Gutenberg International School (GIS) – Courses for Exchange Students

Information on Academic Year 2023/24 (15 March 2024)

Dear exchange student, the general course catalogue catalog for the summer semester 2024 is now online and we have been able to link the courses in the list of courses in languages other than German with the course catalogue. This means that you may be able to find more information on the courses in the summer semester 2024 there. You can find the downloadable version of the list here and in the download section of this page. Please mind that it still may come to changes in this document. Also, the titles of a few topical courses are not yet published. The list will be updated regularly until the begin of the summer semester and the courses linked to the course catalogue, where it was not yet possible to do so.

As an information for you: If there is a red dot in front of the title of the course in the course catalogue, it means that this course will be offered online. Yet, please also carefully read the course description, if offered, for more detailed information. As a recommendation: If you are interested in a course from our Germersheim campus and it is offered online, it is usually no problem to attend it. Just contact the colleagues in the International Office Germersheim: intger@uni-mainz.de

The course program of the Gutenberg International School (GIS) has now also been published for the summer semester 2024. Missing information will be added once available.

Important: The registration for these courses CANNOT be made via the GIS (Services) but only via the subjects that offer the individual courses (Exception: the "Conversation Classes German"!!!). Please see the individual course descriptions for more information.

Further information for students who would like to take courses in German Studies (i.e. at the Deutsche Institut): On Tuesday, April 9, at 4:00 p.m., the information event for international students at the German Department will take place in "Übungsraum der Germanistik" (Philosophicum, 1st floor, room 01-471, next to P 109a). We recommend that you attend this event.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you in Mainz soon!

Info: For an overview of GIS special courses & courses offered in foreign languages in earlier semesters, please look at our archive.

GIS Special Courses in English for Exchange Students - Summer Semester 2024 - History & Culture

Course description

Participants
- All incoming students from all academic fields are welcome
- History students from abroad are also invited to join the team
- No specific requirements, just interest in the overall topic and historical work
- Ability to read scientific texts in English

Engagement
- Regular attendance
- Preparation reading and active participation in seminar discussions
- Two homeworks in writing (upload in Moodle prior to the session)
- One classroom presentation to kick-off seminar discussion

This is a special course bringing together students who do not study history to get to know Germany better from a historical perspective. It is not a lecture. In fact, good discussions and results will largely depend on active participation and sharing of different views.
Preparing the sessions properly and getting a good grasp of the reading materials will be key.

Content
During the first half of the 20th century Germany went through various political disruptions and transitions: The powerful Empire in the center of Europe saw an abrupt end with the defeat in First World War. The democratic system of the Weimar Republic fell prey to political unrest and economic chaos which paved the way for the totalitarian Nazi State in 1933. Twelve years later, the future of a German state was totally depended on the decisions of the allied powers. The hybris of nationalism, the devastation by war as well as the fragility of economic welfare as well as democratic system have a lasting mark on the collective memory of the German people.
The seminar is open to incoming students from all academic disciplines and levels. Together we will look at major phases of German history in the period of 1900 to 1950: Why did the German Empire fail to establish a stable position among the nations in Europe? What were the reasons for the collapse of the Weimar Republic? How did the Nazis establish their regime of terror? What were the main reasons for Germany to split into two antagonistic states?
In addition to major political developments, we will also look at underlying social and cultural changes and how the lives of German people changed during this period.

An excursion is planned to Heidelberg (visit of the Friederich-Ebert-Gedenkstätte)

Literature
The course is based on selected sections of the following books:
- Mary Fulbrook, A History of Germany 1918–2014: The Divided Nation, Fifth Edition. Chichester 2021.
- Helmut Walser Smith (ed.): Oxford Handbook of Modern German History, Oxford et al. 2011.
- Helmut Walser Smith: Germany. A Nation in its Time. Before, during, and after Nationalism, 1500-2000, New York 2020.

Grading
Credit points
5 ECTS active participation in class + class assignment + exam (see below)
2 ECTS active participation in class + class assignment, no exam

The number of ECTS can be adjusted individually depending on the requirements of the home university.
Exam
- Option 1: Written exam (60 minutes)
- Option 2: Oral exam (15 minutes)
- Option 3: Term paper (6 – 8 pages)

Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Philosphicum, room P203

Credits: 2 or 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by History: Please send an email to mrissman@uni-mainz.de with your name, Matrikelnummer (student ID) and the name of your home university.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Participants
- All incoming students from all academic fields are welcome
- History students from abroad are also invited to join the team
- No specific requirements, just interest in the overall topic and historical work
- Ability to read scientific texts in English

Engagement
- Regular attendance
- Preparation reading and active participation in seminar discussions
- Two homeworks in writing (upload in Moodle prior to the session)
- One classroom presentation to kick-off seminar discussion

This is a special course bringing together students who do not study history to get to know Germany better from a historical perspective. It is not a lecture. In fact, good discussions and results will largely depend on active participation and sharing of different views.
Preparing the sessions properly and getting a good grasp of the reading materials will be key.

