Das Sommer- und Winterschulprogramm der Berliner Universitäten und Hochschulen: Kultur und Wissenschaft entdecken

The course will reflect upon the history and the current challenges of the European Union as the most ambitious project of supranational integration to date. While the project of integration was initially based on the quest for peace, it became clear over the years that the economic benefits for members were becoming the main incentive for further integration. But today, facing a financial and institutional crisis, the European Union is beginning to question its roots and aims.

Thus, the course will explore the development of the EU as a political entity, will try to understand the reasons for the current crisis and, finally, will also try to look ahead - what is the future of European integration? In order to get a more plastic impression of the way the EU works, we will dedicate some sessions to a short simulation game on the ways decisions are taken within the EU.

The course aims to offer a better understanding of how the European Union works and why the decision-making process is so difficult within this body.

Undergraduate students of all relevant subjects with a strong interest in the course topic.

In order to follow the course a very good command of English is required. The minimum age requirement is 18 years.

Furthermore a letter of motivation (one page, in English) and a valid student ID is required.

In two World Wars, Germany tried to dominate the globe in the first half of the 20th century, and all major decisions were made in the capital Berlin:

Why was Germany such an aggressive power until 1945? How did Hitler manage to gain and keep power? Why were many Germans Nazis and deeply racist? How was the life of ordinary people during the war? Why did the Nazis kill millions of Jews and other innocent people in concentration camps? What were the long term effects of World War II? What happened to the Nazis after the war?

The online course will provide answers to such questions via readings of texts from political science, sociology and history, while also taking the opportunity to explore the grounds through virtual tours on which the events between 1933 and 1945 took place.

Undergraduate students of all subjects with an academic background and a strong interest in the various aspects of German History, and Culture.

This course is taught in English, including readings in English. For the understanding of the texts and the discussions in class a language level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is required.

Participating students need to be at least 18 years old.

Furthermore a motivation letter (about one page in English) and a valid student ID is required.

For almost 30 years, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the division of the city of Berlin, of Germany and of Europe during the era of the Cold War between the two superpowers, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Consequently, the fall of the Wall in 1989 was a hugely symbolic turning point in world history.

But how can we explain the building of such a dividing monument? How can we account for its fall in 1989? And how does the Wall influence our lives today?

The course will provide answers to such questions via readings of texts from political science, sociology and history, in order to further investigate the ground on which the events between 1961 and 1989 took place.

Undergraduate students of all subjects with a strong interest in contemporary history, social sciences, politics, European studies.

In order to follow the course, a very good command of English is required (B2). The minimum age requirement is 18 years.

Furthermore a letter of motivation (one page, in English) and a valid student ID is required.

This course aims to examine convergences, divergences, and parallel tracks, interrogating tensions evident between Jewish narrative within the culture of memory in Germany (Erinnerungskultur) and endeavours to represent migration today.

The focus will be on museum- and exhibit-oriented institutions, as well as working out an overview of a theoretical framework on the issues of the construction of "Self" and "Other".

Undergraduate students of all subjects with an interest in interreligious and intercultural issues.

This course is taught in English, including readings in English. For the understanding of the texts and the discussions in class a language level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is required.

The minimum age requirement is 18 years.

Furthermore a letter of motivation (one page, in English) and a valid student ID is required.

Experience Berlin in the winter digitally and learn German at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. This course is specifically designed for those who are seeking instruction in the German language and who would love to get a glimpse of Germany's capital.

Beginners A1 + A2

This course is designed for students with no previous or only little knowledge of German and focuses on the development of communicative competence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. With regard to content, one of the foci of this course is Berlin and the region. Therefore, authentic material will be used in the course along with the course book.

• By the end of the course you will be able to engage in simple conversations about familiar things.
• You will know greetings and everyday expressions, you will be able to count and tell time and use sentences in day-to-day contexts.
• Furthermore, you will be able to talk about yourself and your family and friends.
• You can expect to be able to order food and beverages, purchase things and rent a hotel room.
• Furthermore, you will be able to talk about your studies and about your dreams and aspirations.
• In addition, you will feel more able to understand information when you hear German speakers talking about topics familiar to you.

This course is specifically designed for those who are primarily seeking instruction in the German language. It is for undergraduate, graduate students as well as Ph.D. candidates who are interested in a semi-intensive language course which can be combined with a subject course.

Students without previous knowledge of German can participate in the course as well as students of German from elementary level (A1/ A2).

