Free University of Berlin

The objectives of the methods tutorial are the practical application and deepening of the knowledge  in methods of empirical media and communication research. The course develops a joint survey project on a current issue (for instance the medial perception of a current topic). Groups work on particular sub-questions and develop and operationalize corresponding theoretical concepts for them. Following a joint pretest and field phase, the results are finally analyzed and presented.

In this course, the topic of human rights is explored from a legal perspective, but with a view to discussing the salience of current political debates about human rights and against the background of the historical development of this field of international law.

Topics include

• Basic features of the protection of human rights in the international legal system I: Historical development and UN level
• Basic features of the protection of human rights in the international legal system II: The European regional level
• Critical perspectives on human rights
• Extraterritorial application of human rights
• Climate change litigation before human rights courts and treaty bodies
• Human rights in the digital sphere
• Decolonization and human rights
• Indigenous peoples and human rights
• Human rights in the urban age: The role of cities and local governments
• The Relevance of the African Human Rights System in the Urban Age

Climate change, environmental pollution, waste of resources and the decline of biodiversity clearly show mankind that processes of change are necessary. On a policy level, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris climate agreement and the Green New Deal are setting the stage, at the corporate level, standards such as environmental social and governance (ESG) reporting, supply chain integrity and voluntary certification, and diversity are critical to long-term business success. How are companies innovating towards more sustainability today? What are the criteria, the success factors and the strategic approaches to tackle consumer, policy, employee and societal demand for more sustainability? This course looks at current sustainability frameworks, sustainable companies and sustainable innovation. Students get to know and to apply collaborative tools to be better prepared for a business environment. One focus is on the development of a sustainable business model or project, based on which students learn and try out modern methods such as the Sustainable Business Canvas, Design Thinking, Effectuation and the Blue Ocean Strategy.

This course explores the laws governing and/or related to the Internet and various forms of technology and spans numerous interrelated topics such as free speech, privacy, reproductive technologies and other medical and technological “wonders.” While the course draws extensively upon Anglo-American scholarship, legal texts, and case studies, it also introduces different philosophical foundations of free speech and other relevant concepts as various as privacy, property, and personhood, with the goal of providing conceptual tools for students to examine the laws and case studies in their home jurisdictions.

This course examines the history of Berlin during the Cold War, with a specific emphasis on the Berlin Wall. Literary texts, historical documents, photographs, and films are used to analyze this period of time. The course explores perspectives from both sides of the wall on the two cultural, social, and political societies that existed in Berlin during the Cold War. The course discusses whether at this point in time the “wall in the head” (Peter Schneider) has degraded completely or persists in contemporary Berlin. Students actively participate in class and attend a number of excursions in the city.

The city's relationship to water will be considered in a number of different contexts from hydrogeology, engineering, and urban planning to cultural production. Water has been the subject of many films, paintings, and literary texts. We will explore this angle extensively, looking for concrete as well as symbolic and mythological meaning. Through student presentations, we will explore individual bodies of water, discover water infrastructure and research the city's current water management. Swimmers are encouraged to "sample" various bathing sites and report on their experience. The instructor will offer one or two city excursions outside the regular course times. Can I take this course? Yes, if you are interested in history, literature, and culture, and willing to explore the city in ways that go beyond the usual tourist experience.

The course considers the literature of nuclear disaster from 1986 to the present, comparing Chernobyl to selected literary responses to the Fukushima accident of 2011, and attempt to show some major tendencies in these works. Some questions the course may ask as the texts are read: How do writers capture the invisible threat of radiation? What is the larger political context they operate in? What forms can literature take in the face of disasters that are both local and global, and whose consequences exceed normal human temporality?