CityLAB:Berlin History and Political Science Majors

This course provides a historical overview of events, politics, and visual culture that have shaped Berlin’s identity over the last two centuries. Classes are coordinated with site visits to locations selected for both their architectural significance and their reflection of the different periods of Berlin’s complex history, with special emphasis on the last 25 years, after the fall of the Wall. The course begins with the emergence of Berlin as a modern European city at the beginning of the 19th century and examines developments through the destruction brought about by the Second World War. Students then compare the efforts on both sides of the Wall to rebuild according to economic and ideological principles determined by the Cold War and explore how reunification offered Berlin a chance to reinvent itself as a contemporary capital and vibrant, cosmopolitan world city.

This course examines the political, military, cultural and social history of Germany during the Nazi rule, 1933-45. Topics include the rise and destruction of Hitler’s Third Reich from its origins, through the meteoric rise of the National Socialist Movement, to its demise. Special attention is given to the sources of support for Nazism among German voters, the structure of the National Socialist state, the role of Adolph Adolf Hitler, Germany’s role in the Second World War, and the Holocaust. The assignments are designed to benefit students by helping them develop intellectual and communication skills that apply not only to the study of history, but also to other academic disciplines and to a variety of professional pursuits.

This interdisciplinary course explores the daily practices that is composed of encounters between strategies and tactics. While strategies refer to the institutions and mechanisms of power that rule or produce, tactics are about the actions of individuals against or through environments described by strategies. Throughout the course, the central points of interests include, but are not limited to, politics of life and death, Fordism, post-Fordism, migration, racism, creative class, temporary uses of space, housing, gentrification, and urban management. Comparing different concepts and urban governance practices, the course aims to generate a critical discussion platform for the politics of urban space through short lectures, discussions, excursions and film screenings.

This introductory course will give students the practical knowledge of basic German that will enable them to engage directly with the city and its people. The course is comprehensive enough to allow for continued study of German upon return to the Northfield campus, if desired. Intermediate or advanced speakers of German will have an opportunity to take language courses suited to their level of knowledge.

Art in the Urban Landscape: Public Space in Berlin

This course nurtures creative exploration of the cultural and artistic depths of Berlin, encompassing individual drawing projects in tandem with excursions to contemporary art exhibitions and on-site drawing in special urban settings.

Berlin is a central city drawing artists, architects and designers from around the world, with a lively scene of visual, sound, and performancebased art practices. It is a point of exchange and dialogue between diverse currents of artistic experimentation and research. Through visiting galleries and museums to engage with relevant topics in art and society, as well as collecting your own experiences outside of class, this course will be an engagement with the processes of perceiving, transforming and communicating particular understandings of current culture via drawings and notations. Your drawings will be compiled into self-made artist books which will be exhibited at the end of the semester. 

Emphasis is on reflection through diligent attention, experimenting, doing and making.

The Future of Business

This course introduces “strategic foresight” as an extension of innovation. Students will explore why this concept is relevant in the current, fast-moving, business environment. Topics include the business applications of design, digital marketing and deliberate thinking about long-term future developments and uncertainties. Students will discuss case studies, engage with Berlin's vibrant design and business community, and conduct a final project that explores the impact of a disruptive product or process across industries.