Courses

Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick: Migration in the Context of Global Inequalities

BA, MA Seminar

Tuesday, 14:15-15:45

Room: GD 303

Start of the event: 15 October 2024

In this seminar we will investigate the links between the cross-border movement of people and global inequalities as they are shaped by national and regional border regimes, by legacies and continuities of colonial history, and by the contemporary dynamics of neoliberal capitalism. We will thus situate migration in the context of global inequalities that have emerged and exist both between and within colonial empires and contemporary nation states.

Participation requirements: There will be an upper limit of 25 students allowed in this course, in order to facilitate class discussion. We will thus cap Moodle enrolment after this limit has been reached. If you are an Erasmus student who does not yet have access to Moodle, please write to the instructor at kosnick@europa-uni.de to secure your place.

Target group: BA students

Proof of achievement: Students need to engage in intensive reading and contribute actively to class discussions. Regular attendance is mandatory. If you miss more than three sessions without valid excuse such as a doctor's certificate, you will not pass the course. Make sure you sign the attendance sheet every time. In addition, you will submit a minimum of five one-page response papers (400-500 words each) for different sessions, answering the questions listed in the syllabus for the respective mandatory reading. You need to submit these papers by a Friday noon deadline BEFORE the respective session in which we discuss the reading. Students aiming for 6 ECTS credits thus need to submit five times with 5 pages in total. Students aiming for 9 ECTS need to fulfil the requirements for 6 ECTS, plus submit by March 10, 2025 an additional 3 papers (1 page each) for three additional sessions of the course (8 pages total).

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Prof. Dr. Kira Kosnick: Forschungskolloquium "Auf dem Weg zur Abschlussarbeit. Themenfelder: Migration, Ethnizität, Rassismus, Gender, Queer Studies" [in German]

BA, MA colloquium

Tuesday, 16:15 - 17:45

Location: GD 303

Start of the event: 15 October 2024

In this colloquium, we will first address the development of a suitable research question and the structure of an exposé before discussing ethical and methodological issues, depending on the needs of the students and the status of the respective projects. In the further course, students present their projects or ideas for the final thesis in presentations that address in particular the outstanding questions and problems that are currently associated with the project/idea. We will discuss and plan the exact content of the event in the first session so that we can best cater to the needs of the participants. ENGLISH SPEAKING STUDENTS WELCOME - WE WILL SWITCH BETWEEN LANGUAGES. In this course, we will discuss the basics of planning empirical final thesis projects based on the needs of students that attend.

Target group: This course is aimed at MA students in the final phase of their degree programme who can already name at least the topic of their final thesis. This colloquium only makes sense for students whose final thesis falls within the spectrum of the social sciences. Despite the broad opening for degree programmes in the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences, final projects that are, for example, historical, literary or linguistic in nature are not covered here. Instead, please attend the relevant colloquia organised by the relevant colleagues. BA CUSO Students and MA Students (particularly MASS), with a focus on those who situate their final thesis projects in the social sciences rather than history, linguistics, media studies etc.

Credit: 3 ECTS: regular active participation, willingness to present your own project/ideas, submission of a 5-page exposé. / 6 ECTS: as for 3, plus exposé of 12 pages in total / 9 ECTS: as for 3, plus exposé of 22 pages. Exposés must be submitted by email by 20 March 2025. 3 ECTS: active regular attendance, oral presentation, draft outline of project 5 pages. 6 ECTS: as in 3, longer draft outline of 12 pages, 9 ECTS: as in 3, longer draft outline of 22 pages. You have to submit the written outline by March 20, 2025.

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Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick: Racial Capitalism

MA Seminar

Wednesday, 11:15-12:45

Room: GD 102

Start of the event: 16 October 2024

The concept of racial capitalism has been coined to describe the history of capitalism as grounded in the exploitation of and value extraction from racialized groups. In this seminar, we will not only engage with this attempt to reframe the history of capitalism as famously argued by Cedric J. Robinson, but also with more contemporary analytical uses of the concept to understand how capitalist dynamics intersect with racism, particularly in its structural dynamics. We will therefore also attempt to develop an understanding of intersectionality that goes beyond the analysis of 'race' and class as separate dimensions of inequality that 'intersect' only in the positioning of social subjects. Among our empirical case studies will be the consequences and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst environment-related disasters in the history of the United States, and the EU border regime.