Content
As a result of the Second World War Germany was cut into two states that belonged to two hostile blocs. The Cold War brought about a divided nation with very different political systems, economic structures, and social experiences. While it appeared more and more unlikely for the two German states to reunite at some point this prospect was never given up. It was to the big surprise of most people, however, when reunification barged its way against all odds. In the wake of the legal unification the process of uniting mentally and emotionally is still ongoing.
The seminar is open to incoming students from all academic disciplines and levels. Together we will look at major phases of German history in the period of 1950 to 2000: How was Germany torn apart during the Cold War? How did the two Germanys live side by side and developed a more pragmatic cohabitation till the mid-1980s? What the reasons for the socialist countries to shed their communist rule? What were the steps to implement the unification? And finally, how is Germany transforming within a uniting Europe?
In addition to major political developments, we will also look at underlying social and cultural changes and how the lives of German people changed during this period.

The course is based on selected sections of the following books:
- Mary Fulbrook, A History of Germany 1918–2014: The Divided Nation, Fifth Edition. Chichester 2021.
- Peter C. Caldwell/Karrin Hanshew, Germany Since 1945. Politics, Culture, and society: London et alt. 2018
- Helmut Walser Smith (ed.): Oxford Handbook of Modern German History, Oxford et al. 2011.

An excursion is planned: e.g to Heidelberg, Osthofen.

Time: Wednesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location:
Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K8 (00-151)

Credits: 2 or 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by History: Please send an email to mrissman@uni-mainz.de with your name, Matrikelnummer (student ID) and the name of your home university.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The modern Rhine-Main area looks onto a rich history characterized by a multitude of diverse cultures. Its location in the heart of Europe allows us to regard it as a true cultural hub.

This interdisciplinary and primarily archaeological course aims at introducing students of all disciplines to a selection of sites and finds throughout the above mentioned timeline - focusing only on significant historic events - and to the currently main applied methods.

It is open to all exchange students and all students of the JGU and consists of a seminar (2 hrs.) and an obligatory tutorial (2 hrs.). A field trip to some prominent sites in Mainz will be offered towards the end of the course, if possible.

The students will undertake 2 exams, whereby they have the choice between a German and an English version. Both exams, which they will have to pass with at least 60% each are obligatory to receive their credit points (7 ECTS in total).

This course is only suited for advanced students (4 semesters or more) with a minimum B2 language level in German and/or English. Knowledge of the Latin language is of advantage.

Time: Mondays, 12:15 - 13:45 (course) & Fridays, 12:15 - 13:45 (tutorial)
Location: Am Kisselberg (dormitory Kisselberg), room K3 (00-215)

Credits: 7 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Pre-History: Send an e-mail to J. Reiss-Gupte, M.A.:  jreissma@uni-mainz.de - providing the following information:  your first and your last name and your JGU-Matrikelnummer (if you already have one), your field of study/subject, semester, and your home university’s name.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

In the anthropological modus operandi of making ‘the strange familiar and the familiar strange’, this seminar explores the so-called ‘other Germany’ through the lens of specifically anglophone historical and anthropological scholarship. It aims at a nuanced investigation of the GDR’s everyday life in its social, economic, and political facets and examines what remains today. It analyses the processes of reshaping the past and of imagining the future of Germany through critically assessing the challenges of German (Re)- Unification and of post-Wende memory politics.
The course is structured into four parts:

Part I: Two States, One Nation? Connecting Kinship and the State: Love, Sexuality and Socialist Feminism (Week 1-4)

Part II: Producing and Consuming: From the Economy of Shortages to the Disenchantment with Market Economics (Week 5-7)

Part III: Vorwärts und nicht vergessen: From East Germany’s International Solidarity and Anti-Fascism to Right-Wing Extremism (Week 8-11)

Part IV: What Remains? Becoming and Reinventing the Ossi and the Politics of Memory (Week 12-14)

Selected Course Readings (in alphabetical order):

  • Bach, Jonathan. 2017. What Remains: Everyday Encounters with the Socialist Past in Germany. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Berdahl, Daphne. 1999. Where the World Ended: Re-Unification and Identity in the German Borderland. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Gallinat, Anselma. 2017. Narratives in the Making: Writing the East German Past in the Democratic Present. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.
  • McLellan, Josie. 2011. Love in the Time of Communism: Intimacy and Sexuality in the GDR. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Shoshan, Nitzan. 2016. The Management of Hate: Nation, Affect, and the Governance of Right-Wing Extremism in Germany. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Slobodian, Quinn (ed.). 2017. Comrades of Colour: East Germany in the Cold War World. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. Zeitraum April-Juli 2024

Grit Wesser (she/her) is a social anthropologist working on the relationship between kinship and ‘the state’. She has explored this connection through ethnographic and historical fieldwork on a life cycle ritual (her PhD research in eastern Germany) and on people’s knowledge attainment about the practices of the state security apparatus in the former GDR/East Germany (interdisciplinary research project ‘Knowing the Secret Police’).

Grit earned her MA (Hons) in Social Anthropology and Politics (2011) and her PhD in Social Anthropology (2016) from the University of Edinburgh. She held teaching and research positions at the University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University, and the International College of Dundee. Her research interests include kinship and gender, memory and history, ritual and personhood, the anthropology of surveillance, and the anthropology of food with a regional focus on (East) Germany.

