This seminar introduces participants to anthropological approaches to materials. Matters that humans and more-than-humans use to build their worlds are generally considered to be materials. These materials can be perishable and results of a relatively low-investment production process, such as mud and straw. They may also result from industrial manufacturing processes, such as polymer-based plastics, concrete and aluminum. Recently, a new type of sustainable materials, such as for instance biomaterials, have been posited as experimental alternatives to often unsustainable materials that result from industrial production. These may be, for example, seashell-based concrete, agar agar based plastics or kombucha leather. What are the histories, expectations, disappointments, and futures that exist around these and other materials? And how can ethnography and applied work with materials help understand social ideas around them? The seminar will give participants the opportunity to read ethnography and theoretical approaches from the anthropology of materials while also making time for research-led teaching. After all, understanding materials and the material world requires direct tactile engagement!

The seminar is open to 6 external students.

In this seminar you will be doing your first own research project! That is why it is probably one of the most exciting seminars in your programme and is a great preparation for your final BA-Thesis. The seminar is designed as a hands-on workshop to learn the key methods of doing research. You will learn all about the specific qualitative methods of cultural studies and anthropology, including how to choose the right methods for your research question, but also their difficulties, ethics and practicalities. You will be guided step by step through the research process through a series of exercises. In this way, you will enhance your practical skills through learning “by doing” research. This seminar is designed to create a supportive environment with a lot of peer group work, providing space for learning, practicing and reflecting on the methods of qualitative research.

The module is designed as a two-semester course. Over these two semesters you will work through the entire research process focussing on the methods of data collection this semester, and analysis and writing-up next semester. This is our team's response to feedback in recent years that more time is needed for the whole research process. If this is not possible for you, please contact the module leader (framuel@uni-bremen.de) or your seminar leader at the beginning of the semester.

At the end of the first semester, you will present the first results of your work and reflections on research dynamics in at a big (internal) student conference. Please, reserve this
mandatory date: Friday, January 23, 2026, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Don't worry, we will get you very well prepared for this in the seminar.

This seminar will be held in English – this is meant as an opportunity for all those who enjoy doing their studies in English or just want to try it out. Don’t worry that your research will be taking place here in Bremen/Germany. Often participants experience doing this course in English as a possibility to distance themselves at little more from the contexts that they might be quite familiar with. But, you may also hand-in your assignments in German. No requirements regarding the level of language proficiency are needed, however, participants should be interested in doing the exercises in English.

Social Justice, both as a conceptual term and (im)material demand, has been critically affected by the turbulent changes and sociopolitical ruptures in late neo-liberal capitalist societies. Currently, it has gained momentum and stands as a buzzword to a whole range of disciplines: from educational and civic policy, to public memory/history studies, visual art, up to a constant demand of new social movements. In this Seminar, apart, apart from fundamental conceptualizations of the term, we will discuss and reflect on various angles of social justice through selected case studies: from museum exhibitions/artefacts to various facets of visual art opting for social justice, anti-racism and anti-discrimination struggles to critical pedagogical work/ethics towards societal transformation, inclusion, multi-vocality in museum work. Moreover, we will focus on questions such as :

• Is there a room for intervention and work towards social justice within a museum educational and visual art context?
• How do historical/memory sites produce and present alternative 'readings' or aspects of so called 'bottom-up' history, striving for social justice and transformation?
• Which are the involved official and unofficial actors in this knowledge and hybrid art production and subsequent forms of archives?
• How do grassroots initiatives/social movements produce, safeguard and disseminate such knowledge, memory and artistic work?


Indicative Bibliography
Anderson, S. (2019). Museums, Decolonization, and Indigenous Artists as First Cultural Responders: A Case Study at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Museums & Society, 17(2), 173–192.

Bayer, N., Kazeem-Kamiński, B., & Sternfeld, N. (2017). Curating as Anti-Racist Practice. (Edition angewandte, DE GRYUTER, Bd. 2). DE GRYUTER.
Di Paulantonio , M. (2014). Foreword. In Roger. I. Simon, A Pedagogy of witnessing : Curatorial Practice and the pursuit of social justice. Albany, NY : SUNY Press.
Douglas, M. (1987) How Institutions Think, London: Routledge.
Golding, V., & Modest, W. (2013). Museums and Communities. Curators, Collections and Collaboration (1st ed.), London : Bloomsbury Academic.
Dan, H. (2020). The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. Pluto Press; JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18msmcr.
Jung, Y. (2016): “Contemporary Understanding of ‘Harlem on My Mind’: What Can We Learn from an Art Museum’s Early Attempt toward Culturally Inclusive Practice?” The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum 10, 41–50.
Ng, W., Ware, S. M., & Greenberg, A. (2017). Activating Diversity and Inclusion: A Blueprint for Museum Educators as Allies and Change Makers. Journal of Museum Education, 42(2), 142–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2017.1306664.
Raunig, G., & Ray, G. (2009). Art and contemporary critical practice: Reinventing institutional critique.