Participation requirements: Be comfortable to read and discuss in English. We can translate back and forth from German for those who occasionally need assistance. Regular attendance is a MUST.

Target group: MA students only. BA students need personal permission from the instructor to enrol.

Proof of achievement: 2 oral discussion inputs in class for 3 ECTS, 6 ECTS: additional paper of 10-12 pages, 9 ECTS: additional paper of 20-22 pages.

 

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Dr Luis Hernandez Aguilar: Antisemitism and Islamophobia

BA, MA Seminar

Tuesday, 11:15-12:45

Location: GD 312

Start of the event: 15 October 2024

The BA Seminar: Antisemitism and Islamophobia: Shared histories and divergent articulations is oriented towards students interested in the history and conceptualization of antisemitism and islamophobia, as two manifestations of racism, while being attentive to the gender and sexual dynamics inherent to the operations of these two phenomena. In general, the seminar takes a historical-conceptual approach to examine the overlapping and divergent manifestations of these phenomena. The seminar begins by interrogating the earlier formulations of prejudice, animosity, and violence against Jews and Muslims in Europe, to then move to contemporary articulations and academic debates on the topics.

Prerequisites for participation: Regular active participation, willingness to read English-language texts.

Teaching methods: Each session is structured around one or two compulsory readings. Before each session students are required to read the mandatory texts and write two critical questions on them, these should be sent one day before each session to the lecturer. The critical questions will serve to organise discussions in class. There are additional readings for each session, these are not mandatory, but can serve to further interrogate issues of the session, and as additional readings for the final essay. Furthermore, during the seminar, students will present the topic of the session, followed by the group discussion. The presentations should address and engage with all of the texts of the session, everyone in the presenting team should prepare and present the main ideas of the texts, while critically engaging with the content.

Literature: Judaken, J. (2021). Anti-Semitism (Historiography). Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism, 25-38. Sayyid, S. (2014). A Measure of Islamophobia. Islamophobia Studies Journal, 2(1), 10-25.

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Dr Luis Hernandez Aguilar: Postcolonial and Decolonial Theory

MA Seminar

Wednesday, 11:15-12:45

Location: GD 312

Start of the event: 16 October 2024

The MA Seminar Postcolonial and Decolonial Theory delves into the critical frameworks of postcolonial and decolonial theory and thought, examining the enduring impacts of colonialism and the struggles to deconstruct colonial power structures. By critical engaging with seminal texts of Postcolonial and Decolonial Theory the seminar explores key concepts from influential theorists such as Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, Walter Mignolo, Maria Lugones. and Aníbal Quijano. Students will engage with topics like orientalism, hybridity, subaltern studies, coloniality, and epistemic violence, critically analysing how colonial legacies continue to shape contemporary cultural and political, landscapes.

Teaching methods: Each session is structured around one or two compulsory readings. Before each session students are required to read the mandatory texts and write a short reflection on them, these should be sent one day before each session to the lecturer. The reflections will serve to organize discussions in class. There are additional readings for each session, these are not mandatory, but can serve to further interrogate issues of the session, and as additional readings for the final essay. Furthermore, during the seminar, students will present the topic of the session, followed by a group discussion. The presentations should address and engage with all of the texts of the session.

Literature: Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Penguin Books. Hall, S. (1992). The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power. In S. Hall & B. Gieben (Eds.), Formations of Modernity(pp. 275-331). Polity press. Mignolo, W. (2009). Coloniality: The Darker Side of Modernity. In Modernologies (pp. 39-49). Lugones, M. (2010). Toward a Decolonial Feminism. Hypatia, 25(4), 742-759. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01137.x

Credit: 3 ECTS: regular active participation, presentation. | 6 ECTS: as for 3, plus term paper of 12 pages in total. | 9 ECTS: as for 3, plus term paper of 25 pages.

