Interdisciplinary Courses

Course Description

New: The seminar is concerned with the interconnections of concepts, speech and performance in intellectual and cultural history. As a starting point selected works of Ukrainian philosopher Gregory Skovoroda (1722-1794) will be analyzed to examine the migration of concepts in time and space as building blocks of culture as a phenomenon of transformation. We will read Skovoroda in original language and all available translations; we are not so much interested in linguistics, but in the migration of concepts, which may be found in other media (painting, sculpture, architecture, dramatic plays), as well. Participants are welcome to broaden the thematic range of the seminar according to their academic interests. The seminar aims at a close reading of Skovoroda's work together with its interdisciplinary contextualization to introduce theoretical and methodological approaches to cultural science.

The tandem seminar is part of the project “Ukraine digital: Ukraine in its transcultural and transnational context” of the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (JLU) together with the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (NaUKMA). The project is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Das Seminar zur Geistes- und Kulturgeschichte wird ausgehend vom Beispiel des ukrainischen Philosophen Gregorius Skovoroda (1722-1794) die Verflechtungen von sprachlicher Begrifflichkeit, visueller Anschaulichkeit und rhetorischer Performanz behandeln. Das historische und areale Wandern von Konzepten gibt Einblick in den Aufbau der Kultur als Transformations­phänomen. Die Lektüre Skovorodas (im Original bzw. auch in Übersetzung) kann auf Wunsch der Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer um verwandte Themen aus Sprach-, Sozial- und Kultur­geschichte erweitert werden. Ziel ist, die Theorie und Methode der kulturwissenschaftlichen Lektüre – close reading und interdisziplinäre Kontextualisierung - am konkreten Material zu entwickeln und theoretische Kompetenz mit praktischer Anwendbarkeit zu vermitteln.

Course Description

New: Since the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014, this border region has been a hot spot both in news coverage across the globe and on the battlefield. Along with this, a wide array of issues concerning the place of the Donbas on Ukrainian cultural map—from its entangled history to the significance of Russian culture or the complex relations between regional and national identity—came to the fore, esp. after the outbreak of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022.

In our online tandem seminar, we shall discuss how the image of the Donbas has been construed in culture, literature, and arts since the 19^th century, how it developed afterwards, and what narratives this development has brought about. In so doing, we will try to overcome the stereotypic image of the Donbas as a “pro-Russian,” “pro-Soviet,” even “anti-Ukrainian” region and focus on its complex affiliation with the Ukrainian identity debates. Our prime goal is to look at the Donbas through the lens of the current Russian-Ukrainian war to observe how the older narratives about this Ukrainian region are being referred to, reproduced, instrumentalized, or revised in contemporary Ukrainian culture and in arts—and how this influences Ukrainian self-identifications under war conditions.

The tandem seminar, which will be held by Dr. Oleksandr Chertenko (JLU Giessen) and Dr. Olha Poliukhovych (NaUKMA Kyiv), is part of the project “Ukraine digital: Ukraine in its transcultural and transnational context” of the Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) and the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (NaUKMA). The project was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD); funding is provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the course of the seminar, we plan to invite an international expert on the topic to an online guest lecture and one or two other experts who will provide their insights into topics discussed during individual sessions.

The seminar focuses on the complex interrelations between literature/culture and politics, literary/cultural history and social processes. Its main goal is to highlight the socio-political potential of literary texts and works of art and to provide students with analytical tools for understanding the complex socio-political dimension of literature and art, as well as with the basic knowledge on Ukrainian cultural and identity debates. Methodologically, the seminar is located in the field of Postcolonial and Area Studies, with elements of literary and cultural history, interdisciplinary identity and memory studies. The focus will be on the construction of the Donbas(s) as a specific region in Ukrainian and Russian (including Soviet-Russian) literature, film, and art.

