This class will introduce students to the basic tools of literary analysis of poetry, drama, and narrative. As well it will introduce into the most relevant theories and methods of literary analysis. These will enable students to be able to discuss and analyze literary works, skills necessary for future literary classes.
Students will have to purchase and read Michael Meyer “English and American Literatures”, 4. überarb. u. erw. Aufl. utb basics (18,90€) and Shakespeare “Hamlet” (app. 12€). Both books are available for purchase through the university bookstore on Universitäts-Boulevard on campus. All other texts are provided through StudIP.
Registration for one of the four classes is mandatory; pls refrain from registering in more than one class; all students will get admitted to the class.
Regular attendance and preparation of the reading material is mandatory.

This class will introduce students to the basic tools of literary analysis of poetry, drama, and narrative. As well it will introduce into the most relevant theories and methods of literary analysis. These will enable students to be able to discuss and analyze literary works, skills necessary for future literary classes.
Students will have to purchase and read Michael Meyer “English and American Literatures”, 4. überarb. u. erw. Aufl. utb basics (18,90€) and Shakespeare “Hamlet” (app. 12€). Both books are available for purchase through the university bookstore on Universitäts-Boulevard on campus. All other texts are provided through StudIP.
Registration for one of the four classes is mandatory; pls refrain from registering in more than one class; all students will get admitted to the class.
Regular attendance and preparation of the reading material is mandatory.

This class will introduce students to the basic tools of literary analysis of poetry, drama, and narrative. As well it will introduce into the most relevant theories and methods of literary analysis. These will enable students to be able to discuss and analyze literary works, skills necessary for future literary classes.
Students will have to purchase and read Michael Meyer “English and American Literatures”, 4. überarb. u. erw. Aufl. utb basics (18,90€) and Shakespeare “Hamlet” (app. 12€). Both books are available for purchase through the university bookstore on Universitäts-Boulevard on campus. All other texts are provided through StudIP.
Registration for one of the four classes is mandatory; pls refrain from registering in more than one class; all students will get admitted to the class.
Regular attendance and preparation of the reading material is mandatory.

This class will introduce students to the basic tools of literary analysis of poetry, drama, and narrative. As well it will introduce into the most relevant theories and methods of literary analysis. These will enable students to be able to discuss and analyze literary works, skills necessary for future literary classes.
Students will have to purchase and read Michael Meyer “English and American Literatures”, 4. überarb. u. erw. Aufl. utb basics (18,90€) and Shakespeare “Hamlet” (app. 12€). Both books are available for purchase through the university bookstore on Universitäts-Boulevard on campus. All other texts are provided through StudIP.
Registration for one of the four classes is mandatory; pls refrain from registering in more than one class; all students will get admitted to the class.
Regular attendance and preparation of the reading material is mandatory.

The purpose of this course is to create and deepen your interest in linguistics and to give a systematic introduction to the variety of ways in which language can be examined scientifically. You may realize that you already know a lot about how language works without being aware of it or unable to express it in technical linguistic terms. Therefore, you will be introduced to and equipped with the fundamental concepts, the adequate terminology and methodology for linguistic analysis.

In this course, we will explore the scientific study of language. Students will be equipped with knowledge of the core areas of linguistics: semiotics, phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. You will learn about signs, sounds, words, sentences, and meaning. Whenever possible, we will take a contrastive look at English and other languages as well as explore opportunities to apply linguistics.

Why do language learners have accents? How do you read phonetic transcriptions? What are the principles of successful communication? Where does the course picture even come from? Find out!

Throughout the semester, students are expected to prepare each week's readings and to actively participate in class discussions.

Assessment:
Final exam (on Thu, 30 Jan 2025, afternoon)

Literature:
Kortmann, Bernd (2020). English Linguistics: Essentials (2nd ed). Berlin: Cornelsen.

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing a range of case studies from colonial encounters to postcolonialism, we will pay particular attention to historical shifts and cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a range of theoretical and analytical concepts.

Assignments/Requirements:
• Students must read the main readings every week.
• Every student must participate in a presentation group. The group will present main ideas from the texts on the syllabus for the specific seminar date. Each presentation is allowed 20 minutes of time.
• Each presentation must have a handout relevant to the text that they will share with the class. Included within the handout should be a summary of the text’s most important arguments and theses as well as quotation of key passages. A short background of the author and historical relevancies are also important.
• Each handout must have a preparation of four study questions. Three of these questions must be explicitly about the text itself. One question can be more open (e.g. relating the text to contemporary issues).
• Students must participate regularly in discussions.
• Every student must write six response papers for any of the texts we read in class, half a page each.

This class is taught in four parallel groups in four different time slots by Dr. Karin Esders (groups A and B) and Dr. Paula von Gleich (groups C and D). Please register only for one of those four groups/classes.
There is also a weekly tutorial offered to train students' skills in academic reading, presenting, and writing in cultural history and cultural studies and to support students with their study and reading assignments necessary to successfully complete the "Key Moments" class. All students studying a "Key Moments" class this winter term are invited to attend the tutorial as well (registration on Stud.IP).

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing a range of case studies from colonial encounters to postcolonialism, we will pay particular attention to historical shifts and cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a range of theoretical and analytical concepts.

Assignments/Requirements:
• Students must read the main readings every week.
• Every student must participate in a presentation group. The group will present main ideas from the texts on the syllabus for the specific seminar date. Each presentation is allowed 20 minutes of time.
• Each presentation must have a handout relevant to the text that they will share with the class. Included within the handout should be a summary of the text’s most important arguments and theses as well as quotation of key passages. A short background of the author and historical relevancies are also important.
• Each handout must have a preparation of four study questions. Three of these questions must be explicitly about the text itself. One question can be more open (e.g. relating the text to contemporary issues).
• Students must participate regularly in discussions.
• Every student must write six response papers for any of the texts we read in class, half a page each.

This class is taught in four parallel groups in four different time slots by Dr. Karin Esders (groups A and B) and Dr. Paula von Gleich (groups C and D). Please register only for one of those four groups/classes.
There is also a weekly tutorial offered to train students' skills in academic reading, presenting, and writing in cultural history and cultural studies and to support students with their study and reading assignments necessary to successfully complete the "Key Moments" class. All students studying a "Key Moments" class this winter term are invited to attend the tutorial as well (registration on Stud.IP).

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing a range of case studies from colonial encounters to postcolonialism, we will pay particular attention to historical shifts and cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a range of theoretical and analytical concepts.

Assignments/Requirements:
• Students must read the main readings every week.
• Every student must participate in a presentation group. The group will present main ideas from the texts on the syllabus for the specific seminar date. Each presentation is allowed 20 minutes of time.
• Each presentation must have a handout relevant to the text that they will share with the class. Included within the handout should be a summary of the text’s most important arguments and theses as well as quotation of key passages. A short background of the author and historical relevancies are also important.
• Each handout must have a preparation of four study questions. Three of these questions must be explicitly about the text itself. One question can be more open (e.g. relating the text to contemporary issues).
• Students must participate regularly in discussions.
• Every student must write six response papers for any of the texts we read in class, half a page each.

