Course Description

This course gives a wide overview of the development of public and private architecture in Berlin during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Following an introduction to the urban development and architectural history of the Modern era, the Neo-Classical period will be surveyed with special reference to the works of Schinkel. This will be followed by classes on architecture of the German Reich after 1871, which was characterized by both modern and conservative tendencies and the manifold activities during the time of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s such as the Housing Revolution. The architecture of the Nazi period will be examined, followed by the developments in East and West Berlin after the Second World War. The course concludes with a detailed review of the city’s more recent and current architectural profiles, including an analysis of the conflicts concerning the re-design of Berlin after the Cold War and the German reunification.

Seven walking tours to historically significant buildings and sites are included (Unter den Linden, Gendarmenmarkt, New Housing Estates, Chancellory, Potsdamer Platz, Holocaust Memorial etc.). The course aims to offer a deeper understanding of the interdependence of Berlin’s architecture and the city’s social and political structures. It considers Berlin as a model for the highways and by-ways of a European capital in modern times.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Berlin: Music and Sound in the Digital Age
• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Course Description

This course explores theoretical and historical perspectives on the intersection of law, society and politics, and aims to foster discussion of contemporary issues among students from different cultures and disciplines. After an introduction to comparative law and legal culture, we read some classical social theorists (Durkheim, Weber and Marx), and consider their relevance to contemporary debates about morality, (dis)obedience, conflict, and property. Next, we investigate the role and operation of law in totalitarian settings such as Nazi and Communist Germany. Finally, we consider the difficulties that such legacies pose for democracy, the rule of law, and the economy in post-totalitarian societies. In this context, we examine the need for ‘transitional justice’, the relationship between law and the market, and the challenges posed by freedom of speech.

Overall, the course aims to develop skills at using theory and history to inform debates on contemporary challenges, such as multiculturalism, punishment, (illegal) downloading/streaming/file-sharing, and economic development. In addition to gaining substantive expertise in various socio- and politico-legal fields, students develop communicative competence through participatory exercises, and intercultural competence through discussion with other students.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• The Cold War
• Business & Society in Europe

Course Description

This course is about Berlin, the city that was at the epicenter of the defining catastrophes of the twentieth century, including the First World War, the horror of the Nazi era that resulted in the Second World War and the Holocaust, and the long grubby Cold War that saw the city physically divided between capitalism and communism in an embodiment of the conflict between the American and Soviet worlds.

Yet amidst these horrors (and arguably because of them), Berlin was also a place where some of the most boundary breaking avant-garde art, progressive politics and anarchic subcultures of the twentieth century bloomed and died in the furnace of its constantly changing social, political and economic turmoil.

The livid imprint of this tormented history marks Berlin up until today, and demands to be known, studied and understood,

With this urgency in mind, in this course we examine the history of twentieth century Berlin through various lenses: the biographies of individuals, the words of writers who bore witness to the vertiginous social, political and physical changes the city underwent, and buildings and monuments whose physical construction, destruction and reconstruction reflected the ideological turmoil and conflict of those immense hundred years.

Famous Berliners we will meet include the murdered Communist leader Rosa Luxemburg, the artist Käthe Kollwitz, the actress Marlene Dietrich, the Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, the adopted Berliner David Bowie and the famous East German dissident musician Wolf Biermann. The contextualized stories of these individuals will offer us unique perspectives politically, artistically and socially into the tumult and struggle that marked their times in the city. These figures occupy a range of different position(s): as Berliners, as radicals, as artists of resistance to or collaboration with Nazism, and Communism, as drifters and exiles whose stories reflect Berlin’s unique position in the twentieth century as ‘no man’s land, frontier, a city adrift in the sands of Central Europe.’

In a similar way, we will examine the words of writers who bore witness to the extremism and societal upheaval that marked twentieth century Berlin. From the witnessing of Roth and Isherwood to life in Weimar and Nazi Berlin, to the social and political commentary by Christa Wolf on the moral struggles of life lived on different sides of the Berlin Wall, we will assess their writings in their historical contexts. We will assess their words as evocations of Berlin, but also as potential or overt acts of resistance to the extremism they lived under, that attempted to maintain a solidarity with the idea of Berlin as a place of artistic and social freedom and permissiveness.