Course Description

Jede Art von Demokratieförderung muss sich zunächst einmal essentiell mit Fragen demokratischer Identität befassen. Diese unterscheiden sich spezifisch je nach Herkunftsland und demokratischer Tradition in unterschiedlichen Regierungssystemen. Zu fragen ist auch, inwieweit eine europäische demokratische Identität erkennbar ist, oder ob sie sich je spezifisch aus Determinanten der Nationalstaaten ableiten lässt. Dieses Seminar befasst sich vor diesem Hintergrund mit Fundamenten der demokratischen Identität in der EU sowie in der östlichen Nachbarschaft der EU (insbesondere Ukraine). Es befasst sich ebenfalls mit dem Anspruch und den Parametern der Umsetzung in der EU-Demokratieförderpolitik.

Course Description

New: The tandem seminar is held together by Prof. Wingender (JLU Giessen) and Prof. Kobchenko (NaUKMA Kyiv). Our tandem seminar deals with the complex research field of language and war. The seminar begins with the treatment of the methodical basics and the historical background. Thus, on the basis of a model of language conflict types we deal with the complex relationships of language and conflicts. This is followed by the historical background in form of a short overview of Ukraine’s history and its language policy.

The focus of the seminar is then on three thematic blocks:

1. Myths and narratives regarding the origin of the Ukrainian language, public opinions on Ukrainian language, stereotypes, propaganda;
2. Myths and narratives regarding the language situation in Ukraine, language laws, laws on education, propaganda with regard to the role of Russian in Ukraine;
3. Attitudes towards Ukrainian and Russian in Ukraine, changes in attitudes, current surveys and polls, language of cultural products, language as a means of Ukrainian battle, changes in word usage and word meanings, linguistic landscape.

The tandem seminar is part of the project “Ukraine digital: Ukraine in its transcultural and transnational context” of the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (JLU) together with the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (NaUKMA). The project is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the frame of our tandem seminar we will invite an international expert on the topic to an online guest lecture.

The seminar deals with the complex relationships between language and society. It includes selected subjects, theories and methods of sociolinguistics, taking into account the development of this discipline in Eastern and Western Europe. Objects of analysis are features of current language situations and functions of language varieties. The selection of examples has a focus on Ukraine and includes comparisons to other language situations in Eastern Europe; the selection can be expanded to include comparisons with other regions if the participants so wish. The public visibility of the interrelationship between language and society will be dealt with in depth in the last part of the seminar: analyzes of linguistic landscaping in Ukraine are planned.

Course Description

New: The course will trace the main changes having taken place in the political, economic, cultural and intellectual life of the CE countries after 1989. It will introduce in the  specifics of the transformation process, societal and economic reforms, as well as transitional justice. By analysing the process of decommunisation the course will also look into new politics of memory, as well as different models of European integration of the region's countries. After following the course, students will be knowledgable of the democratisation process of the CE countries and the integration processes with the EU and NATO, furthermore be familiar with the major scholarly debates and comprehend the peculiarities of the development of the countries of the region.

The tandem seminar is part of the project “Ukraine digital: Ukraine in its transcultural and transnational context” of the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (JLU) together with the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (NaUKMA). The project is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The seminar looks at the intersection between memory cultures and geopolitical concepts that originated in the 19th and 20th centuries. With perspectives from the Digital Humanities, it will also examine these discourses in the context of the digital change. Motives and discourses from and about Ukrainian history will be examined in contrast to other examples from Central and Eastern Europe and with regard to their classification in the framework of European history. Special attention is paid to the interweaving of Ukrainian discourses with comparable ideas in neighboring nations, in imperial contexts and in regard to regional differences. The basis of the discussions in the seminar are not only academic literature, but also political journalism, maps, monuments, museums and all kinds of digital forms of memory and geopolitics.

Course Description

El curso se discutirá posiciones actuales sobre cómo afrontar pasados violentos a través de la memoria, la justicia transicional y procesos de reconciliación. Se centra en el proceso, los hallazgos y el legado de la Comisión para el Esclarecimiento de la Verdad, la Convivencia y la No-Repetición que presentará su informe final el 28 de junio de 2022.

Se recomienda a lxs estudiantes interesadxs en participar en el curs, ponerse en contacto hasta el 10 de agosto con Prof. Peters (stefan.petersprotect me ?!instituto-capazprotect me ?!.org).