This class is thought in four parallel groups in four different time slots by Dr. Karin Esders (groups A and B) and Dr. Paula von Gleich (groups C and D). Please register only for one of those four groups/classes.
There is also a weekly tutorial offered to train students' skills in academic reading, presenting, and writing in cultural history and cultural studies and to support students with their study and reading assignments necessary to successfully complete the "Key Moments" class. All students studying a "Key Moments" class this winter term are invited to attend the tutorial as well (registration on Stud.IP).

This course aims to introduce students to key moments in the social and cultural histories of English-speaking countries. In analyzing a range of case studies from colonial encounters to postcolonialism, we will pay particular attention to historical shifts and cultural encounters and their dynamics of difference and power. We will draw for our discussions on a wide variety of sources, such as scholarly and fictional texts, paintings, advertisements, moving pictures and photographs, and will apply a range of theoretical and analytical concepts.

Assignments/Requirements:
• Students must read the main readings every week.
• Every student must participate in a presentation group. The group will present main ideas from the texts on the syllabus for the specific seminar date. Each presentation is allowed 20 minutes of time.
• Each presentation must have a handout relevant to the text that they will share with the class. Included within the handout should be a summary of the text’s most important arguments and theses as well as quotation of key passages. A short background of the author and historical relevancies are also important.
• Each handout must have a preparation of four study questions. Three of these questions must be explicitly about the text itself. One question can be more open (e.g. relating the text to contemporary issues).
• Students must participate regularly in discussions.
• Every student must write six response papers for any of the texts we read in class, half a page each.

This class is thought in four parallel groups in four different time slots by Dr. Karin Esders (groups A and B) and Dr. Paula von Gleich (groups C and D). Please register only for one of those four groups/classes.
There is also a weekly tutorial offered to train students' skills in academic reading, presenting, and writing in cultural history and cultural studies and to support students with their study and reading assignments necessary to successfully complete the "Key Moments" class. All students studying a "Key Moments" class this winter term are invited to attend the tutorial as well (registration on Stud.IP).

The introductory class "Key Moments in the Cultural History of the English-Speaking World" (offered in four groups) is supported by this weekly tutorial offered by Master students in order to train you
in academic reading, presenting, and writing skills in cultural history and cultural studies and to support students with their weekly reading and study assignments (presentations and micro response papers) necessary to successfully complete the "Key Moments" introductory class. All students studying a “Key Moments” course (A, B, C, or D) this winter term are invited to attend the tutorial as well. The first session takes place in week 1.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work for which you will receive 6 credit points.
The focus of both modules is on academic writing in English at university level, and you will develop the skills necessary to plan and write academic essays. This semester, you will be looking at structural elements such as paragraphing, writing a thesis statement and using citation etc. while also developing academic language skills in terms of word choice, grammar and syntax. Diagnostic tasks will indicate which personal areas of language you need to develop in order to achieve the academic level of writing for this level.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

University Language Skills 1 (ULS 1) is the first half of the SP-1 module (“SP-1 Sprachpraxis Basismodul”) taken in the winter semester. It requires 90 hours of work and earns you 3 credit points. University Language Skills 2 (ULS 2) is the second half of this module and will be offered in the summer semester, requiring 180 hours of work and giving you 6 credit points.

The focus of this module is on academic writing in English at university level. The emphasis during ULS 1 is on planning and organising an academic essay in an academic context at university level. It emphasizes writing skills in three broad categories: paragraphing, structure, and argumentation. Not only will students practice structural elements (e.g. topic sentences, outlining strategies), but they will also be working on refining their English language skills, including word choice, grammar and syntax. In addition, they will discover the importance of cohesion and coherence as key skills in good writing.

Materials will be provided via StudIP.

In this class, students will learn about English in the Caribbean covering a range of topics:
• general considerations of the spread of English to the Caribbean
• language identity and language policy in the Caribbean
• grammatical variation in Caribbean Englishes
• lexical variation in Caribbean Englishes

In the course of the class, students will also investigate selected aspects of Caribbean Englishes using online databases and dictionaries.

Computer-assisted discourse analysis (CADA) is a “data-driven methodology [that] allows researchers to identify frequent and salient patterns of language use that often operate covertly beyond our conscious awareness but which provide a lens to the hegemonic belief systems of a community of language users.” Poole 2022: 17.
In this course, we will use corpus linguistic methods to study discourses, ranging from the language of capitalism to positive and negative news and the representation of gender in conspiracy theories, among others. We use a set of tools, some for computer-assisted manual annotation, some for investigating our own DIY corpora, as well as corpora that are accessible on the internet.
While we do mostly quantitative analyses, e.g. of collocations or keywords, you will also learn to interpret the results and draw conclusions firmly based in critical or positive discourse analysis. For your assignments, you study a discourse of your own choice with the tool you find most suitable, to answer your own research question.

Requirements
D1a (SL): An oral presentation of the results of your own study
D1c (PL): A term paper in which you present the results of your own study
Please note that this class can NOT be taken for Ersatzleistung für das Auslandssemester. Choose the EA from the WD classes.

References (no need to buy any)
Baker, Paul & Tony McEnery. 2015. Corpora and discourse studies: Integrating discourse and corpora. Palgrave Macmillan.
Critical Discourse Studies journal, accessible via the library.
Fleckenstein, Kristen. 2024. “Representation of gender in conspiracy theories: a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis". Critical Discourse Studies.
Poole, Robert. 2022. Corpus-assisted Ecolinguistics. Bloomsbury.

Previously portrayed as mad men and threats to society, scientists of all genders have begun to play new roles in television, film, and fiction. This course examines climate scientists and their connections to the world as represented in contemporary literature on basis of Susan M. Gaines 'Carbon Dreams' and Charlene D’Avanzo’s 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea'. Students will be familiarized with key characteristics of the science novel genre, the evolution of scientists in popular media, and the connections between science, literature, and climate change. Select links to the blue humanities as an academic field will be explored. Students will further be given an opportunity to ask questions and to acquire essential skills in academic writing and presentations.

If you wish to take this course, you will be expected to buy both novels (ideally before the semester starts). There are two editions of 'Carbon Dreams' (2001 and 2022), both of which are acceptable. There is only one edition of 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea' (2016). Both novels are easily accessible on Amazon. You may purchase a new, a used, or an e-book version.

