UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE International

Lecturer: Dr. Wulf Reiners

Course Nr.: 15304.0113

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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.

Lecturer: Thilo Zimmermann

Course Nr.: 15304.0116

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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.

Lecturer: Rada Popova

Course Nr: 15304.0114

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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)

Lecturer: Dr. Claudia Hefftler

Course Nr: 15304.0115

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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.

Lecturer: Dr. Johannes Müller

Course Nr.: 15304.0111

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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.

Lecturer: Benjamin Naujoks

Course Nr.: 15304.0112

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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.

Lecturer: Judith Berns

Course Nr: 15304.0117

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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. Christine Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2603

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must have basic knowledge in linguistics.

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. Christine Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2606

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must have basic knowledge in linguistics.

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. Christine Bongartz

Course Nr: 14569.2102

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

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. 14:00-15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3 

Format: Lecture

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:  Birgit Hellwig, Tobias Alexander Herrmann

Course Nr: 14659.6001

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

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, 12:00-13:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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: Thu, 12:00- 13:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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 - 11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

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

Format: Seminar

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 mandatory.

Lecturer: Sarah Youssef

Course Nr: 14569.3404

Time/Date: Thu, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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: 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

Format: Jewish Literature in Eastern and Central Europe I & II is a two-part course taking place twice a week. Part I (Texts) is a lecture, Part II (Intellectual History) is a seminar. It accounts for 9CP in total. 

Multilingual Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe

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: Dr. Maria das Dores Girão da Cruz

Course Nr: 14501.2247

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00 -  15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Gender is a socially inclusive concept and refers to social constructs. It is variable, flexible, and unbounded, including women and men. It comprises assigned beliefs, attitudes, symbols, behavior and actions that define women and men in a particular society. Gender encompasses the notion, essential to many African cultures that the relations between men and women are not binary or polar, but are situational and dynamic. Illustrations of how masculinity and femininity are variably performed across African cultures will be drawn from anthropology and history, through the analysis of ethnographies, movies, novels and other types of material.
Gender relationships, often described in terms of the relationship between public and private spheres and linked to sex roles, are often perceived as based on “dual-sex” patterns in which women are subordinated to their male relatives, especially in patriarchal societies. However, these gender relationships were exaggerated by colonial, Western, hegemonic contacts. Consequently, class discussion focuses on the intersectionality of gender, class, race and power, as well as it will avoid notions of identity that are timeless, unproblematic and static. Furthermore, we will avoid uniform models of African women (and men)’s experiences, often shaped by western ideas, including feminist writings. This seminar seeks to contest ideas of stability of gender identity and roles, and to explore diversity and historicity of gender constructs. Concepts of colonialism(s), modernity and history will be at the core of our discussions.

• Have you ever heard of a South African woman named Sarah/Saartje Baartman and known in Europe as the “Hottentot Venus?”

• Did you ever consider that female spirit possession was a tool against colonial expansion?

• Did you know that barbershops in Tanzania are more than places where young men earn a living by cutting hair? They are  sites in where popular culture is created through the appropriation of images from western hip hop music, fashion and celebrity to participate in the creation of youth, masculine identity?

• Did you know that the credit for the spread of rugby throughout the world goes to imperial settlers from England? that this sport is closely related to masculine colonial experiences? And it is closely related to South African constructs of masculinity, Afrikaner nationalism and apartheid?

These are only some of the topics we will address in class. Our classes will involve a combination of lecture, discussion and occasional group exercises. We will alternate between more detailed case studies, films and broader issue-oriented discussions. The orientation of the course is towards fostering and exercise of critical thinking, and analytical skills of all participants, thus be prepared to participate in the discussion. One of the goals of this class is to challenge students to bring greater insight into their understanding of issues of gender, power relations, culture, construction of the past(s) and colonialism. Although you may not be familiar with some of the data, it is fundamental that you digest the information in an analytical fashion, to bring our different experiences together and move the discussion of class topics to a higher level.