Finally, we will examine some of the places in Berlin whose physical building, destruction and rebuilding can be situated in the wider systems of ideology, power and social relations that so cataclysmically defined the physical landscape of Berlin after 1933. In this, we will focus on the story of Potsdamer Platz, the Palace of the People (Palast der Republik) and the central site in Berlin for the mourning and remembrance of the Jewish Genocide by Nazi Germany, the Holocaust Memorial in Mitte.

This course does not seek to provide a ‘grand narrative’ of Berlin’s twentieth century history. Instead, it follows a thread that weaves through the history: the thread left behind by those who bore witness to their times. By tracing the stories of contemporary witnesses, left for us in books, films and songs, and in the physical construction of the city, we open up a human dimension that enriches and challenges our understanding of Berlin’s traumatic recent history.

Structured largely chronologically, the course will work with films and novels whilst building on a clear historiographical base provided in class seminars. The teaching will be augmented by physical excursions into Berlin to trace the stories we encounter and class discussions will form the basis for a seminar paper that students will be required to submit at the end of the course. This history course approaches the story of Berlin through the reflections and refractions of individual humans’ lives who struggled upon the immense stage of a city at the very symbolic and literal heart of the catastrophes of the twentieth century

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Berlin: Music and Sound in the Digital Age
• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Course Description

The course introduces students to the politics, governance and ethics of sustainability. The key challenges of our time are global by nature. However, the current system of global governance based on sovereign states (often in competition with each other) is ill equipped to face global challenges such as poverty, climate change, environmental degradation and availability of resources. While states struggle to provide a sustainable future for their citizens, they are increasingly forced into a logic of sustainability for all people and responsibility for the global commons. This new logic is based on the concept of interconnectedness and the impact of our actions on the generations to come.

The course examines major current global challenges divided into economic, political and environmental issues. Climate change is only one of many environmental issues facing our planet, but due to its importance and overwhelming impact, it will be given the main focus of this course. We will not only look at the science behind and consequences of global warming, but will also study the two pillars of the global climate governance: the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). The analysis of the UNFCCC process will further lead us to review the Paris Agreement from 2015. We will discuss how effective it can be in dealing with one of the biggest threats of the 21^st century and whether it can still achieve its goal of limiting global warming to “well below 2°C/1.5°C”.

A special session will be devoted to technological, political, social and economic solutions to environmental issues. Do we – as purported by some – need to replace capitalism and stop economic growth in order to prevent further environmental destruction? Or is there a way to move towards a “green growth”, and utilize the benefits of the free market to increase environmental protection? This will lead us to the question of what the future will look like. Will we continue to cross planetary boundaries and endanger the capability of different ecosystems? Or will the 21^st century witness a major shift away from fossil fuels and environmental destruction to a more sustainable economy?

The discussions in the class will be complemented by at least two field trips and possibly a visit of a guest speaker.  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Business & Society in Europe

Course Description

The ‘thousand year Reich’ that Hitler promised when he became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 lasted but 12 years. During this time, however, Hitler and his Nazi Party came to dominate European and even world affairs, terrorizing vast numbers of Germans, launching a devastating war, and orchestrating the murder of more than five million Jews. Yet Hitler and the Nazi Party gained the active support and involvement of most Germans. How was this possible?

This class focuses on Hitler’s Germany and it begins with the essential 19th century background. How did political anti-Semitism grow there? What shaped the social and political life? Central to this session will be a discussion of the broad political currents and the popular literature that Hitler and many of his supporters read and absorbed.

Crucial to understanding the lure of Hitler and the Nazi Party was Germany’s experience in the First World War, a conflict that decimated a generation and destroyed Europe as it was known. Germany became a democratic state, but was torn by political divisions and dissatisfaction. In this climate of uncertainty and despair, Hitler and the Nazi Party grew from a small group on the radical fringe in Munich to a national force. How did this happen? Those traits of Hitler crucial to his success, particularly his charisma, will be defined and analyzed within the broader political context of Weimar political life.

In late January 1933 Hitler gained the long desired but elusive goal: he became chancellor of Germany, the leader of a coalition government. Much attention will be paid to how Hitler, his cabinet, and supporters were able to consolidate the control over the state and society within a matter of months. This came at the cost of political liberties, through the growing use of terror, oppression, and intimidation. Yet, Hitler gained supporters as he seemingly offered economic stability and a new unity to the German people. How the regime solidified its control over society and political life will be examined and discussed at length in this session.

A key element of Hitler’s rule was the concentration camp system, what came to be a vast chain of prisons and centers of oppression and death. How this developed will be examined and analyzed.

