- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gesa Stedman
For each session, students are asked to complete required readings and, at times, required listening before class. The success of this course depends on active engagement in discussion and other in-class activities. Some weeks have higher reading loads than others. Students are encouraged to approach the readings strategically in order to obtain at least an overview of the argumentation and authorship of required materials before each course session.
It is expected that students will be able to identify the main arguments of each assigned reading/listening material and/or pose one question to them. Additionally, students should look up information about the authors/creators for all required materials and their date, publication information, and intended audience to prepare for discussion.
In-class activities will include brief lectures from the instructor, discussion on the required materials, and engagement with primary source materials.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Riley Linebaugh
The second phase of the research project, Afterlives of the Empire - Encounters in Art and Academia, this course on cultural project management is a further investigation into and examination of the complex histories and interactions between art and the British Empire. Acting as the main channel of internal communication between the students and the convenor, this module offers an introduction to the basics of CPM, highlighting the practical application of the skills, methods, and techniques associated with organising events in the cultural sector. It will facilitate a successful organisation, delivery, maintenance, and documentation of all aspects of an upcoming student-led event, and is an extension of the interdisciplinary project seminar Entanglements of Art, History, and Empire.
The module will culminate in a public cultural project in Lichthof Ost, Unter den Linden, as part of the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, on the 22nd of June, 2024.- Kursverantwortliche/r: Evelina Bazaeva
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Joanna Vickery-Barkow
Module 1: Application Skills
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Christoph Kevin Koenig
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
A short history of the GBZ and how most of its staff follow an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach which differs from the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gesa Stedman
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Miles Taylor
Modul 2: British History
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Miles Taylor
What roles do narratives of past and present wars occupy in British culture? How does our understanding of war memory change when we focus on the stories and voices that were marginalised by the official UK commemoration? This course looks at Anglophone war writing as well as selected examples of film, art, media, and war memorials in the UK from the 1910s to the 2020s, from the First World War to contemporary conflicts, to discover how these wars are mediated and remembered — or misremembered. The focus of the course shifts away from the (white) soldier stories, which are traditionally placed at the centre of commemorative narratives — to the voices of nurses, anti-war activists, war refugees, mothers, soldiers from the former British colonies, and other marginalised groups in the context of war.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Evelina Bazaeva
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Sofia Permiakova
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
Module 4: Exploring the Social Structures and the Social Inequalities of the UK (2023/24)
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gerry Mooney
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Martin Böhme
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Sam McIntosh
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr. Vishal Vora
In this course, we will explore conceptual approaches to the entanglements of art and empire in Britain and study examples from art history and contemporary art works in order to understand how art, empire, and history overlap and how one can unravel these different levels of meaning from a cultural-studies perspective.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gesa Stedman
In this course, students will learn how to analyse literary texts in different contexts. The emphasis will lie on hands-on analysis so that everyone, regardless of prior knowledge of literary history and analysis, can contribute to a meaningful discussion about texts in their different contexts. All the examples will be from British literary history including 21st-century examples.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gesa Stedman
In this course, students will form teams and groups to explore the Anglophone literary field in Berlin to find out in how far it is influenced by colonial legacies. The course is entirely experimental and students will have to rely heavily on their own initiative and on team work. Outputs may include podcasts, short ethnographic videos, ethnographic diaries, as well as blog entries and zines. It is practical in nature and intended to introduce students not only to the concept of the literary field, but also to different methods of linking research and knowledge transfer and thus bringing their analytical skills to bear on real-life contexts.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Gesa Stedman
The Debating course (part of Module 6: Advanced Academic Writing and Debating) is a practical component of your Master's degree at the Centre for British Studies. It is designed to help you refine your public speaking skills by encouraging you to learn how to develop constructive and effective arguments, practice persuasive techniques and the art of rebuttal.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr. Kalika Mehta
- Kursverantwortliche/r: B. Robert Stoner
The British Economy (2023)
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Terry O'Sullivan
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Evelina Bazaeva
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Paolo Chiocchetti
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr Paolo Chiocchetti
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Riley Linebaugh
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
This course provides a brief introduction to the discipline of Political Science and the subfield of British Politics. During the course, you will learn:
- how political scientists approach political phenomena,
- how the most common research methods work,
- how to interpret and critique research findings, and
- how to write a literature review.
Specifically, you will gain a first insight into five key research methods (qualitative content analysis, qualitative interviewing, quantitative descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and field experiments) and eight research topics (concepts of democracy, media representations, capitalism, academic institutions, electoral systems, political attitudes, voting behaviour, and ethnic discrimination).
The course is a discussion-based seminar relying on your active
engagement with the academic literature in empirical political analysis. You
are expected to read, and reflect on, the required readings before each
session (11 papers, 232 pages) and to actively participate in the seminar
discussions in class with oral summaries, questions, critical comments, and
practical exercises (10 sessions). The required readings are indicated in the
timetable below and can be downloaded from Moodle. Moreover, you will have to
apply the knowledge gained by writing a literature review on a topic of
your choice (10,000 characters, deadline 3 March 2024).
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr Paolo Chiocchetti
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
This class is an introduction to academic writing. It will address issues general to the craft of research and writing and specific to the expectations of the GBZ. Writing is a skill, like any, that can be practiced and improved regardless of your previous experience. Academic writing is a specific genre with its own conventions, which will be clarified and practiced throughout the course. Active participation, including assigned readings, in-class exercises and the final essay, are necessary for meaningful engagement with this course. The course structure simulates the writing process, aimed at helping students from start to finish with their final paper.
Students will be divided into 5 writing groups, which will meet the lecturer once as a group during a tutorial section of the course. These groups will be made and announced by the end of December 2023.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Riley Linebaugh
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
This course provides an introduction to the constitution and the political institutions of the United Kingdom from the combined perspectives of Constitutional Law and Political Science. It encompasses 10 lectures and 3 tutorials and awards 2 ECTS credits.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr Paolo Chiocchetti
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Sam McIntosh
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr. Kalika Mehta
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Dr. Vishal Vora
Advanced Academic Writing
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Corinna Radke
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Miles Taylor