Lecturer: Thomas Batchelor

Course Nr: 14569.2304

Time/Date: Wed, 16:00 -  17:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must have basic knowledge in linguistics.

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.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Dr. Victoria Herche

Course Nr: 14569.3502

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

The desert is a symbolic zone perceived as a place of absences, a place that mirrors the worse dread of an interior void, of existential loneliness. The ocean is experienced in contradictory ways: as powerful but serene, beautiful but dangerous. Such bleak, indeterminate, powerful landscapes offer a narrative space in which protagonists are tested and emerge as transformed. Deserts and oceans as a setting in literature and cinema invite post-colonial readings, as places where European notions of so-called “civilisation” based on culture, law and order, logic, and people’s mastery of the land they live in, fall apart in the face of the strong and untamed forces of nature. These narratives further carry the potential to foreground issues of climate change and environmental destruction.
This course explores fictional and non-fictional narratives from the 19th to 21st century, applying theories of post-colonialism and ecocriticism, and debating aspects of identity, nation, social and historical structures, indigeneity and gender.
As a basis for our discussion we read novels by Michael Ondaatje, Frank Herbert, Kim Scott, selected short stories, poems and use further examples from visual arts and film, including Lawrence of Arabia, and Mad Max.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Ingo Johannes Kleiber

Course Nr: 14569.2307

Time/Date: Fri, 8:00 -  9:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must have basic knowledge in linguistics.

The advent of social media, web-based technologies and systems enabling users to create and share content, has generated “a new online layer through which people organize their lives” (van Dijck 2013: 4). Social media has not only fundamentally changed how we present ourselves and how we share and access information, but also how we, individually but also as a society, communicate and use language to create meaning.
This course will investigate social media through the lens of various linguistic disciplines including pragmatics, sociolinguistics, (critical) discourse analysis, computer-mediated communication, and corpus linguistics. In doing so, we will consider a variety of social media platforms (for example, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok) and ‘their’ language as well as a number of associated linguistic phenomena such as emojis and memes.
Aside from investigating various examples from multiple perspectives, we will address a variety of methodological questions and hurdles associated with linguistic social media research. In particular, we will discuss how we can approach collecting and analyzing complex multimodal social media data and how this data differs from more traditional texts.
After completing this course, students will be able to discuss social media and associated linguistic phenomena from a variety of linguistic perspectives. Students will also be able to collect and analyze social media data using several fundamental methods and approaches. In addition, by conducting a small-scale research project, participants will be able to strengthen their research and academic writing competencies.

van Dijck, José. 2013. The Culture of Connectivity. New York: Oxford University Press.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Dr. Tanja Kohnen

Course Nr: 14569.2501

Time/Date: Tue, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

The aim of this course is to make you familiar with the earliest beginnings of the English language, roughly the period between 750 and 1100. Students are expected to prepare Old English reading excerpts of a variety of genres, both in terms of content and linguistic structure, and to discuss these in class - this includes thorough study of the grammar. Basic knowledge of Old English is helpful but is not required as a prerequisite for this course.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Dr. Katja Lenz

Course Nr: 14569.2504

Time/Date: Wed, 12:00 -  13:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must be studying a major which is related to English linguistics as this is an intermediate course, not an introductory course.

The course will focus on the wide variety of Englishes spoken today as native, second and foreign languages. We will look at how, when and why they developed as they did and investigate their sociolinguistic background as well as their present-day forms and functions. We will also study the global impact of English and several models which try to categorize or typologize Englishes around the world. In addition, we will enter the main current debates in the research field of World Englishes:
“In spite of the consensus on the viability of non-native Englishes, there are issues that still remain unsettled. These include the status of innovations in the nativization process, the continued use of native norms as a point of reference, the ambivalence between recognition and acceptance of non-native norms, the adequacy of pedagogical models, and the overriding need for codification. Underlying these issues is the constant pull between native and non-native English norms. Innovations in non-native Englishes are often judged not for what they are or their function within the varieties in which they occur, but rather according to how they stand in relation to the norms of native Englishes.”
Bamgbose, Ayo. 1998. “Torn between the norms: innovations in world Englishes”. World Englishes 17/1:1-14.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Judith Rauscher

Course Nr: 14569.3607

Time/Date: Tue, 14:00 -  15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must be studying a major which is related to English studies as this is an intermediate course, not an introductory course.

