Urban Imaginaries - Between Place and Space in Berlin

Overview

What you will learn

The Urban Imaginaries - Between Place and Space in Berlin course at Freie Universität Berlin  enables an appreciation of how places/spaces are living archives of Berlin’s past and present, it also invites participants to create their own personal record of Berlin.

It is a city, which is as much a fixed place with a distinct topography as it is an imaginary that glides between remembering and forgetting. A measured understanding of the interplay of place, space and memory in Berlin’s cityscape is key for students who are eager to learn about the city’s many pasts and presents. FUBiS invites you to join us as we analyze and explore Berlin.

This seminar brings to the fore connections between Berlin's distinct topography, its radical histories, and its current trajectories as a political and cultural space. That cities are a complex assemblage – at best multiple constellations existing simultaneously – is enabled through perspectives on migration, queerness and post coloniality for instance. In-class analysis and discussion of academic and literary texts, podcasts and films about Berlin will prepare participants for course excursions. Our temporal-topographical inquiry will take us to a diverse set of historical sites, cultural places and neighbourhoods in the city (such as the Berlin Wall Memorial, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Schwules Museum, Sonnenallee).

Learning Objectives:

• understand the topographical, social, and symbolic organization of place/space in an urban setting, Berlin in particular;
• gain insight into the character of cities as multiple, contested and always-in-the making constellations
• be able to reflect how access to the city is always subjective and contingent because it is primarily gendered, embodied, classed and racialized.
• be familiar with how the city’s history continues to shape contemporary Berlin and its social imaginaries.

Housing

Wheelchair-accessible housing is available upon request. Please see our website for a full description of the furnished single-occupancy studio apartment and note that the registration deadline for this housing option is one month before the regular registration deadline!

About FUBiS

The Freie Universität Berlin International Summer and Winter University (FUBiS) is an intensive, academic program through which students can earn credits that may be counted towards their degrees at their home institutions. FUBiS sessions run for three to six weeks and take place both in summer and winter.

Courses

Students can choose between subject courses (mostly taught in English) and German language and culture courses. The 50+ subject courses are offered within the fields of Architecture, Art History, Politics, Law, History, Media Studies, Economics, Sustainability, Literature, Philosophy, Film, and Music. German language and culture courses are available for up to five different levels of proficiency.

Field Trips

Field trips are an integral part of all our courses. In addition, FUBiS offers excursions such as to the Berlin Reichstag building (seat of the German Parliament) and a guided tour through the underworlds of Berlin, or a day trip to Potsdam.