Free University of Berlin

This seminar explores several different historical approaches to the abolition of slavery in North America. Abolitionism, centered in the North, was led by social reformers, such as William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society; and writers like John Greenleaf Whittier and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Black activists included former slaves such as David Walker, Frederick Douglass, and free Blacks alike. In the South, black activists of the Underground Railroad helped slaves escape to the North, Canada, and Mexico. Former slaves ran this secret organization like Harriet Tubman, free African Americans, and white supporters who facilitated the flight of roughly 40,000 people over two decades. At about the same time, religious abolitionists such as the Gileadites took up armed resistance and fought during “bleeding Kansas” against the interests of the slaveowners. The Civil War ended slavery officially, but its effects on the American nation linger on until today.

This pre-semester course prepares foreign students for academic study at a German university. The focus is on the improvement of oral and written expression as well as grammar and lexical proficiency. The course covers selected topics on German politics and society within a historical context. In addition, excursions are planned to introduce students to German culture. Students work with cultural topics in everyday situations and broaden their intercultural knowledge. They are introduced to independent learning methods and familiarize themselves with typical learning situations at German universities. In this class at the B2 level according to CEFR, students consolidate their knowledge of grammar and study complex structures. They systematically expand their vocabulary and include abstract terms and topics. The course includes exercises to improve oral and written communication such as doing research, structuring, presenting, and discussing. Writing skills are enhanced through different types of academic texts and handouts. The B2 level is split into two courses, the B2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the B2.2 course covers the second half of the level.

Over the course of the Cold War, the city of Berlin was frequently at the center of global tensions and a potential front line should the superpower rivalry descend into actual war. This course utilizes the city of Berlin as a laboratory in which to examine the origins, nature, and conclusion of the Cold War that defined international relations between 1945 and 1991. The Allied occupation of the city following the Nazi defeat is analyzed, along with the Berlin blockade and airlift that helped solidify the divisions between East and West. Next, the course examines the workers' uprising of 1953 that provoked a Soviet military response. The following sessions deal with the emigration crisis of the late 1950s that led the Soviets to first threaten a military takeover of the city and eventually to construct the Berlin Wall. Finally, the fall of the wall and the subsequent reunification of Berlin and Germany is analyzed. Field trips to important Cold War sites permit students to gain a deeper appreciation of how the Cold War changed Berlin, and how events in Berlin influenced the wider international struggle. In order to place the interests and goals of the superpowers in context, students also discuss the ways in which the Cold War rivalry affected Europe as a whole, as well as Asia and Latin America. Attention is given to the role of international organizations such as the United Nations in world affairs, and the changes brought about by the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In this way, the roots of contemporary crises are examined. Students ain an understanding of the recent past, which will help equip them to evaluate the current and emerging international order.

This course explores the representations and topographies of Berlin between the first German reunification and the second. The course focuses on the major events and conflicts that have had lasting presence: the rise of the modern metropolis; economic depression and social unrest; the two world wars; Nazism and the Holocaust; and the Cold War and its aftermath - the most disruptive and defining events of the 20th century. Students examine the conflicting identities, ideologies, and aesthetic theories informing the events that have shaped collective history. Of central concern are the conflicting identities, ideologies, and aesthetic theories informing the events that have shaped the history of Berlin. Part of the course involves developing strategies for reading and walking through this multi-layered and contradictory landscape. In addition to discussing the regular reading assignments, students devote some time to discussing the complex relations between space, text, history, and memory. Relevant films are watched and city excursions are organized outside of regular class times.

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the basic level of German. Students expand their competences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and strengthen their knowledge of grammar, while emphasizing self-correction. Furthermore, students analyze and interpret cultural, political, and historical topics in German-speaking countries and compare them with their own cultural background. Students develop and regularly use new strategies for language acquisition and engage in detailed discussions on above mentioned topics. Furthermore, students develop reading strategies that allow for the understanding of different text types in detail. In addition, students improve their essay writing skills, and are able to write short texts on different topics, revise, and proofread them.

Modern capitalist market economy is an extremely powerful instrument to create wealth and to satisfy human demands – and to exploit, alienate, and destroy the very societies it is supposed to serve. How can it be made moral? There are quite a number of ways: for example through deliberate lawmaking, responsible research and development (e.g. technology assessment), through enlightened consumer choices, and sustainable use of human and natural capital assets. But they often come at a high cost and involve more fundamental questions: How can politicians and lawmakers regulate the market for the common good without suffocating it? How can big corporations and tech companies continue to deliver innovative services without monopolizing the market and dominating their customers? What does a fair distribution of income look like? How do we assign value to natural and social goods (like clean air or low crime rates) and how do we measure sustainable welfare beyond traditional economic growth? How can consumers harness their own power to make informed choices and act in accordance with their values? Are digital business models based on artificial intelligence and machine learning threatening the autonomy of consumer choice? What does corporate social responsibility look like in times of crisis? These and other questions are not only of interest to economists and business people but are relevant to all economic agents (individuals, companies, state institutions, etc.). To answer these questions, the course equips participants with key ethical approaches to economic behavior (virtue ethics, religious teachings, deontology, utilitarianism, master morality, neo-liberalism), approaches which have been or still are dominating ethical discourses on economic behavior.

When thinking of US-Japanese history, the words usually coming to mind are Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or Okinawa. But beyond their violent clash in World War II, both countries share a fascinating historical relationship dating back to the 1850s. This seminar introduces the major events, developments, and dynamics that have shaped this relationship from the mid-19th century until the Cold War. The course investigates issues of diplomacy, trade, migration, war, and cultural transmission to show how closely the histories of both countries have been intertwined and shaped by one another.