In this seminar, we will work on different narratives about representations of what is imagined – in different times and under different (political, social, economic) circumstances – as ‘Germany’. We will explore what ‘Germany’ supposedly is and gain a deeper understanding of it. With a cultural studies perspective we will look at what and who is represented by whom as ‘German(y)’, who and what is excluded by the narratives, what the specific circumstances for specific narratives are and which counter-narratives can be found.
The aim of the seminar is not to study what is called ‘Germany’ or ‘Europe’ but to learn about representation and perspectives of (multiple) self-imaginations, how they are constructed in different narratives and which functions these imaginations serve.
In the context of this seminar, we do a joint study trip to the Bunker Valentin in Bremen Nord to explore different narratives and representations about Germany’s past and present. With a selection of texts and short films we will thematise issues of German colonialism, migration, racism, exclusion and inclusion, and their implications.
The specific tasks of participants will be determined at the beginning of the semester based on whether participants take it as a 3 CPs or 6 CPs seminar.

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

In this seminar, we will work on different narratives about representations of what is imagined – in different times and under different (political, social, economic) circumstances – as ‘Germany’. We will explore what ‘Germany’ supposedly is and gain a deeper understanding of it. With a cultural studies perspective we will look at what and who is represented by whom as ‘German(y)’, who and what is excluded by the narratives, what the specific circumstances for specific narratives are and which counter-narratives can be found.
The aim of the seminar is not to study what is called ‘Germany’ or ‘Europe’ but to learn about representation and perspectives of (multiple) self-imaginations, how they are constructed in different narratives and which functions these imaginations serve.
In the context of this seminar, we do a joint study trip to the Bunker Valentin in Bremen Nord to explore different narratives and representations about Germany’s past and present. With a selection of texts and short films we will thematise issues of German colonialism, migration, racism, exclusion and inclusion, and their implications.
The specific tasks of participants will be determined at the beginning of the semester based on whether participants take it as a 3 CPs or 6 CPs seminar.

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

In Bremen und dem niedersächsischen Umland gibt es zahlreiche Museen und einige Gedenkstätten. Woher kommen diese Institutionen? Wie arbeiten sie? Welchen Themen widmen sie sich? Wie haben sie sich entwickelt und welche Aufgaben übernehmen sie in unserer Gesellschaft? Worin unterscheidet sich die Arbeit von Gedenkstätten und Museen?
Das Seminar vermittelt Einblicke in die Grundlagen der musealen Arbeiten und reflektiert die Entstehungsgeschichte der Bremer Museen vor dem Hintergrund einer Kulturgeschichte des Politischen. Gemeinsam besucht die Seminargruppe sieben unterschiedliche Museen und erhält dabei direkte Einblicke in dieses wissenschaftliche Arbeitsfeld. Dabei richtet sich das Seminar bewusst nicht nur an Historiker*innen, sondern möchte unterschiedliche Perspektiven auf die museale Arbeit in einen Austausch bringen.
Das Seminar wird unterschiedliche Museen im Land Bremen und dem niedersächsischen Umland besuchen und sich mit ihrer Geschichte und ihrer aktuellen Arbeit auseinandersetzen. Die Teilnehmenden erhalten Einblicke in aktuelle Ausstellungen, die museumspädagogische Arbeit, in Museumssammlungen und Archive.
Im Rahmen des Seminars wird eine Studienleistung in Form eines Referates oder eines Essays mit freier Fragestellung zu einem Museum erbracht. Das Seminar wird unterschiedliche Museen besuchen. Es wird daher an unterschiedlichen Orten und ggf. auch zu leicht abweichenden Zeiten stattfinden. Die erste Sitzung findet am 15. Oktober im Krankenhaus-Museum am Klinikum Bremen-Ost statt.

This seminar introduces participants to anthropological approaches to materials. Matters that humans and more-than-humans use to build their worlds are generally considered to be materials. These materials can be perishable and results of a relatively low-investment production process, such as mud and straw. They may also result from industrial manufacturing processes, such as polymer-based plastics, concrete and aluminum. Recently, a new type of sustainable materials, such as for instance biomaterials, have been posited as experimental alternatives to often unsustainable materials that result from industrial production. These may be, for example, seashell-based concrete, agar agar based plastics or kombucha leather. What are the histories, expectations, disappointments, and futures that exist around these and other materials? And how can ethnography and applied work with materials help understand social ideas around them? The seminar will give participants the opportunity to read ethnography and theoretical approaches from the anthropology of materials while also making time for research-led teaching. After all, understanding materials and the material world requires direct tactile engagement!

The seminar is open to 6 external students.

