Lecturer: Philip Schnaars

Course Nr.: 15304.0133

Date/Time: Mon. 17:45-19:15h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

When governments regulate energy markets, they might have different goals in mind. They can aim at reducing market power in a monopoly in order to keep prices at a certain level, maintain security of supply of critical goods such as natural gas or, in light of climate change, incentivize firms and consumers to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. This course introduces the economic principles of energy markets in Europe and investigates the reasons and consequences of various forms of regulation. Students will learn how the European Union and individual member states interact in the regulatory process and understand the reasons for implemented policy measures.

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Dr. Thilo Zimmermann

Course Nr.: 15304.0126

Date/Time: Wed.16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

What is European integration? When did European integration start? How did people try to modelize and legitimate European integration? Where should Europe, according to these theories, lead to?

This course provides an introduction into theories of European integration. We will analyse the origins and presumptions of the most important theories, such as federalism, neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The course will highlight the historic background on which these theories have been developed. Furthermore, it will be shown how theories of European integration combine theories of polical science and economics. It will be demonstarted that different presumtion of these theories do also lead to different understandings of what is the scope of European integration. Should Europe become a federal super state, or a loose economic confederation?

Troughout the course students will also be invited to compare European integration to other processes of regional integration, such as in Latin America, the Arab world, in Africa (African Union), Asia (e.g. ASEAN) and especially the historical evolution of the United States political system.

Finally, the course will give an outlook on current topics in European integration (such as Brexit or the consequences of the Corona pandemic), how do the different theories anayse these challanges?

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Lecturer: Prof. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0212

Time/Date: Tue.12:00-13:30

Location: Face-to-Face

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Points: 3

In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism. Throughout the course there will be various introductory lectures on inductive and deductive logic.

Lecturer: Prof. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0252

Time/Date: Thu.12:00-13:30

Location: Face-to-Face

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Points: 3

We will examine a range of topics/ problems/ issues in contemporary epistemology. These will include the puzzling nature of human knowledge, the lottery paradox, the preface paradox, the problem of epistemic circularity, the nature of belief and its relation to credences, faith, and pragmatic encroachment. We will spend time investigating the nature of philosophical knowledge and the nature of intuitions and their epistemic value. We will conclude by looking at issues regarding ignorance and its implications for human rationality.

Lecturer: Mrinalini Shinde

Course Nr: 13980.2082

Time/Date: Thu.12:00-13:30

Location: online

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Points: 6

This course is about International Environmental Law. The historical development of international environmental law is systematically traced and illustrated with practical examples. The course is taught from a US perspective and uses US jurisdiction as a benchmark.

Lecturer: Maria das Dores Girão da Cruz

Course Nr: 14501.2247

Time/Date: Tue.14:00-15:30

Location: hybrid (online/face-to-face)

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Points: 3

Gender is a socially inclusive concept and refers to social constructs. It is variable, flexible, unbounded and it comprises assigned beliefs, attitudes, symbols, behavior and actions that define women and men, third genders and non-normative sexualities. Debates and studies of African gender and sexualities have been framed by western analytical tools and theoretical frameworks, particularly western feminism and queer theories. This course examines gender and sexuality in Sub-Saharan Africa, using a critique of western conventional categories and approaches to highlight African feminism and theories from the south. Illustrations of how masculinity and femininity are variably performed across sub-Saharan African cultures will be drawn primarily from anthropology and historical anthropology, through the analysis of ethnographies, movies, novels and other types of material. Theoretically, the course asks how African contexts challenge western conventions of gender and sexualities. Specifically, case studies will explore the impact of the colonial legacy, of women-centered development policies, homosexuality and trans-sexual practices, constructions of masculinities and femininities, among other themes.

Lecturer: Prof. Wilfried Hinsch

Course Nr: 14213.0001

Time/Date: Wed.12:00-13:30

Location: face-to-face

Course Type: lecture

Credit Points: 3

Lecturer: Prof. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0017

Time/Date: Tue.16:00-17:30

Location: face-to-face

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners / Eva Lynders

Course Nr.: 15304.0122

Date/Time: Mon, 16:00-17:30h

Location: virtual

The course provides an introduction to economic cooperation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and beyond. It concentrates on two main components. First, we will analyse the contemporary global architecture for economic cooperation and development and its main characteristics, including relevant actors, international organisations, treaties, and patterns in trade and development economics. Second, we will examine the European Union as an example of regional economic integration, its internal market, the framework for economic coordination and its external economic relations. The course will take up topical economic and political processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the EU’s trade and economic partnership agreements. In this way, the course seeks to contribute to the understanding how economic cooperation and development are interconnected with environmental and social questions.

Lecturer: Dr. Thilo Zimmermann

Course Nr.: 15304.0127

Date/Time: Wed, 16:00-17:30h

Location: virtual

The course provides an introduction into economic theories, which are used to describe, explain and justify European integration. The course presents theories on economic integration and explains how they have applied to the case of the European unification process. Presented theories are for example international trade theories, such as Ricardo’s model of comparative advantage or the Heckscher-Ohlin model, fiscal federalism, public goods, as well as theories of monetary integration, such as monetary theories in general and the optimum currency areas approach. The course will set a special focus on the link between theories of economics and political science. Does economic integration presuppose political integration? To which degree do economic theories deal which questions of sovereignty and institution building?

The course will present economic theories and therefore also its mathematical equations. However, the focus lies on the description and discussion of these theories and how they have been used to explain and justify European integration. It is therefore possible to follow the course without previous knowledge of economic theories and methodology. The course is therefore addressed for an interdisciplinary audience with different backgrounds and might also be of interest for students of economics in order to debate about theories and their political implications.

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners / Eva Lynders

Course Nr.: 15304.0122

Date/Time: Mon, 16:00-17:30h

Location: virtual

The course provides an introduction to economic cooperation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and beyond. It concentrates on two main components. First, we will analyse the contemporary global architecture for economic cooperation and development and its main characteristics, including relevant actors, international organisations, treaties, and patterns in trade and development economics. Second, we will examine the European Union as an example of regional economic integration, its internal market, the framework for economic coordination and its external economic relations. The course will take up topical economic and political processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the EU’s trade and economic partnership agreements. In this way, the course seeks to contribute to the understanding how economic cooperation and development are interconnected with environmental and social questions.

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0121

Date/Time: Mon, 14:00-15:30h

Location: virtual

The European Legacy in the History of a Central European City

Historiography tends to focus its objects like through an optical device: From bird’s eye view World History and panoramic European History, to macroscopic National History, to microscopic Local History. However, these levels are, of course, interconnected and overlapping.
In this course we will look at the historical trajectory of Cologne during the 19th Century and ask how the local events and experiences reflect Europe-wide historical processes, in which ways they are interconnected with overarching transnational trends, and if and how they are comparable or contrasting to contemporary developments in urban centers elsewhere in Europe. In doing so, we will recreate the history of Cologne from a pre-modern city to a regional economic and industrial hub. But at the same time, we will identify the European legacy within this development and outline the specific “Rhenish” variant of the European Identity in Cologne.
As we will try to argue during this course: European Identity – as any identity in historical perspective – is polymorphic and a result of local, regional, national and transnational experiences. But it relates to a core of common historical references, common developments and trends, of which the particular local historical mix is one possible combination. Some European Identities are more spicy than others, some are less contoured than others, but all are brewed in the same European kitchen.
Let’s see, what defines the European Identity of Cologne in the 19th century.

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0125

Date/Time: Tue, 14:00h-15:30h

Location: virtual

Can we learn from history?
On the one hand, Susan Neiman postulated in 2019 that one can “learn from the Germans” — with regard to the Erinnerungskultur (culture of remembrance) and Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coping with/working through the past) that is considered to be successful. Many experts share this view. On the other hand, with the onset of the pandemic, those socio-political developments that were already visible before are intensifying: quite a few observers speak of a global shift to the right.
This course therefore aims to provide an insight into various European Erinnerungskulturen and Vergangenheitsbewältigungen (as plurals) since 1945. So, the course follows three leading questions:
1. Basic knowledge: What is Erinnerungskultur? What is Vergangenheitsbewältigung? Which types and forms of both exist? And, what is remembered, especially where, how and when?
2. Practical approach: What concrete historical examples are there? How can these be critically classified, especially with regard to national or nationalistic narratives? In other words: What role can or do these play in forming (collective) identities and memories and do they also have functions of social integration?
3. Theoretical approach: How do both work? What forms are there? Are the forms of
Erinnerungskulturen as well as of Vergangenheitsbewältigungen dynamic or static?
The course aims to answer these and — most important — your questions by working on concrete examples in modern European history. In doing so, emerging competitions of memories will also be discussed in order to show that in most cases this concurrences can lead to relativizations, which are very evident in current developments. Special attention will be paid to the differentiation of written, oral and visual history.

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Complementary German courses (3CP, depending upon availability)

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0120

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00- 17:30h

Location:             

Credit Points: 3

Today´s world, in both, private as well as professional/academic aspects, is characterized by fast changes, quick means of travel and instant communication. Physical distance has become less and less of an obstacle for interaction between people. COVID-19 was a push for digitalization and intensified digital communication across any kind of distance. Intercultural encounters, whether physical or digital, are very common, but the challenges that come along with that are often underestimated.
Universities are aiming to become more international and intercultural competence is considered a key skill to be expected by university graduates.
This course will not only provide knowledge, but more importantly help students to incorporate means to face intercultural challenges adequately in everyday life. A special focus will be put on academic challegenes.

Topics dealt with are (selection):

What is culture and what is intercultural competence?
Intercultural theories and models
Working on real-life cases (critical intercultural incidents)
Introduction to Communication
Performing in classes
- Support on how to deliver requested performances (e.g. how to do a presenation)
- Proper teacher-student-/student-student-interaction
- Comparing participants´ home Universities

The seminar will be held digitally

Lecturer: David Kern

Course Nr: 14569.3304

Time/Date: Mon, 10:00- 11:30h

Location: virtual        

Credit Points: 3

In this course we are going to explore the intellectual and imaginative pull of Science Fiction (SciFi), a vast literary and artisitc genre spanning across a wide array of forms: the (graphic) novel, the novella, short fiction, film and TV serialization. We are going to look at some of the the classics in the field to then move beyond them in order to think about SciFi as a vast archive of ideas, their history and transformations. We are going to trace how traditional tropes of/in SciFi writing (space exploration, technology, alien encounters, technological advance...) keep transforming to account for and speak to ever-changing social, cultural and political issues, concerns and anxieties. The majority of theoretical texts, short stories and digital formats will be made available to you in ILIAS. However, you should purchase (and read) your own copies of:

- Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake, 2013, Virago (Other editions and/or eBook are fine)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Birgit Hellwig, Tobias-Alexander Herrmann

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon, 14:00-15:30h

Location: virtual

Credit Points: 3

The lecture series will be held digitally via Zoom.

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from current research. In this way, students will have access to up-to-date work done locally at the University of Cologne, as well as to work done internationally. Topics will cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives. Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session. Open to all interested.

Soon, you can find the full program on ILIAS and here: http://ccls.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/ccls-lecture-series.html

Students receive credit points (please check departmental regulations and study programs) if they provide the following “Studienleistungen”:

2 CPs: 3 summaries of lectures
3 CPs: 5 summaries of lectures

All students have to provide a short bibliography (at least 10 titles) referring to one of the summaries about the topic of the lecture.

You can send your summaries at any time during the semester. I strongly recommend that you don’t submit your summaries close to the deadline. However, you are required to submit (all of) your summaries by 11 February 2022, 11.59 p.m. Please send your summaries as a PDF document to ccls-info@uni-koeln.de.

Lecturer: Victoria Herche

Course Nr: 14569.3503

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00-11:30h

Location: virtual

Credit Points: 3

This seminar considers the tremendous adaptability and rich afterlives of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel, Frankenstein, in such fields and disciplines as film, theatre, dance, comic books, and performance art as well as Frankenstein’s global impact for the twenty-first century across a myriad of cultures and nations, from Japan, Mexico, and Turkey, to Britain, Iraq, Europe, and North America. Thereby this seminar interrogates its sustained relevance over two centuries during which it has engaged with such issues as mortality, global capitalism, gender, race, embodiment, neoliberalism, disability, technology, and the role of science.

Please read in preparation for the seminar: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: or 'The Modern Prometheus': The 1818 Text (preferably Oxford World's Classics Edition).

This course is designed to practice oral and written academic skills. Students will learn how to describe, analyze and compare literary and cultural texts in their respective historical, cultural, and genre context and discuss them with respect to issues of race and ethnicity, class and gender on an advanced level. Students will practice how to perform close readings of narrative texts and cinematic material, practice how to work with secondary sources, how to analyze primary materials by using critical and theoretical concepts, and, finally, in preparation for the end-of-module exams, how to come up with an interesting argument and thesis statement of your own.

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0237

Time/Date: Thu, 12:00- 13:30

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 3

In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism. Throughout the course there will be various introductory lectures on inductive and deductive logic.

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0212

Time/Date: Tue, 12:00- 13:30

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 3

Lecturer: Prof. Heinz Antor

Course Nr: 14569.3101

Time/Date: Thu, 14:00- 15:30

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 3

The construction and definition of identity has always been connected with the drawing of borders separating the self from an other, the invention of an imagined line of difference allowing us to think about ourselves as a separate entity clearly distinguishable from the foreign and the alien. Such processes can be observed on many levels of identity construction, ranging from individual to collective or national identities, selfhood defined by species, race, ethnicity, class or gender, to name but a few of the defining factors. However, reality is often characterized by less clarity and ‘purity’ than our identity constructions would allow for. Border-crossings of all kinds are the order of the day, and hybridity blurs the conceptual boundaries we have invented. This frequently gives rise to conflict and to renegotiations of identity. In this lecture series, we will look at how such processes are depicted and negotiated in Anglophone texts from the early modern period to the present across a wide range of English-speaking cultures (e.g. Britain, the USA, the Caribbean, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, and others). The texts discussed will include William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (1594), The Merchant of Venice (1596/7), and Othello (1601), Frances Brooke's The History of Emily Montague (1769), H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), E.M. Forster's A Passage to India (1924), Hugh MacLennan's Two Solitudes (1945), Patrick White’s A Fringe of Leaves (1976), Joy Kogawa's Obasan (1981), K.S. Maniam's The Return (1981), Amy Tan’s The Joy-Luck Club (1989), V.S. Naipaul’s Half a Life (2001), and others. There will be an online test at the end of the semester.

Lecturer: Prof. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.1000

Time/Date: Tue,16:00- 17:30

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will offer an introduction to internationally influential debates on education in connection with the philosophical tradition of John Dewey (1859-1952) and the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017).

Lecturer: Prof. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2101

Course Type: Lecture

Time/Date: Wed, 17:45- 19:15h

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 3

This lecture class investigates models and ideologies as they inform multilingual education. Invited speakers will present on various contexts in which they provide instruction or conduct research studies. In our class discussions, we will explore to what extent monolingualism or alternative notions such as translanguaging inform language instruction in the examples chosen by our presenters.

Lecturer: Prof. Frank Schulz-Nieswandt

Course Nr: 14344.0003

Time/Date: Wed,12:00-13.30

Location: virtual

Credit Points: 3

Lecturer: Prof. Kirk William Junker

Course Nr: 13980.2614

Time/Date: Wed, 08:00- 9:30h

Location: virtual     

Credit Points: 6

START: 12 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0113

Date/Time: Mon. 16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Investments on digitalisation affect personal, political, societal, environmental and economic processes across the globe and have enormous potential to radically change almost all sectors in the coming decades, from agriculture to industry and finance, from education to health, democracy and human rights. They will also influence the success of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Digitalisation is understood to constitute one of the most powerful facilitators for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The course is an introduction to digital transformation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and other world regions. It provides an overview of the impact, the opportunities, but also the risks of digitalisation in three interdependent thematic fields: the economy, the environment, and the society. A particular focus will be put on the societal and political dimension of digitalisation towards sustainable development, for instance with a view to governance, privacy and security in the digital age, or the effects of social media on democratic practices. The course will take up topical developments related to the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the EU Digital Strategy, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, or social scoring systems. In this way, the seminar combines perspectives from Europe with experiences from other world regions.

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

START: 14 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Thilo Zimmermann

Course Nr.: 15304.0116

Date/Time: Wed.16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

What is European integration? When did European integration start? How did people try to modelize and legitimate European integration? Do economic or political considerations drive European integration? Where should Europe, according to these theories, lead to?

This course provides an introduction into theories of European integration. We will analyse the origins and presumptions of the most important theories, such as federalism, neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The course will highlight the historic background on which these theories have been developed and illustrate the impact of economic and political factors in different theories. It will be demonstrated that different presumption of these theories do also lead to different understandings of what is the scope of European integration. Should Europe become a strong political federation, or a loose economic confederation?

Throughout the course students will also be invited to compare European integration to other processes of regional integration, such as in Latin America, the Arab world, in Africa (African Union), Asia (e.g. ASEAN) and especially the historical evolution of the United States political system.

Finally, the course will give an outlook on current topics in European integration (such as Brexit or the consequences of the Corona pandemic), how do the different theories analyse these challenges?

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

START: 14 April 2021

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0114

Date/Time: Wed. 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The course will offer students an insight into the fundamental principles and characteristics of public international law (PIL) and of EU law. In its first part, this course will provide insights into the mechanisms that govern the international legal order, explore the fundamentals of inter-state relations, international treaty law and the role of the subjects of PIL within the international legal order. To illustrate the practical application and enforcement of PIL, some of the most relevant cases before the International Court of Justice will be discussed.

As the course progresses, an insight into the system of EU law will be given. Thereby, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies of milestone decisions of the ECJ, the role of EU Law for the national legal systems of Member States, and for the EU as whole will be explained.

Due to the digital format, the course will be structured similarly to a lecture and will be accompanied by materials and student assignments which will replace (physical) participation of the course participants.

Presence during the first session is mandatory!

Course Outline:
I.    The genesis of the international legal order in a historical timeline: The role of State sovereignty in international law

II.    The sources and the hierarchy the sources of public international law

III.    The legal basis of inter-state relations: formation of international treaties and of customary law

IV.    The role of international organisations and their statutes for the international legal order, exemplified by the UN and the UN Charta

V.    The increasing recognition of common concerns: must PIL be adapted vis-à-vis environmental concerns and community interests?

VI.    Examples of relevant cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

VII.    The genesis of modern European legal systems: historical and economic factors

VIII.    Overview on the system of European Union Law: sources, institutions and principles

IX.    The role of European Union law for the legal systems in Member States: case studies of milestone judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)

START:  13 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Claudia Hefftler

Course Nr: 15304.0115

Date/Time: Tue. 17:45 - 19:15h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The European Union (EU) is a unique project of international cooperation of 27 states in an “ever closer union” that has successfully secured peace and prosperity on the European continent for over 60 years. In the past decade however, European integration has been challenged due to the Euro crisis, increasing Euroscepticism and the Brexit. The Union has come under pressure to prove its added value and legitimacy to the people.

