Climate change and the policies adopted in response to it raise many normative questions. Climate ethics attempts to give answers to these questions. The text-centered seminar provides an introduction to this (unsurprisingly) comparatively novel sub-field of applied ethics by way of a close reading of some of the most widely discussed contributions (articles and book chapters).

Preparatory Reading

Moellendorf, Darrel (2015): Climate Change Justice. In: Philosophy Compass, 10 (3), 173-186.

Assignments and Credits

6 CP (TP 1, GS): term paper (15-20 pp.) or oral exam (30 min.)

3 CP (TP 2, GS): presentation (15 min.) with written elaboration (5 pp.) or short term paper (8-10 pp.)

The seminar will focus on genocide in global perspective by tracing an intellectual history of the concept, its origins and function, as well as highlighting critical movements in the field of Genocide Studies with attention to colonial violence and other modes of civilian destruction.

This seminar tackles the urgency of climate action from a fresh perspective. Starting from recent response options released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it provides lessons learned from policy analysis and it invites you looking forward. Together, we will enable learning about evidence, analytical tools, principles, and perspectives for strategies. Integrating climate policy (SDG13) with a range of SDGs (e.g. SDG 2, 6, 7, 12, 14) is seen as pivotal to overcome narrow responses and engage actors. This is embedded in a global governance approach that seeks to balance the need for multilateral agreements with the opportunities of bottom-up multi-stakeholder approaches with regional clubs. A focus will be on the EU and its member states. It is thus system thinking and transformations driven by new alliances that are considered key to future skillsets for a next generation of leaders (i.e. You!).

Literatur zur Vorbereitung/Preparatory Reading:

1) What is climate change. A really simple guide provided by BBC here
2) IPCC WG III: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, THE international scientific body dealing with the issue, has been providing tangible response options in 2022 for policy makers here
3) Chatham House, the No 1 world’s policy think tank, provides a range of analyses on the topic here
4) Youth in Action, voices from all over the world hosted by the UN here

Prüfungsleistungen und CP/Assignments and Credits:

The course offers two options: 3CP will be given for regular attendance and a presentation, preferably as part of a group presentation; 6CP will be given if an additional essay will be submitted.

Protests and social movements are powerful tools through which ordinary people can influence their social and political environment. Why do some individuals take to the streets, while others stay at home? What motivates collective action, and what prevents it?
This seminar introduces students to the most influential explanations for protest participation, drawing on perspectives from political sociology, political psychology, and political science. We will explore both the individual-level factors - such as motivations and values - and the macro social and political conditions that shape mobilization.
Beyond the theory, the course places strong emphasis on developing analytical skills. Students will gain hands-on experience working with survey data (European Social Survey), learn the basics of R programming, and practice conducting descriptive analyses.

In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of applied causal inference in political science using R. No prior knowledge of statistics or coding is required, as we start from the basics of R programming. The course aims to provide students with the essential quantitative analysis skills that are increasingly important in political science, particularly for their future research and Bachelor theses.

Throughout the course, we will work with real-world datasets, focusing on how to estimate causal relationships from observational (or "happenstance") data. Topics include natural experiments, matching, regression, difference-in-differences, panel methods, instrumental variable estimation and regression discontinuity designs. While we will introduce concepts such as regression and statistical inference, the primary focus is on the practical application of these methods to address important research questions. This course is designed to be applied rather than theoretical, helping students understand how to use data analysis techniques in political science. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the tools and skills to conduct their own data analysis.

Imai, K., & Bougher, L. D. (2021). Quantitative social science: An introduction in Stata. Princeton University Press.
Llaudet, E., & Imai, K. (2023). Data analysis for social science: A friendly and practical introduction. Princeton University Press.

6CP: In the final session of the course, students will complete an independent data analysis task in class. This will be similar to a take-home exam, but conducted in a supervised in-class setting. Student performance will be assessed based on the quality and accuracy of their work on this task.

