Free University of Berlin

This course provides an extended overview of American cultural history ranging from the period of British settlement in the 17th century to contemporary issues in US society. Students read influential texts (speeches, legal documents, essays, etc.) by authors such as John Cotton, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King, Betty Friedan, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Throughout the readings, the class explores public rhetoric as a key factor shaping the cultural trajectory of the United States. After a brief introduction to basic methodologies of cultural analysis, students investigate the rhetorical, structural, and discursive features of the primary texts through close readings. The course explores select representations from the fields of visual culture, art, and film, and a selection of key terms that are essential for understanding the evolution of American public discourse and intellectual history.

In this class on the A2 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. Topics are taken from Berlin and German history and culture and also include politics as well as intercultural topics and current events. The A2 level is split into two consecutive courses, the A2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the A2.2 course covers the second half of the level.

The course explores the relationship between religion and artificial intelligence (AI), examining how AI challenges, complements, and transforms religious beliefs and practices. It covers theological implications, ethical considerations, and the philosophical questions that arise from AI's impact on spirituality, morality, and religious traditions. The course also investigates how religious perspectives can inform the development and use of AI. Students study the anthropological perspective of humans and AI entanglement in the religious sphere, and learn to understand the historical and contemporary interactions between religion and technology. They analyze how AI influences religious beliefs, practices, and institutions, and they critically assess ethical and theological challenges related to AI. Finally, they explore how religious traditions contribute to discussions on AI ethics and morality, and they engage with philosophical questions regarding consciousness, personhood, and the soul in the context of AI.

This seminar examines the historical emergence and theoretical foundations of property and wealth through the combined lenses of sociology and economics. It explores how ownership, inheritance, and taxation have been theorized and institutionalized from early human societies to contemporary capitalism, and how these processes have produced and sustained social inequalities, including gendered disparities.

This seminar investigates how different recent adaptations engage with the classical nostos epic. During the semester, students discuss the following reworkings of Homer’s Odyssey: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen’s film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor’s Babe (2001), Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad (2005), and Amor Towles’s The Lincoln Highway (2021).

This seminar introduces feminist theories that aim to decentralize the predominantly English-speaking discourse on feminism. It includes texts written in languages other than English or French, with a focus on German-speaking and Latin American feminist works. Decentralization is understood broadly: The course examines feminist perspectives from the peripheries, such as rural areas in contrast to urban centers, and the global south in contrast to the global north. Through these diverse viewpoints, the seminar seeks to expand the understanding of feminism beyond dominant frameworks and critically explore intersections of gender, race, and class.

In this course, students learn to conceptually understand and empirically explore how news content is evolving in response to social media platforms. The first seminar introduces students to key theoretical concepts related to the platformization of journalism, the adaptation of news to TikTok’s affordances, and audience-centered approaches to understanding what constitutes news on TikTok. Students learn to critically engage with current studies on news on social media and develop their own questions for empirical research. In the second seminar, students gain an overview of methods for audiovisual content analysis, ranging from qualitative and quantitative approaches to computational analyses. Students learn about key steps of the data collection and analysis of TikTok content. The coupled seminars are structured around an empirical group project, allowing students to directly apply the concepts and methods related to news content on TikTok.

This lecture conveys the biophysical bases for the description and understanding of the structure, dynamics, and functions of biological molecules. Topics include an introduction to biological macromolecules; structure of complex biomolecules; self-organization of proteins and membranes through hydrophobic forces; ions, protonation, and protein electrostatics; introduction to calculations of molecular mechanics; protein folding and predicting structure; and motor enzymes and nanometer-scale movement.

This course introduces philosophical ethics. It studies in depth three classic works that defined the discipline: John Stuart Mill‘s Utilitarianism, Aristotle‘s Nicomachean Ethics, and Kant‘s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Students also read modern works that expand on, employ, or criticize these classics.

What are people asking for when they say they want freedom? The class begins by considering what it means to be free. Is a person free when they can act without being interfered with? Or does freedom require abundant options? Or independence from the will of others? Then the class turns to the social aspect inherent in the initial question. When people demand freedom, they usually don’t just want it for themselves; they want freedom for everyone. The second part of the course explores the conditions in a free society. Is a society free when it’s members can act as they choose, compatibly with everyone else doing likewise? Or must a society provide its members with more or different freedoms? A particular emphasis is placed on the sources of, problems with, and responses to unfreedom.