Class requirements further include:

▪ Active participation
▪ In-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials
▪ A presentation and/or term paper (depending on your chosen module)


Padlet link: https://padlet.com/oevermco/contemporary-climate-science-fiction-5p4y70e60reuyk6u

This class serves as an introduction to Chicanx literatures, life-writing, prose, and poetry in the United States. Chicanx is a un/re-gendered version of the term Chicano/a, which refers to the Mexican American peoples who live on the border between Mexico and the United States. In this seminar we’ll first look at the history of Mexican Americans in the US and then move onto the beginning of Chicanx literature in the 1960’s where we’ll read Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Following that, the class will delve into the various intersections of Chicanx writing. We’ll specifically examine topics such as Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, the three mothers of Chicanx culture: La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche, and La Llorona, Mestizaje/Mestiza Consciousness, Queer Chicanx Poetry, Life-Writing, and Prose, and finish the semester with Afro- and Indigenous Chicanx Poetry. Other than Anaya’s novel, we will primarily look at excerpts and various forms of prose, literature and poetry throughout the semester, which will be uploaded and made available on Stud. Ip.

Requirements for this class include active class participation, in-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials, and a portfolio or term paper (depending on the chosen module).

Required Texts:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Postapocalyptic narratives imagine futures marked by destruction, upheaval and lack of safety in which ideas of social and societal structures are re-evaluated. This course will be focusing on apocalyptic and dystopian narratives written by African American women, who address issues concerning social, reproductive, and environmental justice specifically in settings struck by disaster. Students will be introduced to the concepts of (post)-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction in relation to ideas based in Afrofuturism, Posthumanism, and Intersectionality that relate to both contemporary and historical contexts. The goal of this seminar is to engage with the idea of the end of times as a literary device and as a means to discuss society and power structures as well as discourses related to gender, race, class and (dis)ability.

In addition to secondary material uploaded on Stud.IP, the following novels must be purchased, read and prepared by the respective session as stated in the syllabus:

• Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower. 1993.
• Jesmyn Ward. Salvage the Bones. 2011.
• N. K. Jemisin. The Fifth Season. 2015

The caste system functions as a pervasive force within rural and urban spaces in India. This seminar will familiarise students with the various depictions of caste that play a pivotal role in contemporary Indian Literature. This class will read two novels to grasp how caste functions within mundane and extraordinary circumstances. In Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, the students will be introduced to caste-based hierarchies and discrimination in modern urban contexts, while Perumal Murugan’s Pyre portrays the violent repression of inter-caste relationships in a rural village. By contextualizing these novels through the works of Ambedkar, Fanon, and Spivak, the seminar aims to foreground questions of caste-based exploitation, erasure of non-brahmin identities, subalternity, othering, and counter-resistance.

What we might describe as ‘disastrous water’ during extreme weather events are, e.g., river flooding due to heavy rain and flooding of coastal areas due to storms and hurricanes, but also water contamination and long periods of droughts that threaten access to drinking water. While the frequency and intensity with which such events occur has increased as part of the triple planetary crisis consisting of anthropogenic climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, they have been part of North American history ever since. Using the example of hurricanes and floods at the US Gulf coast, students will analyze the representation and the cultural, political, social, and environmental implications of extreme water events in North America. As the study of literature, film, art, and media in this seminar will show, hurricane and flood narratives address natural disaster but also human and human-made issues, e.g., around race, class, and gender.
The class is open to B.A. E-SC students studying the D1b, D1c, WD1b, and WD1c modules as well as international exchange students and students doing ‘Freiwillige Zusatzleistungen,’ general studies, or ‘Ersatzleistungen.’ Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty-five students. Further information will be made available on Stud.IP. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates.
Requirements
• active participation in weekly in-person meetings,
• in-depth study of the primary and secondary material in preparation for each session,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

In this seminar we will learn about Indigenous history, issues, problems, and identities through watching feature films dealing with Indigenous topics in North America. We will cooperate with the 'Indigen: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival' in Stuttgart and will watch a selection of the films that will be shown there in February 2025. We will also transcribe, translate and provide the German subtitles for one feature film that will run at the festival in Stuttgart. As a highlight, a selection of students will go to the festival and participate in all showings and events. We will also have a panel discussion with the Indigenous guests at the festival.
The class will be held in English. All texts will be provided electronically or through Stud IP. Requirements are regular attendance, participation in discussions, and in-depth knowledge of reading materials as well as a written exam at the end of the semester. Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

Previously portrayed as mad men and threats to society, scientists of all genders have begun to play new roles in television, film, and fiction. This course examines climate scientists and their connections to the world as represented in contemporary literature on basis of Susan M. Gaines 'Carbon Dreams' and Charlene D’Avanzo’s 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea'. Students will be familiarized with key characteristics of the science novel genre, the evolution of scientists in popular media, and the connections between science, literature, and climate change. Select links to the blue humanities as an academic field will be explored. Students will further be given an opportunity to ask questions and to acquire essential skills in academic writing and presentations.

If you wish to take this course, you will be expected to buy both novels (ideally before the semester starts). There are two editions of 'Carbon Dreams' (2001 and 2022), both of which are acceptable. There is only one edition of 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea' (2016). Both novels are easily accessible on Amazon. You may purchase a new, a used, or an e-book version.

Class requirements further include:

▪ Active participation
▪ In-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials
▪ A presentation and/or term paper (depending on your chosen module)


Padlet link: https://padlet.com/oevermco/contemporary-climate-science-fiction-5p4y70e60reuyk6u

This class serves as an introduction to Chicanx literatures, life-writing, prose, and poetry in the United States. Chicanx is a un/re-gendered version of the term Chicano/a, which refers to the Mexican American peoples who live on the border between Mexico and the United States. In this seminar we’ll first look at the history of Mexican Americans in the US and then move onto the beginning of Chicanx literature in the 1960’s where we’ll read Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Following that, the class will delve into the various intersections of Chicanx writing. We’ll specifically examine topics such as Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, the three mothers of Chicanx culture: La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche, and La Llorona, Mestizaje/Mestiza Consciousness, Queer Chicanx Poetry, Life-Writing, and Prose, and finish the semester with Afro- and Indigenous Chicanx Poetry. Other than Anaya’s novel, we will primarily look at excerpts and various forms of prose, literature and poetry throughout the semester, which will be uploaded and made available on Stud. Ip.

Requirements for this class include active class participation, in-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials, and a portfolio or term paper (depending on the chosen module).

Required Texts:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Postapocalyptic narratives imagine futures marked by destruction, upheaval and lack of safety in which ideas of social and societal structures are re-evaluated. This course will be focusing on apocalyptic and dystopian narratives written by African American women, who address issues concerning social, reproductive, and environmental justice specifically in settings struck by disaster. Students will be introduced to the concepts of (post)-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction in relation to ideas based in Afrofuturism, Posthumanism, and Intersectionality that relate to both contemporary and historical contexts. The goal of this seminar is to engage with the idea of the end of times as a literary device and as a means to discuss society and power structures as well as discourses related to gender, race, class and (dis)ability.