Following WII and the Holocaust, the 1951 Refugee Convention defined a refugee as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” Today, the UN and other organizations protecting refugees and their rights recognize that people do not only cross international borders to flee from persecution, war, or violence, but also to escape the devastating consequences of climate change. But what exactly is the difference between a migrant and a refugee? Who gets to decide whether a person is one or the other? If there are political refugees and climate refugees, why don’t we usually hear people speak of economic refugees? And finally: how does representation as well as self-representation matter in this context?

In this course, we will examine representations of refugees in American literature and culture focusing primarily on 20th- and 21st-century U.S.-American fiction, poetry, journalism, photography, film and TV. Drawing from academic fields such as American studies, refugee studies, mobility studies, Holocaust studies, and diaspora studies, we will examine which kinds of people have been depicted as refugees in U.S. history and which people have tried to refuse that label. We will discuss how (self-)representations of Jewish refugees after WWII differ from (self-)representations of Vietnamese refugees in American culture and analyze how these (self-)representations negotiate questions of race, gender, class, identity, memory, violence, trauma, and citizenship. Finally, we will examine how speculative fiction and TV uses the figure of the refugee to comment on (contemporary) American politics, society, and culture.

In this course, you will learn how to read literary and cultural texts in their respective historical, cultural, and genre context. You will learn how to perform close readings of texts and visual materials, how to identify prominent topics and cultural narratives, and how to analyze primary materials by using critical and theoretical concepts. You will gain insights into the history of war and immigration in the United States and develop a more complex understanding of the ways in which refugees and displaced peoples of different cultural backgrounds have been represented in U.S. culture during the 20th and early 21st century. You will also practice how to work with secondary materials (theoretical texts and scholarly analyses), how to develop a scholarly argument, and, finally, how to come up with an interesting thesis statement of your own.

In preparation for this course, please purchase a copy of the following texts (if possible, get the edition listed):
• Omar El Akkad: American War (2017), Picador

Lecturers: Dr. Elisabeth Gilbert, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Andreas Rohde

Course Nr: 14578.0076

Time/Date: Thu, 14:00 -  15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must have basic knowledge in English studies.

This seminar is dedicated to reviving some of the most influential Hollywood movies of the past century, divided by genre. It is a team teaching project by Professor Rohde and Dr Gilbert that aims to highlight how stories are told via cinematography and which works have most impacted our popular culture, to the point of still being palpable today. Our film analyses will cover particular camerawork, music, and editing techniques as well as recurring topics and issues that reflect on a particular moment in social history.
We will work a lot with films available via YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix though hard copies can be borrowed from our DVD-archive via the seminar library. Please plan in regular zoom sessions.

Attendance in the first session is mandatory.

Lecturer: Dr. Judith Hofmann

Course Nr: 14578.0020

Time/Date: Wed, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

What is literature, what does one do 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.

Lecturer: Mareike Tödter

Course Nr: 14578.0025

Time/Date: Mon. 14:00 -  15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

News surrounding COVID-19 and events of environmental change have dominated newspaper headlines, speeches and TV shows in 2020. These recent developments have rattled human ‘normality’ as well as routines of our everyday life. However, fiction has imagined and speculated on similar events before. Margaret Atwood has provided us with an entrancing tale of a ‘ustopian’ society where most animals we know of today are extinct, and instead, new life forms created by bioengineering now populate the world. In her MaddAddam-trilogy, Atwood speculates on what constitutes human life and how it might be changed along an altered environment. In this course, we will interpret one novel of her trilogy through the lenses of various theories. We will familiarise ourselves with ‘typical’ outbreak narratives of pandemics, the human-animal divide and with contested concepts of nature and culture.