This course will start out with analysing the institutional structure and historical development of the EU. The democratic quality of the EU decision-making process will guide this analysis. What powers does the European Parliament have in the EU decision-making process? How is it elected and how does it contribute to EU legitimacy? Where do the member states guard their interests and how do they answer to their national voters? These are some of the questions we will critically discuss in this course.
The course is designed as an introduction to EU politics.

Due to limited number of participants, it is mandatory to show up at the first session in order to secure your spot.

START: 14 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Thilo Zimmermann

Course Nr.: 15304.0116

Date/Time: Wed.16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

What is European integration? When did European integration start? How did people try to modelize and legitimate European integration? Do economic or political considerations drive European integration? Where should Europe, according to these theories, lead to?

This course provides an introduction into theories of European integration. We will analyse the origins and presumptions of the most important theories, such as federalism, neo-functionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism. The course will highlight the historic background on which these theories have been developed and illustrate the impact of economic and political factors in different theories. It will be demonstrated that different presumption of these theories do also lead to different understandings of what is the scope of European integration. Should Europe become a strong political federation, or a loose economic confederation?

Throughout the course students will also be invited to compare European integration to other processes of regional integration, such as in Latin America, the Arab world, in Africa (African Union), Asia (e.g. ASEAN) and especially the historical evolution of the United States political system.

Finally, the course will give an outlook on current topics in European integration (such as Brexit or the consequences of the Corona pandemic), how do the different theories analyse these challenges?

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

START: 12 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0113

Date/Time: Mon. 16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Investments on digitalisation affect personal, political, societal, environmental and economic processes across the globe and have enormous potential to radically change almost all sectors in the coming decades, from agriculture to industry and finance, from education to health, democracy and human rights. They will also influence the success of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Digitalisation is understood to constitute one of the most powerful facilitators for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The course is an introduction to digital transformation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and other world regions. It provides an overview of the impact, the opportunities, but also the risks of digitalisation in three interdependent thematic fields: the economy, the environment, and the society. A particular focus will be put on the societal and political dimension of digitalisation towards sustainable development, for instance with a view to governance, privacy and security in the digital age, or the effects of social media on democratic practices. The course will take up topical developments related to the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the EU Digital Strategy, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, or social scoring systems. In this way, the seminar combines perspectives from Europe with experiences from other world regions.

Appearance during the first session is mandatory.

START: 12 April 2021

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0111

Date/Time: Mon. 14:00-15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

European Integration was a result of postwar politics – first promoted after World War I it evolved in several stages after World War II within the context of European recovery and reconstruction after a disastrous continental conflict. Thus, European Integration right from its beginnings rested upon the convergence of idealistic concepts, and vital needs and necessities, combining utopian visions of a politically united continent with hard-bitten national interests. Under the premises of the Cold War, the European project continued on this double track – serving overlapping national interests and offering a vision for a peaceful and democratic future. Today, 30 years after the end of the Cold War, this vision still awaits to become true, while national interests more than quadrupled (as compared to the original members of the EEC).
This course revisits the origins and development of the project “Europe United”, the process that led first to the creation of the European Economic Community and later to the European Union, and the factors that defined the playground of European politics. In doing so, we will keep an eye particularly on the relationship between ideas and needs, between the utopian Europe and the babylonian cacophony of national interests.

Due to limited number of participants, it is mandatory to show up at the first session in order to secure your spot.

START: 13 April 2021

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0112

Date/Time: Tue. 14:00 - 15:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Fin de Siècle, Belle Époque, turn of the century - many of these terms  try to capture the (atmospheric) condensations around 1900. Here is implied that the turn of the century can also be understood as the apex or end of the "long 19th century": as a turn of time. The course takes up this variety of possible interpretations and illuminates the larger context from a cultural-historical perspective. "Europe 1900" thus resembles like a prism: multidimensional strands of development are thus made visible and analyzed in the interwoven contexts before and after 1900 — with a focus on pan-European relevance and taking into account the question of how the European perspective can be integrated in global history.

So, the course aims to break with and question supposedly typical perspectives on and of Europe by openingup new perspectives on Europe and its conception(s) through a deeper understanding of European cultural history — which is ultimately also a (pre-)history of European integration. Using selected examples, these questions will be exemplified above all in social, societal and cultural, and sometimes in political and economic aspects.

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0117

Time/Date: Tue.16:00-17:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

This seminar will provide students with theoretical background as well as skills connected to intercultural issues and situations.
It is a global fact that our societies are experiencing a very dynamic process of pluralization due to internationalization. Increasing cultural diversity brings along many challenges that affect everyone at one time or another. Many of those challenges can be very benefitial but require suitable coping.
Cultural competence is understood as the ability to act suitable and effectively in intercultural situations. This requires much more than just knowledge about intercultural theories and facts, but involves actions, attitudes and skills. Intercultural competence demands a person to go beyond simply learning and memorizing facts, it demands the motivation to incorporate a self-critical and open-minded point of view that is reflected in the actions taken.
In order to fulfill those aspects, the structure of this seminar provides a balance between theoretical input and intercultural experiences.
Topics covered within this seminar will be:
- Concept of culture and interculturality
- Cultural standards/dimensions
- Communication theories
- Stereotypes
- Identity and self-reflection
- Working with critical incidents
- …

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2603

Time/Date: Wed. 10:00-11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

When the term 'descriptive linguistics' was first introduced, it was in the attempt to not judge how people talk and to just make it the business of linguistics to see how certain things were done in certain contexts, or to explain on the basis of description how language/s is/are acquired.
In our class, we will pursue weekly readings with the objective to identify key terminology. Together, we will think about the processes of labeling and categorization and discuss (potential) effects thereof. Where possible, we will consider alternatives, as well.

Please do not miss the deadline for the first assignment. In case you are delayed, please let us know. Elsewise, we will drop you from the class roster to give your space to another student - assuming you are no longer interested in taking part in the course.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2606

Time/Date: Thu. 10:00-11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

TITLE OF THE CLASS: THE PROCESSING OF INFORMATION STRUCTURE

This advanced graduate seminar will explore the role of information structure in the processing of language. Students will prepare various tasks and participate in class activities as proposed in the syllabus.

****Please note: Appearance in the first session is mandatory!! Your spot will be given to someone else in case of a no-show*****

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2102

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00 - 11:30h

Location:

Credit Points: 3

While multilingualism is a reality of daily life - we all 'translanguage' and use linguistic repertoires according to who we talk to and to situational context - classroom teaching in most education systems depends on foundational beliefs that are largely informed by a monolingual ideology.

In this lecture class, we will explore different classrooms and talk to invited guests about their experience, strategies, and attitudes.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heinz Antor

Course Nr: 14569.3102

Time/Date: Thu. 14:00-15:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3 

In this series of lectures, we will follow the various ways in which multi-, inter-, and transculturality have been negotiated in Anglophone literatures from the early modern period to the present. We will first have a look at the theoretical concepts of multi-, inter-, and transculturality and their place in postcolonial studies as well as at related concepts such as alterity, identity, race, ethnicity, cosmopolitanism, etc. This will then be followed by model interpretations of Anglophone literary texts (plays, novels, short stories) from Britain, the USA, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

Among the texts discussed will be: William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, The Merchant of Venice, and Othello; Frances Brooke’s The History of Emily Montague (1769); Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem (1780); Elizabeth Inchbald’s Such Things Are (1787); Mariana Starke’s The Widow of Malabar (1790); Anna Brownell Jameson’s Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada (1838); E.M. Forster's A Passage to India; Hugh MacLennan's Barometer Rising (1941) and Two Solitudes (1945); Nick Joaquin's The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961); Mordecai Richler's The Incomparable Atuk (1963); Patrick White’s A Fringe of Leaves (1973); David Malouf's Johnno (1975); Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (1989); Joy Kogawa's Obasan (1981); K.S. Maniam's The Return (1981); Rudy Wiebe’s A Discovery of Strangers (1994) and Sweeter Than All the World (2001); Stephen Frears’ and Hanif Kureishi’s Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987); Sam Watson’s The Kadaitcha Sung (1990); Eva Sallis’s Hiam (1998); V.S. Naipaul’s Half a Life (2001); Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Last Crossing (2002); and Andrew McGahan’s The White Earth (2004).

There will be an online test at the end of the semester.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heinz Antor

Course Nr: 14569.3602

Time/Date: Thu. 12:00-13:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

In this seminar we will read and discuss four of William Shakespeare’s plays and analyse the many ways in which alterity, in particular racial and ethnic otherness, is constructed and negotiated in these seminal texts from the early modern period. We will have a look at the contemporary historical and political contexts just as well as Shakespeare’s analyses of issues of human identity and their relation to notions of the other. Special attention will be given to postcolonial approaches to the Bard, but other theoretical frameworks will also be considered. Students should have read the following plays by the beginning of term: Titus Andronicus (1594), The Merchant of Venice (1598), Othello, the Moor of Venice (1603), and The Tempest (1611). I recommend the latest Arden edition, but any other unabridged version will do as well. Active participation, presentation in class, written essay (schriftliche Hausarbeit/Seminararbeit).

Lecturer:  Birgit Hellwig, Tobias Alexander Herrmann

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon, 14:00-15:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from up-to-date studies. In this way, students will have access to the latest academic research conducted by Cologne-based as well as international linguists. The topics cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives.

For 3CPs you must submit 5 summaries of lectures.

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof.Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0237

Time/Date: Tue, 12:00-13:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The term 'knows' is one of the most common English words and expresses a concept that plays a special role in the justification of actions and attitudes. These facts indicate the importance of knowledge to human thought. Yet philosophers have had tremendous difficulty explaining what, exactly, knowledge is. We will examine a range of different recent accounts of knowledge and related concepts, such as awareness.  [This a working description of the course. It will be somewhat revised in the following weeks.]
 

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof.Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0247

Time/Date: Thur, 12:00- 13:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Advanced course to "Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology". More info to follow soon. Basic knowledge of the filed is required. 

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohnen

Course Nr: 14569.2103

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00 - 11:30

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Middle English is the period in the history of English which starts after the Norman Conquest and gradually turns into Early Modern English during the second half of the 15th century. Middle English is often described as a period of rapid transition and considerable heterogeneousness. It is also a phase with an extremely rich output of texts, both literary and non-literary. This lecture will deal with the important developments in the fields of spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis, but will also focus on topics involving Middle English society and culture and the major genres of the period.

Lecturer: Melanie Sprau

Course Nr: 14569.2305

Time/Date: Wed, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The period between approximately 1500 and 1700 is known as Early Modern English (EModE). While it is widely known as the time in which Shakespeare made a significant contribution to the English language, Early Modern English is much more than that. This seminar will enable students to gain a more detailed view of this stage of the English language by means of the reading and detailed linguistic analysis of a variety of early modern English texts. The focus will be on early modern English practices in the core areas of linguistics, i.e. phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics; major topics being: sound change, the standardization of the language, and the expansion of the vocabulary. Socio-historical as well as literary aspects will be studied. Participants will further gain a sense of the place of Early Modern English within the wider context of the history of the English language.

Students are expected to read and work texts, as well as complete tasks in preparation for the sessions. The required textbook is Nevalainen, T. 2006. An Introduction to Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Attendance in the first session is obligatory.

Lecturer: Sarah Youssef

Course Nr: 14569.3404

Time/Date: Thu, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

This course is an introduction to the life and works of the best-known writer in the English language, and one of the biggest figures in world literature. Through study of his time and context, and above all, close attention to some of his plays, we shall collectively explore what Shakespeare means to us today.
This course engages students in Shakespeare’s timeless characters, his riveting plots, and his universal human themes. Beyond all that we will be put particular emphasis on Shakespeare’s enduring relevance. We will watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream staring Gwendoline Christie, Romeo & Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio, we will read Hamlet and (obviously) watch The Lion King, we will ask questions about intertextuality, genre, diversity and much more. We will explore his participation in the 2012 Olympics as well as read theatre-fiction by Margret Atwood – in short: lots and lots of Shakespeare.

Lecturer: Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0015

Time/Date: Mon, 16:00 - 17:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Hermann Halbeisen

Course Nr: 14387.0015

Time/Date: Wed, 14:00-15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

'Democracy' is highly appreciated as an ideal denoting the political aspirations of people in various parts of the world. As far as the precise meaning of the term is concerned, however, a considerable spectrum of interpretations exists. One reason for this diversity is related to the fact that the concept developed over a considerable period of time and diverse circumstances, incorporating different interpretations.
In order to gain a profound understanding of the concept of democracy and its development this course covers classical and modern texts that influenced its understanding.
The list of authors comprises Aristotle, Rousseau, the Federalists, Mill, Tocqueville, Schumpeter, Berlin, Crick, Downs, Harris, Mouffe, Keane and Rosanvallon.

The technique of 'close reading' will be used, i.e. analysis and discussion of the texts constitute the major part of a session.

Participants will prepare both an oral presentation (30%) and a term paper/Hausarbeit (70%).

A reader comprising the texts that will analysed and discussed during the course will be available at the chair‘s office (Etage Leidhold).
 

Lecturer: Mrinalini Shinde

Course Nr: 13980.2082

Time/Date: Wed, 8:00-9:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 6

In the course the historically development of the International Environmental Law will be explained and will also be illustrated by practical examples. The course is taught from the US-perspective.

Lecturer: Angelika Nußberger

Course Nr: 13980.2052

Time/Date: Tue, 19:30 -  21:00h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Lecturer: Jörg Schulte

Course Nr: 14591.0052 / 14591.2132

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00 - 17:30h and Thu, 12:00 - 13:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

You need to register and attend both classes in order to receive credit points - it is NOT 3 per class, it is 9CP in total!

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0104

Date/Time: Mon, Nov 2 2020, 16:00-17:30 (weekly)

Location: virtual

The course provides an introduction to economic cooperation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and beyond. It concentrates on two main components. First, we will analyse the contemporary global architecture for economic cooperation and development and its main characteristics, including relevant actors, international organisations, treaties, and patterns in trade and development economics. Second, we will examine the European Union as an example of regional economic integration, its internal market, the framework for economic coordination and its external economic relations. The course will take up topical economic and political processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the EU’s trade and economic partnership agreements. In this way, the course seeks to contribute to the understanding how economic cooperation and development are interconnected with environmental and social questions.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Frank Schulz-Nieswandt

Course Nr.: 15304.0108

Date/Time: Mon, Nov 2 2020, 17:45-19:15h (weekly)

Location: virtual

Inclusion as the radical alternative to the cultural reality of social exclusion of the homo patiens is an anthropological paradigm of philosophy of law. This leads to the idea of going beyond social structures of center and periphery in society.

Inclusion as a model of thought is driven by the United Nations and also by the catalogue of basic social rights, involved in the treaties of the European Union and is connected with der European Social Policy. The analysis put the emphasis on the policy of social services of general interest in connection with the European Charta of fundamental (social) right.

We cannot understand inclusion as if we switch on and off the light. Beyond legal frameworks and economic incentives as important preconditions to generate social change by Pareto-optimal solutions in allocation, successful inclusion is a process of social change understood as cultural transformation. Inclusion as metamorphosis (Gestalt-switch) of the collective agreement about the question of a good life needs time but during this time-span, society has to organize social learning processes that transform the psychodynamics of individuals and the cultural grammar of exclusion.

After a short overview about the theory the EU as multi-level-system and about the different dimensions and aspects of European Social Policy we want to read and discuss the central relevant legal article of the legal regime policy of the UN and of the EU and discuss as a re-construction a text of complex interpretation of the whole issue

Online course (content on Ilias) designed through Powerpoint-supported video and audio presentations. No classroom teaching and no live zoom sessions. Individual consultation hours in planning (for clarification of questions via zoom) at different times (not necessarily bound to the lecture times) .

Lecturer: Dr. Oliver Höing

Course Nr.: 15304.0101

Date/Time: Wed, Nov 4 2020, 17.45-19:15h (weekly)

Location: virtual

The institutional architecture of the European Union is constantly changing. This ‘institutional dynamic’ is not only a result of formalised treaty changes (such as the Lisbon Treaty in 2009), but also stems from personalities running certain EU institutions, a changing interpretation of treaty articles or the creation of new structures and institutions outside of the EU legal framework.

This class introduces all major EU institutions, e.g. their legal competences and evolution over time, and focuses in particular on the dynamic interplay of EU institutions vis-à-vis each other as well as vis-a-vis national actors.

Topics studied :

1. All major EU institutions will be introduced (the EP, the European Council, the Council, the European Commission, the High Representative and the Court of Justice).
2. These institutions are systematically introduced with the help of the TEDO-scheme: Tasks, Election, Decision-Making and Organisation.
3. The evolution of the competences of each institution is introduced
4. The dynamic interplay with other EU institutions is analysed.

Aims :

1. Students are familiar with the general functioning and the legal competencies of all major EU institutions
2. Students can critically assess the democratic legitimacy that each major EU institution is built upon.

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.00102

Date/Time: Wed, 4 Nov 2020, 14:00 - 15:30h (weekly)

Location: virtual

In its first part, by outlining the relevant historical background, this course will introduce the genesis of the European legal tradition. In its second part, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies on milestone jurisprudence of the ECJ, the role of European Union Law for Member States will be explained.

• The genesis of modern European legal systems: historical and economic factors

• The main elements of Roman Law, the Germanic legal tradition and English (common) law and their influence on the European legal tradition

• Overview on the system of European Union Law: history, structure, organs institutions and principles

• The sources and hierarchy of European Union Law

• The role of European Union law for the legal systems in Member States: case studies of milestone judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0106

Date/Time: Mon, 2 Nov 2020, 14:00-15:30h (weekly)

Location: virtual

Germany’s history in the second half of the 20th century was overshadowed by the disastrous outcome of World War II, both with regard to domestic policies and international affairs. The atrocities committed by Nazi-Germany left a monstrous legacy for generations of Germans to deal with. The aftermath of the defeat of the German Army by a discordant alliance set the scene for the division of Europe and the rise of the Cold War. Germany’s own trajectory from division to unification, with a history split into a Western and an Eastern narrative (still today difficult to merge into a common perspective), is as peculiar as it is emblematic for the history of Europe in this epoch.

This introductory course, taught in English, attempts to approach German history from the outside. The course is based on a broad selection of original texts and sources as provided by the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. (http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/home.cfm?language=english) and will rely predominantly on international studies (in English). German students are very welcome, if they are ready to take on an external point of view; international students are invited to bring in their own perspective on German history based on studies/monographs from their home countries

.