In addition to secondary material uploaded on Stud.IP, the following novels must be purchased, read and prepared by the respective session as stated in the syllabus:

• Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower. 1993.
• Jesmyn Ward. Salvage the Bones. 2011.
• N. K. Jemisin. The Fifth Season. 2015

The caste system functions as a pervasive force within rural and urban spaces in India. This seminar will familiarise students with the various depictions of caste that play a pivotal role in contemporary Indian Literature. This class will read two novels to grasp how caste functions within mundane and extraordinary circumstances. In Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, the students will be introduced to caste-based hierarchies and discrimination in modern urban contexts, while Perumal Murugan’s Pyre portrays the violent repression of inter-caste relationships in a rural village. By contextualizing these novels through the works of Ambedkar, Fanon, and Spivak, the seminar aims to foreground questions of caste-based exploitation, erasure of non-brahmin identities, subalternity, othering, and counter-resistance.

In this class, students will learn about English in the Caribbean covering a range of topics:
• general considerations of the spread of English to the Caribbean
• language identity and language policy in the Caribbean
• grammatical variation in Caribbean Englishes
• lexical variation in Caribbean Englishes

In the course of the class, students will also investigate selected aspects of Caribbean Englishes using online databases and dictionaries.

Computer-assisted discourse analysis (CADA) is a “data-driven methodology [that] allows researchers to identify frequent and salient patterns of language use that often operate covertly beyond our conscious awareness but which provide a lens to the hegemonic belief systems of a community of language users.” Poole 2022: 17.
In this course, we will use corpus linguistic methods to study discourses, ranging from the language of capitalism to positive and negative news and the representation of gender in conspiracy theories, among others. We use a set of tools, some for computer-assisted manual annotation, some for investigating our own DIY corpora, as well as corpora that are accessible on the internet.
While we do mostly quantitative analyses, e.g. of collocations or keywords, you will also learn to interpret the results and draw conclusions firmly based in critical or positive discourse analysis. For your assignments, you study a discourse of your own choice with the tool you find most suitable, to answer your own research question.

Requirements
D1a (SL): An oral presentation of the results of your own study
D1c (PL): A term paper in which you present the results of your own study
Please note that this class can NOT be taken for Ersatzleistung für das Auslandssemester. Choose the EA from the WD classes.

References (no need to buy any)
Baker, Paul & Tony McEnery. 2015. Corpora and discourse studies: Integrating discourse and corpora. Palgrave Macmillan.
Critical Discourse Studies journal, accessible via the library.
Fleckenstein, Kristen. 2024. “Representation of gender in conspiracy theories: a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis". Critical Discourse Studies.
Poole, Robert. 2022. Corpus-assisted Ecolinguistics. Bloomsbury.

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

What we might describe as ‘disastrous water’ during extreme weather events are, e.g., river flooding due to heavy rain and flooding of coastal areas due to storms and hurricanes, but also water contamination and long periods of droughts that threaten access to drinking water. While the frequency and intensity with which such events occur has increased as part of the triple planetary crisis consisting of anthropogenic climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, they have been part of North American history ever since. Using the example of hurricanes and floods at the US Gulf coast, students will analyze the representation and the cultural, political, social, and environmental implications of extreme water events in North America. As the study of literature, film, art, and media in this seminar will show, hurricane and flood narratives address natural disaster but also human and human-made issues, e.g., around race, class, and gender.
The class is open to B.A. E-SC students studying the D1b, D1c, WD1b, and WD1c modules as well as international exchange students and students doing ‘Freiwillige Zusatzleistungen,’ general studies, or ‘Ersatzleistungen.’ Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty-five students. Further information will be made available on Stud.IP. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates.
Requirements
• active participation in weekly in-person meetings,
• in-depth study of the primary and secondary material in preparation for each session,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

In this seminar we will learn about Indigenous history, issues, problems, and identities through watching feature films dealing with Indigenous topics in North America. We will cooperate with the 'Indigen: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival' in Stuttgart and will watch a selection of the films that will be shown there in February 2025. We will also transcribe, translate and provide the German subtitles for one feature film that will run at the festival in Stuttgart. As a highlight, a selection of students will go to the festival and participate in all showings and events. We will also have a panel discussion with the Indigenous guests at the festival.
The class will be held in English. All texts will be provided electronically or through Stud IP. Requirements are regular attendance, participation in discussions, and in-depth knowledge of reading materials as well as a written exam at the end of the semester. Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.
Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) enables you to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing the opportunity to work on language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. You will explore areas such as politics, traditions, important people and histories of countries connected to the English-speaking world. Different countries will be critically analysed with the goal of gaining and expanding knowledge about a specific English-speaking culture. You will have the opportunity to practice the communication skills of discussion, analysis, compromise, persuasion, problem solving etc. At the end of the course, you will present your own unique ideas, putting theory into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.
Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) enables you to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing the opportunity to work on language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. You will explore areas such as politics, traditions, important people and histories of countries connected to the English-speaking world. Different countries will be critically analysed with the goal of gaining and expanding knowledge about a specific English-speaking culture. You will have the opportunity to practice the communication skills of discussion, analysis, compromise, persuasion, problem solving etc. At the end of the course, you will present your own unique ideas, putting theory into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) is the first part of the SP-2 module (“SP-2 Sprachpraxis Aufbaumodul”) to be taken in the winter semester. Culture & Communication (C&C) is taken as the second part of the module in the summer semester. The aim of both parts of the module is to prepare you final oral exam which you can take once you have completed SP-2.

Content-Based Integrated Skills (CBIS) permits students to implement all four core language skills (speaking, writing, listening, reading) while turning a theoretical challenge into a practical success. This course is designed to give you an insight into academic research, to develop the skill of critical thinking as well as providing you with the opportunity to work on your language skills. The course content revolves around English-speaking countries and cultures. Students will learn about politics, traditions, accents and histories of the countries connected to the English language or/and the Commonwealth. Each country will be critically analysed with the goal of expanding their knowledge about an “English-speaking Culture.” Students will have the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, and at the end of the course, present the fruits of your labours as you put your own unique ideas into practice.

This class is for students who have already completed CBIS as it is the last preparation phase for the oral proficiency interview taken upon completetion of CBIS and C&C.
Students who have previously taken but not successfully passed the oral exam are also welcome to join.
The aim of the Culture and Communication class is to help you prepare for the final SP2 module oral exam taken when you have completed the SP2 module. This class will deal with two different areas from which you will be able to develop ONE research project as the basis for your oral exam.
You will be looking at defining moments which have greatly influenced events within the English-speaking world. Your task will be to investigate the processes which led to a particular event, define the event itself and explore the long-term and short-term consequences. A critical analytic approach be will necessary as you explore the causes and implications of the topic of your choice.
In addition, we will work on improving important aspects of grammar, pronunciation, intonation as well as developing the confidence and fluency needed to successfully pass the exam. Whereas CBIS was more about collaboration and teamwork, Culture and Communication allows you to build upon the research skills developed last semester as you move forward with your own project.