Time: Thursdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Philosophicum, room P106

Credits: 4 ECTS

Kursanmeldung

Course offered by Cultural Anthropology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Culture Studies I focuses on American history from early settlement to the 20th century while Culture Studies II puts a stronger focus on current topis in American culture. Both courses are offered in several parallel courses. For more information including times and locations please see course catalogue below.

Credits: 4 ECTS for each course

How to register

Course offered by American Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Culture Studies I:  Course catalogue

Link: Culture Studies II: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Culture Studies I & III English Literature & Culture offer an introductory insight into British history and culture. Both courses are offered in several parallel courses. For more information including times and locations please see course catalogue below.

Credits: 4 ECTS for each course

How to register

Course offered by English Literature & Culture: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Culture Studies I:  Course catalogue

Link: Culture Studies III (Global Britain): Course catalogue

 

Course description

Students acquire knowledge of:

• the basic models and concepts of lyric, dramatic and narrative theory, as well as the structural and communicative specifics of narrative, dramatic and lyrical text types and their significance for text analysis and interpretation, text analysis and interpretation (e.g. narrative situation, perspective, focalization, characterization, metrics, prosody, etc.),

• central literary theories and methods across genres and their significance for textual analysis and interpretation (e.g., structuralism, post-structuralism; reception aesthetics; Cultural Criticism; Gender Studies; Postcolonial Literary Theory, etc.).

• the most important epochs of American literary history (early modernism; classicism; romanticism; realism/naturalism; modernism; post-modernism, etc.), taking into account the respective formative literary formal language and rhetorical stylistic devices (conceit, symbol, metaphor, metonymy, etc.) and their relevance for different literary genres and epochs

 

Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Philosophicum, room P1

Credits: 2 ECTS

Kursanmeldung

Course offered by American Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The lecture will introduce students to the range of theories that make up Cultural Studies. These will include basic theories of culture, representation, and power, dominant paradigms in Cultural Studies such as gender and sexuality, race, and class, and also more recent developments such as Postcolonial Studies, Ecocriticism, theories of popular culture and tvirtuality. Each lecture will revolve around a central text that it will summarise and explain. Each lecture will also contain an example (textual, visual, or audiovisual) that it will use for an application of the theory.
The lectures will be offered as recordings on Moodle that can be accessed whenever the students wish to do so. The key texts will also be available there. Moreover, the lecture slides end with suggestions for further reading as well as self-test questions that prepare those who need to do it for the short take-home exam that will be emailed to students in the last week of teaching.

Compulsory attendance
This is an asynchronous online lecture consisting of recorded Powerpoint presentations available on Moodle together with background reading.

Contents
An Introduction to the range of theories that make up Cultural Studies

Recommended reading list:
Simon During (2005): Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge. Ebook.

Digital teaching
This is an asynchronous online lecture consisting of recorded Powerpoint presentations available on Moodle together with background reading.

Time: Wednesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: online

Credits: 2 ECTS

Kursanmeldung

Course offered by American Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

not available

Time: Tuesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Philosophicum, room P103

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by American Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

In recent years, TV series and films that deal with actual historical events have become increasingly popular. This seminar will think about history and its representation on screen. According to Samuels, history is not “the prerogative of the historian” alone but a “social form of knowledge; the work, in any given instance, of a thousand hands” (qtd in Giles & Middleton 2014: 103). We will discuss this assumption with regards to the role of TV & TV-series and film. We will read from historical research, cultural studies but also film studies.

Time: Tuesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Philosophicum, room P105

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by English Literature & Culture: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

not available

1. Session Monday, 15.04.2024: 09:30 - 17:30 in Forum universitas, room Infobox (00-001) & Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K2 (00-223)

2. Session Friday, 03.05.2024: 09:30 - 17:30 in Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K7 (00-141)

3. Session Saturday, 04.05.2024: 09:00 - 13:00 in Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K9 (00-161)

4. Session Friday, 24.05.2024: 11:00 - 14:30 in Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K7 (00-141)

Credits: 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by History: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Plastic and synthetic materials tend to have negative connotations these days. Everyone may have an image of the "Great Pacific garbage patch" in their head: the gigantic island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean, which consists of over 80 per cent plastic. Visitors to the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt consider plastic to be the central challenge in the fight against biodiversity loss and species extinction - even if other challenges are even more serious. At the same time, our entire everyday life is characterised by plastic; the history of plastics in the 20th century is a success story. And if you look beyond plastics to the chemistry of polymers, you also notice biological molecules that have the same structures and make life possible in the first place. What is probably hardly known among students of history in Mainz is that Mainz is one of the global centres of modern, pioneering polymer research.

We want to explore the ambivalent success story of polymers in the 20th century in this project-based advanced seminar. In this project, we will develop podcasts that we can feed into the third season of "Clio auf die Ohren". The work on the podcasts will replace the traditional research papers. The examination will be an advanced self-reflection on the project work.

The project is offered by two historians, one of whom (Mills Kelly), as a US historian, is more at home in English than in German. The course language is therefore English. The podcasts, on the other hand, are produced in German.

This course is embedded in the JGU project "Mainz Models for Digitally Enhanced Teaching and Learning (ModeLL-M)" (https://modell-m.uni-mainz.de). Funded by the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching, hybrid teaching and learning concepts are being trialled here. The History Department is involved in one of three areas of the pilot phase under the title "Digitally enhanced project teaching".