Please note that this will be a complex and reading-heavy course.

Lecturer: Dr. Silke Hackenesch

Course Nr: 14595.0401

Time/Date: Wed, 10:00 -  11:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

Introductory lecture consisting of a lecture series and a tutorial which is mandatory for students in North American Studies wishing to complete their master module. The lecture will address an overview of North American history, focusing on social and cultural history. Excerpts from texts and single images will be interpreted during the lecture. In the tutorial, students will discuss primary sources and scholarly texts with a specific question in mind, stressing a deeper understanding of major historical developments in North American history.

Recommended literature: 
Paul S. Boyer et. al., The Enduring Vision. A History of the American People. 7th Edition, Boston: Wadsworth 2011.

Lecturer: Dr. Jan Wawrzyniec Czarnecki

Course Nr: 14578.0076

Time/Date: Wed, 14:00 -  15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Lecture

Lecturer: Dragana Grbic

Course Nr: 14591.0053

Time/Date: Mon, 16:00 -  17:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Seminar

Did the “Balkan Enlightenment” actually exist? If yes, when and where did it take place, and within which geographical area, religious context or linguistic frame? Should it not be more accurate to label it as the “South East European Enlightenment” or even the “South Slavic Enlightenment”?
The terminology issue reflects the multiple strands of conversations that cohered around the poetical questions of the epoch and sheds the light on the complex and often contradictory processes of the Enlightenment that were at work in the Balkans during the 18th and 19th centuries. The multiple and conflicting terms of identity affected the works of the representatives of the Balkan Enlightenment. By acknowledging the linguistic, national and religious differences between the Enlightenment thinkers and their multitudinous, often conflicting intellectual traditions, within the seminar we will attempt to recognize the identity markers of the Balkan Enlightenment and to define the key words that would sum up the characteristics of the Enlightenment Project arising on the margins of the 18th century Europe.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Federico Spinetti

Course Nr: 14206.0303

Time/Date: Fri, 21.05., 11.06., 02.07. and 16.07, 14:00-18.30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must be studying a major which is related to musicology as this is an intermediate course, not an introductory course.

This course explores the complex intersections of politics and music, with an emphasis on protest, resistance and social movements. The course examines a broad range of case studies from diverse cultures, societies and historical periods drawing predominantly from scholarly literature in ethnomusicology, sociology of music and popular music studies. It also aims to bring to the discussion a number of perspectives from political and critical theory.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Federico Spinetti

Course Nr: 14206.0306

Time/Date: Sat, 22.05., 12.06., 03.07. and 17.07. , 10:00-14:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must be studying a major which is related to musicology as this is an intermediate course, not an introductory course.

This course explores multiple relationships between music and cultural memory – with an emphasis on events and conflicts of the 20th century and the ways in which these have been memorialized in musical works and practices up until today. In the process, we will address both musically-mediated cultural memories, and the social mediation of musical representations of the past. The course engages with the scholarly fields of ethnomusicology, popular music studies, memory studies, history, philosophy, and art history to provide students with a forum to discuss and examine theoretical  perspectives as well as specific case studies. Course materials will include class instruction, student presentation and discussion of reading  assignments, and short student-led research assignments.

Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Blanchard

Course Nr: 14213.0117

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Lecturer: Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0015

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

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

Attendance for the first session of the seminar is mandatory for all registered participants. In case of absence, the place will be reassigned to another student.

Lecturer: Stefan Neubert

Course Nr: 14387.0021

Time/Date: Tue, 17:45 - 19:15h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Attendance for the first session is mandatory for all registered participants. In case of absence, the place will be reassigned to another student.