Climate change and the policies adopted in response to it raise many normative questions. Climate ethics attempts to give answers to these questions. The text-centered seminar provides an introduction to this (unsurprisingly) comparatively novel sub-field of applied ethics by way of a close reading of some of the most widely discussed contributions (articles and book chapters).

Preparatory Reading

Moellendorf, Darrel (2015): Climate Change Justice. In: Philosophy Compass, 10 (3), 173-186.

Assignments and Credits

6 CP (TP 1, GS): term paper (15-20 pp.) or oral exam (30 min.)

3 CP (TP 2, GS): presentation (15 min.) with written elaboration (5 pp.) or short term paper (8-10 pp.)

The seminar will focus on genocide in global perspective by tracing an intellectual history of the concept, its origins and function, as well as highlighting critical movements in the field of Genocide Studies with attention to colonial violence and other modes of civilian destruction.

This seminar tackles the urgency of climate action from a fresh perspective. Starting from recent response options released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it provides lessons learned from policy analysis and it invites you looking forward. Together, we will enable learning about evidence, analytical tools, principles, and perspectives for strategies. Integrating climate policy (SDG13) with a range of SDGs (e.g. SDG 2, 6, 7, 12, 14) is seen as pivotal to overcome narrow responses and engage actors. This is embedded in a global governance approach that seeks to balance the need for multilateral agreements with the opportunities of bottom-up multi-stakeholder approaches with regional clubs. A focus will be on the EU and its member states. It is thus system thinking and transformations driven by new alliances that are considered key to future skillsets for a next generation of leaders (i.e. You!).

Literatur zur Vorbereitung/Preparatory Reading:

1) What is climate change. A really simple guide provided by BBC here
2) IPCC WG III: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, THE international scientific body dealing with the issue, has been providing tangible response options in 2022 for policy makers here
3) Chatham House, the No 1 world’s policy think tank, provides a range of analyses on the topic here
4) Youth in Action, voices from all over the world hosted by the UN here

Prüfungsleistungen und CP/Assignments and Credits:

The course offers two options: 3CP will be given for regular attendance and a presentation, preferably as part of a group presentation; 6CP will be given if an additional essay will be submitted.

Protests and social movements are powerful tools through which ordinary people can influence their social and political environment. Why do some individuals take to the streets, while others stay at home? What motivates collective action, and what prevents it?
This seminar introduces students to the most influential explanations for protest participation, drawing on perspectives from political sociology, political psychology, and political science. We will explore both the individual-level factors - such as motivations and values - and the macro social and political conditions that shape mobilization.
Beyond the theory, the course places strong emphasis on developing analytical skills. Students will gain hands-on experience working with survey data (European Social Survey), learn the basics of R programming, and practice conducting descriptive analyses.

In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of applied causal inference in political science using R. No prior knowledge of statistics or coding is required, as we start from the basics of R programming. The course aims to provide students with the essential quantitative analysis skills that are increasingly important in political science, particularly for their future research and Bachelor theses.

Throughout the course, we will work with real-world datasets, focusing on how to estimate causal relationships from observational (or "happenstance") data. Topics include natural experiments, matching, regression, difference-in-differences, panel methods, instrumental variable estimation and regression discontinuity designs. While we will introduce concepts such as regression and statistical inference, the primary focus is on the practical application of these methods to address important research questions. This course is designed to be applied rather than theoretical, helping students understand how to use data analysis techniques in political science. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the tools and skills to conduct their own data analysis.

Imai, K., & Bougher, L. D. (2021). Quantitative social science: An introduction in Stata. Princeton University Press.
Llaudet, E., & Imai, K. (2023). Data analysis for social science: A friendly and practical introduction. Princeton University Press.

6CP: In the final session of the course, students will complete an independent data analysis task in class. This will be similar to a take-home exam, but conducted in a supervised in-class setting. Student performance will be assessed based on the quality and accuracy of their work on this task.