Social Justice, both as a conceptual term and (im)material demand, has been critically affected by the turbulent changes and sociopolitical ruptures in late neo-liberal capitalist societies. Currently, it has gained momentum and stands as a buzzword to a whole range of disciplines: from educational and civic policy, to public memory/history studies, visual art, up to a constant demand of new social movements. In this Seminar, apart, apart from fundamental conceptualizations of the term, we will discuss and reflect on various angles of social justice through selected case studies: from museum exhibitions/artefacts to various facets of visual art opting for social justice, anti-racism and anti-discrimination struggles to critical pedagogical work/ethics towards societal transformation, inclusion, multi-vocality in museum work. Moreover, we will focus on questions such as :

• Is there a room for intervention and work towards social justice within a museum educational and visual art context?
• How do historical/memory sites produce and present alternative 'readings' or aspects of so called 'bottom-up' history, striving for social justice and transformation?
• Which are the involved official and unofficial actors in this knowledge and hybrid art production and subsequent forms of archives?
• How do grassroots initiatives/social movements produce, safeguard and disseminate such knowledge, memory and artistic work?


Indicative Bibliography
Anderson, S. (2019). Museums, Decolonization, and Indigenous Artists as First Cultural Responders: A Case Study at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Museums & Society, 17(2), 173–192.

Bayer, N., Kazeem-Kamiński, B., & Sternfeld, N. (2017). Curating as Anti-Racist Practice. (Edition angewandte, DE GRYUTER, Bd. 2). DE GRYUTER.
Di Paulantonio , M. (2014). Foreword. In Roger. I. Simon, A Pedagogy of witnessing : Curatorial Practice and the pursuit of social justice. Albany, NY : SUNY Press.
Douglas, M. (1987) How Institutions Think, London: Routledge.
Golding, V., & Modest, W. (2013). Museums and Communities. Curators, Collections and Collaboration (1st ed.), London : Bloomsbury Academic.
Dan, H. (2020). The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. Pluto Press; JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18msmcr.
Jung, Y. (2016): “Contemporary Understanding of ‘Harlem on My Mind’: What Can We Learn from an Art Museum’s Early Attempt toward Culturally Inclusive Practice?” The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum 10, 41–50.
Ng, W., Ware, S. M., & Greenberg, A. (2017). Activating Diversity and Inclusion: A Blueprint for Museum Educators as Allies and Change Makers. Journal of Museum Education, 42(2), 142–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2017.1306664.
Raunig, G., & Ray, G. (2009). Art and contemporary critical practice: Reinventing institutional critique.

In this seminar, we will work on different narratives about representations of what is imagined – in different times and under different (political, social, economic) circumstances – as ‘Germany’. We will explore what ‘Germany’ supposedly is and gain a deeper understanding of it. With a cultural studies perspective we will look at what and who is represented by whom as ‘German(y)’, who and what is excluded by the narratives, what the specific circumstances for specific narratives are and which counter-narratives can be found.
The aim of the seminar is not to study what is called ‘Germany’ or ‘Europe’ but to learn about representation and perspectives of (multiple) self-imaginations, how they are constructed in different narratives and which functions these imaginations serve.
In the context of this seminar, we do a joint study trip to the Bunker Valentin in Bremen Nord to explore different narratives and representations about Germany’s past and present. With a selection of texts and short films we will thematise issues of German colonialism, migration, racism, exclusion and inclusion, and their implications.
The specific tasks of participants will be determined at the beginning of the semester based on whether participants take it as a 3 CPs or 6 CPs seminar.

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

In this seminar, we will work on different narratives about representations of what is imagined – in different times and under different (political, social, economic) circumstances – as ‘Germany’. We will explore what ‘Germany’ supposedly is and gain a deeper understanding of it. With a cultural studies perspective we will look at what and who is represented by whom as ‘German(y)’, who and what is excluded by the narratives, what the specific circumstances for specific narratives are and which counter-narratives can be found.
The aim of the seminar is not to study what is called ‘Germany’ or ‘Europe’ but to learn about representation and perspectives of (multiple) self-imaginations, how they are constructed in different narratives and which functions these imaginations serve.
In the context of this seminar, we do a joint study trip to the Bunker Valentin in Bremen Nord to explore different narratives and representations about Germany’s past and present. With a selection of texts and short films we will thematise issues of German colonialism, migration, racism, exclusion and inclusion, and their implications.
The specific tasks of participants will be determined at the beginning of the semester based on whether participants take it as a 3 CPs or 6 CPs seminar.

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Kommentar:

Achtung! Veranstaltung entfällt / Attention! Course cancelled

Kommentar: https://www.uni-bremen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachbereiche/fb9/zemki/docs/comments/comments_WiSe25_26/KMW7_9_Scharlach.pdf

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung

Achtung! Englischsprachige Veranstaltung