Lecturer: Dr. Silke Marchand

Course Nr: 14402.0033

Time/Date: Mon, 14:00 - 15:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Students must be studying a major which is related to educational studies as this is an intermediate course, not an introductory course. 

In this course, we will discuss different types of evidence in education. What we learn about basic human cognitive processes will be applied to strategies for effective learning and thus teaching. Required readings will include textbook chapters and empirical research papers. Classroom discussions as well as the texts used in class will be in English.

Attendance for the first session of the seminar is mandatory for all registered participants. In case of absence, the place will be reassigned to another student.

Lecturer: Hermann Halbeisen

Course Nr: 14387.0015

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Seminar

'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: Hartmut Marhold

Course Nr: 14335.0205

Time/Date: Tue. April 13th, 10-12h, Mon. May 3rd, 9-12h, Tue. May 4th, 9-12h, Wed. May 5th, 9-12h, Tue.June 15th, 9-12h

Location: online

Credit Points: 6

Format: Seminar

When the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, came into office in summer 2019, she launched an ambitious “European Green New Deal” project, placing the fight against climate change, protection of biodiversity and in a broader sense sustainable development at the heart of EU policies. Just when the project took shape, the COVID-19-pandemic broke out and required itself the attention and action of the EU: “Next Generation EU” is the equally ambitious recovery programme the EU put on track from May 2020 on. How do these two projects relate to each other? Is “Next Generation EU” marked by a strategy, which places recovery – understood as renewed growth – above all and relegates the “Green New Deal” to ‘better times’? Or are they positively linked in a mutually reinforcing way, is “Next Generation EU” aiming at a ‘Green Recovery’, supporting and accelerating the transition to sustainable development in Europe? The seminar will analyze in which way both projects are intertwined and how they are being implemented together.

Our first meeting will offer an overview and introduction. The second meeting – a bloc of three days (or less, depending on the number of participants) will serve as an exchange among participants over the relevant questions of the topic, which will at the same time be the topics for seminar papers. The third and last meeting is dedicated to communicate preliminary findings of the various paper projects.

Lecturer: Phillip Immenkötter

Course Nr: 140145002

Time/Date: Tue, 16:00 - 17:30 and Thu, 14:00 - 15:30 (last session: June 24th, 2021)

Location: online

Credit Points: 6

Format: Lecture with integrated excercises

Pre-requisites: basic understanding of mathematics and economics

1. Financial Reporting (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, Financial Ratios)
2. Time Value of Money (Future Values, Present Values, Multiple Cash Flows, Perpetuities and Annuities)
3. Capital Budgeting (Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Equivalent Annuities)
4. Cash Management (How to optimize cash balances)
5. Risk, Return and Cost of Equity (Risk Reward Trade-off, Portfolio Theory, Capital Asset Pricing Model)
6. Debt and the Cost of Capital (Leverage, Taxes, Theorems of Modigliani & Miller)
7. Equity valuation – DCF (The discounted cash flow model)

Students will learn …
… fundamental methods for managing and evaluation cash flows.
… determining the cost of capital.
… to evaluate projects based on their cash flows.
… to determine the value of a company.

Lecturer: Felix Mosner

Course Nr: 140145008

Time/Date: Tue, April 20th, 10:00 - 12:00, Tue, April 27th, 10:00 - 12:00, Mon, June 7th, 10:00 - 12:00, Tue, June 8th, 10:00 - 12:00, Wed, June 9th: tba

Location: online

Credit Points: 6

Format: Seminar

Pre-requisites: Basic knowledge in supply chain management and innovation management is helpful but not expected. Students will benefit from being familiar with the general structure of innovation processes and their dynamics. Students should bring basic business administration knowledge and interest.

This seminar revolves around how companies are making use of their Frontline Innovation potential and aims to familiarize the students with fundamental knowledge of research topics and methodology in the field of supply chain management. Topics revolve around the different degrees of exploitation of frontline employees’ potential in the general innovation initiatives of companies in manifold industries and countries. Students can expect to get creative and deepen their knowledge about working scientifically.