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Dr Özlem Savas: Feminist and Queer Approaches to Challenging Times

BA, MA Seminar

Tuesday, 11:15-12:45

Location: GD 202

Start of the event: 15 October 2024

In an era increasingly described as challenging, troubling, and urgent, this seminar explores acts, discourses, and possibilities of living and acting through feminist and queer approaches. Thanks to their focus on the experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups, feminist and queer studies offer valuable insights into the ways in which individuals and communities challenge and contest oppressive power structures, normative ideologies, and social inequalities. In this seminar, we will examine feminist and queer approaches to challenging times in three main sections. Firstly, we will explore how these approaches engage and rework political affects such as vulnerability, hurt, anger, shame, fear, and despair. Secondly, we will highlight the politics of storytelling, visibility, and archiving. Thirdly, we will discuss forms of resistance, reparation, resilience, care, solidarity, and hope. In addition to various movements and other forms of activism, we will examine diverse venues of cultural and aesthetic expression that offer possibilities for resistance and repair, such as art, film, performance, memoir, multimedia, social media, and everyday creativity. In doing so, we will pay attention to the small, subtle, and often overlooked acts of everyday resistance. This seminar will also provide insights into intersectional, reflexive, and innovative approaches to research and dissemination cultivated by feminist and queer epistemologies and methodologies, such as engaged ethnography, autoethnography, and visual and digital storytelling.

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Proof of achievement:
Readings: You are required to read the assigned articles and book chapters before classes. Readings will be provided on Moodle. Attendance and participation: You are required to attend the classes regularly and participate in class discussions by responding to the readings and providing examples. Maximum 3 unexcused absences are allowed throughout the semester. Forum discussion - Reflections on readings: Each week with assigned readings has a Forum section on Moodle with the aim of facilitating class discussion. You are required to post a short response to the readings (100-150 words) before the class: Not a summary of the readings, but rather an example, an experience, a discussion question, an idea, etc. You are also welcome to give a response to other students' posts. The content of your posts will not be graded, but you are required to post a response to at least 5 classes. Short papers (6-7 pages) to be submitted and discussed in class (Due: 14 November; 12 December; and 30 January). You are welcome to use other mediums of knowledge production and dissemination such as art, fiction, audiovisual media, memoir, etc. For 3 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 1 short paper. / For 6 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 2 short papers. / For 9 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 3 short paper.

 

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Dr. Özlem Savas: Feminist and Queer Repertoires of Resistance

BA, MA Seminar

Tuesday, 14:15-15:45

Location: GD 202

Start of the event: 15 October 2024

This seminar explores acts, discourses and possibilities of resistance through feminist and queer approaches. Thanks to their focus on experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups, feminist and queer studies offer valuable insights into the ways in which individuals and communities challenge and contest oppressive power structures, normative ideologies, and social inequalities. In this seminar, we will examine feminist and queer repertoires of resistance in three main sections. Firstly, we will explore political affects such as vulnerability, hurt, anger, shame, fear and despair. Secondly, we will highlight politics of storytelling, visibility, and archive. Thirdly, we will discuss affective companions of resistance such as repair, resilience, care, solidarity, and hope. In addition to various movements and other forms of activisms, we will examine diverse venues of cultural and aesthetic expression that offer possibilities for resistance and repair such as art, film, performance, memoir, multimedia, social media, and everyday creativity. In doing so, we will pay attention to the small, subtle, and often overlooked acts of everyday resistance. In this seminar, we will also gain insight into intersectional, reflexive and innovative approaches to research and dissemination that are cultivated by feminist and queer epistemologies and methodologies such as engaged ethnography, autoethnography, and visual and digital storytelling.