Hitler’s ambitions, the conquest of ‘living space’ in Eastern Europe and the annihilation of the Jews, motivated his foreign ambitions and led directly to World War II, the most destructive conflict in human history. A central element of the war was the Holocaust, the all-out program to destroy the Jews of Europe. The session will examine closely these developments, the nature of the war, how the Holocaust was implemented, and the role that terror played in sustaining Nazi rule. We will also discuss the measures taken against the handicapped, homosexuals, Sinti and Roma.

In Germany and later in occupied Europe opposition and resistance emerged and challenged Nazi rule. Opponents were motivated by a variety of reasons, some personal, some political, and these too will be discussed.

Lastly, the class will examine the end of the war, the so-called ‘zero hour’ in Germany, the destruction and collapse of Germany, and then how this nation has dealt with the legacy of Hitler and Nazi rule.

In this online version of this course visiting websites of museums and memorial sites, getting virtual tours of such places, and speaking with experts working on these sites will be an essential part.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• The Cold War

Student Profile

This course is designed for the beginner student with no previous knowledge of German.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will develop basic competencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and an understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to

• deal with a range of everyday situations (in a German-speaking environment) and engage in simple conversations.
• use reading strategies to understand the main features of short newspaper articles and literary texts.
• write short texts and revise and correct them independently.
• understand the main features of conversations and lectures dealing with familiar topics.
  
  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Student Profile

This course is designed for beginners with basic knowledge of German.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will continue to develop and expand basic competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• deal with various everyday situations (in a German-speaking environment) and engage in simple conversations.
• Successfully use reading strategies to understand short newspaper articles and literary texts.
• write short texts on various topics and revise and correct them independently.
• understand, in some detail,  features of conversations and lectures dealing with familiar topics.
  
  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the basic level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• use new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate  in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment.
• successfully use reading strategies to understand texts of various levels of difficulty and  from a variety of genres.
• write texts of various length on a range of topics and revise and correct them independently.
  
  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the basic level and the first part of the intermediate level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• use new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate  in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment.
• successfully use reading strategies to understand texts of various levels of difficulty and  from a variety of genres.
• write texts of various length on a range of topics and revise and correct them independently.
  
  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the intermediate level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• regularly employ new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment while being aware of the appropriate linguistic register.
• read and understand  texts of various length and from a variety of genres without difficulties
• to write, independently revise, and correct term papers that meet the basic requirements for academic writing.
  
  

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• History of European Art: Travelling Artists and Artworks
• The Cold War

Course Description

Regarding transnational migration, the EU promotes a political reasoning between processes of consolidation and necessary conflict, between sovereignty and shared responsibility, between the right to define and delimit and the duty to negotiate. In ongoing economic crisis and facing unprecedented movements of people, the timeless normalcy of migration is often framed as crisis per se.

As the visibility of migration increases in various ways, migrants are often represented and imagined as a homogenous mass of ‘the other’. This leads to a problematic understanding of migration as something to be controlled and governed from a top-down perspective alone. But the respective processes of negotiation on migration policy, within and across the outer borders of the Union, take place not only between the official institutions of nation-states, but on all scales of European populations. They also take place from a bottom-up perspective in the centers and at the margins of societies alike.

Departing from diverse theories of migration, we will gain an overview of EU-level migration polity and recent migration- and border-management policies. We will analyze the conflicts, debates and discourses around the last years of increased immigration.

Scaling down, we will engage with the local authorities’ perspective in Berlin. Diving deeper down we will start to change perspective: How do local activists develop and implement their own ways of welcoming migrants? Where do migrants work and how are they represented in trade unions? Finally, focusing on the history of migrant struggles in Berlin, we will encounter migrants’ viewpoints, which reach beyond the usual framings of ‘the poor migrant’ as ‘passive victim’, as a threat or as the ‘(anti-)hero’ of globalization. We will encounter viewpoints on the conflicts, compromises, resistances, solidarity and social transformation shaping and shaped by recent migration movement to Europe.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• The Cold War
• Business & Society in Europe

Course Description

In many ways, Berlin is a center for contemporary electronic music. This is primarily due to the strong connection between technological and aesthetic developments. Nightclubs, such as the Berghain, have a worldwide reputation for their sound systems, which allow a specific acoustic experience and encourage nightlong dancing and partying. Berlin-based companies such as Ableton and Native Instruments are global leaders in their music software, especially in the context of techno, electronica and electronic dance music. Many DJs and musicians´ market themselves or their tracks via blogs and streaming services. Particularly in the context of sound art, there are fairly strong parallels with media art.

