Free University of Berlin

This seminar offers a survey of the intellectual tradition that takes for its object the interrogation and theorization of systems of power whereby inequality is associated with gender, sex, and sexuality. A range of key work are explored, mainly from western authors, that exemplify the intellectual history of feminist and queer theory. Through works of philosophy, political, and psychoanalytic theory about gender and sexuality, the course traces the foundations and development of some major strands of recent and contemporary thought about gender and sexuality including: liberal feminism, with its emphasis on sameness and equality; cultural, separatist, and lesbian feminisms with their focus on difference; radical, Marxist, socialist, and anarchist feminisms with their political and material analysis of gender; intersectional feminisms with their questioning of such identity categories as woman; postcolonial and transnational theories of gender and sexuality; queer theory and its mobilization of deconstructive modes of thought; and trans theory with its shift of emphasis back to embodiment and identity.

Perhaps the most powerful organization in world politics, the UN Security Council, is tasked with maintaining international peace and security. Because the founders of the organization did not specify what exactly constitutes "a threat to international peace and security," this course examines the breadth and depth of the Security Council mandate. The course reads theoretical and empirical literature on Security Council action and investigates the various ways in which the Council tries to prevent and solve international conflict. Course material covers institutionalist theories of (dis)cooperation, empirical case studies of Council intervention, and quantitative analyses of Council performance. The course answers the questions: Why do some conflicts never make it to the Council? Whose interest matter when resolving a crisis? And what explains the duration of eventual peace?

This course explores freedom of expression as a fundamental right in democracies. It first introduces different philosophical foundations of free speech, before comparing the American free speech tradition with other Western traditions, including Germany and the United Kingdom. It also examines the legal limits of free speech and other less direct forms of speech restriction and looks at the regulations of free speech in work settings and universities. The course draws extensively upon Anglo-American scholarship and utilizes legal texts and examples from various Western countries.

This seminar approaches German refugee and migration politics through examining the role and the importance of various religious groups against the backdrop of a society based on the separation of state and religion, the right to religious freedom, and the European context. The class features discussions of current problems and conflicts (e.g. Does Islam belong to Germany?).

This introductory seminar approaches two intertwined questions: 1. What is the study of history? 2. How does gender figure into it? Over the course of the semester, this course explores these questions from several perspectives. This includes introductions to the theories and methods of historical scholarship and gender studies, as well as specific historical events and developments to which the theories and methods can be applied. The topics of investigation covers the United States from the colonial period until the Cold War, focusing on issues of femininity, masculinity, and queerness, as well as concepts such as indigeneity, blackness, and imperialism. The course discusses how to find and analyze scholarly literature and primary sources and how to write the seminar’s final research paper.

According to the archaeologist and literary scholar John Hines, “the curation, interpretation, and active use of material remains … is a near-constant feature” of human societies, past and present. Such an interest in the material remnants of the past can be encountered also in medieval literary texts – which is not to say that these texts should be seen as direct reflections of contemporary practices. Rather, the depiction of material remains allows texts to explore different ways of imagining time, history, and the transmission of knowledge. Students read and discuss a number of Middle English texts, including Osbern Bokenham’s Life of St. Margaret and the anonymous St. Erkenwald, as well as a number of Latin texts (in translation), all of which discuss material remains from the past in the context of constructing ideas of time and history.

This course introduces concepts and theories of Political Economy to shed light on Europe’s history and presence: the course askes and tries to answer questions on how the EU developed from a peace-making into a market-making project, what conflicts and dilemmas this has entailed, what the most recent and future challenges are, and how the EU responds to them in institutional and policy regard.

This course studies the unique federal cultural landscape of Germany and, more specifically, the international cultural metropolis of Berlin which is home to world-class cultural institutions (such as the Staatliche Museen, Museumsinsel, or the Berliner Philharmoniker), traditional theaters, artistic avant-garde, a diverse music and literary scene, sites of the Remembrance, as well as events and clubs. The course considers how the cultural business is structured, how it is funded, the actors involved, and the role that culture plays in Berlin's development. Students get to know cultural institutions from different areas: museums, orchestras, theaters, cultural-political highlights (such as the Humboldt Forum or private initiatives), music labels, and socio-cultural projects. With the help of current and historical texts, through research and field research (individually or in small groups), students develop an overview of what "culture in Berlin" means in concrete terms. Excursions are also planned in Berlin to see and experience the culture as well.