Sweden

The course begins by introducing the fundamental strategies, terminology, and methodology associated with product innovation and its subprocesses. The primary focus is set on the strategic parts of the industrial development process as product planning/product renewal, including the establishment of business plans for the products resulting from the development efforts. The product development process is further examined, and alternative methods are introduced for some of the phases of the development process.

The course gives an overview of the most common tools used when transcribing and editing texts, primarily from manuscripts; the different forms of digital presentation of texts; and the types of projects related to corpuses, databases, and editions of premodern texts in which memory institutions (libraries and archives) interact with scholars and the general public. 

The course provides an introduction to the study of the Holocaust--the term used to describe the killing of the European Jews--and its causes and mechanisms. It also provides a basis for seeking answers to difficult questions, such as why this tragedy occurred. By examining the circumstances and mechanisms leading to genocide, and especially to the Holocaust, students are oriented on the post-war interpretations and debates. The effects of the Holocaust, how the Holocaust has affected post-war political and cultural discourses, and the reasons behind the delayed interest in it are also introduced. The Holocaust is also viewed in the context of other genocides committed both before and after World War II. Related lectures, readings, and seminars provide an overview of the Holocaust through empirical, chronological, theoretical, political, and other perspectives. Assessment is based on two short papers on elective readings related to the course topics and a take-home exam that is discussed at the final class meeting.

The course covers issues such as citizenship and representation in political institutions, changes in women’s participation in the labor force, sexuality and the social welfare state, masculinity studies as well as gender and social change. Integral to the course is learning to use critical theoretical understandings in analyzing how models of gender equality are affected by social relations such as race/ethnicity, sexual identity, and class. The course is directed towards international exchange students who wish to acquire knowledge of the Swedish/Scandinavian societies from a gender perspective, and it is also open for regular students at Lund University.

This course examines contemporary Japanese society, focusing on issues such as politics, pop culture, demographic change, and environment. The focus is on post-Cold War Japan, with special emphasis on the period after the earthquake, the tsunami, and the nuclear accident in 2011. Included are also the debate about Japan as an aging society with low fertility and the Japanese position with regard to immigration, gender, and hi-tech robotics.