Previously portrayed as mad men and threats to society, scientists of all genders have begun to play new roles in television, film, and fiction. This course examines climate scientists and their connections to the world as represented in contemporary literature on basis of Susan M. Gaines 'Carbon Dreams' and Charlene D’Avanzo’s 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea'. Students will be familiarized with key characteristics of the science novel genre, the evolution of scientists in popular media, and the connections between science, literature, and climate change. Select links to the blue humanities as an academic field will be explored. Students will further be given an opportunity to ask questions and to acquire essential skills in academic writing and presentations.

If you wish to take this course, you will be expected to buy both novels (ideally before the semester starts). There are two editions of 'Carbon Dreams' (2001 and 2022), both of which are acceptable. There is only one edition of 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea' (2016). Both novels are easily accessible on Amazon. You may purchase a new, a used, or an e-book version.

Class requirements further include:

▪ Active participation
▪ In-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials
▪ A presentation and/or term paper (depending on your chosen module)


Padlet link: https://padlet.com/oevermco/contemporary-climate-science-fiction-5p4y70e60reuyk6u

This class serves as an introduction to Chicanx literatures, life-writing, prose, and poetry in the United States. Chicanx is a un/re-gendered version of the term Chicano/a, which refers to the Mexican American peoples who live on the border between Mexico and the United States. In this seminar we’ll first look at the history of Mexican Americans in the US and then move onto the beginning of Chicanx literature in the 1960’s where we’ll read Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Following that, the class will delve into the various intersections of Chicanx writing. We’ll specifically examine topics such as Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, the three mothers of Chicanx culture: La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche, and La Llorona, Mestizaje/Mestiza Consciousness, Queer Chicanx Poetry, Life-Writing, and Prose, and finish the semester with Afro- and Indigenous Chicanx Poetry. Other than Anaya’s novel, we will primarily look at excerpts and various forms of prose, literature and poetry throughout the semester, which will be uploaded and made available on Stud. Ip.

Requirements for this class include active class participation, in-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials, and a portfolio or term paper (depending on the chosen module).

Required Texts:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Postapocalyptic narratives imagine futures marked by destruction, upheaval and lack of safety in which ideas of social and societal structures are re-evaluated. This course will be focusing on apocalyptic and dystopian narratives written by African American women, who address issues concerning social, reproductive, and environmental justice specifically in settings struck by disaster. Students will be introduced to the concepts of (post)-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction in relation to ideas based in Afrofuturism, Posthumanism, and Intersectionality that relate to both contemporary and historical contexts. The goal of this seminar is to engage with the idea of the end of times as a literary device and as a means to discuss society and power structures as well as discourses related to gender, race, class and (dis)ability.

In addition to secondary material uploaded on Stud.IP, the following novels must be purchased, read and prepared by the respective session as stated in the syllabus:

• Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower. 1993.
• Jesmyn Ward. Salvage the Bones. 2011.
• N. K. Jemisin. The Fifth Season. 2015

The caste system functions as a pervasive force within rural and urban spaces in India. This seminar will familiarise students with the various depictions of caste that play a pivotal role in contemporary Indian Literature. This class will read two novels to grasp how caste functions within mundane and extraordinary circumstances. In Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, the students will be introduced to caste-based hierarchies and discrimination in modern urban contexts, while Perumal Murugan’s Pyre portrays the violent repression of inter-caste relationships in a rural village. By contextualizing these novels through the works of Ambedkar, Fanon, and Spivak, the seminar aims to foreground questions of caste-based exploitation, erasure of non-brahmin identities, subalternity, othering, and counter-resistance.

When we look around, it seems that humans try to destroy nature, and nature tries to destroy us back. What if the way we think and speak about nature encourages its destruction? In this class, from a linguistic perspective, we want to analyse the stories we live by. We will study the representation of nature in language. Topics include climate change discourse, animals in discourse, semantic engineering and greenwashing, among others. This approach is called ecological discourse analysis (EDA).
"One of the underlying assumptions of EDA is that highlighting the way that discourse may be inhumane or destructive will create more awareness of the role of language in dealing with the environment. This also includes the hope that discourses that are more harmonious with our natural surroundings will result in more ecologically conscious ways of dealing with the environment." Penz & Fill 2022: 237
We will investigate several grammatical and lexical phenomena, some manually and some with the use of corpora. In the end, you will be aware of what exactly may be wrong with the ‘us versus nature’ approach, and you will be able to create better stories.

Requirements
Active participation, reading and reflecting the literature, a small empirical study of your own that you present in class (ungraded for the Studienleistung and graded for the Prüfungsleistung).
This class can also be taken for Ersatzleistung für das Auslandssemester. A small number of students can take this class for D1a.

References
Fill, Alwin F. & Hermine Penz (eds.) 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Ecolinguistics. New York: Routledge. ebook.
Penz, Hermine & Alwin Fill. 2022. Ecolinguistics: History, today and tomorrow. Journal of World Languages 8[2]: 232-253. Open Access.
Stibbe, Arran. 2020. Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live by. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. ebook.
Stibbe Arran. 2023. Econarrative: Ethics, Ecology, and the Search for New Narratives to Live by. Bloomsbury.

In this course, we will delve into the discourses surrounding the climate crisis on social media through a linguistic lens. Our exploration will encompass a range of theories and methodologies, including critical discourse studies (CDS), framing analysis, conceptual metaphor theory, and corpus linguistics. By engaging with these approaches, students will gain the tools to analyze climate discourses in the social media landscape.

Participants will read foundational texts alongside contemporary research papers, engage in collaborative group work and discussions, and ultimately develop their own research projects on this pertinent topic. Additionally, the course will provide an introduction to essential tools for linguistic analysis, such as corpus programs, data grabbing and MAXQDA, equipping students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to analyze and understand the linguistic dimensions of climate discourses on social media.