Participants must be at least 18 years old.

Placement in language courses:

Preliminary allocation to a certain language level is based on information provided during registration (language self-assessment, questionnaire) and a placement test, which is done online before the course starts or on the first day of the course in written or oral form.

Undergraduate students of all relevant subjects with a strong interest in the course topic. A motivation letter (about one page in English) is required.

This course is taught in English, including readings in English. For the understanding of the texts and the discussions in class a language level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is required.

The minimum age requirement is 18 years.

Museums are keepers of our culture memory. Collecting, preserving and exhibiting are the main tasks museums stand for. Museums focus different subjects and face historical and cultural differences in various ways. What is worth collecting, or how are objects labeled, in what way are they displayed? These are essential questions museums pose today.

The course wants to look at how different museums in Berlin answer these questions. Viewing historical and cultural heritage within the context of a collection brings up the issue of how objects are (re-)animated to tell a story within an exhibition. How are exhibitions made? What are significant tools curators use to amplify their thesis? What does hands on mean? How are objects animated, what stories do they tell and how do they respond to questions of gender or race?

Undergraduate students of all subjects with a strong interest in cultural studies, history, memory culture, and museums.

This course is taught in English, including readings in English. For the understanding of the texts and the discussions in class a language level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is required.

Participating students need to be at least 18 years old.

Furthermore a motivation letter (about one page in English) and a valid student ID is required.

The course will introduce the basics of the European Union (EU) and describe and explain the processes of widening and deepening of this unique political entity, drawing on some relevant theorising. It will provide an overview of European Union history, and will familiarise students with the EU’s evolution in economic and political terms as well as of its institutional structure and key policies up until today.

The focus of the course will be internally on the state of EU integration and its challenges - the need for reform and the growing difficulty to actually agree upon and implement reforms in the face of rising populism, authoritarianism and nationalism. Externally, the course explores the international role of the EU with its emphasis on multilateralism, including its self-declared role as a leader in the fight against climate change. Special emphasis will be placed on Europe’s current crises – the Euro crisis, the migration crisis, Brexit and the challenges resulting from the Corona pandemic that asymmetrically hit Europe.

The sessions consist of lectures, literature-based discussions and oral presentations from working groups. The course will include virtual visits and (upon availability) talks with experts from a number of institutions in Germany’s political center. Students will thus have the chance to discuss some of the topics with experts from political institutions and think tanks.

Student profile

The minimum age for participation in the FUBiS program is 18. In addition, participants should have studied at least one year at a university or college. A minimum grade point average of 2.8 (US grading system) or 2.3 (German marking system) is recommended.

The course is designed for students with different academic backgrounds and a general interest in Europe. The language of instruction is English. Language proficiency on an advanced Intermediate level is a prerequisite for participation.

Registration deadline December 7, 2020.

This course is about Berlin, and the story of its tumultuous and epoch defining twentieth century. We examine this history 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 twentieth century Berlin.

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 discover the story of 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 and as an opposite postscript to Berlin’s twentieth century, 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 past.

Structured largely chronologically, the course will work with films and novels whilst building on a clear historiographical base provided in class seminars. Guests speakers, class discussion, assigned reading work and individual research 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.

The minimum age for participation in the FUBiS program is 18. In addition, participants should have studied at least one year at a university or college. A minimum grade point average of 2.8 (US grading system) or 2.3 (German marking system) is recommended.

This course is for university level students with open minds and incurable curiosity about the world around them. The language of instruction is English. Language proficiency on an advanced Intermediate level is a prerequisite for participation.

Registration deadline December 7, 2020.

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^th centuries will be studied in context - combining the reading of key texts with a reconstruction of their historical contexts and their interaction.

The minimum age for participation in the FUBiS program is 18. In addition, participants should have studied at least one year at a university or college. A minimum grade point average of 2.8 (US grading system) or 2.3 (German marking system) is recommended.

This course is open for students from all disciplines having a deep interest in Philosophy. Prior exposure to the field of philosophy will be helpful. The language of instruction is English. Language proficiency on an advanced Intermediate level is a prerequisite for participation.

Registration deadline December 7, 2020.

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.

The minimum age for participation in the FUBiS program is 18. In addition, participants should have studied at least one year at a university or college. A minimum grade point average of 2.8 (US grading system) or 2.3 (German marking system) is recommended.

