but also some of the neighboring countries, such as Georgia, Armenia, Moldova or Kasachstan are taken into consideration. In addition, voices from Russia and, in particular, from Russians who left their home country because they oppose its current regime, are included. Instead of writing “classical” term papers, the participating students collaborate on different formats, such as blog posts, podcasts or even (brief) documentary videos to share their insights with a broader public.