Proof of achievement: Readings: You are required to read the assigned articles and book chapters before classes. Readings will be provided on Moodle. Attendance and participation: You are required to attend the classes regularly and participate in class discussions by responding to the readings and providing examples. Maximum 3 unexcused absences are allowed throughout the semester. Forum discussion - Reflections on readings: Each week with assigned readings has a Forum section on Moodle with the aim of facilitating class discussion. You are required to post a short response to the readings (100-150 words) before the class: Not a summary of the readings, but rather an example, an experience, a discussion question, an idea, etc. You are also welcome to give a response to other students' posts. The content of your posts will not be graded, but you are required to post a response to at least 5 classes. Short papers (6-7 pages) to be submitted and discussed in class (Due: 14 November; 12 December; and 30 January). You are welcome to use other mediums of knowledge production and dissemination such as art, fiction, audiovisual media, memoir, etc. For 3 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 1 short paper. / For 6 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 2 short papers. / For 9 ECTS: Class participation + Forum discussion + 3 short paper.

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PD Dr Carolin Leutloff-Grandits: Borders and migrations in Europe: Understanding the multitude of mobility rights, practices and consequences from an entangled perspective

MA Seminar

Seminar (face-to-face event): MASS: Compulsory elective module: Migration, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism

Start of event: 14 October 2024 Mon, fortnightly, 2 - 5:45 pm Location: GD 312

While irregular migration is a highly controversial topic in Germany and other EU countries, it is undisputed that countries like Germany need migrants to fill jobs. In this seminar, we therefore want to look at the variety of mobility rights, practices and consequences from an intertwined perspective: What legal mobility options are there to migrate to Germany (and more generally to the EU) and what conditions and rights does this entail? What options do migrants have to navigate these migration paths set by the receiving states and what impact does this have on the migrants and the sending states? In the seminar, we will therefore endeavour to change perspectives and link the German state's attempts to manage migration with the strategies of migrants and the effects of migration within the sending countries. We will discuss the entanglement of mobility rights, practices and consequences using the example of the Western Balkans Agreement for migration from outside the EU and internal EU migration using the example of migration from south-eastern EU countries such as Bulgaria and Romania. Note: The seminar may (partly) be offered as a 5-day "travelling seminar" travelling together to Sofia. The students would then receive a travel grant to cover the costs. For further information please write to: leutloff@europa-uni.de

Prerequisites for participation: Fluent command of the English language

Notes on the event: Please register for the seminar via Moodle as well as by writing an email to: leutloff@europa-uni.de

Credits: 3 ECTS: regular participation, session input. 6 ECTS: regular participation, session input, term paper (10-12

pages). 9 ECTS: regular participation, session input, term paper (20-25 pages).

Language: English

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Maria Klessmann, M.A.: Grenzbilder: Bildregime zwischen Abgrenzung, Überschreitung und Auflösung [in German]

BA Seminar

Seminar: Cultural Studies: Specialisation // Comparative Social Sciences: Specialisation

Start of event: 17 October 2024 Thu, 11:15 - 12:45 Location: AM K12

Which ideas, images and narratives we associate with borders changes with social circumstances. The imaginations of a borderless world have contributed to borders being imagined as outdated in parts of the (Western) world. When borders are disputed and challenged, they receive more attention and images of being overtaxed and threatened dominate the media landscape. Images of border installations, security checks, walls and people trying to overcome these installations and fences are omnipresent. In the "Border Images" seminar, we will look at images and other media representations of borders. We ask about the image-generating function of borders themselves and scrutinise (Eurocentric) perspectives and image regimes. Which clichés and stereotypes are disseminated on the basis of the analysed border images? Which historical continuities of visual representations of borders are utilised? Which visual habits are stabilised or questioned? In a methodological part of the seminar, relevant approaches to working with image sources will be developed in order to test them using images of borders as examples. The aim is to critically question the representational character, the contexts of origin and functions and to locate them in a discursive field of tension between marginalisation and exclusion, transgression and dissolution. Looking ahead, we will address the question of what alternative border images could look like - especially in the age of image-generating AI? How do we visualise a border of the future? Prerequisites for participation: Regular and active participation, reading of texts in English and German, interest in the visual Notes on the course: please register in the associated Moodle course to receive all further information on the seminar. Credits: several smaller exercises throughout the semester, term paper and presentation

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Courses offered by Center members

 

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