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0105

Date/Time: Tue, 3 Nov 2020, 10:00 - 11:30h

Location: virtual

The course deals with the person and biography of Sugihara Chiune, also called „Sempo“. Sempo’s life and biography include an almost global perspective: a Japanese diplomat, in service in Lithuania during WWII, and Righteous Among the Nations. In this course the focus will therefore be on the following: an introduction to European history before and during WWII (macro perspective), illustrated by exemplary biographical stations of Sempo (micro perspective). The connecting link is Lithuania: besides Lithuania, Eastern and Central Europe as an important region is taken into consideration, and within in the case of Lithuania, one of the decisive starting points for the Shoa/ Holocaust (cf. C. Dieckmann), the course will concretely ask about places, people and memories. Sempo’s biography functions at the same time as a „view from outside“ as well as a bridge into a global perspective. The overall aim of the course is to gain basic knowledge about key developments of the European history by using digitally prepared materials, which are then deepened in teamwork in video conferences and finally enable the participants to perform an independent transfer of learning.

Recommend for introduction Jonathan Safran Foer: „Everything is Illuminated“, a popular key to the topic „Holocaust and memory“ - Book, 2002 - Film, USA, 2005 Film: Persona non grata, JPN, 2015. Biographical drama about Chiune Sugihara. Book: Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands, 2010. https://www.yadvashem.org - „The World Holocaust Remembrance Center“ http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/ - Atlas about the Holocaust’s sites in Lithuania

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Complementary German courses (3CP, depending upon availability)

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0107

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00- 15:30

Location:             

Credit Points: 3

Today´s world, in both, private as well as professional aspects, is characterized by fast changes, quick means of travel and instant communication. Physical distance has become less and less of an obstacle for interaction between people. COVID-19 was a push for digitalization and intensified digital communication across any kind of distance. Intercultural encounters, whether physical or digital, are very common, but the challenges that come along with that are often underestimated.
Universities are aiming to become more international and intercultural competence is considered a key skill to be expected by university graduates.
This course will not only provide knowledge, but more importantly help students to incorporate means to face intercultural challenges adequately in everyday life. A special focus will be put on academic challegenes.
Topics dealt with are (selection):
-    What is culture and what is intercultural competence?
-    Intercultural theories and models
-    Working on real-life cases (critical intercultural incidents)
-    Introduction to Communication
-    Performing in classes
 o    Support on how to deliver requested performances (e.g. how to do a presenation)
 o    Proper teacher-student-/student-student-interaction
 o    Comparing participants´ home Universities

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0337

Time/Date: Tue, 12:00- 13:30

Location:             

Credit Points: 3

In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism. Throughout the course there will be various introductory lectures on inductive and deductive logic.

Lecturer: Anne Bruns

Course Nr: 14344.0003

Time/Date: Thu,12:00-13.30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

The “Comparison of Health Care Systems” module sets out to compare health care systems on the basis of theories and typologies. The aim is for students to familiarise themselves with and be able to assess the whole gamut of health policy arrangements and identify examples of best practice.

The module takes an interdisciplinary approach, comprising various perspectives (including comparative welfare state research as well as social policy concepts that include economic factors).

written exam (60 minutes)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2101

Time/Date: Wed. 17:45-19:15

Location:

Credit Points: 3

This lecture class looks into contexts of language acquisition that may be somewhat less familiar. We will see examples of multilingual language learning, language mixing, and translanguaging, and we will take a critical look at some of the terminology used to categorize and classify speakers.

Due to the coronavirus situation, our class will meet bi-weekly via ZOOM. In the off-week, we will work with the ILIAS platform to generate interview questions for our guest speakers. During the live sessions, we will then make use of the questions to learn from the presenters.

****Please note: complete the first assignment by the deadline given.*****

Lecturer: Elisabeth Gilbert

Course Nr: 14578.0026

Time/Date: Wed, 10-11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

What is literature, what do I need to know to be able to fully appreciate a piece of fiction, a poem or a play as a literary scholar? What do we mean when we speak about culture or specific cultures? What are the tools and techniques, the aims and approaches in literary and cultural studies? What movements and names need I know for future analyses? These are some of the topics dealt with in this course, which opens small doors to a variety of aspects of the field.
Please plan in zoom sessions for some of the classes if we remain online this term

Attendance: please note that you lose your allocated place (Fixplatz) in a class if you do not attend the first session and do not notify your teacher of this IN ADVANCE.

Lecturer: Dr. Victoria Herche         

Course Nr: 14569.3503

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00-11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3 

Memory plays an integral part in how individuals and societies construct their identity. This course explores the (often times traumatic) effects of forced migration on individual and collective memory and discusses literary engagements with the connections between memory, place, and displacement.

This course will address cultural, social, historical, legal, and (geo)political issues related to the contemporary global challenge of migration and displacement. As a basis for our discussion, we will look at novel, short story and film, thereby using close readings and thematic studies of post-colonial theory and diaspora studies, and debating aspects of national identity, racism, dispossession, indigeneity, trauma, environmental issues, and gender relations.

Prior knowlegde and experience in working with post-colonial theories is preferable.

Lecturer: Tatiana Lopez     

Course Nr: 16230.0100

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00-16:00

Location:

Credit Points: 6

This course outlines the basic arguments, theories and developments of contemporary Eco-nomic Geography. It is meant to give students first insights into this highly dynamic and empirical science. Starting from core processes in our modern economic and social world like globalization and uneven development, we will deal with questions of economic growth, inequalities and economic change on different spatial scales. We will get to know basic spatial theories and use them to describe and explain various empirical examples from dif-ferent regions. A special focus will be set on the role of knowledge and innovation in contemporary economic developments and on the challenges for developing regions like East-Asia.

The course is intended for interested Bachelor students and Exchange Students in Economics, Business studies and Regional Studies.

You will be required to give a presentation, write a paper and succeed in the written exam on December 11th. Oral participation is also en-couraged and expected. The course language is English.

You are able to register for this course in the 2nd registration period via KLIPS.

Lecturer: Karsten Hank       

Course Nr: 14320.0501

Time/Date: Wed, 10:00-11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

This seminar provides students with an overview of social factors affecting health. There will be specific sessions dealing with the SES-health-gradient, gender inequalities in health, work related health issues, the role of families in health, health trends in ageing societies, etc. All sessions will be based on empirical studies focusing (mainly) on contemporary western societies.

Students discuss various aspects of healthinequalities from a sociological perspective. They iden-tify and theoretically differentiate the social mechanisms that cause health inequalities and explore them using empirical findings. This approach is intended to interpret and explain in sociological terms individual behaviour and social dynamics in relation to health. Students also develop practical solutions.

You can apply for this course in the second allocation period via KLIPS!

Further details regarding the course will be provided during the first session on Nov 4, 2020.

If you cannot participate in the first session, please send an e-mail to your instructor.

Lecturer: Karsten Hank 

Course Nr: 14320.0502

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00-17:30

Location:

Credit Points: 3

We will discuss theoretical concepts and empirical findings related to the three demographic core processes of fertility, migration, and mortality. Our focus – theoretically as well as empirically – will be on individuals and how their demographic behaviors are shaped by social contexts. Next to taking a cross-nationally comparative perspective (including non-Western societies), we will pay particular attention on the demographic situation in Germany.

You can apply for this course in the second allocation period via KLIPS!

Further details regarding the course will be provided during the first session on Nov 3, 2020.

If you cannot participate in the first session, please send an e-mail to your instructor.

Lecturer: Elifcan Celebi

Course Nr: 14335.5019

Time/Date: Wed., 14:00-17:30

Location:

Credit Points: 6CP

This is an introductory course to the study of politics from a gender perspective. The course aims to introduce students to the fields of gender and politics by presenting main contributions of feminist theories to the analysis of states, institutions, policymaking and politics. This includes the introduction of basic concepts of gender and politics scholarship and using these theoretical approaches to analyze how citizenship is gendered. The readings engage with feminist analysis of politics in relation to various policy fields of political representation, labor, care and migration. Furthermore, the readings focuson the role of civil society, international governance and European Union on mainstreaming the gender equality agenda. Finally, the course brings forth the contemporary debates of the gender and politics scholarship: the feminist backlash and theright-turn in gender politics, as well as intersectionality and intersectional politics

Syllabus: https://cccp.uni-koeln.de/sites/cccp/Lehre/2020-21_WS/Syllabus_Gender_and_Politics_-_Winter20-21_ECelebi.pdf

Lecturer: Ayjeren Rozyjumayeva, Jan Schwalbach         

Course Nr: 14335.5000

Time/Date: Mon, 10:00 - 11:30

Location:

Credit Points: 6

Parliaments are a fundamental component of democratic systems. Nevertheless, some of theseinstitutions differ considerably between countries and over time. These differences and theirconsequences for the political system in a country are the focus of this seminar.The aim of this course is to give the participants an insight into some basic features andfundamental questions of political science in the field of legislative politics. One focus is on thetheoretical foundations of legislative politics: In the first block of the seminar, we address relevantactors, namely parties, governments and the opposition. We then turn to relevant processes inand around parliament. In addition to party competition, we will discuss the process of policy-making and the analysis of speeches in parliaments. In a final part, we will then turn to morespecific fields of parliamentary research, looking at the representation of different groups inparliament, as well as the communication and use of social media by parliamentarians.A second focus is on getting to know relevant data sets in parliamentary research and sim-ple ways of analysing them. We would like to give you the opportunity to do your first ownanalyses with the help of the software R. This will enable us to check some of the questions andrelationships that we have discussed theoretically before. In addition, this should enable you tostart developing your own ideas and questions, which you can use in later papers and theses.

START: 20 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0096

Date/Time: Mon., 16:00-17:30

Location: 106 S12

Investments on digitalisation affect personal, political, societal, environmental and economic processes across the globe and have enormous potential to radically change almost all sectors in the coming decades, from agriculture to industry and finance, from education to health, democracy and human rights. They will also influence the success of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Digitalisation is understood to constitute one of the most powerful facilitators for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The course is an introduction to digital transformation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and other world regions. It provides an overview of the impact, the opportunities, but also the risks of digitalisation in three interdependent thematic fields: the economy, the environment, and the society. A particular focus will be put on the societal and political dimension of digitalisation towards sustainable development, for instance with a view to governance, privacy and security in the digital age, or the effects of social media on democratic practices. The course will take up topical initiatives and processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the European Union’s Digital Single Market (DSM), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or social credit systems in China. In this way, the seminar aims to combine perspectives from Europe with experiences from other world regions.

Pre-liminary schedule:

Appearance during the first session is mandatory

START: 14 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0091

Date/Time: Tue., 16:00-17:30h

Location: 106 S12

This seminar looks at early stages of the transformation processes in Eastern Europe since 1989. Starting with the astonishing revolutionary wave that swept away the soviet-communist regimes, we will discuss and compare political, economic and social change in central and southeastern Europe. Media coverage in the West usually avoids the necessary distinctions and differentiations, providing a narrative of democratization and liberalization, which overstates common trends and suppresses important differences. In this seminar we will try to achieve a general understanding of the post-1989 era by combining detailed case studies with a comparative approach.
During the semester we will also have a series of guest talks via video conferencing from specialists of the respective countries.

Due to limited number of participants, it is mandatory to show up at the first session in order to secure your spot.

START: 20 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0096

Date/Time: Mon., 16:00-17:30

Location: 106 S12

Investments on digitalisation affect personal, political, societal, environmental and economic processes across the globe and have enormous potential to radically change almost all sectors in the coming decades, from agriculture to industry and finance, from education to health, democracy and human rights. They will also influence the success of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Digitalisation is understood to constitute one of the most powerful facilitators for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The course is an introduction to digital transformation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and other world regions. It provides an overview of the impact, the opportunities, but also the risks of digitalisation in three interdependent thematic fields: the economy, the environment, and the society. A particular focus will be put on the societal and political dimension of digitalisation towards sustainable development, for instance with a view to governance, privacy and security in the digital age, or the effects of social media on democratic practices. The course will take up topical initiatives and processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the European Union’s Digital Single Market (DSM), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or social credit systems in China. In this way, the seminar aims to combine perspectives from Europe with experiences from other world regions.

Pre-liminary schedule: 

Appearance during the first session is mandatory

START: 22 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0097

Date/Time: Wed., 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: 106 S25

The course will offer students an introduction to public international law and to European Union law. In its first part, by outlining the relevant legal basis, this course will provide insights into the legal mechanisms that govern inter-state relations and the role of international organizations for the international legal order.  Parts of the course will be dedicated the sources of public international law and to the legal regime governing areas beyond national sovereignty and international spaces. To illustrate the practical application of public international law, some of the most relevant cases before the International Court of Justice will be discussed.

In the second part of the course, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies on milestone jurisprudence of the ECJ, the role of European Union Law for Member States will be explained.

Presence during the first session is mandatory!

START: 22 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Dr. Oliver Höing 

Course Nr: 15304.0099

Date/Time: Wed., 17:45 - 19:15h

Location: 106 S25

This course is designed as an introduction to the institutional architecture of the European Union. It will critically assess the democratic legitimacy of the EU system with a focus on its major decision-making bodies:

• The European Parliament
• The European Council
• The Council of Ministers
• The European Commission and
• The Court of Justice of the European Union.

The class will be taught in English. It does not require specific pre-knowledge, but you should be interested in the subject.

At the end of the class, you shall be familiar with the general functioning of all major EU institutions. You shall also be able to critically assess the democratic legitimacy of decision-making processes at the EU level.

Background:

The European Union (EU) is a unique project of international cooperation pursuing the goal of an “ever closer union”. It started out as a project of economic cooperation in the 1950s with only six founding member states and turned into a state-like entity with 28 member states (until January 2020). The democratic legitimacy of the integration process has been subject to academic and political discussions ever since.  

This course will start out by briefly discussing the historical beginnings of the integration processes before we turn to EU institutional architecture. The key question is: where do EU institutions derive their democratic legitimacy from? The democratic quality of the EU decision-making process will thus guide our analysis: What powers does the European Parliament have in the EU decision-making process? How can it contribute to EU legitimacy? Where do the member states safeguard their national interests and how do they answer to their national voters? Where are the limits of EU competences and who controls this?

Organisation

We will probably start this course (as everyone else at the moment) with online sessions, but will meet in ‘real life’ whenever the circumstances allow. We hope to give you updated information during the first session on April 22^nd.

If we meet online, we will inform you in time via email and give you further instructions.

You are expected to

• regularly attend the class (online or in real life)
• and prepare the compulsory readings before the beginning of each session. You will find the reading material on ILIAS in due time.

Due to limited number of participants, it is mandatory to show up at the first session in order to secure your spot.

START: 14 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0091

Date/Time: Tue., 16:00-17:30h

Location: 106 S12

This seminar looks at early stages of the transformation processes in Eastern Europe since 1989. Starting with the astonishing revolutionary wave that swept away the soviet-communist regimes, we will discuss and compare political, economic and social change in central and southeastern Europe. Media coverage in the West usually avoids the necessary distinctions and differentiations, providing a narrative of democratization and liberalization, which overstates common trends and suppresses important differences. In this seminar we will try to achieve a general understanding of the post-1989 era by combining detailed case studies with a comparative approach.
During the semester we will also have a series of guest talks via video conferencing from specialists of the respective countries.

Due to limited number of participants, it is mandatory to show up at the first session in order to secure your spot.

START: 21 April 2020 (digital format)

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0094

Date/Time: Tue., 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: 106 S25

Talking about neonationalism, uprising right-wing movements, and the manifestation of right parties all over Europe and the World, there is often talk of “Weimar conditions” (“Weimarer Verhältnisse”). While this term refers to the condition of a political system, this course will ask about the whole picture: what does “Weimar” in different times and ages stand for (as lieu de mémoire/memory space)? What does the positive connoted term “Weimar classic” mean in terms of near Buchenwald and the Holocaust? Furthermore, how “Weimar” – as a topos – was used during the German-German division? And, also afterwards since 1990 in global perspectives?

Following these questions, the course has three goals:
1. Giving an overview of the key developments of Modern European history.
2. Providing detailed knowledge about German(-German) history.
3. Embedding the results in global contexts.

“Memories of Weimar” follows interdisciplinary and multi-angle perspectives. While working with concrete examples of different dimensions (culture, politics, economy), the course offers and practices a variety of methodological approaches (culture, Holocaust, and memory studies as well as heritage studies, and questions of political economy etc.)

Introductory reading
• Michael H. Kater: “Weimar. From Enlightenment to the present”, New Haven/Conn., 2014 (online available).
• Peter E. Gordon/John P. McCormick: “Weimar Thought. A Contested Legacy”, Princeton/NJ, 2013 (online available).
• Pierre Nora: “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire”, in: Representations, 26/1989, 7-24 (online available).

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Complementary German courses (3CP, depending upon availability)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Birgit Hellwig

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon., 14:00- 15:30

Location: 103 hall H80             

Credit Points: 3

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from up-to-date studies. In this way, students will have access to the latest academic research conducted by Cologne-based as well as international linguists. The topics cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives. Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session. The Lecture Series is open to all interested.

There will be seven talks and four Student Days. There are no requirements for the talks. In select Student Day sessions, students will have to bring their own laptops and have certain programs installed beforehand.

Students receive credit points (please check departmental regulations and study programs) if they provide their “Studienleistung". They are required to submit three to five small papers, each summarizing a talk they attended, plus a bibliography including at least ten titles.

3 CPs: 5 summaries of lectures

There will be assignments during the Student Days to practice and apply the methods you are taught. Submitting these assignments counts as one summary for your Studienleistung. However, you must not hand in more than two Student Day assignments (= summarizing at least one lecture is mandatory).

You can submit your summaries at any time during the semester. However, all due summaries must be handed in before the deadline. The corresponding date can be found on ILIAS.

Lecturer: Dr. Sarah Berens

Course Nr: 14335.5027

Time/Date: Tue,16:00-17:30

Location: 211 S102

Credit Points: 6
Details to follow (https://www.cccp.uni-koeln.de/de/teaching/summer-2020/)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Jörg Schulte

Course Nr: 14591.2095 and 14591.2096

Time/Date: Tue and Thu, 16:00 - 17:30h

Location: Tue: 100 hall XVIIa; Thu 106 S23

Credit Points: 6

You need to register and attend both classes in order to receive credit points - it is NOT 3 per class, it is 6CP in total!

