4. Semester

Field: Doing Europe

Intermediate Research Methods

Intermediate Research Methods (Module DE5 - Mandatory)
Qualification aim:The successful student is able to plan, design and perform empirical work appropriate to the courses taken. Especially, s/he is able to match scientific problems to the appropriate method, plan and perform the necessary data generating procedures, analyse and interpret the data and relate them to a wider theoretical context.
Professional competence:

Building on the introductory modules DE 2 and DE 3 the student can choose 2 out of 3 courses in intermediate research methods. The choice should be made according to the student's preferences and chosen focus. In the course on hermeneutics and alternatives, the student will deepen his or her understanding of textual and discourse analysis. The course is recommended for students focusing on cultural issues. In the course on statistics, intermediate quantitative empirical methods are addressed and applied. This course is recommended for students focusing on the analysis of European society. The course on case study methodology presents this research design and related methods. The course may be appropriate for students of both foci. All courses put the respective methods in a wider context.

Methodological competence:The student will deepen his or her ability to evaluate the appropriateness, strengths and weaknesses of different research methods. Where necessary, s/he will acquire additional computer based skills.
Social / Individual competence:The student will begin to be able to assess the time, effort and fiancial resources necessary to perform a certain research project. S/he will train his or her abilities to cooperate with others on a project.
Type of class:Methods of instruction include, but are not limited to, ex-cathedra teaching, classroom discussions, student presentations and different forms of student group work and self-study. The latter will take up a considerable share of course time.
Responsibility:Stephan Panther
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society, B.A. International Management
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
104 hpw300h60h240h1 Sem.Every SoSe.4. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Case Study Methodology:Seminar2hpwoptional
2. Philosophy of science, hermeneutics and alternative approachesSeminar2hpwoptional
3. Intermediate quantitative methodsSeminar2hpwoptional
Evaluation:Paper (12-15 pages)

Field: Topics and Disciplines - Specialization in European Cultures

Transnational Perspectives on European Cultures

Transnational Perspectives on European Cultures (Module TD C3 - Elective)
Qualification aim:Students understand historical and contemporary dimensions of intercultural contact and exchange from transnational or transatlantic perspectives; they develop a critical awareness of concepts of cultural identity and alterity in general, and, in particular, of European images as seen from abroad. They are familiar with major theories of transnationalism and are able to assess different approaches to European culture in their relativity and within their specific historical contexts.
Professional competence:Students are able to explain and critically contextualise different concepts, ideologies, and leading principles in transnational and transatlantic relationships with Europe. They share an awareness of global, transnational spaces, as well as of their national encodings, and they have an advanced understanding of cultural difference and relativity.
Methodological competence:They are able to identify and critically revise stereotypes and major trends within specific cultural perspectives on Europe. They develop advanced, theory-based understandings of selfhood and alterity that facilitate and promote intercultural competency. Students are able to read historical texts closely and critically and analyse their particular features of language and style.
Social / Individual competence:Students are aware of their own patterns of thinking in terms of identity and difference; they are encouraged to reflect critically on their own reasoning and to contribute to academic discourses in constructive, argumentative ways.
Type of class:Seminar, short presentations, plenary discussions and group discussions
Responsibility:Birgit Däwes
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society (Specialization: European Cultures)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
52 hpw150h30h120h1 Sem.Every SoSe.4. or 6. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Transnational Perspectives on European Culturesseminar2hpw
Evaluation:

Transformations of Religion

Transformations of Religion (Module TD C4 - Elective)
Qualification aim:Students will develop an incisive perception and understanding of the deep transformations that characterise religious phenomena and experiences in contemporary European contexts. They will become familiar with the social, juridical and theological-philosophical implications of these transformations that religion is experiencing in time of globalisation. In this way they will be able to adequately evaluate public discourses concerning the role and position of religion inside European coexistence and to take part in them with a well-founded knowledge.
Professional competence:

Students are able to gain and improve the necessary hermeneutical tools in order to adequately contextualise the phenomenon of "religion" within the public and social life of Europe.

Methodological competence:From a methodological point of view students become familiar with an interdisciplinary approach (theological-philosophical, juridical and socio-political) to religious phenomena and persuasions in the context of contemporary Europe.
Social / Individual competence:Students are able to deal in an integrative and constructive way with the complexity of social, cultural, and political phenomena within the European public realm. They are able to discuss adequately and at a public level the problems and resources tied to the plural configuration of contemporary societies.
Type of class:Seminar
Responsibility:Marcello Neri
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society Specialization: European Cultures)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
52 hpw150h30h120h1 Sem.Every SoSe.4. or 6. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Transformations of Religionseminar2hpw
Evaluation:Written exam (90 minutes) or oral exam (20 minutes)

In-depth Culture

In-depth Culture (Module TD C5 - Elective)
Qualification aim:Students master complex theories of culture and interculturality and are able to analyse aesthetic and rhetorical aspects of the representation of cultural processes, interactions and transformations in Europe. They understand multi-layered iconic operations and their performative facets in intercultural and transcultural figurations (trans-border-regions, borderscapes, transmigrant identies) in present-day-artifacts and current public discourse as well as in a long-term perspective, focusing on epistemic changes.
Professional competence:

Students are able to locate, to analyse and to reflect upon theories of culture and interculturality and to analyse artifacts that are paradigmatic for European cultures. They are familiar with major epistemic changes in the imagined genealogies of Europe and its pertinent cultures.