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

What we might describe as ‘disastrous water’ during extreme weather events are, e.g., river flooding due to heavy rain and flooding of coastal areas due to storms and hurricanes, but also water contamination and long periods of droughts that threaten access to drinking water. While the frequency and intensity with which such events occur has increased as part of the triple planetary crisis consisting of anthropogenic climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, they have been part of North American history ever since. Using the example of hurricanes and floods at the US Gulf coast, students will analyze the representation and the cultural, political, social, and environmental implications of extreme water events in North America. As the study of literature, film, art, and media in this seminar will show, hurricane and flood narratives address natural disaster but also human and human-made issues, e.g., around race, class, and gender.
The class is open to B.A. E-SC students studying the D1b, D1c, WD1b, and WD1c modules as well as international exchange students and students doing ‘Freiwillige Zusatzleistungen,’ general studies, or ‘Ersatzleistungen.’ Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty-five students. Further information will be made available on Stud.IP. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates.
Requirements
• active participation in weekly in-person meetings,
• in-depth study of the primary and secondary material in preparation for each session,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

In this seminar we will learn about Indigenous history, issues, problems, and identities through watching feature films dealing with Indigenous topics in North America. We will cooperate with the 'Indigen: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival' in Stuttgart and will watch a selection of the films that will be shown there in February 2025. We will also transcribe, translate and provide the German subtitles for one feature film that will run at the festival in Stuttgart. As a highlight, a selection of students will go to the festival and participate in all showings and events. We will also have a panel discussion with the Indigenous guests at the festival.
The class will be held in English. All texts will be provided electronically or through Stud IP. Requirements are regular attendance, participation in discussions, and in-depth knowledge of reading materials as well as a written exam at the end of the semester. Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

Previously portrayed as mad men and threats to society, scientists of all genders have begun to play new roles in television, film, and fiction. This course examines climate scientists and their connections to the world as represented in contemporary literature on basis of Susan M. Gaines 'Carbon Dreams' and Charlene D’Avanzo’s 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea'. Students will be familiarized with key characteristics of the science novel genre, the evolution of scientists in popular media, and the connections between science, literature, and climate change. Select links to the blue humanities as an academic field will be explored. Students will further be given an opportunity to ask questions and to acquire essential skills in academic writing and presentations.

If you wish to take this course, you will be expected to buy both novels (ideally before the semester starts). There are two editions of 'Carbon Dreams' (2001 and 2022), both of which are acceptable. There is only one edition of 'Cold Blood, Hot Sea' (2016). Both novels are easily accessible on Amazon. You may purchase a new, a used, or an e-book version.

Class requirements further include:

▪ Active participation
▪ In-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials
▪ A presentation and/or term paper (depending on your chosen module)


Padlet link: https://padlet.com/oevermco/contemporary-climate-science-fiction-5p4y70e60reuyk6u

This class serves as an introduction to Chicanx literatures, life-writing, prose, and poetry in the United States. Chicanx is a un/re-gendered version of the term Chicano/a, which refers to the Mexican American peoples who live on the border between Mexico and the United States. In this seminar we’ll first look at the history of Mexican Americans in the US and then move onto the beginning of Chicanx literature in the 1960’s where we’ll read Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Following that, the class will delve into the various intersections of Chicanx writing. We’ll specifically examine topics such as Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, the three mothers of Chicanx culture: La Virgen de Guadalupe, La Malinche, and La Llorona, Mestizaje/Mestiza Consciousness, Queer Chicanx Poetry, Life-Writing, and Prose, and finish the semester with Afro- and Indigenous Chicanx Poetry. Other than Anaya’s novel, we will primarily look at excerpts and various forms of prose, literature and poetry throughout the semester, which will be uploaded and made available on Stud. Ip.

Requirements for this class include active class participation, in-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials, and a portfolio or term paper (depending on the chosen module).

Required Texts:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Postapocalyptic narratives imagine futures marked by destruction, upheaval and lack of safety in which ideas of social and societal structures are re-evaluated. This course will be focusing on apocalyptic and dystopian narratives written by African American women, who address issues concerning social, reproductive, and environmental justice specifically in settings struck by disaster. Students will be introduced to the concepts of (post)-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction in relation to ideas based in Afrofuturism, Posthumanism, and Intersectionality that relate to both contemporary and historical contexts. The goal of this seminar is to engage with the idea of the end of times as a literary device and as a means to discuss society and power structures as well as discourses related to gender, race, class and (dis)ability.

In addition to secondary material uploaded on Stud.IP, the following novels must be purchased, read and prepared by the respective session as stated in the syllabus:

• Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower. 1993.
• Jesmyn Ward. Salvage the Bones. 2011.
• N. K. Jemisin. The Fifth Season. 2015

The caste system functions as a pervasive force within rural and urban spaces in India. This seminar will familiarise students with the various depictions of caste that play a pivotal role in contemporary Indian Literature. This class will read two novels to grasp how caste functions within mundane and extraordinary circumstances. In Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, the students will be introduced to caste-based hierarchies and discrimination in modern urban contexts, while Perumal Murugan’s Pyre portrays the violent repression of inter-caste relationships in a rural village. By contextualizing these novels through the works of Ambedkar, Fanon, and Spivak, the seminar aims to foreground questions of caste-based exploitation, erasure of non-brahmin identities, subalternity, othering, and counter-resistance.

This is course is a mixture between a lecture course and a regular class. Scholars and teachers both from FB 10 and from other universities will deliver lectures on various aspects of our general topic initiating a transdisciplinary discourse on "Gender - Culture - Feminism". In the sessions between the lectures we will discuss corresponding texts and resources to prepare ourselves for the diverse subject matters of the presentations and to critically reflect on their respective ideas and arguments.
Essential readings will be available for download on Stud-IP.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

What we might describe as ‘disastrous water’ during extreme weather events are, e.g., river flooding due to heavy rain and flooding of coastal areas due to storms and hurricanes, but also water contamination and long periods of droughts that threaten access to drinking water. While the frequency and intensity with which such events occur has increased as part of the triple planetary crisis consisting of anthropogenic climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, they have been part of North American history ever since. Using the example of hurricanes and floods at the US Gulf coast, students will analyze the representation and the cultural, political, social, and environmental implications of extreme water events in North America. As the study of literature, film, art, and media in this seminar will show, hurricane and flood narratives address natural disaster but also human and human-made issues, e.g., around race, class, and gender.
The class is open to B.A. E-SC students studying the D1b, D1c, WD1b, and WD1c modules as well as international exchange students and students doing ‘Freiwillige Zusatzleistungen,’ general studies, or ‘Ersatzleistungen.’ Prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory and admission is limited to a maximum of thirty-five students. Further information will be made available on Stud.IP. Please check Stud.IP regularly for updates.
Requirements
• active participation in weekly in-person meetings,
• in-depth study of the primary and secondary material in preparation for each session,
• graded or ungraded assignment in accordance with the respective module requirements.