Time: Tuesdays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: BKM, room SR 07 (00-003)

Credits: 7 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by History: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The current rapid growth of the Christian population in the global South draws attention to its theologies behind. Theologies from the global South are deeply rooted in reflections on their multiple-facet religious traditions and diverse ethnicity. Alongside liberation and inculturation and dialogue theologies, Asian and African Women’s theologies challenge male-dominated traditions as well as a traditional way of doing theology. This course explores the interreligious, intercultural, and intersectional dimensions of women’s theologies through selected articles from theologians in the global South.

Recommended literature
Kwok Pui-lan, <Introducing Asian Feminist Theology> (2000)
Mercy Amba Oduyoye, <Introducing African women’s theology> (2001)

Time: Thursdays, 08:30 - 10:00
Location: Gebäude am Taubertsberg, room T6 (00-302)

Credits: 3 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Protestant Theology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Republican Shanghai was known as the "Hollywood East", and even the rich Japanese would fly to Shanghai and spend weekends there just to watch the premiere of Hollywood movies at Shanghai Grand Theater. On August 11, 1896, the first showing (Lumière films) was held in Shanghai’s XuYuan Garden. From this point on, the Chinese audiences were like the spectators in “Plato’s Cave”, viewing and imagining China and the West through the projected moving images. We can see that a kind of tension between East and West, tradition and modernity, cosmopolitanism and localism has always existed in Shanghai cinema and extends to the present day. If the alias “Hollywood East” situated Shanghai under the influence of Hollywood, then the urban culture where promise and tragedy coexist in it, was more like the cultural context of shorted-lived Weimar Germany. In the shadow of the failed wars and the economic crisis, the tiller girls in cabarets danced as neatly as soldiers, and not far away there was a gunshot. Psychoanalysis played over the radio hypnotized the “Flâneur”. New women flood the workplace, seeking to improve their family and social status. Moviegoers from different social classes were enthralled by the same movie at different times and places. Female stars suicided because of newspaper scandals… In this seminar, we will explore the Shanghai urban culture through cinema, or further, explore the world through Shanghai cinema.

Time: Mondays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: Medienhaus
, room 00-211

Credits: 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Film Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Geoarchaeology is currently one of the key approaches shaping our knowledge of human activity in the past. The concept of site formation, taking into account the impact of anthropogenic phenomena and geological processes on the extent of our consideration of human adaptation strategies and culture, is proving particularly important. We will focus on the discussion of methods applied in the context of specific archaeological sites representing fluvial, colluvial and aeolian sedimentary environments. We will work with examples of open and cave sites with remains dating mainly to the Pleistocene and early Holocene. During the course, we will learn about the different ways of analysing archaeological sites, such as sedimentological studies, spatial analyses of sites, or micromorphological and geochemical analyses of sediments. We will analyse examples of the occurrence of archaeological relics in colluvial and fluvial environments, known from sites of the early and late Middle Palaeolithic phase. In discussing the issue of sites in aeolian environments, we will study Upper Palaeolithic sites, sometimes accumulating large collections of megafaunal remains. We will also focus our attention on cave sites, where we will trace various examples of contemporary investigations of remains dating to the Middle and Upper Pleistocene (Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic). We will also discuss the problem of the formation of pseudo-sites and geofacts in different environments. We will support our classes with contemporary reports of research on specific Central European sites and literature belonging to the canon of geoarchaeology.

Time: Thursdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Hegelstr. 59, room "Seminarraum VFGA"

Credits: 3 or 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Archeology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

not available

Time: Fridays, 14:15 - 17:45
Location: Hegelstraße 39 (Aareongebäude), room 00-309

Credits: 5 or 7 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Egyptology & Ancient Near Eastern Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This course aims at introducing students to the current (state-of-the-art) research concerning issues related to non-dominant, less-widely spoken, often marginalized and endangered linguistic communities in different parts of the world. A special focus, though, in the course is paid to regional and minority/heritage language (RMHL) issues in Europe. In the course, students are introduced to different theoretical approaches and research directions concerning minority and heritage languages. In addition, students explore historical, sociopolitical and economic implications for language policies and practices concerning RMHL, and critically discuss the role and symbolic values attached to these languages in different speech communities. The topics of the course include (but are not limited to) language ideologies/attitudes toward minorities, minority language policy and planning, language loss, death and endangerment, language revitalization and reclamation, language shift and maintenance, family language planning, linguistic human rights, among others.

Time: Wednesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät (NatFak), room 00-449 (KR1)

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Linguistics: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This course offers a survey of key and exemplary US-American literary texts from various literary-historical contexts for international and interdisciplinary students in American Studies. Students will get an overview of basic models and concepts in American literary studies and of the major periods in American literary and cultural history and engage with primary texts and definitions of literary epochs in a combination of self-study projects, online assignments, and in-class conversations.

Language requirement: C1

Time: Tuesdays, 16:00 - 17:30
Location: Philosophicum, room P101

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by American Studies: Please register for the course by contacting the instructor directly via email (georgis@uni-mainz.de). Use your your JGU mail account @students.uni-mainz.de and state your full name and matriculation number in the email.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This in-classroom, face-to-face course is a preparatory course for international students. We will practice advanced academic research-based writing skills in English. You will write a mid-term academic essay and a brief research paper at the end of the semester. You will share, discuss, and assess your work in progress with the other participants.