Methodological competence:Students are familiar with hermeneutical, phenomenological and deconstructivist approaches and with discourse analysis. They use these methods independently in order to draw up their own academic questions and contexts of analysis.
Social / Individual competence:Students accquire reflexive competences regarding the understanding of the social construction and transformability of culture. They become aware of their own internalised cultural norms and of the productivity of diversity and change.
Type of class:Seminar, discussions, presentations
Responsibility:Iulia Patrut
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society (specialization: European Cultures)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
106 hpw300h90h210h1 Sem.Every WiSe.1. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Societylecture2hpwmandatory
2. Economylecture2hpwmandatory
3. Tutorial Society and Economyexercise2hpwmandatory
Evaluation:Written exam (90 min.) in one of the lectures

Field: Topics and Disciplines - Specialization in European Society

Social Practice and Culture in Europe

Social Practice and Culture in Europe (Module TD S3 - Elective)
Qualification aim:This module's purpose is to provide students with insights into cultural sociology related and applicable to European topics. Cultural sociology, as introduced in this module, understands the human way of life as an outcome of social practices, the patterns and manifestations of their behaviour, structures of thoughts, likings and tastes, thus as "culture" or, to use a less occupied term, as social practice or habits. At the end of the course, students will know selected theories and empirical studies of culture and will have acquired a tool kit for understanding social occurrences from a cultural sociological viewpoint. Social phenomena relating to a sociological notion of culture and research into European societies are, for instance, power and recognition, religion and religious tensions, language and linguistic demarcations, inte-rcultural communication, group belonging, exclusion, and stereotyping, and "traditions" and representations.
Professional competence:

Students will be able to give an account of major theorists and theories within cultural sociology. They will be able to elaborate on these theories and to establish a clear and comprehensible sense of relevance on European societies as a field of study. They are capable of giving definitions of common terms and concepts in cultural sociology as well as to integrate them in their broader theoretical contexts. When confronted with social topics they can relate these topics to an accurate theoretical background and assign the correct terms to describe them.

Methodological competence:Students will be able to depart from cultural sociology as a methodological perspective to approach and classify social topics.
Social / Individual competence:Students will benefit from having developed a set of analytical skills to discuss the social construction of meaning, that is, to question "given facts" as social (mis)conceptions, to assess discussions and dominant stances on cultural groups, practices, habits and traditions. They will be able to encounter essentialist constructions of culture and, consequently, be able to articulate dynamic and creative approaches to organisational problem-solving.
Type of class:Methods of instruction include, but are not limited to, ex-cathedra teaching, classroom discussions, student presentations and different forms of student group work and self-study.
Responsibility:Monika Eigmüller
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society (specialization: European Society)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
52 hpw150h30h120h1 Sem.Every WiSe.4. or 6. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Social Practice and Culture in Europeseminar2hpw
Evaluation:Presentation (extent according to prior agreement) and take-home assignment (7-10 pages)

Urban Development in Europe

Urban Development in Europe (Module TD S4 - Elective)
Qualification aim:The course deals with different aspects of urban development in Europe. Students are introduced to the epistemology of the city, based on ideas of urbanity in ancient, medieval, and modern times. The focus is on different international urban planning paradigms in the twentieth century as well as current challenges of urban development in a European perspective.
Professional competence:

Students gain specific knowledge in the epistemology of the city, urban history, urban planning paradigms and practice.

Methodological competence:Students are able to distinguish material expressions of general ideas on urban planning and design and relate them to broader ideas on the city and urban life.
Social / Individual competence:Students are able to actively participate in current debates on urban development in their city of residence and relate them to theoretical ideas on the city.
Type of class:Seminar, including city walks or field trips
Responsibility:Holger Jahnke
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society (specialization: European Society)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
52 hpw150h30h120h1 Sem.Every WiSe.4. or 6. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. Urban Development in Europeseminar2hpw
Evaluation:Final report (12-15 pages). In their final report students will apply theoretical knowledge to a concrete urban setting.

In-depth Society

In-depth Society (Module TD S5 - Elective)
Qualification aim:Students analyse concepts and problems concerning the social dimensions of Europe and ask (empirically based) questions about an emerging European society. 
In this regard students study the ongoing process of Europeanisation in various spheres such as politics, economy, culture, and society, and critically investigate these recent and historical processes of European society building.
Professional competence:

Students are able to analyse selected topics within the relevant academic disciplines. Students deepen their ability to develop positions and to defend them in arguments. They become sensitive to the potentials and restrictions of disciplinary approaches to European topics and improve their ability for interdisciplinary understanding.

Methodological competence:Students are able to work out research questions within one of the relevant academic disciplines and identify interdisciplinary approaches to these topics. They present selected topics orally and in written form.
Social / Individual competence:Students will be able to learn to collaborate in different manners, to present and analyse problems in the above-mentioned fields in a partner or group situation, in manners appropriate to the addressees, and to express themselves competently in a culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive manner.
Type of class:Seminar, discussions, presentations
Responsibility:Monika Eigmüller
Addressed to:B.A. European Cultures and Society (specialization: European Society)
Credit Points:Offer:Workload:(in class):(individual work):Duration:Cycle:When:
52 hpw150h30h120h1 Sem.Every WiSe.4. or 6. Sem.
Sub-Modules
1. In-depth Societyseminar2hpw
Evaluation:Written paper (12-15 pages) or oral exam (30 minutes)