T-IES Winter School 2025

Instructors: Jan Battke, Dr. Germana Favognanor-Bihr, Lucas Ogden
Language of instruction: English
Contact hours: 48 (plus field trip and exam)

Course Description

The past years have seen the EU facing a lot of criticism from various sides and a plethora of challenges threaten the community - internally and externally - and what held its societies together for a long time. In this program, students examine the fundamental notions at the heart of what Europe stands for: religious freedom, humanism, and civic virtue. Furthermore, courses cover the current challenges Europe and the EU face today: the rise of nationalism; political fragmentation and radicalization; migration, religion and questions of identity and war.

Course 1: The EU in Constant Crisis? A Story of Identities and Rights

This first of three Study Track A courses focuses on the historical, political, and societal dynamics of European Integration and how these processes of regional integration and collective identity formation are linked to and shape some of the most urgent challenges / crises Europe and the EU face today: Brexit, Euroscepticism, populism, political fragmentation and radicalization.

Course 2: Human Rights and Migration in Europe Today 

The new ethic of human rights is a connecting principle between all countries and peoples all over the world and a basic element for the construction of a common European identity. This course will introduce students to the European politics of human rights, its achievements and failures, and to one of the most difficult challenges that the EU is facing: the protection of refugees', migrants' and minorities' rights within the Union. The students will be confronted with authentic stories of migrants and asylum seekers and will discuss and analyse the challenges occurring when trying to assess basic rights in today's Europe.

Course 3: Religion and the Challenge of European Identity 

To what extent does religion contribute to shaping people’s identity and or/divide them in Europe today? This final of three Track A courses introduces the important role that religion has played in the development of European culture and identity, as evidenced by impressive church buildings as well as by religious themes in classical European art and music. The traditional concept of a "Christian" Europe has been both challenged and enriched by Islam and Judaism as well as by substantial criticism of the established churches. Today, the considerable drop in religious observance and belief has led many Europeans to embrace a "post-Christian" identity, while the presence of immigrant communities is making the continent more multi-cultural. In this course, we will address key questions and problems concerning religion in Europe, and will also engage in critical analyses of art and music. 

Instructors: Dr. Oleg Morozov, Lana Balorda, Dr. Germana Favognano-Bihr
Language of instruction: English
Contact hours: 48 (plus field trips and exam)

Course description

This program delves into the political processes entailed in remembering and forgetting, introduces students to the commemorative landscape of the EU and explores possible solutions to the challenges facing European collective memory or what could be called Europe's culture of remembrance. Sessions will deal with what makes us remember some things while other facets of our lives and historical events are supressed or hard to recollect. How does what we remember (and what we - choose to - forget) structure the reality that we live in - symbolically, physically, and politically? How is the past used (or abused) to serve the present needs of individuals and collectives in Europe today, where different concepts of identity oftentimes clash with the reality of cosmopolitan communities that are both ethnically and culturally diverse.

Course 1: Culture of Remembrance in the EU: Representing the Traumatic Past 

This first course of Study Track B introduces students to the ways of working through the historical traumas of World War II, the Holocaust, and colonialism. Using Germany – and Tübingen in particular – as an example, we are going to discuss how we should treat the monuments left from the traumatic past, what is the best way to commemorate the victims of mass violence and how the culture of remembrance can transform the traumatic experience into a useful memory, which elaborates empathy, strengthens multiculturalism, and protects civil rights.

Course 2: Europe as a Memoryland: Selective memory and place-making practices 

This second Track B course introduces memory as something that cannot be understood without the notion of forgetting. What is it that we are compelled to remember and which facets of our lives and historical events do we supress or struggle to recollect? Moreover, how does what we remember and what we forget structure the reality that we live in, symbolically, physically, and politically? This seminar is an attempt to delve into the political processes entailed in remembering and forgetting. To consider how the past is remembered or commemorated, which pasts are considered as worthy or necessary to transmit to younger generations, how the past is used or abused to serve the present needs of individuals and collectives, and the difficulty of retrieving “lost” or “forgotten” memories even from “recent” history.

Course 3: Lost in Translation: Immigration, identity crises and the creation of cross-cultural communities in Tübingen 

Integration of cultural minorities and the respect for diversity are basic elements for the construction of common European values, an endless process involving local communities, national governments and even the European Union. The course will introduce students to the current challenges posed by immigration and will offer a special focus on the rise of populism and its impact on the sense of “national identity”. To have a deeper insight into the process of integration we will take a look at how it works in the city of Tübingen, which welcomes people from 140 different countries.

Instructors: tba
Language of instruction: German
Contact hours: 18

Course description

The Winter School includes German language courses on the proficiency levels A1-A2. Participation in the German language course is compulsory. The level of the language courses will depend on students' needs. Through an intercultural and communicative approach students will be actively involved in class to encourage language learning. The focus will be on speaking and listening to improve students' language competence in everyday situations.

Students with a level higher than A2 are also welcome to apply. Please contact the T-IES team after your application to discuss possible participation in the German course or alternatives.

Syllabi

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Self-assessment

Within the application form you will be asked to evaluate your German language proficiency according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

The European framework of reference distinguishes between six different reference levels of knowledge from the elementary use of language (A1) to the autonomous language ability (C2). On all reference levels “can-do” descriptors indicate what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing at each level. For further details on the six levels see the following document: CEFR.

Instructors: tba
Language of instruction: English
Contact hours: 8

Course Description

In the intercultural workshop at the beginning of the program, students have the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange their intercultural experiences as well as expectations. The workshop offers an introduction to intercultural communication and the opportunity to reflect on the stay abroad.

Syllabus

tba