Jewish Literature in Central and Eastern Europe
April 7: Research Tools; Jewish Languages (Introduction)
April 9: Translating Hebrew Poetry: The Evreiskaia Antologiia (1918)
April 14: Foundations: Jerusalem & Athens in European Literature
April 16: The Russian-Jewish Haskala: Osip Rabinovich, Grigorii Bogrov, Lev Levanda
April 21: From Talmud to Poetry: Semen Frug and the Book of Legends
April 23: Guest Lecture at the Martin-Buber-Institute
April 28: The Legends of Old Odessa: Mendele Moikher Seforim, Semen Dubnow and Others
April 30: Scholem Aleichem in Yiddish, Russian & English
May 5: The Origins of Hebrew Humanism: Achad Ha’am, Joseph Klausner, Nachum Slouschz
May 7: The Hebrew Renaissance: The Poems of Ch. N. Bialik
May 12: Saul Tchernichowsky: Translators & Reception (To the Sun)
May 14: Tchernichowsky’s Idylls & Poems
May 19: Tchernichowsky’s Epic: The Golden People
May 26: Zionism in Russian and Polish: Samuil Marshak, Maurycy Szymel, Roman Brandstaetter
May 28: Warsaw as a Centre of Jewish Literature: Salomon Dykman, Edmund Stein, Mattityahu Shoham
— Pentecost Holidays —
June 9: Jewish Rebels: Akher and Others (Georgii Shengeli, Elisha Rodin & Martin Buber)
June 16: Zeev Jabotinsky: The Novels (Pjatero / Samson)
June 18: From Folklore to Literature and Ethnology: Semen An-sky
June 23: Chassidism in Jewish Literature from the Haskala to the Twentieth Century
June 25: Jewish Literature in Prague in Czech, German & Hebrew: Georg Langer, Max Brod, Franz Kafka
July 2: Isaac Babel’
July 7: Bruno Schulz & the Jewish Calendar
July 9: Debora Vogel
July 14: Serbian Jewish Writings: Chaim Davičo, Isaak Samokovlija, Danilo Kiš
July 16: Written Exam (CIH: CM1) / From Learning to Research (CIH: AM1 & AM2 / Slavic Studies / ROME / Comparative Literature)

Planned Guest Lectures: Prof. Anat Feinberg, Prof. Efrat Gal-Ed, Dr François Guesnet, Dr Alexis Hofmeister, Prof. Aminadav Dykman

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2102

Time/Date: Thu, 12:00-13:30

Location: 105 hall C

Credit Points: 3

Mobility in the age of digital information has become a more complex term: it includes movement of individuals for personal or professional reasons, movement of larger groups of people because of dislocation and war, as well as virtual mobility in social media networks.

In this lecture class, we will explore various scenarios of mobility and focus on the role of language/s/ing in our selected contexts. We will discuss notions such as investment, identity, and value and ask questions about how to switch from a monolingual orientation in society and education to more adequate epistemes of multilingual development.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohnen

Course Nr: 14569.2103

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00 - 11:30h

Location: 105 hall G

Credit Points: 3

This lecture will focus on the important developments of the English language during the 18th and 19th centuries, but will also address more recent changes in the history of English and relate them to ongoing language change. It will deal with the fields of spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis, and will also focus on topics involving society and culture and the major genres.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Beate Neumeier              

Course Nr: 14569.3103

Time/Date: Thu, 12:00-13:30

Location: 100 hall XVIII

Credit Points: 3 

Narratives of war and migration are intricately linked to each other. This lecture series will focus on how discourses and narratives of war and migration work to include and privilege – and exclude and marginalise – specific groups engaging with the lingering effects that inclusion/exclusion have on popular understandings of history and national identity.
Presentations from different disciplinary perspectives (literary and cultural studies, history, performance studies) will involve specific geographically and historically situated examples focussing on how art, cinema, literary texts and performance have perpetuated or refuted dominant narratives of war (its remembrance and commemoration) and migration (and concomitant affective economies of exclusion). Case studies will thematise how cultural texts about war and migration work to frame, and re-frame fragile/marginal positionalities with a specific focus on aspects of ethnicity and sex/gender (LGBTI).

Lecturer: Stefan Vogel            

Course Nr: 14335.5000

Time/Date: Wed, 14:00-15:30

Location: 203 S0.06

Credit Points: 6

This seminar is an introduction to the comparative analysis of political institutions exemplified by the case of the Federal Republic of Germany. We will devote the single sessions to explore how formal and informal institutions influence the behavior of actors within a political system. The syllabus covers four major subject areas: To begin with, we focus on electoral systems and voting behavior (I). Amongst other questions, we examine how and why different electoral systems evolve. In the second part, dedicated to interest aggregation and representation (II), we take a closer look at political parties, interest groups, and the media as well as their relationship with state actors. Coalition and veto player theories are subjects of the third block for which we look at political actors governing between conflict and consensus (III). We apply the veto player approach to discuss and explain policy evolvement and change. Furthermore, we compare and contrast theories on coalition building and assess, for example, how well they can predict coalition outcomes of national elections. The last part of the seminar, multi-level governance (IV), focusses on interdependences between different political levels. Particularly, we highlight the mechanisms and effects of federal systems. The overall aim of the seminar is to gain a deeper understanding of essential processes, structures and the behavior of actors within political systems by means of general political theories. Additionally, we focus on the individual steps of developing and executing a research project in order for participants to be prepared to write their own term paper. Course requirements The course concept relies on active and regular participation and in-class discussions. Therefore, I expect you to complete the reading assignments prior to every session and to come to class prepared and ready to contribute. During the semester each student gives an oral presentation, which will be graded on a pass-fail basis. The formats of the oral presentations will be outlined at the beginning of the course and oral presentations will be distributed among participants in the second session. At the end of the seminar, the students hand in a written term paper (in English language). The final grade is based on the term paper.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Beate Neumeier          

Course Nr: 14569.3606

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00-15:30

Location: 106 S22

Credit Points: 3

This course is designed in cooperation between the departments of English (Prof. Beate Neumeier, Dr. Victoria Herche, David Kern, Dr. Sarah Youssef), Comparative Literature (Prof. Joachim Harst, Dr. Zehschnetzler), Middle Eastern and South East Asian Studies (Dr. Stephan Milich) and Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies (Dr. Gundula Schiffer). We will explore current aspects of migration from different disciplinary angles focussing on concepts of migration and belonging (Heimat), exile and diaspora in a globalised world. The course aims at a comparative analysis of examples from different geographical regions (ranging from a European context to Australia) drawing on different discourses and media (literature, cinema, theatre and performance arts).
There will be a student conference at the end of the semester. A reading list will be provided by the end of January 2020.

Lecturer: Dr. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0015

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00-17:30

Location: 225 S177

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Dr. Björn Bremer

Course Nr: 14335.5020

Time/Date: Wed., 10:00- 11:30

Location: 106 S16

Credit Points: at least 6CP 

The Great Recession dragged macroeconomic policies from the technocratic realm of “quiet politics” into the electoral realm of “noisy politics”. While governments across the advanced economies implemented deep austerity policies to control levels of public debt, central banks developed unconventional monetary policies (e.g., quantitative easing, negative interest rates) to combat the lack of economic demand. These policies have had large distributive effects and became politically contested. Austerity has contributed to a large amount of political distress in Europe’s periphery, while unconventional monetary policies have been strongly criticized in Europe’s core. This has demonstrated again the political salience of fiscal and monetary policies in advanced economies and contributed to a renewed scholarly interest in the politics of macroeconomic policies. Motivated by the recent politicization of macroeconomic policies, this course is designed to enhance students’ understanding of the political foundations of macroeconomic policies. It assumes that economic policies can be politically contested because the economy is not isolated from electoral competition in liberal democracies. Therefore, the course analyses the interaction of economic and political forces in shaping macroeconomic policies and outcomes in advanced economies. It focuses on fiscal and monetary policies, considers the role of political institutions and different political actors (e.g., parties, interest groups), and analyses the dominant macroeconomic policy regimes in the advanced economies today. To this end, the course (mostly) covers texts from contemporary political economists and situates the study of macroeconomic policies in the wider political economy literature. The course begins with a historic overview of the politics of macroeconomic policies. It first introduces the classical “partisan theory”. Then it discusses how this theory was undermined by globalisation and how globalisation shaped distinct economic models in the advanced economies before the 2008 financial crisis. The course then continues by studying the causes and consequences of the financial crisis and the economic crises that followed, including the 2 Great Recession and the European sovereign debt crisis. It analyses the fiscal and monetary policies implemented in the wake of these crises and discusses their political consequences. Finally, the course will focus on the different macroeconomic regimes that emerged after the crisis in different countries.
               

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Paul Silva             

Course Nr: 14213.0137

Time/Date: Tue, 12:00-13:30

Location: 100 4.011

Credit Points: 3

This is an introductory course to issues in metaphysics and epistemology. In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism.

Lecturer: Thomas Robert Batchelor

Course Nr: 14569.2304 

Time/Date: Wed, 16:00-17:30

Location: 106 S26

Credit Points: 3 

This course will introduce you to the many varieties of English that are spoken around the world, including their grammar and phonology, as well as sociolinguistic and historical contexts which brought them into being.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heinz Antor

Course Nr: 14569.3602

Time/Date: Thu, 12:00-13:30

Location: 103 S58         

Credit Points: 3

Otherness or 'alterity' has always both fascinated and worried humans, and reactions towards 'the other' range from fascination with the exotic via xenophobic rejection to stigmatisation of the other as monstrous. Moreover, cultural alterity in itself is a very diverse phenomenon and can be encountered in many different guises, among them race, class, and gender, to name but the most important arenas in which otherness is negotiated. In this seminar, we will read anglophone texts from Britain, Canada, and Australia and ask in what ways alterity is constructed in them and what the cultural functions of such depictions of otherness are. Students should have read the following texts by the beginning of term: William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (1596/97); H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896); Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975); Rudy Wiese, A Discovery of Strangers (1994); and Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Last Crossing (2002).

Participation in the first session is mandatory!

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Paul Silva

Course Nr: 14213.0337

Time/Date: Thu., 14:00- 15:30

Location: 100 rm4.016         

Credit Points: 3

This is a course in epistemology and the philosophy of language, with a special focus on issues related to sexism and racism. Sexism and racism are forms of prejudice, and prejudice seems to be an inescapable aspect of human life. It is a contributing cause of all kinds of social and individual harm: war and conflict, repression and marginalization, harassment and bullying. When philosophers attempt to view prejudice through the lens of epistemology (=theory of knowledge and rationality), their conclusion is typically swift, clear, and likewise negative: no one can be epistemically justified in holding a prejudiced belief; prejudiced belief, whenever it occurs, is a symptom of some breakdown of epistemic rationality. This course will examine the philosophical justification for this judgement that prejudice essentially involves a breakdown in rationality.

Special attention will be given to the analysis of *the propositional content* of sexist and racist attitudes. We will examine the literature on generics and assess the extent to which their "tricky" truth-conditions generate special epistemological and psychological problems when it comes to rational belief revision.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Marhold

Course Nr: 14335.5009

Time/Date: Fri, 10:00-12:00

Location: 211 S103

Credit Points: 6

Participation in the first session is mandatory! First session is on April 17th. Details to follow (https://www.cccp.uni-koeln.de/de/teaching/summer-2020/)

Lecturer: Darius Ribbe

Course Nr.: 15304.0085

Time: Wed, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 106 S25

The objective of this course is to introduce students to the general functioning of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with main emphasis on the Common Currency (€). Starting from its historical roots, the class will follow the development and transformation of the EMU, aiming to comprehend the political, economic, social, and identity dimensions of the Common Currency especially.

Challenged by the Eurozone crisis, growing Euroscepticism, and re-nationalisation tendencies, the Common Currency of the European Union is – two decades after its introduction as ‘book money’ – still contested amongst politicians, practitioners, and the general public. As the Common Currency for 19/28 Member States, the EURO has effects on the daily life of millions of EU-citizens, global markets, and the political structures and future of the Union itself. However, analyses of the Common Currency vary heavily depending on the discipline, theoretical foundations, and emphasis. From failing safety and rescue mechanisms during the crisis, to – as some say – the most far-reaching deepening of the European Union in the aftermath, the EURO has shaped the European Union.

Further, the European Central Bank (ECB) has become a key-player in the inter-institutional balance and on global markets, leading to contestations and law suits from national banks of some Member States, hail and praise from other national governments. As the Common Currency itself, the underlying policies are reflecting a divide of the Member States and their economic policies.

These developments raise many questions such as:

Why do 19 out of 28 Member States have a Common Currency?

Who benefits from the current monetary system and policies?

Are all Eurozone members affected by crises the same way?

Does crisis management and prevention follow a specific path?

What is necessary to secure (sustainable?) economic growth and prosperity?

To answer these questions, this class will:

• discuss the various theoretical foundations of common currencies and optimum currency areas,
• use this theoretical background to analyse the situation of the European Union and the €-zone,
• take different, interdisciplinary perspectives on the Eurozone crisis,
• evaluate the benefits and short-comings of the €-regime,
• access various policy recommendations for reforms of the common European currency.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Frank Schulz-Nieswandt

Course Nr.: 14344.0002

Time & dates:

28 Oct. 17:45-19.15 in Raum XVIII
18 Nov. 17:45-19.15 in Raum XVIII
25 Nov. 17:45-19.15 in Raum XVIII
05 Dec. 17:45-20:00 in Raum XVIII
06 Dec. 10:00-12:00 in Raum XII + 12:00-17:30 in Raum XVIII
09 Dec. 17:45-19:15 in Raum XVIII

Inclusion as the radical alternative to the cultural reality of social exclusion of the homo patiens is an anthropological paradigm of philosophy of law. This leads to the idea of going beyond social structures of center and periphery in society.

Inclusion as a model of thought is driven by the United Nations and also by the catalogue of basic social rights, involved in the treaties of the European Union and is connected with der European Social Policy. The analysis put the emphasis on the policy of social services of general interest in connection with the European Charta of fundamental (social) right.

We cannot understand inclusion as if we switch on and off the light. Beyond legal frameworks and economic incentives as important preconditions to generate social change by Pareto-optimal solutions in allocation, successful inclusion is a process of social change understood as cultural transformation. Inclusion as metamorphosis (Gestalt-switch) of the collective agreement about the question of a good life needs time but during this time-span, society has to organize social learning processes that transform the psychodynamics of individuals and the cultural grammar of exclusion.

After a short overview about the theory the EU as multi-level-system and about the different dimensions and aspects of European Social Policy we want to read and discuss the central relevant legal article of the legal regime policy of the UN and of the EU and discuss as a re-construction a text of complex interpretation of the whole issue area.

Lecturer: Dr. Claudia Hefftler

Course Nr.: 15304.0082

Date: Wed, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 106 S24

The European Union (EU) is a unique project of international cooperation of 28 states in an “ever closer union” that has successfully secured peace and prosperity on the European continent for over 60 years. In the past decade however, European integration has been challenged due to the Euro crisis, increasing Euroscepticism and ultimately the Brexit. The Union has come under pressure to prove its added value and legitimacy to the people.

This course will start out with analysing the institutional structure and historical development of the EU. The democratic quality of the EU decision-making process will guide this analysis. What powers does the European Parliament have in the EU decision-making process? How is it elected and how does it contribute to EU legitimacy? Where do the member states guard their interests and how do they answer to their national voters? These are some of the questions we will critically discuss in this course.

The seminar will cover the case study of EU research policy to exemplify the workings of the EU institutions. Towards the end of the semester an excursion to Bonn will allow an insight into national EU policy-making. The course is designed as an introduction to EU politics.

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0087

Time: Wed, 12:00 - 13:30

Location: 106 S24

In its first part, by outlining the relevant historical background, this course will introduce the genesis of the European legal tradition. In its second part, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies on milestone jurisprudence of the ECJ, the role of European Union Law for Member States will be explained.
The structure of the lessons is interactive, where active participation is both desired and expected. 
In the end of the course, every student will prepare a topic and present the results in front of the course (10 to 15 minutes). After the presentation, the topic at hand will be discussed among the class.
The course will be concluded with a short multiple choice exam.

Course outline
I.    The genesis of modern European legal systems: historical and economic factors (1 week)

II.    The main elements of Roman Law, the Germanic legal tradition and English (common) law and their influence on the European legal tradition (2 weeks)

III.    Overview on the system of European Union Law: history, structure, organs institutions and principles (2 weeks)

IV.    The sources and hierarchy of European Union Law (2 weeks)

V.    The role of European Union law for the legal systems in Member States: case studies of milestone judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice (3 weeks)

VI.    Presentations and discussion (1 week)

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0083

Time/Date: Mon, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 326 0.01

Even though the Anti-Hitler coalition, which successfully re-established peace after World War II, seemed to initiate a period of international cooperation, it quickly broke down and on the contrary paved the way to an epoch of bipolar tension and antagonism. From 1945 to 1989 the entire world was under siege by a conflict that was basically European. And it was Europe that suffered most directly its consequences: Forced into two antagonistic blocs, divided by the “Iron Curtain” – with Germany cut in two at the frontline – deadly armed and constantly on the edge of a Third World War. This seminar will deal with the origins, the development and the end of the Cold War, considering its ideological background, structural shape and political aftermath. But we will also shed light on political alternatives and look at attempts to overcome the geopolitical stalemate. 
It is of course a global history, but we will deliberately deal with it from a European perspective.

Lecturer: Dr. Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0084

Time: Tue, 14:00 - 15:30am

Location: 103 S67

Iran, sustainability, Russia, financial crises, Brexit, terrorism, China – just these few keywords sound like the headlines in today’s news. However, this list can also be used to characterize an entire decade: the 1970s. And this enumeration is – of course – not complete.
In this sense, the course has three goals:
Firstly, starting from a global perspective, the main developments in the 1970s will be named and then explored, why these were characteristic for the decade. It is also questioned whether the decade as such does not begin earlier (e.g. 1968) and when or with which event it could end. Secondly, the course examines both the immediate consequences for Europe and the various reactions in detail to the new challenges of the time. Thirdly, contemporary developments and challenges are thus contextualized and placed in a larger context. The overall aim is a discussion that connects history with the present.
So, this course provides an overview in a multi-angle perspective (political, economic, also cultural and technical) of the pan-European development lines of the 20th century, with retrospect on their origins in the 19th century and outlooks on the challenges of the 21st century.

Lecturer: Dr. Meltem Gürle

Course Nr.: 15304.0086

Time: Tue, 12:00 - 13:30am

Location: 106 S15

Course Description:

From Chekhov and Kafka to Joyce and Woolf, the Europeans play an important role in shaping the art of short fiction. This course, while focusing largely on the works of the European masters and the widely accepted characteristics of the modern short story, such as epiphany, fragmentation and formalist experimentalism, will occassionally visit other continents and authors less typical of the modernist canon in order to present a more diverse history of the genre.

The reading and writing assignments –linked with lectures and class discussions— are aimed at developing the students’ skills to analyze and interpret literary texts as well as familiarizing them with the elements of fiction, such as character, plot, point of view etc. Students will be expected to read the stories beforehand and come to each class prepared to discuss them.

Syllabus

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0080

Time: Tue, 16:00 - 17:30

Location:  326, 0.01

Credit Points: 3

This seminar will provide students with theoretical background as well as skills connected to intercultural issues and situations.
It is a global fact that our societies are experiencing a very dynamic process of pluralization due to internationalization. Increasing cultural diversity brings along many challenges that affects everyone at one time of another. Many of those challenges can be very benefitial but require suitable coping. 
Cultural competence is understood as the ability to act suitable and effectively in intercultural situations. This requires much more than just knowledge about intercultural theories and facts, but involves actions, attitudes and skills. Intercultural competence demands a person to go beyond simply learning and memorizing facts, it demands the motivation to incorporate a reflexive and open point of view that is reflected in the actions taken.
In order to fulfill those aspects, the structure of this seminar provide a balance between theoretical input and intercultural experiences. 
Topics covered within this seminar will be: 
-    Concept of Culture and Interculturality
-    Intercultural standards/dimensions
-    Communication theories
-    Stereotypes
-    Identity and Self-Reflection
-    Working with Critical Incidents
-    …

All core courses can also be chosen for the elective module.