Students should be interested in the topic of the course. The language of instruction is English. Language proficiency on an advanced Intermediate level is a prerequisite for participation.

Registration deadline December 7, 2020.

FUBiS Online offers German language and culture courses on the levels from absolute beginners A1 and A2 to intermediate B1. Find out more about each level in the respective course syllabi on the FUBiS website.

The minimum age for participation in the FUBiS program is 18. In addition, participants should have studied at least one year at a university or college. A minimum grade point average of 2.8 (US grading system) or 2.3 (German marking system) is recommended.

After a self-assessment, you will be sorted into the courses corresponding to your German levels. No prior German language skills are required.

Registration deadline December 7, 2020.

This program is a beginners’ Python course where participants will gain a full understanding of Python programming and some useful Python modules mainly for data processing.

The course covers two parts: Python programming and  advanced Python modules. In the first part, you will learn about Python programming including data types, control structures (if-else, for-loop, while) and basic algorithms, file operations, code-reuse (function, class, module), and program debugging. In the second part, you will learn to use  some most common and popular Python modules for data processing: NumPy, Pandas for data analysis; Matplotlib, Seaborn for data visualization; Requests, Beautiful Soup for crawling.

This course will also include Python for scientific calculation (using module SciPy), and some basic machine learning methods achieved when learning basic algorithms, e.g. k-means clustering, random forest.

This course is designed for current university students, working professionals and any individuals with an interest in furthering their knowledge and skills in understanding of how to program in Python.

Participants from all fields and disciplines are welcome.

Participants of the TU Berlin Summer & Winter University must meet the following requirements: (i) B2 level English, or equivalent and (ii) at least one year of university experience.

This course will focus on using Python for Data Science. You will learn to use the tools needed to analyze, understand and gain new insights from data in Python. We will begin with the very basics of Python and end with utilizing powerful libraries such as Numpy, Pandas and Matplotlib. The course will also give compact insights to Machine Learning by realizing simple algorithms with Python.

This course is designed for current university students, working professionals and any individuals with an interest in furthering their knowledge and skills in programming with Python for Data Science and Machine Learning.

Participants from all fields and disciplines are welcome.

Participants of the TU Berlin Summer & Winter University must meet the following requirements: (i) B2 level English, or equivalent and (ii) at least one year of university experience. Working professionals are also welcome to take part in the program.

Basic programming knowledge is also required for this course. Students should be able to write and run small programs in the language of their choice. Students should also have basic knowledge in linear algebra and statistics/probability theory and know what loops, conditionals, methods/functions, libraries, vectors, matrices, gradient and probability distributions are.

This course will focus on the theory andimplementationof the most common machine learning models. The students will be using the Python programming language in order to use the taught models and apply them to solve real world problems. Through practical assignments, and a project on real world data the students will learn to independently recognize problems that can be solved via machine learning, choose the right machine learning algorithm to use, and evaluate their results correctly. The machine learning models that will be covered throughout the course include: Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machines, Principal Component Analysis, Neural Networks, Convolutional Neural Networks, Recurrent Neural Networks, and more.

This course is designed for current university students, working professionals and any individuals with an interest in furthering their knowledge and skills in programming with Python for Data Science and Machine Learning.

Participants from all fields and disciplines are welcome.

Basic programming knowledge is also required for this course. Students should be able to write and run small programs in the language of their choice. Students should also have basic knowledge in linear algebra and statistics/probability theory and know what loops, conditionals, methods/functions, libraries, vectors, matrices, gradient and probability distributions are.

Participants of the TU Berlin Summer & Winter University must meet the following requirements: (i) B2 level English, or equivalent and (ii) at least one year of university experience.

Participants of this course will design a space mission in an interdisciplinary group. They group will choose their own mission idea conduct a feasibility study. Each participant is responsible for one aspect of the mission but must work intensely with all other participants for to be successful. The goal is to prepare and present a full scenario and spacecraft configuration of the space mission. The supervising space engineers guide the participants through the process. They introduce the fundamentals of space technologies in live lectures and train the participants in tools to make the necessary calculations, simulations and trade-offs.

This course is designed for current university students, working professionals and any individuals with an interest in gaining insights into planning a space mission and working on different aspects of a space mission design project in an interdisciplinary team.

Participants of the TU Berlin Summer & Winter University must meet the following requirements: (i) B2 level English, or equivalent and (ii) at least one year of university experience.