Due to the key 'digital' aspects of such phenomena, we often speak of a 'Digital Age' in which Berlin plays a particular role in the field of music. However, the 'analog' phenomena are constantly growing, so that there is some debate over the beginning of a 'post-digital age'. This corresponds with an increasing focus both on the virtual and haptic dimension. Among other things, software companies have made strong efforts over the past years to develop their own hardware controllers for their computer programs in order to be able to better design musical processes manually.

Based on such phenomena, the course will explore the relationship between aesthetic trends and technological developments with the focus on the cultural and economic conditions in Berlin. Particular emphasis will be made on the past and present of techno, (experimental) electronica and electronic dance music. What makes Berlin a magnet not only for thrill-seeking club-goers, but also for DJs, musicians, producers and developers? How does this relate to the recent past of Berlin since the fall of the Berlin Wall, especially given the gentrification processes? To what extent is Berlin's creative scene at the same time internationally networked and can its conditions only be understood in a global context?

Beyond the Berlin perspective, the course examines the current conditions of production and consumption as well as the performance and distribution of music. How do legal/illegal file sharing and streaming services affect listening to music? What is changing in music culture through sampling, remixing, mashup and approaches to interactive music in video games? What opposing trends are out there?

And last but not least: To what extent has the time of the pandemic in 2020/21 changed the conditions of production, distribution and consumption of music – in Berlin and globally?

In addition to the joint discussion of texts and film excerpts, excursions also provide an opportunity for an exchange with proven experts in the course subject areas.    

At the end of the course, the participants can elaborate on and present a topic (either alone or in a group) of their choice in the context of the general list of topics on the course.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Architecture in Berlin: A Walk through History
• Twentieth Century Berlin: People, Places, Words
• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses

Course Description

This course explores European art from the 15^th to the 20^th century with a particular focus on the travels of artists between urban centers like Florence, Rome, Venice, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Berlin. The aim is to analyze how mobility contributed through the centuries to shape local identities as well as European visual cultural traditions and styles common to different countries.

The course will present iconic moments of the history of the arts in Europe by drawing a special attention to episodes of cultural exchanges and hybridization that arose from travelling artworks as well as from artists’ travels. From the impact of Flemish art in 15^th century Italy, to the stays of artists like Raphael and Michelangelo in the early 16^th-century papal Rome; from the rise of genre painting in the Flanders and the Dutch Republic during the Age of Explorations, to the ‘painters of modern life’ in 19^th-century Paris, and the European network of the Avant-gardes in the 1910s-1920s, we will analyze the artworks and their authors in relation to the different historical contexts and the places of their creation. Recurrent will be the focus on the complex interplay between artists and patrons, between local traditions, individual creativity and the broader social, political and cultural contexts in which artworks and buildings were produced.

Students will gain understanding of the main art movements and relevant artists from the Renaissance to the postwar period and the special role played by travels in giving shape to a European cultural space. Visits to the outstanding collections of Berlin museums (according to Covid-19 regulations) will allow the participants to study in depth specific artifacts and to learn how to look closely at works of art.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Architecture in Berlin: A Walk through History
• Twentieth Century Berlin: People, Places, Words
• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses

Course Description

Over the course of the Cold War, the city of Berlin was frequently at the centre of global tensions and a potential front line should the superpower rivalry descend into actual war. This course utilizes the city of Berlin as a laboratory in which to examine the origins, nature, and conclusion of the Cold War that defined international relations between 1945 and 1991. We analyze the Allied occupation of the city following the Nazi defeat, the Berlin blockade and airlift that helped solidify the divisions between East and West. Next, we will examine the workers’ uprising of 1953 that provoked a Soviet military response. The following sessions will deal with the emigration crisis of the late 1950s that led the Soviets to first threaten a military takeover of the city and eventually to construct the Berlin Wall. Finally, we will look at the fall of the wall and the subsequent reunification of Berlin and Germany.