Lecturer: Prof. Daniel Buncic

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time: Mon, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 100 hall XXI

Credit Points: 3

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from current research. In this way, students will have access to up-to-date work done locally at the University of Cologne, as well as to work done internationally. Topics will cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives (see http://ccls.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/ccls-lecture-series.html for detailed information). Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session. Open to all interested.

You can find the full program here: http://ccls.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/ccls-lecture-series.html

Students receive credit points (please check departmental regulations and study programs) if they provide the following “Studienleistungen”:

3 CPs: 2 summaries of lectures

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0005

Time: Tue, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 216 S133

The seminar will offer an introduction to internationally influential debates in education in connection with John Dewey (1859-1952).

Lecturer: Tatiana Lopez

Course Nr: 14351.5000

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00 - 16:00

Location: 101 S244

Credit Points: 6

This course outlines the basic arguments, theories and developments of contemporary Eco-nomic Geography. It is meant to give students first insights into this highly dynamic and empirical science. Starting from core processes in our modern economic and social world like globalization and uneven development, we will deal with questions of economic growth, inequalities and economic change on different spatial scales. We will get to know basic spatial theories and use them to describe and explain various empirical examples from dif-ferent regions. A special focus will be set on the role of knowledge and innovation in contemporary economic developments and on the challenges for developing regions like East-Asia.

Lecturer: Kohnen, Thomas

Course Nr: 14569.2102

Time: Tue, 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 100 lecture hall VI

Credit Points: 3

This lecture has two aims. First, it will give a short general outline of the major periods in the history of the English language, with their most important social, cultural and linguistic developments. Secondly, it will present a more detailed description of the Early Modern English period. This period covers the time from the incipient standardisation of written English (in the middle of the 15th century) to the beginnings of its codification (in the early 18th century). Seen from today, Early Modern English strikes us as a period of great creative freedom, which has produced long and rambling texts as well as the most spectacular works of English literature. The lecture will not only deal with developments in the fields of phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicography, but also focus on topics of historical text linguistics and historical pragmatics.

Lecturer: Abel, Dennis

Course Nr: 14335.5015

Time/: Thu, 12:00 - 13:30

Location: 211 S101

Credit Points: 6

Course will end on December 16th. For more information: https://www.cccp.uni-koeln.de/

Lecturer: Prof. Federico Spinetti

Course Nr: 14206.0305

Time: Thu, 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 100 Alter Seminarraum 1.408

Credit Points: 3

This course explores the complex intersections of politics and music, examining the significance of political processes for musical life as well as the ways in which music may come to be relevant to political thought and practices. The course examines a broad range of case studies from diverse cultures and societies drawing predominantly from ethnomusicological literature and scholarly debates. At the same time, it brings into the discussion a variety of theoretical perspectives from political and critical theory in order to investigate how music may be directly
involved in political life and used for ideological ends and power struggles (for example, as a tool for propaganda, social control, protest, resistance and revolution), as well as how it participates in the subtle and multifaceted workings of hegemonic processes in the domain of civil society.

Lecturer:  Jan Schwalbach

Course Nr: 14335.5000

Time: Thu, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 211 S103

Credit Points: 6CP

https://www.cccp.uni-koeln.de/

Lecturer: Prof. Anna Bonifazi

Course Nr: 14555.0106

Time: Thu, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 100 lecture hall XIb

Credit Points: 3

Whether dead, alive or awakened, metaphors, as well as metonymies and similes are pervasively used in language for a variety of purposes. They occur everywhere, from advertisements, songs, and movie titles to conversation, newspapers, and fiction. The course focuses on these forms of non-literal meaning in a cognitive perspective. We will analyze the conceptual mappings and the patterns of inference underlying the linguistic constructions encoding them—from fully grammaticalized and idiomatic expressions to creative phraseology. The sample of texts under discussion will be taken from a variety of genres.

Although several references will be listed class by class, the most important source for us will be the following monograph: Dancygier, Barbara, and Eve Sweetser 2014. Figurative Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
Final papers can be written in English or German.

Lecturer: Prof. Christine Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2101

Time: Thu, 17:45 - 19:15

Location: 105 Hörsaal C

Credit Points: 3

This lecture class presents an overview of research into multilingualism. We will explore different ways of defining multilingualism and its realization in communities that are traditionally or recently multilingual. Guest speakers will offer findings from their own work in progress..

Lecturer: Prof. Susanne Brandtstädter

Course Nr: 14213.0004

Time: Mon, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 105 lecture hall D

Credit Points: 3

Making the Moral World: Anthropological and Philosophical Perspectives
This lecture series will present anthropological and philosophical perspectives on (1) the place of ethics in the constitution of social worlds, and (2) the role of social agency in moral renewal and change. We shall explore these issues through a focus on the social dimensions of moral concepts such as justice, credit, value and reciprocity. Our lectures will discuss classical thought on the issue from philosophy and social theory, and introduce contemporary debates in moral philosophy and the anthropology of ethics. 
This lecture series corresponds with the seminar “Making the Moral World” on Tuesday mornings. It will provide and discuss the larger theoretical background on the texts read in the seminar. It will also feature lectures by invited guest speakers. Each guest lecture on Monday afternoon shall be followed by a research seminar (on Tuesday morning), where the invited speaker will discuss his work with students. The lectures will be held in English. 
Preparatory reading: James Laidlaw (2014), The Subject of Virtue. Cambridg

Lecturer: Sager, Jenny

Course Nr: 14556.0107

Time: Wed, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 114 2nd floor S2.05/2.06

Credit Points: 3

All ancient poetic traditions in Indo-European languages (such as Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Old English, Old Norse) made use of formulaic expressions and traditional phrases, several of which have been reconstructed by linguists for Proto-Indo-European itself, i.e. the common prehistoric ancestor of all Indo-European languages. The comparative study of these poetic phrases (such as the half-riddle, half-metaphor kennings) and of the rules which generated them goes by the name of Comparative Poetics. 
A number of these traditional formulas refer to powerful goddesses, beautiful sun-maidens, dragon-slaying heroes, monstrous beasts, and other cosmic beings. The systematic analysis of the correspondences between these mythical figures and the narratives which were attached to them is the subject of Comparative Mythology. 
The integrated approach of Comparative Poetics and Mythology makes it possible to investigate the cognitive processes and religious conceptions of ancient and medieval cultures through a linguistic methodology. By means of lectures, group activities (team exercises intended for the students to actively learn how to analyse and compare the poetic devices and structures presented during lectures), and readings of actual texts from various Indo-European traditions (provided by the instructor both in translation and in the original languages), the course will provide students with an overview of the fields of Comparative Poetics and Mythology, of how we can use them to understand ancient cultures better, and to reflect on our own

Lecturer: Prof. Heinz Antor

Course number: 14569.3103

Time: Thu, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 105 Hörsaal C

Credit Points: 3

These lectures will round off our series of lectures on the English novel in the twentieth century and take us from the 1960s to the present. We will specifically discuss postmodern traits in recent English fiction and emphasize the importance of historiographic metafiction, but we will also cover other important phenomena such as postcolonial writing, gothic fiction and others. Once again, we will refer to some of our authors' contributions to the theory of the novel as well as to the extra-literary political, social, religious, philosophical etc. background to the works analysed. We will read and interpret key passages from various novels. For preliminary reading I suggest John Fowles, The French Lieutenants Woman (1967), Julian Barnes, Flauberts Parrot (1984) and A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989), Graham Swift, Waterland (1983), Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (1985) and Chatterton (1987), Patrick McGrath, The Grotesque (1989), Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden (1978) and Black Dogs (1992), A.S. Byatt, Possession (1990), V.S. Naipaul, The Mimic Men (1967) and Half a Life (2001). I also recommend the relevant chapters in Malcolm Bradbury, The Modern British Novel (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2nd ed., 2001).

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Silva

Course number: 14213.0137

Time: Fri, 12:00-13:30

Location: 103 4.011

Credit Points: 3

In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism. Throughout the course there will be various introductory lectures on inductive and deductive logic.

Lecturer: Prof. Karsten Hank

Course number: 14320.0502

Time: Tue, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 101 S242

Credit Points: 3

Resulting from sustained below-replacement fertility and steadily increasing life expectancy we observe a process of population ageing in demographically advanced societies. The consequences of this development are far reaching for welfare states and the economy as well as for families and the individual. An increasing ‘burden of ageing’ requires far reaching reforms of social security systems, forces the labor market to deal with an ageing (and shrinking) workforce, and challenges relationships in families. Based on empirical studies, the seminar addresses various dimensions of the individual (micro-level) and societal (macro-level) ageing process and their interaction in central life domains (economy, health, family).

Lecturer: Prof. Karsten Hank

Course number: 14320.0503

Time: Wed, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 101 S243

Credit Points: 3

We will discuss theoretical concepts and empirical findings related to the three demographic core processes of fertility, migration, and mortality. Our focus – theoretically as well as empirically – will be on individuals and how their demographic behaviors are shaped by social contexts. Next to taking a cross-nationally comparative perspective (including non-Western societies), we will pay particular attention on the demographic situation in Germany

Lecturer: Prof. Christian Schwens, Steffen Runge

Course number: 14253.8000

Time: Wed, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 326 0.03

Credit Points: 3

Accelerate your career! Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Leadership for MINT students

You are planning a career in a (multinational) company, or consultancy firm? You want to start your own business? You seek to be prepared for a future leadership position? You strive for in-depth project management knowledge? This course – specifically designed to address the requirements of MINT students – is the perfect complement to your main study program as it provides you with the necessary strategic, entrepreneurial and leadership know-how which you will need wherever your future career path may take you. Supplement your expert knowledge (from your studies) with business and management know-how, make contacts with business leaders and be prepared for the requirements in your future work environment. 

Specifically, the course covers the following domains:
• Strategy: What is strategy? How can you position a (biotechnology, insurance,…) company in the face of competition and to succeed in the long run?
• Project management: How can you best organize and steer large- and small-scale projects?
• Leadership: How do you lead a team? How can you solve conflicts? How can you motivate others and initiate change?
• Entrepreneurial thinking: How can you become an entrepreneur? What differentiates entrepreneurial leaders? How can you instill an entrepreneurial mindset?

Lecturer: Lisa Benossi

Course number: 14213.0129

Time: Wed, 17:45 - 19:15

Location: 100 room 4.011

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will provide an overview of mathematical concepts in early modern philosophy up to Kant. This will be accompanied by a discussion of the main mathematical discoveries and innovations in this time frame.
We will read excerpts from famous modern authors, such as Descartes, Leibniz, Wolff, Kant, and less renown ones. The focus will be in particular on three authors: Du Châtelet, Wolff and Kant.
The seminar will discuss and introduce the following concepts: magnitude, quantity, unity, plurality, totality, number and infinity.

Lecturer: Darius Ribbe

Course Nr.: 15304.0075

Date: Mon, 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: 106 S24

Foundation, Cornerstone or Misery of an “Ever Closer Union”?

European economic integration touches our everyday-life in many ways. The single market enables us to buy and sell products and services all across the European Union (EU), the Euro obviated the need to exchange national currencies in the 19 states of the Eurozone, and the instruments of European Economic Governance make regular headlines not only in times of crisis.

Understanding drivers of economic integration, the relevant actors in the multi-level system of the EU, and finding theoretical frames for analysis, however, can be difficult. Therefore, this course covers the theory, system, institutions, and effects of European Economic Integration on an introductory level.

The students are introduced to the Economic and Monetary Union, mechanisms and institutions of economic governance, and the Single Market. On the foundation of European integration theory and with the toolset of political economy, different aspects will be discussed.

Additionally, small case-studies and a hands-on approach to assessing contemporary challenges of European economic integration will enable the students to a deepened understanding and critical thinking.

Lecturer: Benjamin Haas, MA

Course Nr.: 15304.0071

Date: Tue., 14:00-15:30h

Location: 326 0.03

Development policies traditionally aim to improve the lives of people in so called “developing countries”. However, due to the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is currently renegotiating the concept of development. This seminar gives an overview about the policy field from a European perspective, including its history, theories, actors, instruments and current (critical) debates. It also includes a one-day study excursion to Bonn (the former capital of West-Germany), where students have the opportunity to discuss the topics of the seminar with different political actors and practitioners, for instance, from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Students learn to apply different theoretical approaches regarding the concepts of development to current practical cases and get an introductory overview about European Development Policies. No previous knowledge about the topic is required.

detailed semester plan

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0073

Date: Mon., 16:00 - 17:30h

Location: 326 0.01

Investments on digitalisation affect personal, political, societal, environmental and economic processes across the globe and have enormous potential to radically change almost all sectors in the coming decades, from agriculture to industry and finance, from education to health, democracy and human rights. They will also influence the success of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Digitalisation is understood to constitute one of the most powerful facilitators for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The course is an introduction to digital transformation and its relationship with sustainable development in Europe and other world regions. It provides an overview of the impact, the opportunities, but also the risks of digitalisation in three interdependent thematic fields: the economy, the environment, and the society. A particular focus will be put on the societal and political dimension of digitalisation towards sustainable development, for instance with a view to governance, privacy and security in the digital age, or the effects of social media on democratic practices. The course will take up topical initiatives and processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the European Union’s Digital Single Market (DSM), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or social credit systems in China. In this way, the seminar aims to combine perspectives from Europe with experiences from other world regions.

Preliminary Course Schedule

Requirements for successful participation

Basic Module Students

• Digital Knowledge Product (various formats)
• Presentation
• Written examination. Multiple-Choice, 20 Questions on this course

Elective Module Students (no grades)

• Digital Knowledge Product (various formats)
• Presentation

SI Students

• Written examination. Multiple-Choice, 20 Questions on this course

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0074

Date/Time: Wed., 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: 106 S14

The course will give an introduction to public international law and to European Union law. In its first part, by outlining the relevant legal basis, this course will provide insights into the legal mechanisms that govern inter-state relations and the role of international organizations for the international legal order.  Part of the course will be dedicated to the legal regime governing so-called areas beyond national sovereignty and international spaces – the environment, the High Seas and the Deep Seabed as well as airspace and outer space. In its second part, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies on milestone jurisprudence of the ECJ, the role of European Union Law for Member States will be explained.

The structure of the lessons is interactive, where active participation is both desired and expected. 

During the course, every student will prepare a topic related to the program of the course of their choice and present the results orally (10 to 15 minutes). After the presentation, the topic at hand will be discussed among the class.

• Definitions and the sources of public international law (1 week)
• The legal basis of inter-state relations (1 week)
• The law of international organizations (1 week)
• The United Nations and their special organizations (1 week)
• The legal order concerning international spaces: the High Seas and the Deep Seabed, the environment, air space and outer space (3 weeks)
• The genesis of modern European legal systems: historical and economic factors (1 week)
• Overview on the system of European Union Law: sources, institutions and principles (2 weeks)
• The role of European Union law for the legal systems in Member States: case studies of milestone judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice (1 week)
• Presentations and discussion (1 week)

Lecturer: Dr. Meltem Gürle

Course Nr.: 15304.0070

Time/Date: Wed. 10:00 - 11:30h

Location: 106 S15

"Smells Like Teen Spirit"

German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey regards the Bildungsroman as the poetic expression of the Enlightenment concept of Bildung, and reads the novel of formation as a restricted genre, limited to a certain type of society and a certain period. The Bildungsroman, however, proved to be a world genre that has retained its influence to this day. Although it rarely follows the route that the German idealists suggest, that is to say, the one that reconciles the individual with the society, the contemporary Bildungsroman is still concerned with the young adult’s journey into self-actualization, a process historically in conflict with the existing social and cultural values. 

Taking into account the ever-expanding number of coming-of-age stories marked by existential despair and anxiety, this seminar is dedicated to the Bildungsromane written in the twenty-first century. It focuses on the narratives (novels, graphic novels, and films) of a new generation of authors that describe the painful transition from adolescence to adulthood at the age of global capitalism, while at the same time offering stories of hope and resistance. The aim of the seminar is not only to problematize the concept of Bildung and the idea of maturity in the contemporary European society, but also to uncover in these texts the characteristic themes of the classical Bildungsroman, such as provinciality, alienation, ordeal by love, and the search for meaning.

Week 1 Introduction: What is the Bildungsroman?: The classical Bildungsroman and the Enlightenment fantasy of maturity.

Secondary reading: Susan Neiman, Why Grow Up?: Subversive Thoughts for an Infantile Age, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2014.

Week 2: Modernity and the Bildungsroman: The discovery of youth.

Secondary Reading: Franco Moretti, “Kindergarten” in Signs Taken for Wonders: Essays in the Sociology of Literary Forms. Translated by Susan Fischer; David Forgacs; David Miller. London: NLB: Verso Editions. 1983.

Week 3: Modernity and the Poverty of Experience

Secondary Reading: Walter Benjamin, “The Storyteller“ in Illuminations trans. Harry Zohn (New York: Schoken Books 1969).

Week 4: Late Modernity and the Loss of Experience

Secondary Reading: excerpt from Giorgio Agamben, Infancy and History, Verso, London, 1993.

Week 5 Back to Childhood: The search for experience

Erlend Loe, Naïve. Super (1996) NORWAY

Week 6 The Dystopia: Identity and the Body

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go (2005) UK

Film: Yorgos Lanthimos, Dogtooth (2009) GREECE

Week 7 The eternal child: Puer aeternus as the new model of the self in the culture of late capitalism

Paul Murray, excerpt from Skippy Dies (2010) IRELAND

Alper Canıgüz, excerpt from Sons and Suffering Souls (2004) TURKEY

Optional film: Disco Pigs (2001) Film - Director: Kirsten Sheridan, Writers: Enda Walsh (play), Enda Walsh (screenplay) IRELAND

Secondary reading: Karen Coates, “Saving the world before bedtime”: The Puer Aeternus as a New Paradigm for Selfhood, in Stories For Children, Histories of Childhood / Histoires d'enfant, histoires d'enfance. Tome II. Littérature / Literature. Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 2017.

