Humboldt University Berlin

This course explores how concepts of mobility, boundaries, and (un)belonging are negotiated in modern travelogues about Europe by afrodiasporic as well as African writers. In the postcolonial fashion of "Irritating Europe", the class examines central ideas of European self-imagery, such as its humanism and supposed progressiveness. Students analyze how Black travel literature not only functions as a deconstruction of colonial discourses but also establishes a new literary geography: the Afropean space.

This course provides students with a general overview of social inequalities in health at the individual and population level and how they differ across time and place. It spans topics from sociology, public health, epidemiology, and demography to explore the various factors that produce and exacerbate health inequalities. Emphasis is placed on first building foundational knowledge about health inequalities and its determinants, including understanding how health is defined and measured, and what are the factors that influence health at the individual (e.g., socioeconomic status, family structure) and population (e.g., cultural norms, welfare systems) levels. The course then discusses how health changes over the life course and over time. A central focus throughout this course is on contextual differences, so readings cover a range of countries and populations. Students are expected to critically engage with scientific articles selected by the instructor and are encouraged to contribute relevant articles for discussion in class. A solid understanding of quantitative research methods is essential for the successful completion of this course.

This course offers an in-depth critical analysis of right-wing populism, emphasizing its theoretical foundations, historical evolution, and contemporary empirical manifestations. Students explore the ideological underpinnings of right-wing populism, its intersections with nationalism and authoritarian tendencies, and its broader implications for democratic governance. Through interdisciplinary scholarly literature, critical media analyses, and collaborative discussions, the course examines how right-wing populist movements emerge, sustain, and transform within diverse political systems and cultural contexts, focusing particularly on case studies from Europe and North America. Special attention is also given to the relationship between right-wing populism and pressing global issues such as climate change, fostering awareness of how environmental concerns are framed, instrumentalized, or denied within populist rhetoric. Upon completion of this course, students can clearly define and differentiate between key concepts including right-wing populism, radical right, and extreme right. They are capable of analyzing and critiquing the core ideological dimensions of populism and identifying the underlying factors that drive the emergence and rise of right-wing populist movements. Additionally, students evaluate the impact of digital communication technologies on populist rhetoric and political mobilization. They are also equipped to conduct comparative analyses of right-wing populist phenomena across different national contexts and critically assess the consequences of right-wing populism on democratic institutions, civil society, civic norms, and environmental discourse.

This course covers the politics of immigration in Europe. Students engage with key debates and empirical findings related to public opinion on immigration, including how perceptions of cultural, economic, and security-related threats shape attitudes toward immigrants. The course explores how immigration influences voting behavior and electoral outcomes, particularly in the context of the rise of anti-immigration parties across Europe. Students investigate the causes and consequences of these parties' success, as well as the strategic responses of mainstream political actors. In addition, the course places emphasis on the experiences of immigrants themselves, including political discrimination, integration, and the pathways to political incorporation. The phenomenon of anti-immigrant violence is also addressed. Basic knowledge of quantitative research methods (multivariate regression, causal inference, and experimental design) is desirable but not required.

Using direct engagement with Late Antiquity and medieval artworks housed in Berlin’s Staatliche Museen, this seminar introduces students to a solid method of interrogating images and objects. It focuses on the particularities of the Christian image, namely its capacity of figuring the invisible and its relationship with the Hebrew Scriptures. The way the Hebrew Scriptures were transformed into the “Old Testament” in images serves as the seminar’s guiding thread. By examining specific distinct objects, students trace the emergence of Christian imagery, explore the contradictions it struggled with, and consider the dynamics of artistic creation in the Middle Ages. The first sessions offer a brief introduction to the central themes. In the following sessions, students visit the Bode Museum and other state museums. During these sessions, each student presents an assigned object, followed by an open group discussion. The class also addresses questions regarding the ways of exhibiting medieval objects in museums.

This course critically examines key conceptual frameworks such as decolonization, postcolonialism and anti-colonialism - particularly in relation to art, museums and heritage. Emphasis is placed on challenging Western systems of knowledge and exploring alternative perspectives on seeing, curating and narrating. The course includes guest lectures from scholars and practitioners as well as field visits to museums and exhibitions.

This course examines how the University of Berlin (now Humboldt University) became Europe's philosophical center, tracing its evolution from its revolutionary founding in 1810 through its various transformations. By exploring the dynamic relationship between the university's philosophers and Berlin's cultural and political life, this course follows how philosophical ideas developed within its walls and resonated beyond them. The course examines key figures who taught, studied, or lectured at the university—from Hegel's influential tenure and the Young Hegelians, through Dilthey's establishment of the human sciences and Cohen's Neo-Kantianism, to the philosophical responses to war, division, and reunification. Furthermore, students explore how the University of Berlin shaped major philosophical movements while being shaped by Berlin's dramatic historical transformations: from Prussian reform era through imperial expansion, from Weimar culture through Nazi persecution, from Cold War division through reunification. By examining philosophical texts alongside historical documents and cultural materials, students understand how the University of Berlin fostered philosophical innovations that responded to and influenced some of the most significant political and cultural developments of modern Europe.

Over the past decades, the radical right has been on the rise worldwide, creating challenges to democratic governance. This seminar investigates the drivers of radical right support, the consequences of their success, as well as responses by civic society to foster democratic resilience. The focus is on quantitative research on Europe and North America. The seminar is split into four parts. The first part gives a brief overview of core concepts and definitions that guide students throughout the course. This involves a discussion of ideological features that characterize the radical right as well as the issues they campaign on. The second part covers the causes of far right success by examining demand-side explanations involving classic theories of voting behavior, as well as supply-side explanations with a focus on theories of political competition. This includes the strategies radical right parties employ and how mainstream party reaction affects their electoral fortunes. The third part gives an extensive overview of consequences of radical right success on democratic governance and civic society. Students analyze how these successes affect democratic governance, other parties’ positions, as well as public opinion. The fourth part engages with a growing literature on interventions that are aimed at bolstering democratic resilience. The seminar is designed to familiarize students with seminal contributions in the theoretical and empirical literature on voting behavior, political competition, and democratic governance that help understand the rise of the radical right.

This lecture series provides an introductory, selective, and exemplary overview of English literary history from the Middle Ages to the present. Selected English literature texts from Chaucer to Kureishi (and others) are presented in their contexts and interpreted in their specific aesthetics and as representatives of the respective epoch.

This interdisciplinary course examines how gender and sexuality were experienced, represented, and contested in Weimar-era Germany (1918-1933). Drawing on a diverse array of primary sources - including theater, visual art, literature, film, and theoretical texts - students explore how marginalized individuals and communities navigated, expressed, and politicized their identities. Key topics include the emergence of sexual science and the conceptualization of the "third sex"; the proliferation of queer spaces, subcultures, and social movements in 1920s Berlin; intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability; artistic and literary depictions of gender fluidity and erotic desire; medicalization, criminalization, and the state's response to gender/sexual nonconformity; the rise of fascism and the violent backlash against LGBTQ+ rights. Through close engagement with primary sources and cutting-edge scholarly work, students gain a nuanced understanding of the complex, often contradictory dynamics that defined gender and sexuality in Weimar Germany. This course equips students with the critical tools to analyze the interplay between cultural production, social movements, and the politics of identity.