Humboldt University Berlin

In the 19th century, the Tibetan Plateau was one of the last so-called "blank spots" on European maps, along with other regions of Central Asia. Due to its strategic position in Central Asia and growing economic interests, developing Tibet became an ambitious goal for many Europeans. The seminar examines in what form and with what motives different interest groups such as missionaries, traders, adventurers, scientists and colonial officials acquired and circulated knowledge about Tibet. Why was certain knowledge considered important? How was the collected knowledge interpreted, used and presented? The aim of the seminar is the methodical introduction of the students to colonial history in Asia and the discussion of the role of the so-calledGreat Game between Great Britain and Russia for supremacy in Central Asia, the effects of which reach into the present.
 

This course focuses on the relationship between violent conflict and economic development. The first half of the course examines the concepts of conflict and development, as well as some associated theories. The second part focuses on the nexus between conflict and development, the cultural dimensions of conflict and development, and concludes with some policy interventions that could be applied to reduce the risk of conflict and accelerate development. Reference is made to some case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In this course, we will bring together Plato's and Wittgenstein's discussions of negation, truth, and being. This is not an arbitrary juxtaposition: Plato's Theaetetus is a text that Wittgenstein responds to directly in the Philosophical Investigations--one of a very few philosophical texts to be mentioned at all. In the first half of the semester, we will engage in close reading of parts of Plato's Theaetetus and Sophist that discuss the structure of propositions, the nature of truth, the possibility of false belief and false statements, and also negation. (The Sophist is closely tied to the Theaetetus, by both literary signals and philosophical themes.) In the second half of the semester, we will turn to Wittgenstein, reading selections from the Tractatus and the Investigations. We will be interested both in how Wittgenstein responds explicitly to Plato and in how Wittgensteins responds indirectly (or unintentionally) to Plato.

This course is designed for beginners in the French language (i.e. no prerequisites or prior knowledge are needed). The content of this course consists of the basics of French taught through interactive listening, speaking and reading tasks. At the end of the course, students will be prepared for French A2 according to CEFR standards.

How can we understand the relationship between gender and environment? And what can feminist thinking contribute to debates on the current ecological crisis and the needed sustainability transition? Drawing on feminist and gender scholarship the course introduces students to key theories and debates including ecofeminism and feminist political ecology. Over the course of the seminar we look at early critiques of the women-environment nexus to more recent debates on care politics or posthumanism. Through diverse empirical examples of topics such as agri-food regimes, climate change, natural resources and environmental activism this course addresses the gender dimensions of environmental issues.

This seminar is designed to offer students a first insight into the broad range of writings during the Romantic period. It explores a number of the many authors, genres, and thematic facets of the Romantic period, from responses to the French revolution in essays, poetry, and fiction to programmatic turns towards a new kind of poetry, issues of Romantic nature writing, and the Romantic imagination (also in the visual arts). Travel narratives, the concern with science, and finally the socioeconomic contexts of publishing is also addressed. Thus, the literary versatility and (cultural) politics marking the Romantic period comes to the fore within their broader contexts; almost inevitably, gender as a critical category plays a key role.

Haunted castles, labyrinthine catacombs, wailing ghosts, horrifying revelations, mad scientists, and undead antagonists. These are all part of the constellation of signs associated with Gothic literature. Nowadays, echoes of the historical Gothic are part of pop culture and academic theory alike; in Mark Fisher’s words, “The ghosts are swarming at the moment. Hauntology has caught on. It’s a zeitgeist.” This seminar aims to take a step back and look at where it all started. To this end, we will read key texts from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and examine Gothic aesthetics, temporality, and topology in context. We will try to answer questions such as: what are Gothic literature’s historical/cultural origins? What anxieties were embodied and explored through it? And how did it evolve into the 19th and 20th centuries?

This course introduces five core areas of grammar: Phonetics/phonology investigates the sounds of English and how are they used to distinguish meanings. Morphology describes the structure of words and syntax, with the structure of sentences. Finally, semantics is about the way in which linguistic expressions (in particular, words and sentences) can be interpreted, and pragmatics deals with the way in which language is used to perform concrete actions.

This course for foreign students is designed to improve students’ language skills and vocabulary. Areas of focus include grammar, conversation, writing exercises, and listening and reading exercises. In addition, excursions are planned to introduce students to German culture. Students work with cultural and historical 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 A2/B1 level according to CEFR, students review and learn basic grammar points and are systematically introduced to basic vocabulary, and they also consolidate and systematically build further basic grammar points and vocabulary. All four skills are developed and applied to everyday situations and some study-related situations.

This seminar provides students with an introduction to the study of contemporary Chinese political economy. The early sessions of the course will place China’s economic development in global historical context before examining the characteristics of the Maoist command economy as well as reformers’ approach to marketization after 1978. Later sessions will focus on current issues relating to the state’s efforts to establish a sustainable, equitable and innovative economy. The final sessions examine China’s role in an increasingly turbulent global economy. Working closely with the instructor, students will write a research paper on a topic related to the contemporary Chinese political economy.