Week 8: The Journey

Why we took the car (2010) Wolfgang Herrndorf GERMANY

Optional: 303 (film) (2018) Hans Weingartner AUSTRIA

Week 9 Family and Trauma

Out in the Open (2018) Jesus Carrasco SPAIN

Loveless (2017) Film – Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev RUSSIA

Week 10: Of Mountains and Islands

The Eight Mountains: A Novel (2019) Paolo Cognetti  ITALY

Kruso (2014) Lutz Seiler GERMANY

Optional: Kruso (film) (2018) Thomas Stuber GERMANY

Week 11: All About Women

Two Girls  (2002) – Perihan Mağden TURKEY

Optional: Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) Film - La vie d'Adèle (original title) FRANCE

Week 12: The Graphic Novel: Growing up in the Periphery

Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey (2015) Özge Samancı TURKEY

Persepolis (2000-2004) Marjane Satrapi IRAN

Week 13: The Gothic Bildungsroman

Let the Right One In (2004) John Ajvide Lindqvist SWEDEN

Week 14:  Conclusion and Review

***

Selected Bibliography

Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflexionen aus dem beschädigten Leben (Frankfurt/ M.: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1951).

——, Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life (London: Verso, 2005).

Giorgio Agamben, Infancy and History, Verso, London, 1993.

Louis Althusser, On Ideology (London/New York: Verso, 2008).

M. M. Bakhtin, “The Bildungsroman and Its Significance in the History of Realism: Toward a Historical Typology of the Novel,” in Speech Genres and Other Late Essays (Austin: University of Austin Press, 1986).

Walter Benjamin, Illuminations (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968).

——, “Der Erzähler: Betrachtungen zum Werk Nikolai Lesskows,” in Illuminationen: Ausgewählte Schriften 1 (Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp, 1982).

——, Selected Writings: 1931–1934, vol. 2., part 2, ed. by Michael W. Jennings &

Howard Eiland (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 2004).

——, Gesammelte Schriften, ed. by Rolf Tiedemann, vol. 4 (Frankfurt am Main:

Suhrkamp, 1989).

Tobias Boes. Formative fictions; nationalism, cosmopolitanism, and the Bildungsroman. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012.

Jonathan Bolton. Blighted Beginnings: Coming of Age in Independent Ireland. New Jersey: Bucknell University Press, 2010.

Gregory Castle, Reading the Modernist Bildungsroman (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2006).

Karen Coates, “Saving the world before bedtime”: The Puer Aeternus as a New Paradigm for Selfhood, in Stories For Children, Histories of Childhood / Histoires d'enfant, histoires d'enfance. Tome II. Littérature / Literature. Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 2017.

Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society (New York, NY: Norton, 1993).

——, Identity: Youth and Crisis (New York, NY: Norton, 1994).

Jed Esty, Unseasonable Youth: Modernism, Colonialism, and the Fiction of Development (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

Martin Jay, Songs of Experience. London: University of California Press, 2006.

Walter Jens, “Erwachsene Kinder: Das Bild des Jugendlichen in der modernen Literatur,” in Statt einer Literaturgeschichte (Munich: dtv, 1990).

Alexandre Kojève, Introduction to the Reading of Hegel (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1980).

Todd Kontje. The German Bildungsroman: History of a National Genre. Columbia: Camden House, 1993.


Georg Lukacs. The Theory of the Novel: A Historico-Philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literature. Trans. Anna Bostock. London: Merlin, 1971.

Alison Lurie, Don’t Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children’s Literature (Boston: Little, Brown, 1990).

Franco Moretti, The Way of the World: The Bildungsroman in European Culture (London: Verso, 2000).

——,“Kindergarten” in Signs Taken for Wonders: Essays in the Sociology of Literary Forms. Translated by Susan Fischer; David Forgacs; David Miller. London: NLB: Verso Editions. 1983.

John Neubauer, The Fin-de-siècle Culture of Adolescence (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992).

Marc Redfield, Phantom Formations: Aesthetic Ideology and the Bildungsroman (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996).

Jon Savage, Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture (New York: Viking, 2007).

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0072

Time/Date: Tue., 10 - 11:30am

Location: 106 S15

Stefan Zweig dedicates two of fourteen chapters in his work “Decisive Moments in History” to musical pieces of historical significance. However, historians have only recently discovered tones, sounds and music for themselves, even though they are ubiquitous. Although the perception is mostly limited to the moment. Sounds of everyday life in particular are rarely preserved: usually through targeted recordings, often to a picture or film. Music – in the classic sense of the word – has always behaved differently: composed, written down and interpreted in a variety of ways. So, how can sounds - including noises, sounds and music as a term - be understood historically? Is there maybe something like a European collective memory of sounds? Or vice versa: can modern European history also be told through sounds? The course pursues these questions with concrete examples and traces the European history of the 19^th and 20^th centuries through the context.

Introductory reading list and sound examples/samples will be presented in the 1^st session.

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0077

Time/Date: Tue 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 326 0.03 

Credit Points: 3

"The reality of today’s global economy is changing the way employers look at job candidates. While relevant experience and technical know-how remain must-haves for employers, they are also looking for employees with the ability to understand people from different cultural backgrounds, build trust, demonstrate respect, and speak other languages." (Janice Mulholland, British Council, on current research results)

This seminar will provide students with theoretical background as well as skills connected to intercultural issues and situations.

It is a global fact that our societies are experiencing a very dynamic process of pluralization due to internationalization. Increasing cultural diversity brings along many challenges that affects everyone at one time or another. Many of those challenges can be very benefitial if they are handled with an appropriate coping behaviour.

Cultural competence is understood as the ability to act suitable and effectively in intercultural situations. This requires much more than just knowledge about intercultural theories, but involves actions, attitudes and skills. Intercultural competence demands a person to go beyond simply learning and memorizing facts, it demands the motivation to incorporate a reflexive, self-critical and open-minded attitude which consequently leads to certain actions.

In order to fulfill those aspects, the structure of this seminar provides a balance between theoretical input and intercultural experiences.

Topics covered within this seminar will be:

-              Concept of culture and interculturality

-              Intercultural standards/dimensions

-              Communication theories

-              Stereotypes, Prejudice, Strangeness

-              Identity and self-reflection

-              Working with critical incidents (academic focus)

-              …

The topics covered may be subject to slight change, as the course content will to some extent be determined by the students participating in the course.

All core courses listed under Basic Module 1 may be chosen as an elective course as well (granted that three BM1 courses have been selected as BM1 core courses).

The offers of the Department for German as a Foreign Language may be counted towards the Elective Module, if the requirements for the Basic Module 2 have been fulfilled already. 

Semester German course (9CP)

Complementary German courses (2 or 4 CP, depending upon availability)

Lecturer: multiple lecturers 

Course Nr: 15304.0078

Time/Date: Tue, 18:00-19:30

Location: 326 0.03             

Credit Points: 3

http://www.portal.uni-koeln.de/europeannarratives.html

In light of the elections for European Parliament, University of Cologne is organising a lecture series on views on European Integration within the EU member states. Under the title “Narratives of Europe/Narratives for Europe”, we want to focus on the development of master narratives accompanying and supporting the individual countries’ way into and stance within the European Union. Even recognizing the contribution of the Pan-European Movement since WWI and acknowledging the philanthropic motivation of many promoters of European Integration since WWII, the most powerful drivers of the European Integration process were common and individual political and economic interests of the single member states. These highly individual constellations of interests, combined with the respective national historical background, led to very different “master narratives”, which formed the backbone of public debate on the EU and European integration in the single member states. In this sense narratives provide a simplified image of reality. Their analysis is based on the assumption that narratives play a critical role in the construction of political behaviour insofar as they affect our perceptions of political reality.  They shape the cognitive and normative dimensions of problems in order to persuade and suggest what action should be taken,  and they reflect the variety of emotional and affective dimensions of a European identity.

This lecture series attempts a survey of these different narratives across EU member states, focusing on both differences and common traits, inspired by the hope that an increased awareness of these narratives and expectations increases and improves mutual understanding within the EU.

Each national case will be presented by an expert from the respective country. Speakers are scholars of political science, contemporary history or comparative law at one of the Coimbra Group member universities. Coimbra Group is a prestigious association of research oriented Universities; University of Cologne is a member of the Coimbra Group.

Lecturer: Stephan Vogel

Course Nr: 14335.0108

Time/Date: Wed,14:00-15:30

Location: 211 S101

Credit Points: 6

This seminar is an introduction to the comparative analysis of political institutions exemplified by the case of the Federal Republic of Germany. We will devote the single sessions to explore how  formal  and  informal institutions influence  the behavior  of  actors  within  a  political  system.

Lecturer: Lisa Benossi

Course Nr: 14213.0129

Time/Date: Mon, 16:00 - 17:30h

Location: 100 4.016
               
On the following dates the seminar will take place at CONCEPT (Hauptgebäude,Raum 4.202): 12.4. / 10.5. / 17.5. / 14.6. / 28.6.

Credit Points: 3

Within the seminar, we will to read through Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, end to end. Each relevant section of the Critique will be accompanied with an explanation of the main concepts introduced. Therefore, I will attempt to provide a gentle introduction to Kant's theoretical philosophy; we will focus mainly on the first Critique, however, whenever possible I will try to hint at relevant pre- and post-critical works.

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Paul Silva             

Course Nr: 14213.0137

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00-13:30

Location: 100 4.016 

Credit Points: 3

more info to be expected on Klips soon

Lecturer: Dr. Jenny Sager             

Option 1:

Course Nr: 14227.0017

Time/Date: Wed, 16:00-17:30

Location: 106 S01

Option 2:

Course Nr: 14227.0018

Time/Date: Thurs, 14:00-15:30

Location: 103 S92

Credit Points: 3
               

If you’re interested in studying at university or college in an English-speaking country, you’ll need to learn how to write using academic English. Academic writing can be very different from other types of English writing you may have done in the past. We have developed this course to help you learn the basics of academic writing.

This course will provide you with a brief introduction to academic writing, enabling you to gain an awareness and understanding of some key features of this kind of writing.

You will develop some proficiency in a few key areas of ‘academic’ grammar, learn about the stages in essay writing, and produce an essay of your own. We will teach you how to organise an essay, use academic writing style and cover key areas of grammar, so that by the end of the course you are able to write a good academic essay.

Throughout the course, we will analyse some examples of academic writing and engage in a series of peer-review sessions, to show the improvements that can be made to an essay. These improvements are made by guiding and instructing the writer in the areas of content, organisation, language and the process of planning and drafting an essay.

We will provide you with the tools to evaluate your own writing and the writing of others, as well as clarifying some key language areas commonly used in academic writing.

All teaching materials and class discussion will be in the English language.

Lecturer: Jenny Sager           

Course Nr: 14227.0111

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00-15:30

Location: 103 S92

Credit Points: 3

This course unit will explore the establishment and development of the genre of tragedy in the period c. 1580-1630. From its spectacular beginnings in Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, to the profound insights of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the aesthetic excesses of Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, early modern audiences were enthralled by the quest for vengeance and the contemplation of death at the heart this genre. These tales of troubled individuals, of family injustices and of the corrupting influence of power reflect the mounting disillusionment of the age. While the ghosts who haunt these revengers emphasize the constraints the past places upon the living, these plays are haunted by previous stage incarnations, by a theatrical genre they both conform to and deviate from. This course unit will invite students to explore a range of themes and topics – including, revenge and justice, grief and mourning, madness, love and sex, ghosts and memory, violence, the representation of women, spectacle and the semiotics of stage properties – and to compare and contrast different plays of the period. Set texts include:

Marlowe’s Tamburlaine (1587-8)
Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (1591-1)
Marlowe’s Edward II (1591-2)
Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1599-1600)
Shakespeare’s King Lear (1605)
Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (1608-9)
Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1614)

This course will be assessed by an essay of 3,000 words.

Lecturer: Jenny Sager           

Course Nr: 14227.0314

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00-13:30

Location: 103 S92

Credit Points: 3

Lecturer: Hartmut Marhold

Course Nr: 14335.0205

Time/Date: see details below

Location: 103 S83

Credit Points: 6 (demands serious interest in the topic, active participation and a relatively high workload)
               

Germany’s European politics relies on a complex institutional setting, in a complex political situation. This seminar will analyse the German political system, as far as it deals with European affairs, in particular by means of meetings and talks with civil servants in ministries and offices in the German government and Parliament, during a three days excursion to Berlin.

The aim is to allow for a better understanding of the systemic constraints and opportunities in German European politics. On the other hand, the seminar will discuss options for Germany’s European policy-making, face to the current crises and reform projects.

The excursion will be prepared by one (shorter) introductory and one (longer) preparatory meeting in Cologne. Dates of meetings in Cologne: April 12 and April 26th.

Dates of excursion to Berlin: June 18 - 20.

The excursion starts on Tuesday, 18 June at 14.00 and ends on the last day (Thursday, 20 June) at 13.00.

Participants must organise and pay for their own travel, accommodation and meals. However, there are no further costs for participation in the excursion.

The working language will be English.

Lecturer: Dr. Hermann Halbeisen

Course Nr: 14335.0304

Time/Date: Wed, 16:00-17:30

Location: 211 S101

Credit Points: 6 (demands a relatively high workload and active participation in class)

'Democracy' is highly appreciated as an ideal denoting the political aspirations of people all over the world. As far as the precise meaning is concerned, however, a considerable spectrum of interpretations exists.
In order to gain a profound understanding of different aspects of the concept, this
course introduces classical and modern texts on democracy.

Lecturer: Dr. Fabio Bulfone, Donato Di Carlo                

Course Nr: 14335.0404

Time/Date: Mon, 14:00-15:30

Location: 103 S94

Credit Points: 6 (demands a relatively high workload and active participation in class)

The  aim  of  the  module  is  to  provide  a  thorough  introduction  to  the  political  economy  of Southern European countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain). The module has three main objectives: 1) familiarize the students with the fieldof comparative political economy (CPE), 2) identify  what  specific  features  characterize the  Southern  European  model  of  capitalism focusing  in  particular  on  the  labor  market,  corporate  governance  and  the  welfare  state3) assess  the  impact  of  the Eurozone crisis  on  the  institutional  features  of  Southern  European economies.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0004

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00-17:30

Location: 211 S102               

Credit Points: 3
 

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Phyllis Melanie Bußler

Course Nr: 14351.0001

Time/Date:
Group 1: Wed, 14:00-15:30
Group 2: Wed, 16:00-17:30

Location: 101 R524                

Credit Points: 6 (demands active participation and a relatively high workload)

NOTE: Participation in the first session is MANDATORY!

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof.‘Dr:‘ Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2102

Time/Date: Thurs, 10:00-11:30

Location: 105 hall C

Credit Points: 3

This lecture class presents an overview of research into multilingualism. We will explore different ways of defining multilingualism and the relationship of such views to the methodology researchers adopt. Guest speakers will offer findings from their own work in progress.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr Thomas Kohnen

Course Nr: 14569.2103

Time/Date: Tues, 10:00-11:30

Location: 100 hall XXI

Credit Points: 3           

Linguistic pragmatics is the study of context-dependent meaning, with a focus on language use and social interaction. Historical pragmatics may be called "the study of historical data from a pragmatic perspective" (Jucker 2000: 90). This lecture will give an overview of the most important fields of linguistic pragmatics and their historical application (e.g. deixis, conversational implicature, speech acts, discourse markers, address terms, text linguistics). Illustrative examples will be given from all periods of the history of the English language.

Lecturer: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Paul Silva           

Course Nr: 14213.0337

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00-11:30

Location: The course will take place in the main building. "Bauteil 4, room 4.202 (CONCEPT)". Please check at the info point on the ground floor for exact directions. 

Credit Points: 3

This is a course in epistemology and the philosophy of language, with a special focus on issues related to sexism and racism. Sexism and racism are forms of prejudice, and prejudice seems to be an inescapable aspect of human life. It is a contributing cause of all kinds of social and individual harm: war and conflict, repression and marginalization, harassment and bullying. When philosophers attempt to view prejudice through the lens of epistemology (=theory of knowledge and rationality), their conclusion is typically swift, clear, and likewise negative: no one can be epistemically justified in holding a prejudiced belief; prejudiced belief, whenever it occurs, is a symptom of some breakdown of epistemic rationality. This course will examine the philosophical justification for this judgement that prejudice essentially involves a breakdown in rationality.

Special attention will be given to the analysis of *the propositional content* of sexist and racist attitudes. We will examine the literature on generics and assess the extent to which their "tricky" truth-conditions generate special epistemological and psychological problems when it comes to rational belief revision.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2606

Time/Date: Thur, 12:00-13:30

Location: 103 S67

Credit Points: 3
 

Language and cognitive development take place during childhood and adolescence and are interconnected yet also independent of one another. We will examine the various relationships that have been proposed in the literature from the perspective of bilingual.

Lecturer: Dr. Victoria Herche

Course Nr: 14569.3302

Time/Date: Wed, 10:00-11:30

Location: 103 S69

Credit Points: 3
               

With more than 60 million displaced persons world-wide – we are, no doubt, living in an ‘Age of Migration’, and the “long summer of migration” (Kasparek and Speer) in 2015 has made the importance of comparative views on migrants and refugees in a globalised world apparent. This course will address cultural, social, historical, legal, and (geo)political issues related to the contemporary global challenge of migration and displacement. As a basis for our discussion, we will look at novel, short story and film, thereby using close readings and thematic studies of post-colonial theory and diaspora studies, and debating aspects of national identity, racism, dispossession, indigeneity, environmental issues, and gender relations.

Primary texts include: Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, Adichie’s Americanah, Christos Tsiolka’s Loaded, and the films Lucky Miles, Letters to Ali, Floating Lives, Mother Fish (changes possible).

Lecturer: Dr. Jan Wawrzyniec Czarnecki, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jörg Schulte 

Course Nr: 14591.2073

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00-13:30

Location: 106 S23              

Credit Points: 3
               

The seminar investigates the phenomenon of genre in an intermediary perspective and focuses, in particular, on those genre which exist both in music and poetry, e.g. nocturne, song, lullaby, ballad, elegy, capriccio and many others.

The seminar is part of the research project “Word and Music Studies” at the Slavic Institute.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Daniel Buncic, Paul Compensis

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon, 14:00-15:30

Location: 103 H80

Credit Points: 3
           

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from current research. In this way, students will have access to up-to-date work done locally at the University of Cologne, as well as to work done internationally. Topics will cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives (see course list for detailed information). Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session.

Lecturer: Mauela Vida-Mannl

Course Nr: 14569.2304

Time/Date: Thurs, 12:00-13:30

Location: 911 S224               

Credit Points: 3

This class will be concerned with the use of English as a global language. Its historical spread and use within Great Britain's various colonies will be discussed. Furthermore we will have a look at its use today with specific focus on different contexts. Currently discussed questions, like the authority of the native speaker and language ownership, will help us to (almost) complete our sociolinguistic approach to the phenomenon of Global English.
Be prepared to fulfill extensive reading assignments, group work and exercises.
Credits can be obtained via term papers (Modulabschlussprüfung) or exercise preparation/oral presentation (aktive Teilnahme).