In this seminar we will learn about Indigenous history, issues, problems, and identities through watching feature films dealing with Indigenous topics in North America. We will cooperate with the 'Indigen: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival' in Stuttgart and will watch a selection of the films that will be shown there in February 2025. We will also transcribe, translate and provide the German subtitles for one feature film that will run at the festival in Stuttgart. As a highlight, a selection of students will go to the festival and participate in all showings and events. We will also have a panel discussion with the Indigenous guests at the festival.
The class will be held in English. All texts will be provided electronically or through Stud IP. Requirements are regular attendance, participation in discussions, and in-depth knowledge of reading materials as well as a written exam at the end of the semester. Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

When we look around, it seems that humans try to destroy nature, and nature tries to destroy us back. What if the way we think and speak about nature encourages its destruction? In this class, from a linguistic perspective, we want to analyse the stories we live by. We will study the representation of nature in language. Topics include climate change discourse, animals in discourse, semantic engineering and greenwashing, among others. This approach is called ecological discourse analysis (EDA).
"One of the underlying assumptions of EDA is that highlighting the way that discourse may be inhumane or destructive will create more awareness of the role of language in dealing with the environment. This also includes the hope that discourses that are more harmonious with our natural surroundings will result in more ecologically conscious ways of dealing with the environment." Penz & Fill 2022: 237
We will investigate several grammatical and lexical phenomena, some manually and some with the use of corpora. In the end, you will be aware of what exactly may be wrong with the ‘us versus nature’ approach, and you will be able to create better stories.

Requirements
Active participation, reading and reflecting the literature, a small empirical study of your own that you present in class (ungraded for the Studienleistung and graded for the Prüfungsleistung).
This class can also be taken for Ersatzleistung für das Auslandssemester. A small number of students can take this class for D1a.

References
Fill, Alwin F. & Hermine Penz (eds.) 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Ecolinguistics. New York: Routledge. ebook.
Penz, Hermine & Alwin Fill. 2022. Ecolinguistics: History, today and tomorrow. Journal of World Languages 8[2]: 232-253. Open Access.
Stibbe, Arran. 2020. Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live by. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. ebook.
Stibbe Arran. 2023. Econarrative: Ethics, Ecology, and the Search for New Narratives to Live by. Bloomsbury.

In this course, we will delve into the discourses surrounding the climate crisis on social media through a linguistic lens. Our exploration will encompass a range of theories and methodologies, including critical discourse studies (CDS), framing analysis, conceptual metaphor theory, and corpus linguistics. By engaging with these approaches, students will gain the tools to analyze climate discourses in the social media landscape.

Participants will read foundational texts alongside contemporary research papers, engage in collaborative group work and discussions, and ultimately develop their own research projects on this pertinent topic. Additionally, the course will provide an introduction to essential tools for linguistic analysis, such as corpus programs, data grabbing and MAXQDA, equipping students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to analyze and understand the linguistic dimensions of climate discourses on social media.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:

• In how far do the different varieties of English in the world take an effect on ELT?
• How can teachers foster the development of the students' language skills?

Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and also the role of course books and literature in the classroom will be investigated. It is most important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:

• In how far do the different varieties of English in the world take an effect on ELT?
• How can teachers foster the development of the students' language skills?

Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and also the role of course books and literature in the classroom will be investigated. It is most important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

This introductory course will provide an insight into important aspects and theoretical foundations of English Language Teaching (ELT) which is an indispensable part of every teacher's knowledge base. Participants will get an overview of theoretical as well as practical issues. Starting from a look at the history of ELT we will then move on to Foreign Language Politics in Germany and Europe before we begin to discuss more practical concerns, for example:

• In how far do the different varieties of English in the world take an effect on ELT?
• How can teachers foster the development of the students' language skills?

Apart from that, we will be looking at special forms of ELT, for example English in Primary Schools and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and also the role of course books and literature in the classroom will be investigated. It is most important that participants actively engage with these topics, as it is crucial for teacher trainees to form an opinion about their future way of teaching.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Die genauen Veranstaltugnstermine werden im Verlauf des Wintersemesters bekannt gegeben. Sie beginnen in der Regel direkt im Anschluss an den Vorlesungszeitraum des WiSe.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Die genauen Veranstaltugnstermine werden im Verlauf des Wintersemesters bekannt gegeben. Sie beginnen in der Regel direkt im Anschluss an den Vorlesungszeitraum des WiSe.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Die genauen Veranstaltugnstermine werden im Verlauf des Wintersemesters bekannt gegeben. Sie beginnen in der Regel direkt im Anschluss an den Vorlesungszeitraum des WiSe.

Begleitveranstaltung zu den Praxisorientierten Elementen (POE) im Fach Englisch.

Bitte melden Sie sich unter Stud.IP im Bereich "Zentrum für Lehrerbildung - Schulpraktika" für die POE im Fach Englisch an. Nach erfolgter Schulzuweisung werden Sie im Dezember automatisch einer der Begleitveranstaltungen zugewiesen.

Die genauen Veranstaltugnstermine werden im Verlauf des Wintersemesters bekannt gegeben. Sie beginnen in der Regel direkt im Anschluss an den Vorlesungszeitraum des WiSe.

Einführungsveranstaltung für die Zusatzqualifikation "Bilinguales Lernen und Lehren".

Das Angebot richtet sich an Lehramtsstudierende des Studiengangs English-Speaking Cultures, die ein Sachfach als Zweitfach studieren. Diese Zusatzqualifikation ist ein zusätzliches Angebot und erstreckt sich über das gesamte BA und MEd-Studium. Nähere Informationen erhalten Sie unter giesler@uni-bremen.de

Bei ausreichend freien Plätzen können auch weitere interessierte Studierende aufgenommen werden.

This course is designed to introduce students to the basics of academic research in order to write a BA thesis. Together we will develop specific projects in the field of US-American cultural history. We will consult library and online resources, collect relevant material, evaluate the sources, and acquire a deeper understanding of specific periods and events in US history. Students will work both individually and in groups and will present their results in oral and written form.
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

This colloquium is designed for E-SC MA or linguistics MA students planning to write their thesis in the winter semester in the fields of (i) multimodal linguistics and its application to treatments of mixed media artefacts or performances and (ii) for critical discourse analysis, particularly empirically based studies. Candidates should have already completed their thesis project plans and discussed their final thesis topics with me; the course is not appropriate for students who have not yet determined their thesis area. Examples of media being targeted include: film, comics, graphic novels, advertisements and so on. Particularly of interest are research questions where language (spoken or written) need to be considered together with visual representations of any kind. Theoretical and methodological approaches for characterizing combinations of language and visual information need to have been adopted for the selected research topics, adopting practical methods for corpus work (particularly involving mixed media, but not only), and considering how to construct strong thesis statements in order to focus your search for information, to tackle your subject and to construct your argument.

References

Bateman/Wildfeuer/Hiippala (2017): Multimodality: Foundations, Research and Analysis – A Problem-Oriented Introduction. Mouton de Gruyter.

Wildfeuer/Bateman/Hiippala (2020): Multimodalität: Grundlagen, Forschung und Analyse – Eine problemorientierte Einführung. Mouton de Gruyter.

