In this course, you will be introduced to the most influential philosophical approaches with regard to politics. We will look at political notions such as authority, freedom, equality, democracy, human rights, pluralism, multiculturalism, world poverty, the environment – and much more – both with an eye to contemporary discussions and classical texts. This is the course in which you get to read the great classics from Plato until Hannah Arend and John Rawls. Writing essays and giving presentations will be central in the assignments.

Foundations of comparative politics provides you with the key analytical tools to analyze and compare political systems and the development and functioning of democracies in particular. We examine major phenomena such as democratic backsliding, the decline of political parties, the rise of populism, the shift from a print-based to an internet based media, the rising importance of non-majoritarian institutions such as courts and central banks, and the impact of globalization and internationalization on domestic politics.

This history course explores the lives of ordinary people through the lens of gender from the 19th through the 21st centuries. The approach centers storytelling in cultural expressions and forms, ranging from spoken narratives to news publications, children’s storybooks, artwork, music, photography, film, podcasts, and TikTok. Topics include 19th century slavery, “The” 1950’s, Conversion ‘therapy’ in the 1970’s, New Queer Cinema in the 1990’s, childhood and older adulthood over time, and banned books today. Class members also contribute to telling stories about gender by engaging with the Walking With Pride Project. It features the stories of queer people and their allies and assumes that textiles are sites of storytelling.

This course introduces you to the European Union (EU), a body politic that has been characterized as diverse as Unidentified Political Object, an unimperial empire as well as a superstate. The EU Union and its member states are facing a never ending string of ‘crises’ (financial, climate Ukraine war, migration) that time and again pose urgent questions about the way Europe and its member states should collaborate in order to tackle them. In the first part of the course we outline key actors, institutions and decision-making rules and show how political scientists have employed various ways to study EU politics and policy-making. In the second part of the course we acquaint ourselves with several policy areas that showcase the way the EU has responded to different crises.

This course seeks to comprehensively investigate public policy in the light of processes of globalization which have significantly reduced the ability of national governments to make effective policy. Taking the multi-faceted topic of sugar, we start off with examining classic public policy making at the national level through distinguishing different phases policy-making as well as studying alternative conceptualizations. We then examine issues in other arenas (such as the European Union, world trade, the market, citizens). In the second part of the course we shift our focus toward formulating advice for a stakeholder through writing policy memos.

This course introduces students to the core vocabulary and analytical tools of Peace & Conflict Studies. The first part examines the foundational concepts. Students identify competing definitions of peace and conflict and locate the field within—and beyond—Security Studies. The second part focuses on conflict analysis, using historical and contemporary cases, students compare leading theories and methods in the analysis of conflict causation, typologies of violence, and the dynamics of radicalisation and so-called “intractable” conflicts. The third part prepares students to critically assess the dynamics of peace. Students apply reconciliation frameworks, conflict-transformation models, and religious-peacebuilding approaches to real-world scenarios. The course consists of weekly lectures and seminars, an exam, and a three-part portfolio (policy brief, case analysis, and presentation).