Germany’s colonial past and public remembrance in today’s Berlin

Course description:

Why is remembrance of the colonial past marginalized in Germany? In this interdisciplinary course, we will analyse the traces of the German colonial past and of colonial resistance in former colonies and in Berlin. The course focuses on actual debates and struggles for the remembrance of the colonial history in Berlin.  We will get to know Berlin as the capital of the colonial empire, have an insight in the colonial realities and sharpen our view of the long-term consequences of colonialism.

By exploring a variety of virtual museum visits, online lectures, video material, and dedicated scholarly readings, the course will introduce to contemporary debates on marginalization in Germany as well as on restitution of objects to the former colonies and re-naming of streets and places in Berlin.

The course material is both in German and English for students who have acquired at least the equivalent of B1 in German and B2 in English.

 Learning objectives:        

The course will give an overview of Berlin’s involvement in colonialism, while also teaching about history of the African diaspora in Berlin. By researching, reading and discussing secondary literature and main sources, students are to learn and/or practice key skills required for independent academic work. They will be taught to critically reflect on and debate questions of remembrance, reconciliation and marginalization.

Practical Knowledge

• History of Germany’s colonial activities from the slave trade era up to 194
• Politics of memory and current debates in the city around the reappraisal of German colonialism
• Achievements and work of (diasporic) initiatives and associations in Germany
• History of the African Diaspora in Berlin
• Ongoing effects of colonialism
• Identification of places in Berlin that are related to colonial history

Transferrable Skills and Competencies

• Reflect critically on scholarly texts, sites and media output relevant to the Colonial Narrative in Germany.
• Identify and reflect on the positionality of scholarly authors, stakeholders, and themselves in learning through research approach.
• Communicate and discuss key ideas in colonial heritage. 
• Apply relevant theories and concepts in independent work to analyse actual problems and policy proposals.

Assessment portfolio:

• Attendance of five Zoom-meetings (at least three of the five meetings)
• Completion of each assignment as outlined in the moodle course.  For each topic, this will include various tasks (such as visiting a website/watching a video), reading a scholarly text, submission of the assigned written work by the due date.
• An individually-written research report with bibliography (4-5 pages), double-spaced, Times New Roman as a (word document or pdf file only!) to be uploaded onto the moodle assignment section by the due date indicated.  The topic should be relevant to the course. The report can be written in German, English or French.
• Plagiarism will lead to failing an assignment

Language requirements: 

Spoken and written German skills on level B1 and English, at least on level B2, is required for this course. The course will be taught both in English and German, but students are encouraged to practice German.

Literature will be provided in either German or English, sometimes both and accompanied by comprehensive questions.

The research report can be in German, English or French.  

Times and dates of the zoom meetings might be re-arranged if necessary.

Literature will be available via moodle. There, you will also find reading assignments as pdfs and updates.