mandatory

680105000

10 ECTS

4 hpw

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.

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 (2.), the student will deepen his or her understanding of argumentative, textual and dis- course analysis. This course is especially recommended for students focusing on cultural issues. In the course on statistics (3.), quantitative methods including an introduction to statistics are addressed and applied. This course is especially recommended for students focusing on the empirical analysis of European society. The course on Comparative Analysis in the Social Sciences (1.) focusses on comparative research methods mainly focusing on cross-national comparison. All courses are generally open to both specializations and put the respective methods in a wider context.

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.

The student will begin to be able to assess the time, effort and financial resources necessary to perform a certain research project. S/he will train his or her abilities to cooperate with others on a project.

Methodsofinstructioninclude, 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.

Martina Dieckhoff

Oral presentation (15 min.) plus paper (4000-5000 words); Oral presentation (15 min.) plus written exam (60 min.); oral exam (25 min.); written paper (5000-6500 words); Portfolio

optional

680115000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

Students understand historical and contemporary dimensions of intercultural contact and exchange from transnational or transatlantic perspectives; they develop a critical aware- ness 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.

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.

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.

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 aca- demic discourses in constructive, argumentative ways.

Seminar, short presentations, plenary discussions and group discussions

Birgit Däwes

optional

680116000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

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 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.

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.

From a methodological point of view students become familiar with an interdisciplinary approach (philosophical, juridical and socio-political) to religious phenomena and persuasions in the context of contemporary Europe.

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.

Seminar

Anne Reichold

optional

680117000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

Students analyse concepts and problems concerning the cultural dimensions of Europe. 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.

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.

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.

Students acquire 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.

Seminar, discussions, presentations

Iulia Patrut

optional

680125000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

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, under- stands the human way of life as an outcome of social practices, the patterns and manifestations of their behavior, 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 toolkit 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, intercultural communication, group belonging, exclusion, and stereotyping, and "traditions" and representations.

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 com- prehensible 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.

Students will be able to depart from cultural sociology as a methodological perspective to approach and classify social topics.

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.

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.

Monika Eigmüller

Oral Presentation (15 min.) plus paper (4000-5000 words); oral presentation (15 min.) plus written exam (60 min.); oral exam (25 min.) written paper (5000-6500 words); written exam (90 min.) or Portfolio

optional

680126000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

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.

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

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.

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.

Seminar, including city walks or field trips

Holger Jahnke

optional

680127000

5 ECTS

2 hpw

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.

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 be- come sensitive to the potentials and restrictions of disciplinary approaches to European topics and improve their ability for interdisciplinary understanding.

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.

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.

Seminar, discussions, presentations

Monika Eigmüller

Written paper (5000-6500 words) or oral exam (25 min.) or oral presentation (15 min.) plus written paper (4000-5000 words) or Portfolio