Primary texts: Selected 20th-century American short stories. Your writing assignments revolve around these texts.

Course aims: critical reading competence of narrative texts, systematic research, critical use of secondary sources, proper academic citation, academic writing skills, including style, word choice, review of grammar, punctuation.

Language requirement: C1

Time: Fridays, 12:00 - 15:15
Location: Philosophicum, room 01-618 (kleine Bibliothek)

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by American Studies: Please register for this course by contacting the instructor directly via email (bwetzels@uni-mainz.de). Only use your JGU mail account @students.uni-mainz.de and state your full name and matriculation number.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This in-classroom, face-to-face course introduces international students to the guidelines for academic presentations and the compilation of handouts in English. An additional skill that students are to acquire in the course are discussion skills that are appropriate in academic discourse in terms of language repertoire and argumentation. The subject matters addressed in the course are key concepts and myths of American culture and their presentation in American literature.
Language requirement: C1

Time: Mondays, 08:00 - 10:00
Location: Philosophicum, room 01-618 (kleine Bibliothek)

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by American Studies: Please register for the course by contacting the instructor directly via email (cgoerg@uni-mainz.de). Use your your JGU mail account @students.uni-mainz.de and state your full name and matriculation number in the email.

Link: Course catalogue

 

 

GIS Special Courses in English for Exchange Students - Summer Semester 2024 - Social Sciences & Society

Course description

CRiSS is a recurring lecture series of the Faculty 02: Social Sciences, Media and Sport of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and takes place every summer semester.

Members from all disciplines of the faculty - communication studies, educational science, political science, psychology, school science, sociology and sports science - present their current research projects. The lectures will be held in English to allow for international exchange - with international students and researchers.

ECTS-points:
Please note that there are two different options for participating in CRiSS:
1) Lecture, with attendance only, 2 ECTS, if your department does not state otherwise
2) Lecture with written exam and tutorial in preparation for the exam, 3 graded ECTS

This is the attendance only option.

Exchange students, please tell us during registation if you want only to take the lecture (2 ECTS) or the additional exam with tutorial as well (3 graded ECTS).

Time:

Wednesdays, 16:15 - 17:45 (lecture)

Thursdays, 14:15 - 15:45 (tutorial)

 

Location:

Lecture: Georg-Forster-Gebäude (GFG), room 01-611

Tutorial: Georg-Forster-Gebäude (GFG), room 02-751

Credits: 2 or 3 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Faculty 02: Please add the course to the course registration formular for exchange students and contact your "coordinator" for admission. Your coordinator can register you in Jogustine, or you or the coordinator contact sowiso@uni-mainz.de for registration (we need your student ID/Matrikelnummer therefore). Please state if your registration is for the lecture only or also for the tutorial.

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This course aims to examine the fascinating interconnected world of Israeli media and Israeli politics. With five national elections in the past three and a half years, more than a dozen political parties comprising a diversity of left and right, conservative and liberal, Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, it could be argued that Israelis are currently debating their most fundamental beliefs and ideas, or indeed are they? In this course, we will explore the system, the players, the issues, and the ongoing events in Israeli politics as they unfold. Moreover, we will examine the Israeli media and the role it is playing in the current political upheavals and occurrences. While the course reading will include theoretical and empirical scientific literature, the consumption of Israeli news and/or German/other news discussing Israel is highly encouraged during the semester.
Time: Wednesdays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: ReWi II, room HS II

Credits: 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Faculty 02: Please add the course to the course registration formular for exchange students and contact your "coordinator" for admission. Your coordinator can register you in Jogustine, or you or the coordinator contact sowiso@uni-mainz.de for registration (we need your student ID/Matrikelnummer therefore).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The destruction of the bipolar system of international relations as a result of the Soviet Union collapse gave a significant impetus to the geopolitical transformation of the post-Soviet space and international security system in general. However, the appearance of fifteen new independent states on the territory of former Soviet Union and seven countries which were part of the Soviet sphere of influence (former Yugoslavia) on the political map of the world was accompanied with a period of political turbulence. Therefore, one of the phenomena of the new regional security system was the emergence of self-proclaimed state entities that declared themselves as sovereign countries, but until now, for more than 30 years, they have not received full international recognition. Possessing the main formal features of the state and comprehensive support of "patron states", some of them are still continuing the movement for political recognition. This is a threat to the European security system and international community.
Main purpose of the discipline is to make a complete picture of the "de facto states" with determination features of their genesis, evolution, modern specifications and forecasting of international recognition in the future.
Time: Thursdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Georg-Forster-Gebäude (GFG), room 01-611

Credits: 5 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Faculty 02: Please add the course to the course registration formular for exchange students and contact your "coordinator" for admission. Your coordinator can register you in Jogustine, or you or the coordinator contact sowiso@uni-mainz.de for registration (we need your student ID/Matrikelnummer therefore).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The strategic spread of misinformation and the fostering of mistrust are increasingly being used as weapons and threaten stability in Europe. In the Summerschool “Psychological Warfare: Controlling the Public”, participants will deal with communication in and about the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine. Tactical communication, psychological influence, propaganda and manipulation attempts will be discussed and evaluated. The participants learn about the aims and mechanisms of psychological warfare, with a particular focus on the strategic use of social media in modern warfare. They will then explore the political consequences and the consequences for mental health of the population. Subsequently, the participants will tackle normative questions such as the general legitimacy of psychological influence. Finally, solutions are discussed and the students talk about individual and collective protective measures. In addition to the academic discussion, the focus is also on the exchange with actors from practice (e.g. journalists, diplomats)? During the programme, participants will interactively analyse case studies of psychological warfare and apply their new knowledge. The overarching aim of the summer school is to enable students to comprehensively understand and detect the mechanisms of psychological influence in order to protect themselves and their societies from it in the future.

