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Instructors: Dr. Robin Tschötschel
Event type:
Follow-up seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
V-SEM
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 20
Registration group: VM - Vertiefungsseminare
Comments/contents:
This course will focus, on the one hand, on social scientific theories of identity, social justice, and the public sphere. On the other, it will serve as a forum to discuss current societal conflicts that involve public contestation of different actors' identities and social justice claims (driven by students' interests). Finally, students will apply what they have learned in a case study to be presented in their final paper.
Learning objectives:
Upon completing this course, students will have a deeper understanding of how individuals and social groups articulate their identities and social justice claims in the public sphere.
- Students will become familiar with important theories of identity, social justice, and the public sphere
- Students will learn to critically evaluate different theories, analyzing them in terms of their ontological stances and central assumptions
- Students will apply some of the theories discussed in analyzing a case — the social justice and identity claims of a social or political movement or group of their choice
Didactic concept:
The course will be divided into three parts. The first will be used to become familiar with central concepts and theories. The second will be devoted to discussing current phenomena (e.g. movement(s) for climate justice, struggles for racial equality, trade unionism, populist-nationalist movements, etc.). The third will be geared towards accompanying students as they start writing their final research paper.
Throughout the course, most sessions will be used for group discussions, research workshops, Q&A sessions with the instructor and other interactive formats. Consequently, students are expected to read the assigned materials (usually 2-3 scientific papers or chapters) before each session.
Literature:
A complete list of the reading material will be made available two weeks before the first meeting. Readings include theories of the public sphere (e.g. Habermas and his critics), identity (ranging from social-psychological foundations to macro-sociological), and (social) justice (from the lens of political philosophy and "bottom-up" by studying different actors' social justice claims).
Additional examination information:
The course grade will be based on the final paper, but students must participate actively throughout the course to be awarded a grade. Active participation means
- reading the weekly assigned literature
- participating actively in discussions and exercises in the classroom — this involves having to report on parts of the assigned literature to other students
- preparing a short presentation on a case of choice
- writing a 1-page exposé of the intended research paper and providing feedback to two other students on their exposé
The final paper should have 1000 words per LP / ECTS (+/- 10 %) and is due on August 31, 2023
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