Introductory online seminars to the scientific study of multimodality can be found here:

https://ml.zmml.uni-bremen.de/video/5f994e43d42f1ca1278b4569
and here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM7Ui7BBWcU (Wildfeuer)

This course is designed to introduce students to the basics of academic research in order to write a BA thesis. Together we will develop specific projects in the field of US-American cultural history. We will consult library and online resources, collect relevant material, evaluate the sources, and acquire a deeper understanding of specific periods and events in US history. Students will work both individually and in groups and will present their results in oral and written form.
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

In this workshop, we will explore and experiment with contemporary methods of improvisational theater, which is the art of making up theatrical moments on the spot, without a script. It is one of the liveliest and most current forms of theater of today and ingrained in US popular culture. You will first learn the basic principles of improvisational theater and then apply them to improvised scenework. We will also reflect on the impact of improvisational theater on popular culture, explore its practical approaches to comedic as well as dramatic narrative structures, consider its applications in other fields, such as language teaching, and draw comparisons between communication in improvised dialogue and other types of communication.

There will be a regular class on Thursday 16.15 - 17.45 during the semester, in which we will cover the basics of improvisational theater, followed by an intensive in the lecture-free period (24-28 February, 10am-1.30pm) led by the student assistant Tarja Spiekermann, which will focus on a specific form and prepare for a performance. There is no obligation to be part of the performances. You can also support the performances by helping with the organization and marketing.

This course is designed to introduce students to the basics of academic research in order to write a BA thesis. Together we will develop specific projects in the field of US-American cultural history. We will consult library and online resources, collect relevant material, evaluate the sources, and acquire a deeper understanding of specific periods and events in US history. Students will work both individually and in groups and will present their results in oral and written form.
Please note that prior enrollment via Stud.IP is mandatory.

Do you like books and reading? If you do, the English-Speaking Cultures Bookclub is what you are looking for. Each month we will read a book in English, dealing with a specific topic (for example: Black History Month). Those monthly choices are entirely up to you as long as they fit the theme. Once a semester we also do a Bookclub Buddy Read. You can gain up to two credit points by actively participating in group discussions and presenting your monthly read. Whether your favourite genre is fantasy, crime fiction or something else, all readers are welcome.

* For questions please reach out to the tutors (jangunne@uni-bremen.de, luegern@uni-bremen.de, mahsa2@uni-bremen.de, xiaotong@uni-bremen.de, ). *
Ever wanted to just talk about your favourite movies? E-SC presents to you our filmclub! Be it critically acclaimed prize-contenders, trashy B-movies, or superhero flicks - we want to offer you a place to critically discuss pictures. The course does, however, come with a tiny prerequisite: you need to be able to watch movies on either Netflix, Prime, etc.
The Filmclub meetings will take place on campus every second week.

For questions please reach out to the tutors (helmsdar@uni-bremen.de, xiaotong@uni-bremen.de, jangunne@uni-bremen.de).
Welcome to the English-Speaking Cultures Animeclub! Get ready to dive into the colorful and captivating world of anime with us this semester. We're all about exploring the fantastic realms of Japanese animation and sharing our love for all things anime.
In this club, we'll be doing what we love the most: watching a handpicked selection of diverse and exciting anime. But it's not just about watching! Our gatherings will be buzzing with lively discussions, where we'll unravel the layers of the shows we're watching, analyze the multifaceted characters, and dissect those jaw-dropping plot twists that keep us glued to the screen.
Whether you're a die-hard fan of shonen, slice of life, or just dipping your toes into the world of anime, this club welcomes everyone with open arms.
Participate actively in our group discussions and present an anime-related topic of your choice, and you could earn up to two credit points!
Our meetings are scheduled for Fridays, from 2 to 4 p.m. If you want to join, please register for the club on Stud.IP, and don't hesitate to contact the tutors if you have any questions or need more information.

An UTU Empowerment Workshop for BIPOC students offers a unique approach to empowerment, rooted in African philosophical concepts of interconnectedness, humanity, and collective well-being. This workshop, grounded in the Swahili concept of utu (humanity), aligns with principles of Ubuntu and emphasizes the importance of solidarity, collective uplift, and personal empowerment within institutional spaces. This workshop not only provides space for critical reflection but also encourages participants to leave with concrete plans for positive change and strategies to uphold utu in university settings, amplifying the power of community and collective action among BIPOC students.
Objectives
• Empower BIPOC students to critically engage with their academic and social environments.
• Equip participants with practical strategies for resilience, self-advocacy, and community building.
• Foster a supportive network among BIPOC students for continued empowerment and solidarity.
• Provide resources and processes for continued engagement and institutional change.
• The empowerment workshop encourages BIPOC students to embrace their unique perspectives, advocate for change, and build a supportive community network that extends beyond university.

Students can receive 1 CP for MA E-SC SuStMo or BA E-SC General Studies for attending the workshop and preparation and follow-up work.

The acronym "BIPoC" is a term that refers to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. People of Color, abbreviated PoC, is a term for people who are considered non-white by the majority society and face everyday and other forms of racism because of their ethnicity. In Germany, the term has tended to be used in academic contexts and as a self-designation. People of Color refers to all ethnicized people who are of varying degrees of African, Asian, Latino, Arab, Jewish, Indigenous, or Pacific Islander descent or origin. (source and for more information: https://vielfalt.uni-koeln.de/en/anti-discrimination/glossary-discrimination-anti-racism/bipoc)

For a workshop directed white students, please see the "Unlearning Whiteness: A Path Toward Solidarity and Social Justice in Universities" workshop in the teaching program.
The workshop is organized by Corina Wieser-Cox, Krutika Patri, Oluwadunni Talabi and Paula von Gleich. It will be held by Dr. Rahab Njeri (Cologne).

This interactive workshop invites white students to critically examine the concepts of whiteness, privilege, and power from an intersectional and decolonial perspective. By exploring the ways whiteness operates in academic institutions, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of the systemic impact of race on education, opportunity, and belonging. Participants will engage in reflective exercises, discussions, and strategy sessions to better understand how whiteness shapes their worldview and their role within institutional spaces. This workshop equips white students with an understanding of their own positionality, a framework for accountability, and tools for impactful allyship, encouraging an ongoing commitment to decolonial and anti-racist practices in university spaces.

Objectives
• Build awareness of whiteness as a social construct and explore its impact within the university.
• Encourage participants to examine their own positions of privilege and power within an intersectional framework.
• Develop strategies for allyship that support and amplify marginalized voices.
• Foster a commitment to decolonial practices and institutional change.

Students can receive 1 CP for MA E-SC SuStMo or BA E-SC General Studies for attending the workshop and preparation and follow-up work.

For a workshop directed specifically to BIPOC students, please see the "UTU Empowerment Workshop" in the teaching program.
The workshop is organized by Corina Wieser-Cox, Krutika Patri, Oluwadunni Talabi and Paula von Gleich. It will be held by Dr. Rahab Njeri (Cologne).