Summer School schedule Social activities
Day 1: Overall introduction to Psychological Warfare: Concepts and genesis; Welcome event
Day 2: Aims, methods and Mechanisms of Psychological Influence
Day 3: Consequences on politics and mental health / Legitimacy of psychological influence
Day 4: Solutions and protection strategies on individual and collective levels; Joint dinner / Farewell event
Day 5: Mini conference and reflexion; Sightseeing tour

Coordinators: Dr. Barbara Müller (SoWi?So! / JGU) and Dr. Olesia Zvezdova (Department of International Relations and Foreign policy, Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, Ukraine, currently: Visiting Scholar at JGU)

ECTS that can be awarded: 3 (Participants will receive a certificate of attendance on the final day of the summer school.)

The participation fee for all participants is 30 €!!! For every Ukrainian student travel expenses will be covered and an accommodation will be provided. In case the summer school cannot take place on site due to an insecure situation relating to the war in Ukraine, the event will take place online. In this case, the participation fee will be reembursed.

Time: 03.06.2024 - 07.06.2024 - each day 09:00 - 18:00
Location: tba

Credits: 3 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Faculty 02: Please contact the coordinator sowiso@uni-mainz.de for registration (they need your student ID/Matrikelnummer therefore).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This course is designed to introduce the basic theories and concepts of international relations, and to familiarize the students with the way these are applied in the political science context to understanding of contemporary international issues. The course is organized in two parts, the first part concentrates on the main theories of international relations. The second part of the course will focus on case studies, application of the theoretical knowledge on current issues.

Please note: This is not a class in which to learn English; it is a class to learn about International Relations theories and their application. The course is held exclusively in English and directed primarily at native speakers, exchange students and students with a high level of proficiency in English. There will not be any regular translations into German and all course work must be completed in English. The only exception to this rule is the term paper, which you can do in either German or English.

Recommended reading list:
• Baylis, J., Smith, S., Owens, P. 2011. The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press (5th edition).
• Dunne, T., Kurki, M., Smith, S. 2010. International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2nd edition).
• Jackson, R., Soerensen, G. 2010. Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press (4th edition).

Time: Mondays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: Georg-Forster Gebäude (GFG), room 02-607

Credits: 3 or 5 or 9 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Political Science: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

In Germany, we live in the privileged situation of a free, democratic media system - but even a glimpse to some of our neighbours within the European Union presents a different situation. The lecture will introduce you to a variety of media landscapes around the world, give an overview on structural conditions and restraints for journalists within different countries and look at press and media freedom worldwide. Certainly, the effects of globalization on journalistic work and the reception of it will be an important aspect, too. Within the lecture we will skype, meet and talk with different journalists and academics with a research focus on media and journalism from around the world to underpin the theoretical inputs with first-hand experiences.

Time & Location: see course catalogue
Location: Medienhaus Wallstraße, room 1-262 (Co-Working-Raum)

Credits: 3 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Journalism: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

not available

Time: Tuesdays, 15:00 - 16:00
Location: Sports faculty
, room S3 (01-123)

Credits: 2 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Sports: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

not available

Time: Tuesdays, 16:00 - 18:00
Location: Sports faculty, room S2 (00-123)

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Sports: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

Course description

Innovation policymakers, business managers and the public often expect that the current investments in R&D, higher education institutions, science-industry networks etc. will immediately produce a flow of products and processes with high commercial returns. The disappointments and legitimatory problems arising from missing outputs are considerable and show the limits of steering, control and policy functions. If not a principle apprehension against the importance of knowledge and innovation, the responsible innovation managers mention a frustration with the too messy and complicated features of the innovation process, which simply “does not seem to compute”. Innovation, the creation of new, technologically feasible, commercially realisable products and processes, is – if things go right - emerging from an ongoing interaction process of innovative organisations in various sectors such as universities, research institutes, firms, government agencies, venture capitalists and others. These actors generate and exchange knowledge, financial capital, and other resources in networks of relationships, which are embedded in institutional frameworks on the local, regional, national and international level. Innovation is an emergent property from these interactions on the micro level – if the combination of actors and organisations, their compatible capabilities, and their cooperative behaviours match. No equation will predict this match or warn from a mismatch beforehand.

This seminar now has something new to say about innovation. It will introduce into cutting-edge methods coming from the natural sciences, from computer science, and mathematics to deal with the complex aspects of socio-economic innovation processes - and this without leaving out the messy features of empirical reality and the „human element“, but indeed taking full account of it. The conceptual framework opens up a new paradigm for innovation research, which is announced by its title: the sessions analyse innovation in networks while making innovation understandable and tractable using tools such as computational network analysis and agent-based simulation.