In session one students will learn the basics of academic work, which they can further deepen in a structured writing workshop (if space is available). In the second session the topic of Frontline Innovation will be introduced as a starting point for the research project of each student. Students are allowed to work in groups. After submitting a proposal, students will present the results of their work in a final session.

Each student will hand in a presentation on a chosen topic and present the findings to the course within a (group) presentation. The students will, if needed, get assistance during their research process.

Presentation slides submission by 31st May 2021 (online submission via ILIAS).
Final presentation and discussion of your presentation on 7th & 8th of June 2021.
Attendance of all participants on the announced days is mandatory.

Kick-off session: 20 April 2021, 10:00 – 12:00, via Zoom
Session 2: 27 April 2021, 10:00-12:00 via Zoom

Final presentations and discussions:
Mo 7th of June 2021, 10 am - 2 pm
Tue 8th of June 2021, 10 am - 2 pm
Optional: Mo 14th of June 2021, 10 am - 2 pm

Lecturer: Angelika Nußberger

Course Nr: 13980.2052

Time/Date: Tue, 19:30 -  21:00h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

Lecturer:

Course Nr: 13980.2082

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 6

Format: Lecture

Lecturer: Keith Wilder

Course Nr: 14142.4020

Time/Date: Mon. 12:00-13:30h

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Lecture

In recent years, it has become essential for lawyers across the globe to work with English language contracts. This course aims to help students develop the necessary skills to draft and edit English language contracts successfully. The course will provide students with "hands-on" exercises, allowing them to practice drafting contracts through individual, pair and group activities. Contract drafting and contract editing tips will be discussed, and a systematic method of analyzing English language contracts will be introduced. 

Lecturer:  Christina Bogner

Course Nr: 14892.0280

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

Location: online

Credit Points: 3

Format: Seminar

Ecosystem research combines different aspects of ecosystems in a wholistic manner. It also includes anthropogenic influences because human activities affect ecosystems in multiple ways. Based on scientific literature, we will develop and deepen our understanding of topics in the scope of this broad theme. Additionally, we will develop criteria for a good scientific literature review, peer review and peer feedback.

Possible topics are (selection):
• Land use and land cover changes (methods and applications)
• Microplastic in terrestrial environment (detection, quantification, effects, transport)
• Soil hydrology
• Land degradation
• Ecosystem services (in particular of soils, link to natural capital)
• Planetary boundaries
• Sustainable Development Goals (synergies and trade-offs, data availability, indicators)

Thorough background in physical geography.

Lecturer:  Univ.-Prof. Dr. Uwe Ruschewitz

Course Nr: 14816.1208

Time/Date: Tue, 13:00-14:00

Location: online

Credit Points: 2

Format: Lecture

This lecture is part of a module project consisting of additional seminars and experimental lab sessions. ViM-students would participate in the lecture only. 

Lecturer:  Univ.-Prof. Dr. Axel Griesbeck

Course Nr: 14816.1230

Time/Date: Wed, 15:00-16:00

Location: online

Credit Points: 2

Format: Lecture

This lecture is part of a module project consisting of additional seminars and experimental lab sessions. ViM-students would participate in the lecture only. 

Lecturer:  George Marinescu, Duc Viet Vu

Course Nr: 14722.0115

Time/Date: Blocked Sessions (most likely July 1st and 2nd - times to be discussed), pre-liminary meeting April 6th, 14:00h

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Lecture

The aim of the seminar is to review some results and methods from the rich field of function theory of a variable from the point of view of multidimensional complex analysis. Quite a number of the questions treated here lead to deep and only partially solved problems in the higher dimensional case, and some of the methods are applicable in the theory of both one and several variables. The seminar is intended for bachelor's/master's students in mathematics. Prerequisites are the basic courses in Analysis and Linear Algebra, as well as Complex Analysis. Possible topics are: Inhomogeneous Cauchy-Riemann equations, Theorems of Weierstrass, Mittag-Leffler, Runge, Bergman projection, Theorem of Bell, Continuation Theorem of Painlevé, Szegö kernel and the Riemann mapping, etc.
The seminar takes place as a block seminar.