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sarah Carol

Course Nr: 14320.0700

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00-15:30

Location: 101 S243

Credit Points: 6

During this course, we will discuss research findings on educational inequalities between ethnic groups, explore potential sources and societal consequences of these disadvantages. We will answer the following questions: What are the aspirations of immigrant children and their parents and to what extent do these aspirations correspond to students’ achievements? Do we observe gender differences in school performance and aspirations? Are students more successful in countries, where parents are responsible for the school choice or does this increase inequality? Is there discrimination at the transition from primary to secondary school? Is a high share of co-ethnics in classes and neighbourhoods a source of good achievements or does ethnic embeddedness hamper students’ school performance? Building on James Coleman’s earlier work, we will also discuss whether schools for religious minorities provide an alternative to mixed schools. At the same time, co-education might have implications for interethnic and interreligious relations. How does mixed learning affect the formation of friendships? Does it trigger conflicts? We will close the seminar with practical advice for writing research papers and development of your own research idea.

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0056

Date: Mon, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 103 S83

The course provides an introduction to global and European economic cooperation and its relationship with sustainable development. It concentrates on two main components. First, we will analyse the contemporary global architecture for economic cooperation and development and its main characteristics, including relevant actors, international organisations, treaties, and patterns in trade and development economics. Second, we will examine the European Union as an example of regional economic integration, its internal market, the framework for economic coordination and its external economic relations. The course will take up topical economic and political processes such as the United Nation’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the EU’s trade and economic partnership agreements. In this way, the course seeks to contribute to the understanding how economic cooperation and development are interconnected with environmental and social questions.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Frank Schulz-Nieswandt

Course Nr.: 15304.0053

Date: Wed., 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 103 S57

Inclusion does not happen overnight. We can not understand inclusion as if we switch on and off the light. Beyond legal frameworks and economic incentives as important preconditions to generate social change by Pareto-optimal solutions in allocation, successful inclusion is a process of social change understood as cultural transformation.
Inclusion as metamorphosis (Gestalt-switch) of the collective agreement about the question of a good life needs time but during this time-span, society has to organize social learning processes that transform the psychodynamics of individuals and the cultural grammar of exclusion.
This broad problem has to be located in the legal context of the EU and the UN, connected with the national legal regime development in the structure of multi-level-system with final results on the local level.

Lecturer: Dr. Tobias Kunstein

Course Nr.: 15304.0051

Date: Wed., 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 103 S57

The process of integration among sovereign nation states embodied by the European Union (EU) is a unique attempt of organising the co-existence of peoples. The EU’s sui generis character – something between a federation of nation states, or “Staatenbund”, and a federal state, or “Bundesstaat” (which led the German Constitutional Court to invent the term “Staatenverbund”) – makes the EU an ideal test case for political scientists interested in international cooperation. 
Although the EU is used to sailing rough seas, recent years have seen a succession of apparently existential crises and frantic reforms. Most recently, Brexit – the first-ever exit of a Member State – may form a watershed moment for the Union as a whole. At the very least, it implies that fast-paced institutional adaptation will continue. For example, a number of proposals have been tabled on how to deal with the UK’s 73 alloted seats in the European Parliament, which will likely become vacant just before the upcoming European Elections in May 2019.
Against this background, the seminar aims to take a closer look at the political structures underlying the EU. Based on a systematic appraisal of the Union’s institutional foundations, its strength and weaknesses will be the subject of debate and assessment. In particular, the seminar will include two sessions organised along the lines of a Tilbury debate. Students will controversially discuss a statement in two teams and try to defend a point of view that is not necessarily their own.

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0050

Date/Time: Tue., 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 103 S92

In its first part, by outlining the relevant historical background, this course will introduce the genesis of the European legal tradition. In its second part, the institutional basis, the structure and the basic principles of European Union law will be presented. On the basis of case studies on milestone jurisprudence of the ECJ, the role of European Union Law for Member States will be explained.
The structure of the lessons is interactive, where active participation is both desired and expected. 
In the end of the course, every student will prepare a topic and present the results in front of the course (10 to 15 minutes). After the presentation, the topic at hand will be discussed among the class.
The course will be concluded with a short multiple choice exam.

Course outline
I.    The genesis of modern European legal systems: historical and economic factors (1 week)

II.    The main elements of Roman Law, the Germanic legal tradition and English (common) law and their influence on the European legal tradition (2 weeks)

III.    Overview on the system of European Union Law: history, structure, organs institutions and principles (2 weeks)

IV.    The sources and hierarchy of European Union Law (2 weeks)

V.    The role of European Union law for the legal systems in Member States: case studies of milestone judicial decisions of the European Court of Justice (3 weeks)

VI.    Presentations and discussion (1 week)

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0052

Time/Date: Mon., 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 326 0.01

European History during the 20th Century has been described as an “Age of Extremes” (Eric Hobsbawm), as a period in which the “Dark Continent” (Mark Mazower) went “to Hell and Back” (Ian Kershaw) and then had to be rebuild “Out of Ashes” (Konrad Jarausch). This is all the more surprising as the 19th Century seemed to forebode an age of culminating progress, characterised by scientific triumphs, civilizing achievements, accelerated discoveries and technological solutions for all problems and needs of mankind. Yet, the 20th century saw the most barbaric set-back Europe had experienced for ages: Two world-wars, slaughter and repression of entire people and populations, excesses of intolerance, hate and violence, dictatorship, tyranny and the spectre of nuclear apocalypse. 
Examining the first half of the 20th century is examining how Europe arrived at the edge of self-destruction. It also means to identify the lessons to be learnt by successive generations – as at least in part the second half of the century is reacting to and trying to avoid the errors of the first half.
Historiography has just started to historicize the last century as a whole. Hence, we will also deal with competing interpretations which try to integrate the first half of the century into a comprehensive view of the entire epoch.

Lecturer: Dr. Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0054

Time/Date: Tue., 10:00 - 11:30am

Location: 326 0.01

Euroscepticism is in vogue all over Europe. In addition, pictures seem to be omnipresent. As icons, they have a significant, maybe even overriding impact on the perception of public and private spaces as well as on private and political communication. In fact: iconographic communication is an integral part of the history of humankind. In this sense, pictures have a decisive influence on the idea of Europe.
Therefore, this seminar will deal with the Idea of Europe and the European History of the 19th and 20th centuries under particular consideration of Visual History. Its guiding question is: Do we already have a collective European iconographic memory or is there a variety of (and competition between) collective national memories related to European history?

Lecturer: Dr. Heike Berner, Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0058

Time/Date: Tue.: 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 326, S0.01 

Credit Points: 3

Study competence meets Intercultural competence

Intercultural encounters in an academic context can be challenging and beneficial at the same time. In this seminar, international and regular students of the University of Cologne will be introduced to methods and theories as to how to make the most out of an international academic environment in practice.

Nowadays, intercultural competence is needed not only in professional contexts but has become a necessary tool in everyday life as globalization and migration are shaping our lives.

The seminar has a unique set-up: It is divided in two groups, one consisting of international students from partner universities of the University of Cologne and Erasmus, the other of regular students students. During the first half of the semester, the two groups will work separately in order to allow specific, tailor-made input for each group. The second half of the semester, the groups will be combined to fully benefit from the intercultural setting.

1st half of the semester

• Understanding the German academic system
• Study competences (e.g. writing essays, giving presentations)
• Communication on campus
• Studying in international groups

2nd half of the semester

• Discovering intercultural potential
• Transferring theory to real-life situations
• Intercultural communication
• Perception of the self and the other
• In-group and out-group perception
• Excursion

The content of the second half semester is subject to change depending on the wishes and needs of the students.

All core courses can also be chosen for the elective module.

For more information on the modules (basic and elective) see pages 7-9 of our brochure.

Lecturer: Prof. Daniel Buncic

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon, 18:00 - 19:30

Location: 106 S11

Credit Points: 3

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from current research. In this way, students will have access to up-to-date work done locally at the University of Cologne, as well as to work done internationally. Topics will cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives (see course list for detailed information). Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session. Open to all interested.

http://ccls.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/32754.html?&L=1

3 CPs: 2 summaries of lectures

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0004

Time/Date: Thu., 5:45 - 7:15pm (start Apr 12th)

Location: 216 S130

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Tatiana Lopez

Course Nr: 14351.5001

Time/Date: Wed, 14:00 - 18:00

Location: 101 S524

Credit Points: 6

This course outlines the basic arguments, theories and developments of contemporary Economic Geography. It is meant to give students first insights into this highly dynamic and empirical science. Starting from core processes in our modern economic and social world like globalization and uneven development, we will deal with questions of economic growth, inequalities and economic change on different spatial scales. We will get to know basic spatial theories and use them to describe and explain various empirical examples from dif-ferent regions. A special focus will be set on the role of knowledge and innovation in contemporary economic developments and on the challenges for developing regions like East-Asia.

Course requirement: Written exam and presentation

Note: This course is combined with the lecture "Economic Geography", taking place at the same at the same place. Just make sure to register for both, the seminar (14351.5001) and the lecture (14351.5000), in order to receive the total of 6CP. It is NOT possible to pick just one. 

Lecturer: Kohnen, Thomas

Course Nr: 14569.2103

Time/Date: Tuesdays, 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 100, HS XVIII

Credit Points: 3

Middle English is the period in the history of English which starts after the Norman Conquest and gradually turns into Early Modern English during the second half of the 15th century. Middle English is often described as a period of rapid transition and considerable heterogeneousness. It is also a phase with an extremely rich output of texts, both literary and non-literary. This lecture will deal with the important developments in the fields of spelling, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis, but will also focus on topics involving Middle English society and culture and the major genres of the period.

Lecturer: Abel, Dennis

Course Nr: 14335.0405

Time/Date: Tuesdays, 12:00 - 13:30

Location: 211 S101

Credit Points: 6

Lecturer: Neubert, Stefan

Course Nr: 14387.0005

Time/Date: Tuesdays, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 211 H114

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will offer an introduction to internationally influential debates in education in the wake of John Dewey (1859-1952). It will be combined with the international conference "Democracy and Education Reconsidered", Dec 2 and 3, 2016 that will compensate for 8 regular meetings.

Lecturer:  de Paula Castanho e Silva, Bruno

Course Nr: 14335.0205

Time/Date: Wednesdays, 14:00 - 15:30

Location: 211 S103

Credit Points:

Remaining spaces in seminars of the Cologne Center for Comparative Politics (CCCP) are *not* allocated via KLIPS2 during the "Restplatzvergabe". If you do not have a place in this seminar, participation in the first session is strictly mandatory. Available spaces will be allocated there.

Lecturer: Kaftan, Lea

Course Nr: 14335.0106

Time/Date: Thursdays, 16:00 - 17:30

Location: 211 S105

Credit Points: 6

Course description: This seminar is an introduction to the comparative analysis of political institutions exemplified by the case of the Federal Republic of Germany. We will devote the single sessions to explore how formal and informal institutions influence the behavior of actors within a political system. The syllabus covers four major subject areas: To begin with, we focus on electoral systems and voting behavior (I). Amongst other questions, we examine how and why different electoral systems evolve. In the second part, dedicated to interest aggregation and representation (II), we take a closer look at political parties, interest groups, and the media as well as their relationship with state actors. Coalition and veto player theories are subjects of the third block for which we look at political actors governing between conflict and consensus (III). We apply the veto player approach to discuss and explain policy evolvement and change. Furthermore, we compare and contrast theories on coalition building and assess, for example, how well they can predict coalition outcomes of national elections. The last part of the seminar, multi-level governance (IV), focusses on interdependences between different political levels. Particularly, we highlight the mechanisms and effects of federal systems and Europeanization. The overall aim of the seminar is to gain a deeper understanding of essential processes, structures and the behavior of actors within political systems by means of general political theories. Additionally, we focus on the individual steps of developing and executing a research project in order for participants to be prepared to write their own term paper.

Lecturer: Bongartz, Christiane

Course Nr: 14569.2101

Time/Date: Wednesdays, 17:45 - 19:15

Location: 105 Hörsaal C

Credit Points: 3

Embracing diversity is serves as a goal and as a challenge for societies and educational systems. Recent developments in linguistics illustrates the impact of language in a g/loc/b/alized world; while multilingualism presents a reality in many communities of practices, education may raise social justice concerns with its reliance on a monolingual habitus. The lecture will address research findings on a range of issues while exploring new directions for making the field ‘hospitable.’

****Please note: Appearance in the first session is mandatory!! Your spot will be given to someone else in case of a no-show*****

Lecturer: Sager, Jenny

Course Nr: 14227.0033

Time/Date: Thursdays, 10:00 - 11:30

Location: 106 S01

Credit Points: 3

This seminar will introduce you to the plays of Shakespeare’s first and second tetralogies: Richard II, Henry IV, Parts One and Two, Henry V, Henry VI, Parts One, Two and Three and Richard III. The seminar will consider key themes, including kingship, power and authority, national and regional identities, sexual politics, war, and ideas of community. 

Bringing matters up to the present day, the seminar will deploy a range of media resources, including film and performance archives, to consider the ways in which these plays continue to resonate and reverberate in the modern era. The relevance of the history plays within new social and political contexts and in new eras of war and conflict will be the focus of analysis, allowing us to think about Shakespeare in performance, on the screen, and in various forms of adaptation. 

This seminar, including course materials and class discussions, will be in the English language.

Lecturer: Sager, Jenny

Course Nr: 14227.0122 (or 14227.0123)

Time/Date: Thursdays, 14:00 - 17:30

Location: 103 0.302

Credit Points: 3

NOTE: Course Nr. 14227.0122: 8 Oct - 19 Nov, Course Nr. 14227.0123: Nov 26 - Jan 28

This course explores the remarkable variety of ways in which Shakespeare's life and works have been adapted by contemporary film directors. The course asks what happens when Shakespeare is popularized, and when the popular is Shakespeareanized; it queries the factors that determine the definitions of and boundaries between the legitimate and illegitimate, the canonical and the authorized and the subversive, the oppositional, the scandalous and the inane. This seminar series will discuss the ways in which the plays of Shakespeare, as well as Shakespeare himself, have been interpreted and reinvented, adapted and parodied, transposed into another media, and act as a source of inspiration for film-makers worldwide.

Lecturer: lecture series (professors from the University of Cologne and Keio University, Japan)

Course number: 15304.0059

Time/Date: Starting October 31st every Wednesday, 12-2pm

Location: 105 Hörsaal G

Credit Points: 3

Longevity – one of humankind’s all-time goals and desires – turns out to be boon and bane. Japan and Germany are among the countries, where not only individuals tend to get old and older, but the entire society is aging and has to adapt to a substantial demographic change. With a life expectancy of 85 years in Japan and 81 years in Germany and an almost identical average age of 47.2 years of populations in both countries, Japan and Germany share common problems and challenges. Individual longevity implies an increase of aging-associated diseases, a growing need for age-appropriated environments and living conditions, higher demand of elder care, public health care and pension funds under stress, financial pressure on taxpayers, strain on the labor market and many more issues to be dealt with from medical, political, social, economic and legal points of view. 
Both Keio University/Tokyo, and University of Cologne have established “Longevity/Aging” as a transversal topic of interdisciplinary research, to which scholars and scientists from several disciplines contribute cutting-edge research. Both Universities dispose of strong research centers in Life Sciences and in Social Sciences dedicated to Longevity- and Aging-associated issues.
This joint lecture series will present some of their results in a comparative Japanese German perspective. Each lecture will be held jointly by a German and a Japanese expert, giving insights into ongoing or recently completed research projects. Students in both countries are invited to interact and actively participate in the discussion by posting comments and questions during the lecture.
While being the first intercontinental joint lecture series with one of University of Colognes “Global Network Partners”, this seminar is also a pilot project introducing digital tools into international teaching cooperation.

Lecturer: Dr. Paul Silva

Course number: 14213.0137

Time/Date: Fri., 12:00-13:30

Location: 103 4.011

Credit Points: 3

In the first part of this course our main interest will be in philosophical questions about the nature of time, the identity of persons across time, and the conditions for free will. In the second part of this course our main interest will be in questions about the nature of human knowledge: what is knowledge, what are our sources of knowledge, and how–if at all–we can show that we have knowledge and deal with the problem of skepticism. Throughout the course there will be various introductory lectures on inductive and deductive logic.

Lecturer: Tatiana Lopez, Dipl. Reg.-Wiss.

Course Nr.: 15304.0037

Date: Mon, 8 - 11:30am (course will alternate with the course "Current Challenges of EU foreign and security policy")

Location: 103 S2.127

Course description will follow soon

Lecturer: Benjamin Haas, MA

Course Nr.: 15304.0034

Date: Tue., 2 - 3:30pm

Location: 103 S73

Development policies traditionally aim to improve the lives of people in so called “developing countries”. However, due to the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world is currently renegotiating the concept of development. This seminar gives an overview about the policy field from a European perspective, including its history, theories, actors, instruments and current (critical) debates. It also includes a one-day study excursion to Bonn (the former capital of West-Germany), where students have the opportunity to discuss the topics of the seminar with different political actors and practitioners, for instance, from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Students learn to apply different theoretical approaches regarding the concepts of development to current practical cases and get an introductory overview about European Development Policies. No previous knowledge about the topic is required.

Lecturer: Dr. Johanna Gereke

Course Nr.: 15304.0032

Time/Date: Mon., 12 - 1:30pm

Location: 106 S13

The focus of this seminar is on the interaction between migration and society. With unprecedented numbers of immigrants reaching the European Union, the analytical study of migration and immigration has become ever more important for social scientists. This seminar will be divided into two parts: In the first part of the seminar, we will examine questions, such as: Why do people migrate across international borders? What are the different flows of migrants? Can states control “unwanted” migration? And what are the consequences of migration on origin countries? In the second part of the seminar, the focus will be on issues of integration of immigrants. We will discuss questions, such as: How do social scientists theorize and evaluate immigrant integration? How are immigrants and their children becoming part of the mainstream in the receiving countries? And how do attitudes towards immigrants form and differ among individuals and across countries?

Lecturer: Tobias Flessenkemper

Course Nr.: 15304.0033

Date: Mon., 8 - 11:30am (start Apr. 23rd)

Location: 103 S2.127

Please note: This course is held in four-hour-session and will not be held weekly. Dates will be published soon. First session is on April 23rd. 

The Western Balkans countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia - are increasingly interconnected with the European Union on all levels. Croatia was the first Western Balkans country to join the EU on 1 July 2013. The others are at various stages of the integration process.

On February 6, 2018 the European Commission presented its new enlargement strategy which outlines the challenges ahead and also brought a fresh attention to the region which is increasingly vulnerable to external influences, in particular by Russia, China and Turkey.

