Katrin Horn

SoSe 2024

In 1990s, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick claimed that "The closet is the defining structure for gay oppression in this century." In 2014, Suzanna Danuta Walters summarized a cultural consensus that seemed to suggest "the days of the closet are over." What both agree on is the significance of the closet as indicator of how individuals and societies understand queer sexuality and its place in culture. As a metaphor for the policing of (sexual) knowledge, the closet is connected to the stakes of visibility, structures of ignorance, and forms of censorship, and thus invites us to ponder what we can learn about a culture through what and how it refuses to know.

In this seminar, we will therefore first engage with theoretical discussions of the closet metaphor and similar epistemic formations such as the open secret. In a second step, we will look at media representations of the closet, of coming out narratives and similar forms of in/visibility to reflect on the politics of representation and identify formation in the context of the unsaid or the unspeakable. Our media examples will range from classical Hollywood Cinema to "prestige TV" to search engine algo-rithms.

The course is thus designed to allow students to acquaint themselves with key texts and concepts from queer studies as well as central analytic skills related to media studies and cultural studies.

This class will be taught in a blended format, combining asynchronous assignments with in-classroom meetings.

Katrin Horn

SoSe 2024

This seminar introduces the evolution of American feminist thought and action from the nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. Via a close examination of key texts and events, we will survey the historical trajectory from the suffragette movement, liberal feminism, and women of color critique to recent developments like celebrity feminism.

The seminar's contents and assignments are designed to enable students to •

analyze the evolution of feminism in theory and activism

• understand different forms of social and political marginalization, identify and contrast major themes and concepts of different versions of femi-nism,

• and thus also to critically evaluate assessments of scholarly and popular uses of "the F Word."

This class will be taught in a blended format, combining asynchronous assignments with in-classroom meetings. Participants are expected to attend at least two lectures from the lecture series on "PopFeminismus" organized by the IZFG, Mondays, 6pm.

Katrin Horn

SoSe 2024

For many women in nineteenth-century US America, domesticity was as much a fact of everyday life as it was an ideal that guided, enabled, and constrained their behavior and identity. Concepts such as "the cult of domesticity" or "separate sphe-res" have become central to discussions about the history of women in the US. As more varied historical sources have become widely available - among others through databases of digitized archival material - the understanding of domesticity's role and its relation to class, race, and sexuality have become more nuanced. This seminar will therefore begin by introducing students to central texts and concepts

that have shaped scholarship in women's history and American Studies from the thats onwards. In a second step, it wil guide them in exploring relevant primary material from the era through work with databases, students d innus earn to criti-cally evaluate historical evidence, to trace the development and impact of gendered discourses, and to construct compelling arguments through informed analysis.

This seminar follows the principles of research-based learning. It combines the shared discussion of theoretical concepts with blocks of independent study. During these weeks, students delve into specific topics of interest within the broader frame-work of the course, as they explore primary matenal colected in the database Every-day Life & Women in America c. 1800-1920. They will thus curate their individual collection of objects of study and contextualze them via relevant chapters from Amy G. Richter's At Home in Nineteenth-Century America. Overall, this seminar thereby aims to

1. provide students with the ability to trace and critically reflect on the scholarly de-bate about domesticity as a defining feature of nineteenth-century private and public

2. foster independence in research - from finding and selecting sources to the de-velopment of research questions.

Annalisa Martin

SoSe 2024

What actions were deemed criminal in different eras, and how have these categori-zations transformed over time? As we navigate the course, we will critically examine the evolving definitions of criminal behaviour and the corresponding shifts in societal perceptions. Students will scrutinize the contextual nuances that have shaped the understanding of crime in the modern age, exploring the complex interplay of cultural, social, and political factors.

This seminar will also spotlight the dynamic roles played by sex, class, race, and ethnicity in the intricate web of decisions surrounding criminality. The course aims to foster a nuanced understanding of the historical roots of these categorizations and their implications for broader social structures. Moreover, students will be chal-lenged to consider the impact of legal and punitive systems on individuals and com-munities throughout history. By examining the intersections of power, justice, and authority, participants will gain insight into the ways in which punishment has been meted out and justified across different historical contexts.

This course encourages students to actively participate in discussions, critically ana-lyse historical texts and sources, and develop their writing skills to articulate informed perspectives on the intricate relationship between crime and society. Competency in the English language is a requirement for this course. Study requirements can be absolved in German.

Annelie Ramsbrock

SoSe 2024

Die Human-Animal-History befasst sich mit dem Verhältnis von Menschen und Tieren und fragt, inwieweit Tiere den Gang der Geschichte aktiv mitbestimmt haben.