Field trips to important Cold War sites will permit students to gain a deeper appreciation of how the Cold War changed Berlin, and how events in Berlin influenced the wider international struggle. In order to place the interests and goals of the superpowers in context, we will also discuss the ways in which the Cold War rivalry affected Europe as a whole, as well as Asia and Latin America. Attention will be given to the role of international organizations such as the United Nations in world affairs, and the changes brought about by the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In this way, we will examine the roots of contemporary crises. Students will gain an understanding of the recent past, which will help equip them to evaluate the current and emerging international order.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule) Watch an interview with Dr. Robert Teigrob about his course on our YouTube channel.

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Law, Society and Politics in Comparative Perspective
• Twentieth Century Berlin: People, Places, Words
• Seduction and Terror: Hitler's Germany
• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses

Course Description

Europe encompasses the world’s largest and most complicated market. Recent events, particularly those following the ongoing economic crisis on the continent, raise profound questions about the future of Europe. This course will focus on present and future business issues facing the entire continent. Under this focus, we will examine the following questions: Should a “European” management style be developed instead of the national practices that frequently characterize companies originating in different European nations? How and under what circumstances should the European Union expand to Turkey, Ukraine and other countries in the East? What has been the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon, in effect since 2009, on European economic, political and social issues? In order to provide essential background and context for these issues, we will also review key events in modern European History.

In class, we will utilize a variety of approaches, including small-group study, lectures, and case-study analysis, to develop a comprehensive understanding of European business.On virtual excursions to different districts of Berlin, we will study how European and German history have influenced the economic development of this magnificent international capital and we will investigate the impact Berlin has in turn had on European business management. The course will also feature guest speakers on different topics in business and society in the European context.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule) Watch an interview with Dr. Imran G. Chowdhury about his course on our YouTube channel.

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Global Challenges - Sustainable Futures
• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses

Course Description

The course will introduce the basics of the European Union and describe and explain the processes of widening and deepening of this unique political entity. This will cover an overview of European Union history, its evolution in economic and political terms as well as of its institutional structure up to today.
Internal politics and policies, for example the decision-making process, the balance of power, identity and democratic questions in this new system of governance will be discussed. We study the causes and effects of the war in Europe, its geopolitical dimension and how it affects policies and relations with neighbors and other parts of the world. Particularly important aspects include the discussion on relations with the UK after Brexit, the future of transatlantic relations and how the EU is dealing with China’s and Russia’s alternative models of governance. We will discuss migration as well as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. If students express specific interests in other topics or case studies sessions can be adjusted.
The morning sessions consist of lectures, literature based discussions and oral presentations from working groups. After lunch the course will visit various institutions in Germany`s political center or invite distinguished guests to class. Students will have the chance to discuss the topics from the morning sessions with international experts from political institutions, embassies and think tanks.

Download Syllabus (printable PDF incl. day-to-day schedule) Watch an interview with Dr. Ulrich Brückner about his course on our YouTube channel.

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Global Challenges - Sustainable Futures
• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses

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.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Global Challenges - Sustainable Futures
• Law, Society and Politics in Comparative Perspective

Course Description

Philosophy has constituted a central element in the emergence of modern German culture. In the late 18^th century, German philosophy participated in the broader European Enlightenment culture, which was in turn connected to the development of modern empirical science. Under the impression of the historical changes brought about by the French Revolution and by the ‘Industrial Revolution’ in Great Britain, a special constellation of German philosophy emerged at the end of the 18^th century, which has deeply left its mark on subsequent philosophical thinking far beyond Germany.

This philosophy course addresses the historical reality of this ‘German moment of philosophy’ in two subsequent phases: In the first part, we follow the emergence and full deployment of German philosophy from its Kantian beginnings to Hegel’s grand but fragile synthesis, trying to understand its richness as well as its fragility. In a second part, we discuss the later renewal of German philosophy in the late 19^th century and its historical tragedy in the 20^th century. This will include a discussion of the new beginnings of philosophy since the mid-19^th century, from Marx, and Nietzsche, via Frege to Husserl and Wittgenstein, who have been reacting to the scientific and political revolutions of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Martin Heidegger as an established pro-Nazi philosopher and Max Horkheimer as the leading philosopher of the “Frankfurt School” driven into exile are studied as philosophers immersed into the Night of the 20^th century.

Finally, post-World War II developments in philosophy (as exemplified by Jürgen Habermas) will be looked at as pathways out of the self-destructive turn the ‘German moment of philosophy’ in Germany had taken in the first decades of the 20^th century, and as passages into an emerging world philosophy.