15 years ago, the Thessaloniki European Council in  2003 declared the Western Balkans potential EU member states. The “Thessaloniki agenda” brought together EU foreign policy and enlargement. Enlargement was considered the most effective foreign policy towards the region of the Western Balkans. The process remains characterised by particular challenges for the European Union as an actor as well as the countries. These are:

1) Regional cooperation and security following the wars and crises of the 1990s - the region and the EU continue to deal with the legacies and consequences of the past (including, issues related to state recognition, disarmament, normalization of relations, bilateral disputes, confidence-building measures to border demarcation);

2) Increased conditionality and scrutiny of EU-related reforms following previous enlargement rounds -  the Western Balkans countries have to establish and maintain democracy and human rights, functioning institutions able to uphold the acquis communautaire and an economy able to compete within the common market  (Copenhagen criteria); despite being at different stages of the EU integration process, the countries of the region share similar difficulties in addressing those issues;

3) South Eastern Europe is an area of connection and transit - today the region is the link between zones of war and instability in the near East and Central and Western Europe; obvious challenges stem from the “border crisis”, which exemplifies this intertwined relationship the region has with both its South Eastern neighbourhood as well as with the EU and its member states (Balkans route); the region is also historically linked with Turkey and Russia, both of which play a political role in the countries, including in multilateral cooperation with the EU. In recent times the Balkans Silk Road of China challenges the EU model of connectivity in the region, which is being promoted also by the “Berlin process”, initiated by Germany, in 2014. 

Hence, the analysis of the Western Balkans enlargement offers an insight into several areas, inter alia:

-              the evolving enlargement policy and institutional framework, including methodologies and pre-accession assistance;

-              the development of the Commons Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the role of the EU in (member) state-building;

-              the interconnection between external and internal security of the EU for instance in areas such as visa, migration and border management policies as well as the renewed emphasis on fundamental rights and the rule of law;

-              the perspectives of the European Union as a whole since overtime EU enlargement to South Eastern Europe has also become linked to the question if the countries of the region eventually wish to join an ever changing EU, including Brexit;

-              the role of “other” actors and powers in Europe, on the one hand the allies of the European Union such as the US and in the future the UK and to a certain degree Turkey, and on the other hand of competitors and antagonists such as Russia and China but also in an ideological sense of ethnic nationalism, anti-liberalism and radical religious and other global movements. 

Schedule (sessions from 08h00-11h30) 

Monday, 23 April

Monday, 07 May

Monday, 21 May

Monday, 04 June

Monday, 18 June

Monday, 02 July

Monday, 16 July

Lecturer: Elias Deutscher, LL.M.

Course Nr: 15304.0030

Date/Time: Wed., 4 - 7:15pm (held from May 2nd until June 27th)

Location: 315 S234

In light of the current surge of Eurosceptic and anti-globalization movements, the EU’s role in regulating globalized markets has been the focal point of a plethora of various criticisms. On the one hand, the EU is recurrently portrayed as source of inefficient over-regulation and red tape. On the other hand, the EU is increasingly perceived as a neo-liberal catalyst of trade liberalization and deregulation, undermining the Member States’ regulatory autonomy and welfare systems. To decipher and critically assess current Eurosceptic and anti-globalization discourses, a solid understanding of how regulation of globalized markets works is key.

Therefore, this course proposes to study the role of the EU as central actor of international market regulation from a pluri-disciplinary, legal, political and economic perspective. The goal of this course is to provide the students with a solid and contextual knowledge of EU internal market and competition rules, which lie at the heart of EU economic law. This course will also equip the students with a good understanding of the development of the EU integration process, as well as of the functioning and decision-making of the EU institutions. Moreover, it will allow them to critically assess current political discourses on the EU and international trade. Relying both on legal texts and academic literature, this course will additionally provide students with important methodological tools to critically read and analyse EU legislation, case law and academic texts.

The course will unfold in four sections. A first section (4 hours) of the course will be dedicated to the basic concepts that underlie trade liberalization and regulation at global (WTO) and European (EU) level. This section will also give a brief historical overview on trade liberalization over the 20th century.

The second section will focus on the substantive EU internal market law (8 hours). In particular, it will retrace the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in promoting EU market integration by striking down state barriers to trade through the interpretation of EU free movement rules. (The focus will lie on free movement of goods, services and establishment). It will also address the fundamental tension between trade liberalization and the regulatory autonomy of national welfare states, and will study the complementary role of negative (trade liberalization) and positive (trade regulation) integration. Moreover, this section will critically discuss the alleged democratic deficit and neo-liberal bias of the EU internal market policies.

The third section of the course will examine how EU competition law regulates private companies’ attempts to impose restraints of trade (8 hours). The course will provide the students with a basic understanding of the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements (Art. 101 TFEU) and the prohibition of abuses of a dominant market position (Art. 102 TFEU), as well as of EU merger control. Moreover, it will also address the application of EU competition rules to Member States: namely, the EU State aid rules and Art. 106 TFEU. Thus, the course will also critically discuss to what extent the application of EU competition law leaves EU Member States sufficient leeway to pursue social policies and national regulatory choices.

The fourth section will be dedicated to the external dimension of EU Economic Law (4 hours). It will explain how the EU exports its internal market and competition rules at a global level, by concluding comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with third (non-EU) countries. This section will also touch upon the current controversies surrounding TTIP and CETA.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stephan Hobe LL.M.; Banjamyn I. Scott

Course Nr.: 15304.0039

Date: Tue., 12:00 - 1:30pm (start Apr. 24th)

Location: 103 S83

This course introduces the basic principles and rules found in International Law and European Union law.

Students will be presented with reading materials and are expected to have read them before the class. This will facilitate discussion.

The structure of the lessons is interactive, where active participation is both desired and expected.

Every student will prepare a topic and present the results in front of the course (10 to 15 minutes). After the presentation, the topic at hand will be discussed among the class.

The course will be concluded with a short multiple choice exam.

Week    Date      Teacher               Topic

1             24 April Mr Scott              Introduction to Course and Law

                1 May             Public Holiday

2             8 May   Mr Scott              History and Background of Public International Law

3             15 May Prof. Hobe          Sources of International Law

               22 May            no lecture

4             29 May Mr Scott              International Court of Justice and Case Study

5             5 June  Prof. Hobe          Jurisdiction

6             12 June Prof. Hobe          History and Background to EU Law

7             19 June Mr Scott              Sources of EU Law

8             26 June Mr Scott              Institutions of the EU

9             3 July    Mr Scott              European Court of Justice and Case Study

10           10 July  Mr Scott              Presentations (International and EU Law)

Necessary law texts:      

Core reading will be provided in advance of the lecture.

Recommended law texts:           

Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law, Eighth Edition, (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Rebecca Wallace and Olga Martin-Ortega, International Law, Seventh Edition, (Sweet & Maxwell, 2013).

Paul Craig and Grainne De Burca, EU Law: Text, Cases, and Materials, Sixth Edition, (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0031

Time/Date: Wed., 8 - 9:30am

Location: 106 S13

Germany’s history in the second half of the 20th century was overshadowed by the disastrous outcome of World War II, both with regard to domestic policies and international affairs. The atrocities committed by Nazi-Germany left a monstrous legacy for generations of Germans to deal with. The aftermath of the defeat of the German Army by a discordant alliance set the scene for the division of Europe and the rise of the Cold War. Germany’s own trajectory from division to unification, with a history split into a Western and an Eastern narrative (still today difficult to merge into a common perspective), is as peculiar as it is emblematic for the history of Europe in this epoch. 

This introductory course, taught in English, attempts to approach German history from the outside. The course is based on broad selections of original texts and sources as provided by the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. (http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/home.cfm?language=english) and will rely predominantly on international studies (in English). German students are very welcome, if they are ready to take on an external point of view; international students are invited to bring in their own perspective on German history based on studies/monographs from their home countries.

Course Program (Overview)

1. Wed, 11 April – Introduction

2. Wed, 18 April – Unconditional Surrender – Resetting Germany and the Germans

Wed, 25 April – NO SEMINAR

3. Wed, 2 May – Troubled Allied Cooperation/Double State-Building

4. Wed, 9 May –  The West: Social Market Economy and Social Restoration 

5. Mon, 14 May – RECOVERY SESSION 

                                16:00-17:30 in COPT-Building (315) Room: S 232 

                                The East: Command Economy and Real Existing Socialism

Wed, 16 May – NO SEMINAR

Wed, 23 May – NO SEMINAR

6. Mon, 28 May – RECOVERY SESSION

                                16:00-17:30 in COPT-Building (315) Room: S 232

                                Resilience and Rebellion: 1968 and Its Aftermath

7. Wed, 30 May – “Ostpolitik” and Reform: BRD and the Willy-Brandt-Effect 

8. Wed, 6 June – The DDR from Ulbricht to Honecker

9. Wed, 13 June – Two States, Two Societies – The Germanies in the 1970s/80s

10. Wed, 20 June – “Deutschlandpolitik”

11. Wed, 27 June – The Iron Eighties and The Gorbachev Impact

12. Wed, 4 July – Revolution

13. Wed, 11 July – (Re-)Unification

14. Wed, 18 July – Conclusion(s)

Lecturer: Dr. Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0036

Time/Date: Tue., 10 - 11:30am

Location: 103 S73

Duyisibao – this is the Chinese name for the German city Duisburg, the destination of the New Silk Road from China to Western Europe. In this context, Duisburg is one example for the interdependences of the European Union in a globalized world. The seminar will question the history of Europe under a methodological approach of economic and social history. It will analyse key terms, like globalization or European Integration. Therefore, this seminar will deal with European History of the 19th and 20th centuries under particular consideration of the European Integration after 1945. Its guiding question is: What are the main parameters for trade, growth, and wealth in Europe – in a more and more globalized world?

Introductory reading

- Ivan T. Berend, An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Europe. Economic Regimes from Laissez-Faire to Globalization, Cambridge, 2016.

- John McCormick, Europeanism, Oxford, 2010.

- John Pinder/Simon Usherwood, The European Union. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, 2013.

Lecturer: Judith Berns, MA

Course Nr: 15304.0035

Time/Date: Mon 4 - 5:30pm (start Apr 9th), double session on Apr 16th/23rd from 4 - 7pm

Location: 315 S232 

Credit Points: 3

Study competence meets Intercultural competence

This course will enable students to acquire intercultural competence and studying competence. As an exchange student daily life on campus brings along a number of challenges. Depending on the cultural and academic background the given environment and academic demands on a German campus can be overwhelming and acutally hindering a students´ performance in content seminars.

Outputs of this course will be:

Studying competence

• Writing academic papers (e.g. summary, essay)
• Preparing for quizzes and exams
• Designing power point presentations
• Holding presentations
• Strategies on group- /teamwork
• Participating in discussion
• Proper communication in an academic environment
• Autonomous learning strategies

Intercultural competence

• Theory on intercultural concepts
• Training intercultural skills
• Gaining comprehensive cultural knowledge

Intercultural competence is considered a key competence in an increasing culturally diverse society. Commanding intercultural skills will be a valuable asset in today´s working world, as international exchange and business across borders becomes more and more frequent.

The seminar was especially designed for CGSP-students, drawing from past experiences and feedback from CGSP-teachers, as well as students of the program.

All core courses can also be chosen for the elective module.

For more information on the modules (basic and elective) see pages 7-9 of our brochure.

Lecturer: Prof. Daniel Buncic

Course Nr: 14659.6001

Time/Date: Mon, 2 - 3:30pm (start Apr 9th)

Location: 106 S11

Credit Points: 3

The CCLS Lecture Series offers a forum to linguists from many different areas to present findings from current research. In this way, students will have access to up-to-date work done locally at the University of Cologne, as well as to work done internationally. Topics will cover a variety of languages, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives (see course list for detailed information). Individual class sessions will be divided up in a lecture part and a question and answer session. Open to all interested.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0004

Time/Date: Thu., 5:45 - 7:15pm (start Apr 12th)

Location: 216 S130

Credit Points: 3

The seminar will address internationally influential, important, and innovative debates concerning Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Democracy and Education.

Lecturer: Prof. Kirk Junker

Course Nr: 13980.2082

Time/Date: Wed, 8 - 9:30am (start: Apr 11th)

Location: 211 H115

Credit Points: 6

Please note: All students have to fulfill the standard requirements of the course! The course will be awared with 6CP upon successful participation!

Environmental law is a discipline of its own since approximately 1970.  Since that time, one can find laws made by the state in India, Germany, the United States and many other countries of the world.  What one should realize from this date in time is that environmental law was produced by the social events of the 1960s, which themselves were a product of social unrest.  Some of the social unrest was due to worldwide awareness that the industrial processes that enabled rapid growth in wealth, also came with great costs to the social and natural worlds.  In its first generation, environmental law thus came about as an attempt to provide specific legal tools to conserve natural resources and protect human health and the natural world.  In its second generation, through the principle of sustainable development, environmental law now also includes economic and social concerns. And it is also in this second generation of environmental law that we realize that environmental problems are worldwide and may be solved in a variety of ways by different states through law.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heinz Antor

Course Nr: 14569.3601

Time/Date: Mon, 12-1:30pm (start: Apr 9th)

Location: 103 S91

Credit Points: 3

In this seminar we will read and discuss four of William Shakespeare’s plays and analyse the many ways in which alterity, in particular racial and ethnic otherness, is constructed and negotiated in these seminal texts from the early modern period. We will have a look at the contemporary historical and political contexts just as well as Shakespeare’s analyses of issues of human identity and their relation to notions of the other. Special attention will be given to postcolonial approaches to the Bard, but other theoretical frameworks will also be considered. Students should have read the following plays by the beginning of term: Titus Andronicus (1594), The Merchant of Venice (1598), Othello, the Moor of Venice (1603), and The Tempest (1611). I recommend the latest Arden edition, but any other unabridged version will do as well. Active participation, presentation in class, essay (schriftliche Hausarbeit)

Lecturer: Dr. Jenny Sager

Course Nr: 14227.0114

Time/Date: Thu., 4 - 5:30pm

Location: 103 S92

Credit Points: 3

This course explores the remarkable variety of ways in which Shakespeare's life and works have been adapted by contemporary film directors. The course asks what happens when Shakespeare is popularized, and when the popular is Shakespeareanized; it queries the factors that determine the definitions of and boundaries between the legitimate and illegitimate, the canonical and the authorized and the subversive, the oppositional, the scandalous and the inane. This seminar series will discuss the ways in which the plays of Shakespeare, as well as Shakespeare himself, have been interpreted and reinvented, adapted and parodied, transposed into another media, and act as a source of inspiration for film-makers worldwide.

Popularizing Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew (dir. Zeffirelli, 1967)

Shakespearean Musicals: West Side Story (dir. Wise and Robbins, 1961)

Shakespearean Realism: Henry V (dir. Branagh, 1989)

Postmodern Shakespeare: Romeo + Juliet (dir. Luhrmann, 1996)

Documentaries and Biopic: Looking for Richard II (dir. Pacino, 1996) and Shakespeare in Love (dir. Madden, 1998)

Teen Shakespeare: 10 Things I Hate About You (dir. Junger, 1999)

Shakespeare and the Modern Media: Coriolanus (dir. Fiennes, 2011)

This course will be assessed by a presentation and 2-3 page synopsis of your presentation. This course will be taught in the English language.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Christiane Bongartz

Course Nr:14569.2102

Time/Date: Thu., 12 - 1:30pm (start Apr. 12th)

Location: 105 Hörsaal C

Credit Points: 3

We will discuss linguistic development and the factors promoting it, highlighting the psycholinguistic similarities and differences involved in the various acquisitional settings.

Lecturer: Dr. Katja Lenz

Course Nr: 14569.2504

Time/Date: Tue., 12 - 1:30pm

Location: 911 S224

Credit Points: 3

“Throughout the world, multicultural and multilingual classrooms are becoming the rule rather than the exception” (Hornberger & McKay 2010:xv). Our course will focus on situations involving English, while not necessarily excluding other settings. We will discuss sociolinguistic issues in L1 (mothertongue) and in bilingual education in second or foreign languages. We will investigate official language acquisition policies with respect to national and regional languages, minority languages (immigrant and indigenous) and foreign languages, but may also look at individual school policies concerning language education and even language education in the family. All of these settings include official or individual choices of the languages to be acquired, methods of instruction, etc. Individual topics may include for instance sociolinguistic aspects of linguistic teacher training, uses and problems of standardised language testing in education, etc. As a basis for our discussion, our course work will also cover more general sociolinguistic concepts such as variation and change, standardisation, language planning, language maintenance, shift and death, linguistic attitudes or ideologies and the identificational function of language. In addition we will look at the role of English as a world-language and the consequences of this status for language education world-wide.

Lecturer: Dr. Göran Nieragden

Course Nr: 14578.0050

Time/Date: Tue., 8 - 9:30 am (start 17 Apr.)

Location: 216 S133

Credit Points: 3

This course will approach contemporary fiction from the US and the UK with a focus on the treatment of current political affairs, their background, aftermath, and prospected future developments. Our reading will encompass satiric, grotesque, and enraged stories on the underlying issues of regionalism, identity constructions and ‘othering’

Lecturer: Stephan Vogel

Course Nr.: 14335.0108

Time/Date: Wed., 2 - 3:30pm

Location: 211 S101

Credit Points: 6

Course info: http://www.cccp.uni-koeln.de/

Please note: All students have to fulfill the standard requirements of the course! The course will be awared with 6CP upon successful participation!

Lecturer: Dr. Hermann Halbeisen

Course Nr.: 14335.5004

Time/Date: Wed., 4 - 5:30pm - start 2 May 2018

Location: 202 IR II classroom

Credit Points: 6

'Democracy' is highly appreciated as an ideal denoting the political aspirations of people in various parts of the world. As far as the precise meaning of the term is concerned, however, a considerable spectrum of interpretations exists. One reason for this diversity is due to the fact that the concept developed over a considerable period of time and incorporated different interpretations.

In order to gain a profound understanding of the development of the idea of democracy this course introduces a number of classical and modern texts that influenced its understanding.

The concept of 'close reading' is used, i.e. analysis and discussion of the text constitute the major part of a session.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Raquib Ahmed

Course Nr: 14892.0075

Time/Date: Mon., 10 - 11:30 am 

Location: 915 Übungsraum 5

Credit Points: 3

Global environmental crises

•             Components of environment: lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and

•             Impact of natural issues on environment and human induced issues on environment

•             Global, Regional and local Issues and management: degradation of soil and

•             Climate change as a global phenomena

•             Drought, flooding, coastal hazards, global warming, sea-level rise, ozone layer

•             Potential effects of global climate change on food security and human health

•             Global environment change and social instability: context – migration and social

•             Climate Change dialogues, mitigation and adaptation strategies, related policies in

•             Role of international partnership, multi-national corporations, non-governmental

Lecturer: Dr. Elisabeth Gilbert

Course Nr: 14578.0020

Time/Date: Mon., 10 - 11:30 am 

Location: 211 H112

Credit Points: 3

What is literature, what do I need to know to be able to fully appreciate a piece of fiction, a poem or a play as a literary scholar? What do we mean when we speak about culture or specific cultures? What are the tools and techniques, the aims and approaches in literary and cultural studies? What movements and names need I know for future analyses? These are some of the topics dealt with in this course, which opens small doors to a variety of aspects of the field.