Learning outcomes:
This course comprises programmatic contributions of the leading international experts of innovation research and discusses issues of immediate concern to innovation policy makers and innovation business managers. On the theoretical side, it will provide systematic knowledge on the nature and characteristics of innovation processes to keep up with the complexity, with the non-linearities and the self-organising features of innovation performance. With this, it will further demonstrate the embeddedness of socio-economic innovation research in complexity science and computational approaches.

On the practical side, it will identify points of intervention and support for innovation and for collaborative networking with partners and stakeholders.

The course introduces the state of the art in international Innovation Research

  • by presenting results from the empirical analysis of innovative actors such as universities, SMEs, and MNEs while focusing on their respective contributions to the innovation process,
  • by illuminating the systemic context of innovation with emphasis on national and sectoral systems of innovation in an evolutionary frame
  • and by discussing the tools and methods with which innovation networks in complex social systems can be successfully investigated to extend and apply our knowledge of them most effectively.

Recommended literature
Ahrweiler, P. (ed.) (2010): Innovation in complex social Systems, London: Routledge

Time: Wednesdays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: Georg-Forster-Gebäude (GFG), room 01-511

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Sociology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Social Simulation is a type of modelling for social scientists which has been gaining interest as a result of extremely affordable computing power and a rising interest in complex systems methods and approaches to understanding the world. Social simulation helps to develop a deeper understanding of social and economic issues and problems, centering on “complexity” ideas: evolution, adaptation, nonlinear behavior, emergence and self-organization. These approaches have become essential tools for social scientists in a wide range of fields, sociology, economics, cognitive psychology, organizational theory, political science and geography.

Social simulation can be supported by participatory modelling methodologies, where different stakeholders involved on the social reality that wants to be simulated take part in the modelling process. Participatory modelling allows modellers to better understand the social dynamics by representing them in a simulation. Moreover, social simulation can be used with the participant stakeholders to evaluate possible future scenarios, and doing so new situations and solutions are reached. Thus, this approach is also useful for participatory policy making purposes.

This seminar offers an introduction to participatory modelling and the methods used in it.

Learning outcomes:
Students will be introduced to participatory modelling and a range of techniques aimed at addressing problems of public interest from this perspective.

  1. Students will have a clear idea of the objectives and scope of the participatory modelling perspective in addressing problems of public interest related to new technologies and socio-ecological problems.
  2. Students will have the basic knowledge about how to implement participatory systems mapping (including fuzzy cognitive mapping), serious games and computational modelling to address problems of public interest related to new technologies and socio-ecological problems.

Time: Wednesdays, 18:15 - 19:45
Location: Georg-Forster-Gebäude (GFG), room 02-731

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Sociology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The course is designed to give a general overview of the German Civil Code ("Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch", BGB)). All main chapters of the Civil Code, the so-called „books" („Bücher"), and the respective doctrines of German private law will be addressed. This includes:

I. the book of general provisions of the German civil code (first book)
II. the law of obligations (second book)
III. the law of things (third book)
IV. family law (fourth book)
V. law of succession (fifth book)

As the title of the course indicates, students should have a basic understanding of German private law after completion of the course which may qualify them to enlarge their knowledge of specific fields of German private law. Prior knowledge of private law would be beneficial but is not necessary for a successful completion of the course.

The course is taught in English. It is offered from the Gutenberg School of Law and the Gutenberg International School and is open for all Exchange students at Johannes Gutenberg University.
Registration for Exchange students in the Gutenberg School of Law: Please add the course to the specific course registration form for law students.
Registration for Exchange students from other departments: Please add the course to the general course registration form for Exchange students from GIS and send it to erasmus-jura@uni-mainz.de.

The aim of the course is to give students a general overview to German Private Law.

Time: Tuesdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Antropologie, room -1 331 HS IX

Credits: 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Law: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The seminar serves to practise English legal language using the example of religious law. To this end, the principles of German and European religious law will be examined, the relationships between the state and religions worldwide will be analysed using examples and the sector of contract law between the state and churches in Europe will be discussed in terms of legal history and on the basis of the current legal situation.

To this end, the participants will give short presentations on individual topics and provide the relevant source texts, which will be discussed in the plenary sessions.

Students are expected to participate continuously throughout the semester and to prepare their own presentation in English. This serves as the basis for the assessment (50%). The rest of the grade is based on participation in the seminar (50%). There is no separate examination.

Recommended reading list
Benedetto, Robert, Duke, James O., The new Westminster Dictionary of Church history, Louisville 2008, pp. 97, 191, 685.
Blumenthal, Uta-Renate, The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century, University of Pennsylvania Press 1988.
Cantor, Norman F., Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England, 1089–1135, Princeton 1958 (reissued 1969).
Coppa, Frank J. (Ed.), Controversial Concordats: The Vatican's Relations with Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, Pittsburgh 1999.
Cranmer, Frank, Notes on Church and State in the Europ ic Area 2011, online: http://www.law.cf.ac.uk/clr/networks/Frank%20Cranmer_%20Church%20&%20State%20in%20W%2
0Europe.pdf.
Dwyer, John C., Church History: Twenty centuries of Catholic Christianity, Mahaw 2nd. Ed. 1998, 310-336; 371-375.
Giovannelli, Mauro. "The 1984 Covenant between the Republic of Italy and the Vatican: A Retrospective Analysis after Fifteen Years." Journal of Church & State 42.3 (2000): 529-538.