The course will be based upon contemporary attempts at rethinking a global philosophical perspective. The focus is on the tension between the Enlightenment heritage of a universalizing human philosophy and a national culture project, as well as on the tension between classicist rationalism and romantic emotionalism in its construction as a series of philosophical projects. From the perspective of a German version of the dialectics of the Enlightenment, the German philosophers of the 19^th and 20^thcenturies will be studied in context - combining the reading of key texts with a reconstruction of their historical contexts and their interaction.

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

Recommended Course Combinations (Selection)

• Semi-Intensive German Language Courses
• Architecture in Berlin. A Walk through History
• Twentieth Century Berlin: People, Places, Words
• Seduction and Terror: Hitler's Germany

Student Profile

This course is designed for the beginner student with no previous knowledge of German. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will develop basic competencies in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and an understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to

• deal with a range of everyday situations (in a German-speaking environment) and engage in simple conversations.
• use reading strategies to understand the main features of short newspaper articles and literary texts.
• write short texts and revise and correct them independently.
• understand the main features of conversations and lectures dealing with familiar topics.
  
  

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

Student Profile

This course is designed for beginners with basic knowledge of German. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will continue to develop and expand basic competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• deal with various everyday situations (in a German-speaking environment) and engage in simple conversations.
• Successfully use reading strategies to understand short newspaper articles and literary texts.
• write short texts on various topics and revise and correct them independently.
• understand, in some detail,  features of conversations and lectures dealing with familiar topics.
  
  

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

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the basic level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• use new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment.
• successfully use reading strategies to understand texts of various levels of difficulty and from a variety of genres.
• write texts of various length on a range of topics and revise and correct them independently.
  
  

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

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the basic level and the first part of the intermediate level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• use new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment.
• successfully use reading strategies to understand texts of various levels of difficulty and from a variety of genres.
• write texts of various length on a range of topics and revise and correct them independently.
  
  

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

Student Profile

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed the intermediate level of German and who have a sound knowledge of German at the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This course is intensive and is intended for dedicated, highly self-motivated students who will take responsibility for their learning.

Course Objectives

This course focuses on encounters with various written, spoken and audio-visual texts and exchanges with other course participants. You will further develop and expand your competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as your understanding of German culture while being enabled to learn reflectively and strategically. The course addresses cultural, political, and historical aspects of the city of Berlin and the German-speaking countries, which you will analyze and compare with your own background and experiences. At the end of the course, you will be able to 

• regularly employ new strategies for learning and using the German language.
• participate in conversations and discussions of various topics in a German-speaking environment while being aware of the appropriate linguistic register.
• read and understand texts of various length and from a variety of genres without difficulties
• to write, independently revise, and correct term papers that meet the basic requirements for academic writing.
  
  

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

The course is part of a Multi-City Program in cooperation with Utrecht Summer School and the Dutch University Institute for Art History in Florence.

Course Description

The course will introduce Berlin’s outstanding art collections, with their wide range of masterpieces from late medieval times to the present day. We shall focus throughout on the particular circumstances that shaped the production and reception of German art, especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During this long period, the formation of a German nation state and the problematic notion of a German national identity became intimately connected to the question of a German style and artistic ‘expression’. A special focus will be given to the "Art of the two Germanys" between 1945 and 1989. We shall explore Germany’s vibrant art history by focusing on works by artists like Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer, Caspar David Friedrich, Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Adolph Menzel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer.

Field trips include the following museums and galleries in Berlin: Deutsches Historisches Museum, the Gemäldegalerie, the Museum of Photography, the Brücke Museum, the Nationalgalleries, and the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum.

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

The course is part of a Multi-City Program in cooperation with Utrecht Summer School and Royal Netherlands Institute Rome.

Course Description

This course provides an overview of the political, socio-economic, and cultural developments that shaped Europe in the long 20th century. Many deeply impacting developments occurred over the course of the 20th century: Two World Wars were fought, the birth of the European Union and the fall of Communism, just to name a few. Being such a crucial city in Europe’s history in the 20th century, Berlin is the most logical location for this course. Special emphasis will also be given to Germany's role in the middle of the continent and to the historical origins of the European Union and its present state. The city of Berlin, with all its tangible historical remains, will be dealt with as a city of former crisis with great promises for a better future.

In this course we will try to identify the democratic values that have shaped the rebirth of Europe and discuss the challenges with which present-day Europe is faced. The course will reflect on Europe's place in the global, multi-polar world of the 21st century.

Several excursions will be organised in which you will visit some key historic sites in the city.

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