In this course we will critically dicuss how discourses about climate change transform cultural ideas of progress, human-nature relationships, agency and participation. Employing different scholarly approaches and methodological frameworks we will gain insight into different conceptualizations and narrativizations of environmental issues.
Requirements:
regular attendance and oral participation
in-depth knowledge of the reading material

and term paper to be submitted by March 15 - final deadline!

This MA-level seminar is located on the nexus of literary, cultural, and media studies and tries to understand the effects of technologized societies on (i) political governance and (ii) shaping user identities. Departing from the assumption that our societies are increasingly embedded under techno-plutocratic structures, i.e. layered systems of violent control in which our freedom to freely inhabit the Earth and use the planet’s resources is constantly usurped by a privileged elite or powerful individuals who possess both immense wealth and a monopoly on technology, the seminar attempts to complicate the identity of the user. Understanding users as dynamic and multi-dimensional agents existing on a continuum of experts and lay-persons who are themselves embedded in techno-plutocratic structures, the seminar will explore how users take on and perform different roles that either reinforce or challenge techno-plutocratic structures. This seminar is planned to be an interactive and research intensive seminar where students will work on specific case studies/small projects to answer several questions posed by the seminar. Examples of questions that the seminar will explore include: how does literature and film depict techno-plutocratic structures? How do social media platforms participate in reinforcing or challenging techno-plutocratic structures? How do users on social media platforms inhabit and/or negotiate different identities or roles that resist or affirm techno-plutocratic structures? How is violence exercised in techno-plutocratic structures? What role does AI play in the techno-plutoctratic turn? How do we historicize and contextualize techno-plutocratic structures? How do billionaires leverage wealth, hubris, and technological expertise to capture the state? How does the extraction of resources (for eg water, energy, land, minerals) feature under techno-plutocratic structures? How do existing forms of oppression such as settler colonialism and patriarchy metamorphize under techno-plutocratic structures and how are they resisted? How are notions of love and kindness expressed under techno-plutocracy? How do different users and speculative fiction envision alternative futures to techno-plutocratic societies? Note that this seminar has a heavy reading load and in addition to reading the mandatory literary texts and watching the assigned film, we will also have weekly readings of theoretical texts and other secondary sources. We will also work with social media data and other forms of data as required. First day of class is on 21.10.2025. Please consult Handout_01 to see the list of literary texts_film that you will be required to read/watch for this seminar. Handout_01 is available for download here: http://unihb.eu/LWg1C6Ga I strongly advise that you acquire the assigned novels before the Winter semester commences. An email containing further information and a tentative syllabus for this seminar will be circulated before first day of class. You will be expected to complete your assignments (graded or ungraded) according to the requirements of your specific module. If you are already enrolled in this seminar and no longer wish to participate please cancel your participation so that your spot can be offered to someone else. If you have questions pertaining to the seminar that cannot wait until the start of the Winter semester you can email me at nyanguluprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de

In this seminar, we will be looking at how to research, produce and broadcast an English-language podcast. Along the way, we will improve our hard skills and our soft skills regarding language, teamwork, research, time management, interview techniques, etc.

In this workshop, we will explore and experiment with contemporary methods of improvisational theater—the art of making up theatrical moments on the spot, without a script. It is one of the most vibrant and current forms of theater of today and is deeply ingrained in US popular culture.

You will first learn the basic principles of improvisational theater and how to apply them to improvised scenework. Later, you will encounter a specific performance structure that will serve as a framework for a public performance.

Through this work, you will build confidence in public speaking, explore practical approaches to collaborative creation, and gain insight into the production and marketing process of a theatre production. In addition, we will reflect on how these skills can be beneficial both in academic contexts as well as in the professional world beyond academia.

There will be a regular class on Monday 2.15-3.45pm during the semester, in which we will cover the basics of improvisational theater, followed by an intensive in the lecture-free period (2-6 March 2026, 10am-1.30pm) led by the student assistant Tarja Spiekermann, which will focus on a specific performance structure and prepare for a public performance on 7 March 2026. If you participate in the theatre workshop, you can choose either to be a performer or take on a behind-the-scenes role in production and marketing.

In this workshop, we will explore and experiment with contemporary methods of improvisational theater—the art of making up theatrical moments on the spot, without a script. It is one of the most vibrant and current forms of theater of today and is deeply ingrained in US popular culture.

You will first learn the basic principles of improvisational theater and how to apply them to improvised scenework. Later, you will encounter a specific performance structure that will serve as a framework for a public performance.

Through this work, you will build confidence in public speaking, explore practical approaches to collaborative creation, and gain insight into the production and marketing process of a theatre production. In addition, we will reflect on how these skills can be beneficial both in academic contexts as well as in the professional world beyond academia.

There will be a regular class on Monday 2.15-3.45pm during the semester, in which we will cover the basics of improvisational theater, followed by an intensive in the lecture-free period (2-6 March 2026, 10am-1.30pm) led by the student assistant Tarja Spiekermann, which will focus on a specific performance structure and prepare for a public performance on 7 March 2026. If you participate in the theatre workshop, you can choose either to be a performer or take on a behind-the-scenes role in production and marketing.