Course Description

Modern capitalist market economy is an extremely powerful instrument to create wealth and to satisfy human demands – and to exploit, alienate and destroy the very societies it is supposed to serve. How can it be made moral?

Actually, there are quite a number of ways: for example through deliberate lawmaking, responsible research & development (e.g. technology assessment), through enlightened consumer choices and sustainable use of human and natural capital assets. But they often come at a high cost and involve more fundamental questions:

-       How can politicians and lawmakers regulate the market for the common good without suffocating it?

-       How can big corporations and tech companies continue to deliver innovative services without monopolizing the market and dominating their customers?

-       What does a fair distribution of income look like?

-       How do we assign value to natural and social goods (like clean air or low crime rates) and how do we measure sustainable welfare beyond traditional economic growth?

-       How can consumers harness their own power to make informed choices and act in accordance with their values?

-       Are digital business models based on artificial intelligence and machine learning threatening the autonomy of consumer choice?

-       What does corporate social responsibility look like in times of crisis?

These and other questions are not only of interest to economists and business people but are relevant to all economic agents (individuals, companies, state institutions, etc.).

To answer these questions, the course equips participants with key ethical approaches to economic behavior (virtue ethics, religious teachings, deontology, utilitarianism, master morality, neo-liberalism), approaches which have been or still are dominating ethical discourses on economic behavior.

These ethical approaches and ideas range from Ancient Greek philosophy to modern economic theory (Friedman, Ostrom, and Game Theory). Since religions, philosophies and social theories are major sources of ethical conduct, the course covers a wide array of these, including teachings of the Catholic Church fathers, ideas from European modern period philosophy (Kant, Mill, Nietzsche) and from modern critical sociology (Veblen, Weber, Adorno, Marcuse).

As a major learning outcome, participants develop ethical frames of reference which allow them to identify and tackle ethical dilemmas posed by today’s economy. Particularly, they will learn do adopt strategies that avoid moral hazards and self-harming or self-defeating behavior. Thus, they will be able to act ethically conscious in real life situations, be it…

-       as decision-makers in firms and investment companies allocating capital, workforce and bonuses,

-       as scientific researchers launching technologies that impact human life and the environment,

-       as customers rewarding sustainable or punishing unsustainable business models, production methods or supply chains or

-       as lawmakers or leaders of NGOs setting legal and ethical standards and fighting collusion, corruption, fraud, exploitation, overproduction & -consumption, wastefulness, obsolescence, extinction, free-riding or other forms of cost externalizing.

Participants’ learning outcomes will be put to test in a hands-on way:

- when we do case studies on contemporary topics in business ethics,

- when we conduct online expert interviews on corporate compliance, digital business models and the ethics of artificial intelligence and

- when we play (and have fun with) a CSR (corporate social responsibility) online simulation game.

Below the line, participants will learn to analyze, interpret and transform economic behavior – first and foremost their own!

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule)

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Economics of European Integration
• Europe, Migration, Refugees

Course Description

How can you develop strong self-leadership and empower yourself for the challenges of the 21^st century? Given the complexities of our globally-interconnected world (VUCA) and the manifold fields that urgently require action (UN Sustainable Development Goals), a reliable personal compass needs to be calibrated from the inside out. In this course, students develop their unique compass that can guide them for everyday decisions, life choices and meaningful action. Designed as a transformational journey with three phases, the course aims to facilitate self-awareness, establish leadership and empower confidence to walk one’s own path.

Key concepts and models are taken from a wide range of disciplines, incl. developmental, social and organisational psychology, neuroscience and philosophy, management and systems theory. Theories are complemented with practical tools that students can apply after finishing the course, such as mindfulness and breathwork techniques, focusing and emotional regulation, compassion exercises, as well as dialogue and communication tools.

In the first part, students build a foundation with practical self-awareness methods to better know and understand themselves. They practice how to create a mental and relational space to deal with stress, conflicts and ambiguity. In a multicultural dialogue they learn to make their perspectives, values and motivations transparent. From these insights, the first core assignment is to sketch a personal purpose canvas. The goal is to establish an inner alignment and apply useful tools for self- and co-regulation.

Students are next introduced to leadership skills and models that can help them navigate through change. Key is to evolve a systemic mindset that places individual development within the collective context of working in teams, socio-cultural conditions, and global viewpoints. They get introduced to expert networks that work within the field of global impact and transformation and will prepare for this with a series of short presentations on relevant topics.

In the third part, students work on their competence profile to gain more clarity about their possible contribution in this world. In an archetypal Hero’s Journey they empower their strengths, discover new talents and explore how to walk their own path. They complement this with gender-specific aspects and establish leadership qualities. The students who chose not to give a presentation will write a short essay to reflect on learnings and growth moments.

The course provides basic experiences for the lasting development of a leadership personality.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule)

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Seduction and Terrror: Hitler's Germany
• Twentieth Century Berlin: People, Places, Words