There is a pre-liminary meeting on April 6th, 14:00h (more details)

Lecturer:  Duc Viet Vu

Course Nr: 14722.0118

Time/Date: Mon, 8:00-9-30h (lecture), Thu, 8:00-9:30h (lecture) and 10:00-11:30h (excercise) - all three times slot need to be attended in order to follow the course properly

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Lecture

Pre-requisites: This course is on Master level and previous knowledge in the field is required. 

Pluripotential theory has been an indispensable tool in various research fields, especially, in complex geometry and complex dynamics. A main object of this theory is the notion of plurisubharmonic function which is a higher dimensional generalization of subharmonic functions on complex plane. The aim of this course is to give rudiments of pluripotential theory providing readers a necessary background for advanced reading on this theory and its applications. It is designed as a Master course for one semester at theuniversity of Cologne. Main references for the course are [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. A minimal prerequisite is required. Students should have basic knowledge from the courses Complex Analysis, Linear Algebra, and Analysis I-III.

References
[1] J.-P. DEMAILLY, Complex analytic and differential geometry. http://www.fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~demailly.

[2] , Analytic methods in algebraic geometry, vol. 1 of Surveys of Modern Mathematics,International Press, Somerville, MA; Higher Education Press, Beijing, 2012.

[3] L. H¨O RMANDER, Notions of convexity, vol. 127 of Progress in Mathematics, Birkhäuser Boston, Inc., Boston, MA, 1994.

[4] M. KLIMEK, Pluripotential theory, vol. 6 of London Mathematical Society Monographs. New Series, The Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991. Oxford Science Publications.

[5] T. RANSFORD, Potential theory in the complex plane, vol. 28 of London Mathematical Society Student Texts, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995.

Lecturer: Nikhil Savale

Course Nr: 14722.0036

Time/Date: Mon AND Wed. 10:00-11:30h (starting April 12th)

Location: online

Credit Points: 9

Format: Lecture

Sub-Riemannian (sR) geometry, a generalization of Riemannian geometry, is the study of bracket generating metric-distributions inside the
tangent space of manifold. There is a wealth of examples of such distributions including contact/even-contact hyper planes, Martinet, Grushin and Engel distributions. The subject arose out of several motivations from problems in classical and quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, hypoelliptic PDE's, calculus of variations, optimal control/transport and many more.

Although analogous in definition to Riemannian geometry, the geometry of sub-Riemannian manifolds presents several new and interesting features. One of these includes the Hausdorff dimension, given by the volume growth rate of metric balls, and which in general is strictly bigger than the topological dimension of the manifold. Another includes the phenomenon of abnormal geodesics which do not satisfy any variational equations. Furthermore, the Laplacian of a sub-Riemannian manifold is a hypoelliptic operator, being a sum of squares operator of Hörmander type. Spectral asymptotics and microlocal questions for the sR Laplacian such as Weyl's laws, wave trace expansion, quantum ergodicity and propagation of singularities and control/observability for its wave equation are largely unexplored and a topic of active research.

The purpose of the course will be to give an introduction to sub-Riemannian geometry and the spectral theory of its Laplacian. The first half
of the course will cover the geometric/dynamical aspects [1,3] including Hausdorff dimension, distance/volume comparisons, characterization
and examples of abnormal geodesics. The second half will be devoted to the sub-Riemannian Laplacian with the main objectives being the proof of its hypoellipticity [4] and small time heat kernel expansion. Time permitting we will explore connections to Bergman-Szego kernel expansion and estimates on CR and complex manifolds [2].