Auf einer historiografischen Ebene geht es um die Anerkennung des Tieres als einem historischen Akteur, also darum, die „Wirkmächtigkeit" oder „Agency" von Tieren herauszuarbeiten. Tiere, so der Anspruch, sollen nicht länger nur Statisten einer anthropozentrischen Geschichtsschreibung sein.

Ein solcher Ansatz ist innerhalb der Geschichtswissenschaft noch verhältnismäßig neu; hat aber inzwischen eine Reihe innovativer und durchaus streitbarer For-schungsfragen und Themenfelder eröffnet. Ob wir an Haustiere, Begleitiere, Nutz-tiere, Tiere im Sport, im Film oder an Tiere als Nahrungsmittel denken: Sie sind vielfach mit dem menschlichen Alltag verwoben und deshalb Teil einer gemeinsamen Geschichte, die wir im Seminar an konkreten Beispielen diskutieren wollen.

Heide Volkening 

SoSe 2024

Dass Romane, Novellen und andere Prosa-Texte die erste Person Singular nutzen, ist seit langer Zeit eine erzählerische Konvention, um Subjektivitat narrativ darzu-stellen. Das Seminar wird diesen Zusammenhang literaturtheoretisch und literarhistorisch an ausgewählten Beispielen diskutieren. Anhand von Goethes Die Leiden des jungen Werthers werden wir der Genese des modernen Romans folgen - und dann einen schnellen Gang durch die Literaturgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts an-schließen: Arthur Schnitzlers Novellen etablieren die Technik des Bewusstseins-stroms in der deutschsprachigen Literatur, Marlen Haushofers Die Wand ist als feministische Robinsonade der zweiten Frauenbewegung gelesen worden und Yoko Tawadas Etüden im Schnee bringen wohl Tiere zum Sprechen. Um zu verstehen, was in diesen Texten literarisch passiert, werden wir zu Beginn des Semesters mit einer grammatischen Beschreibung des ,ich" als Erzählinstanz starten und auch Grundlagen der Erzähltheorie vertiefend diskutieren. Die Frage, inwiefern die Darstellung von Subjektivität und die Modelierung von Geschlecht zusammenhängen, wird uns dabei durch das ganze Semester hindurch begleiten.

Annelie Ramsbrock

SoSe 2024

Wir werden in dem Proseminar die Geschichte der Weimarer Republik aus Sicht derenigen diskutieren, die sich an den Rändemn der Gesellschaft bewegt haben:

Drogensüchtige, Kranke, Arme, Frauen und Kriegsversehrte sind dafür nur Bei-spiele. Davon ausgehend soll ein Panorama der Gesellschaftsgeschichte der ersten gesamtdeutschen Demokratie entworfen werden.

Annalisa Martin

SoSe 2024

Das Seminar untersucht historische Perspektiven auf die Sexualität. Wir beginnen mit grundlegenden Texten der Disziplin. Danach werden wir zusammen deren An-wendung erkunden und Themen wie sexuelle Gewalt, queere und trans* Ge-schichte, Sexarbeit, Gefängnisse, Archive und sexuelle Befreiung historisch veror-ten. Die unabhängige Arbeit mit historischen Quellen ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Seminars. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf Europa, wobei die Uberschneidungen von Sex, Race und Kolonialismus untersucht werden.

Dieses Seminar ermutigt die Studierenden, sich aktiv an Diskussionen zu beteiligen, historische Texte und Quellen kritisch zu analysieren und ihre schriftlichen Fähig-keiten zu entwickeln, um fundierte Perspektiven auf die komplizierten Beziehungen zwischen Sexualität und Gesellschaft zu formulieren. Die Diskussionssprache wird Deutsch sein, einige zu lesende Texte werden jedoch auf Englisch sein.

Berit Johannsen

SoSe 2024

This class is part of the module "Topics in Linguistics", in which it is combined with the "Research methods" class. The aim of the module is that you conduct your own research project and present it at the end of the semester.

In this seminar, we will explore research topics that deal with the relationship between language, gender, and sexuality. We will start with a very brief introduction to the concepts of gender and sexuality and will then explore the field in two sections:

1. Talking and thinking gender and sexuality - We will look at how gender and sexuality categories are represented in and shaped by language, for example in person reference (role names, proper names, pronouns), by labeling adjectives (male, fe-male, masculine, feminine, trans, non-binary, genderfluid, queer, gay, lesbian etc.), in collocations and patterns, but also via syntactic structures.

2. Talking like a woman and do / sound gay? - We will focus on the relationship between language variation and social groups, with a focus on styles and the connection between language and identity.

In each of the section, I will first give you an overview of important theoretical concepts and methodological approaches, we will then discuss example studies, and end with a brainstorming session for you own projects.

In the second half of the semester, I will guide you through the steps of your own research process (finding a topic and research question, collecting and analysing data, interpreting and presenting results), hand in hand with the accompanying "Re-search methods" class.