Humboldt University Berlin

Despite a highly controversial reputation, mercenaries have become an integral part of contemporary warfare. What makes a mercenary and how this type of warrior is to be taken analytically, is still controversial and fed by quite differently stored sources and perspectives. The perception and effectiveness of mercenaries in the (late) twentieth century should therefore be explored in the field of politics and history, (entertainment) culture, and self-testimonials of active mercenaries.

This course for highly advanced students covers demanding exercises in all language skills (focus on: lexis, grammar, stylistics). Emphasis is placed on the following areas: development of a communicative language competence that comes close to that of a native speaker, extension and differentiation of lexical and grammatical knowledge, working on synonymous constructions, and improving the expressiveness on different style levels.

This course discusses the central chapters of John Locke's 1689 book TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT, in which Locke develops a comprehensive conception of legitimate rule. This book is one of the most influential classics of political philosophy. The central starting point for Locke is the assumption that people are naturally free and have certain rights. From this point of view, Locke argues that legitimate political rule is to be understood as the result of a social contract by which individuals, by their free consent, submit to a government whose central task is to protect the rights of its subordinates.

The objective of the course is to show the benefits of using a systematic and analytical approach to marketing decision-making. An analytical approach enables students to: a) understand how the “first principles” of marketing strategy helps firms organize the analytics opportunity and challenge in today’s data era, and b) use and execute data analytic techniques and case studies to understand how to solve marketing analytics problems in a scientific and process-driven manner. Most analytic challenges that marketing researchers, consultants, and managers face, could be integrated under one umbrella that comprises four fundamental marketing problems: a) all customer are different; b) all customers change; c) all competitors react; d) all resources are limited. The course then emphasizes how the “first principles” of marketing strategy help solve the four fundamental marketing problems and helps students develop analytic competencies pertaining to each of the four first principles. Students learn how to measure customer preferences, recognize different ways to segment markets, identify attractive customers to target, determine the best positioning of your brand, and develop new products that add value. Overall, by completing this course, students learn to make the return on investment case for marketing expenditures that companies are increasingly asking of their executives.

This lecture introduces students to social demography and family sociology. Topics cover an introduction to family theories, different methodological approaches for studying family change, and the foundations of social demography including demographic methods. Students become familiar with diverse theoretical approaches and facts about families and populations in (East and West) Germany and place them in European and global comparison. Students also discuss normative and ethical concerns in the study of families and populations.

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 level according to CEFR, students review and learn basic grammar points and are systematically introduced to basic vocabulary. All four skills are developed and applied to everyday situations and some study-related situations. The A2 level is split into two consecutive courses, the A2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the A2.2 course covers the second half of the level.

In this course students repeat, consolidate, and expand grammatical rules for a correct use of the German language at C1 level. The course places special emphasis on a systematization of Garman language knowledge. Students also work with synonymous constructions and apply them in different types of text.

This seminar approaches this city through specific artifacts and buildings–each of which has played a key role for modern Berlin and for the city's significance in Germany. This course understands the term “objects” in a double sense: first, in the academic sense as objects of study; second, in the physical sense as material items that we can see and grasp and which, in turn, render cultural processes manifest. Artefacts, such as maps and DJ consoles, as well as buildings, such as the Reichstag and the Spätkauf, offer kaleidoscopic views onto a city which in its overwhelming historical density constantly evokes its many pasts and presents in the streetscape and yet always eludes our full grasp. Building on the academic methodology of micro-history, the course draws on the specific and the small to develop a tangible understanding of large-scale developments in Berlin. This seminar investigates what objects teach us about ways of living and surviving in this city and about forms of being political, social, modern, and creative in Berlin's urban spaces. Material artifacts are connected to the socio-political climate in which people have created and used them. The seminar uses the widespread idea of Berlin as a museum that exhibits history in the cityscape, which has constantly been transforming itself, and which is continuously testing ideas about its past, present, and possible futures.

Affective polarization has grown dramatically. Partisans increasingly avoid, distrust, and hate one another to the point where they even condone violence against the other side. Affective polarization is widely seen as a destabilizing force that erodes democracy, but what explains this phenomenon? This course grapples with different definitions of polarization, alternative approaches to explaining its causes, political and non-political consequences of affective polarization, how to compare different countries in regard to their polarization, and mitigating factors. In group work sessions students apply this knowledge by analyzing real world data.