Gifis, Dictionary of Legal Terms, 7 ed. (Barron´s) New York 2016.

Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Gebäude am Taubertsberg, room T8 (00-322)

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Law: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

In this seminar, we will deepen and apply the knowledge of media geography theory acquired in the winter semester. The seminar will focus on how geography and different media formats are related and can be researched. The topics are not only addressed in the seminar sessions, which take place as intensive weekend-sessions (see below), but a major activity is the creation of a media geography portfolio/blog in which you work on different topics. The aim is to deepen your knowledge of media geography so that you will be able to apply this knowledge to relevant topics to research on our everyday life contexts. We will explore the connection between geographical perspectives and media forms as well as specific subdisciplines of media geography. You will implement these topics as a final project in an academic multimedia portfolio and gain skills in the field of academic blogging.

Requirements

1) Prepare a session (see topics below) Timeframe: 2hrs (120 minutes)

Presentation: Provide a) an overview on the overall topic (e.g., “Geography & Street Art”) and b) explain how researchers study (with) the medium. Therefore, refer to empirical case studies (2-3). Be creative: You don’t have to prepare a classical ppt-presentation: Present your topic in a creative format that suits your topic - e.g. video essay, comic, podcast, scrollytelling, StoryMap, audiowalk …feel free to suggest own ideas.

Discussion: Choose a research paper/publication/case study/example on your subject and share it with the group prior to the meeting (via LMS; lates in mid-June). The text serves as input/basis for our discussion in class. Beside classical impulse questions, the discussion may include workshop elements, creative methods, exploration phases etc.

Please ensure a balanced mix between presentation and discussion phase(s)

Submit a well-researched reference list (~10 academic titles) and detailed outline for your session to me (email) and schedule an appointment for discussing your ideas by June 3rd. On that day, we will meet individually to discuss your presentations. The meeting is mandatory.

Topics will be assigned in our preparatory meeting in April. Presentations will take place in our seminar in July.

 

2) Multimedia Portfolio

In a final project, you will explore a topic of your choice and create a multimedia portfolio. In our workshop in July, we will develop ideas and explore modes of presentation. Over the summer break, you can work on your project. Submission deadline is November 1st, 2024.

Detailed information on the scope and requirements will be provided in July.

Time: Monday, 22.04.2024, 14:15 - 15:45 & 22.07.2024 - 26.07.2024, 09:00 - 17:00
Location: Monday, 22.04.2024 Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude (NatFak), room N239 -        
in July: Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude (NatFak), room 04-223

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Geography: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

The seminar takes a closer look on the “geographies of expertise”. Especially under circumstances of uncertainty and crises when important decisions need to be made, the question of whose knowledge can be trusted and is qualified to be considered in decision-making processes is discussed quite controversially. "The expert" is expected to help finding the right answers to important questions of our times. However, who is an expert? What constitutes (the expert's) expertise? Why is the expert role discussed controversially, especially in the recent past? The seminar deals with the current debate on knowledge, experts and expertise from a geographical perspective. In each session, we discuss selected aspects of the debate in more detail, e.g.:

-          Theories on knowledge and their relevance in geographical research
-          Conceptual approaches to expertise and experts
-          Media and experts
-          Digitization and the emergence of so-called “lay experts”
-          Societal controversies on experts’ role in political decision-making processes

Participants will prepare and moderate one session (input presentation of about 25 minutes and moderation/organization of discussion/interactive part of about 30 minutes). The basis for each session is a (theoretical or empirical) text that all participants need to read in advance. An academic paper has to be submitted and constitues the final exam of the course.

Time: Mondays, 08:30 - 10:00
Location: Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude (NatFak), room N239 (02-142)

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Geography: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

This course explores the cinematic adaptations of the Gospels in the New Testament and examines how filmmakers have interpreted and represented the stories, characters, and themes found in these texts. Through the reading and interacting with Gospel texts, discussion of secondary literature portraying Gospels in movies, watching scenes each week related to this motif, and participating in guest lectures with experts in this field, students will gain a deeper understanding of the role of film in shaping contemporary perceptions of biblical stories and will better understand the creative and theological choices made by filmmakers when placing the Gospels on the silver screen. This course will be held in English.

Recommended reading list
R. G. Walsh (Hrsg.), T&T handbook of Jesus and film (T&T Clark handbooks), London 2020.

Other texts that will be required reading for this course will be announced in advance and provided online.

To receive active participation in this course, Students must (a) lead a discussion once about a respective chapter from the required reading, (b) submit one ca. 300-word response to a “Research Topic”, which are provided online, and (c) propose three possible questions to ask before one of the respective guest lectures.

Time: Thursdays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: Gebäude am Taubertsberg, room T8 (00-322)

Credits: 2 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Protestant Theology: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

In this course (3 ECTS), exchange students learn the ABC for successful social science studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University. Participants will be able to meet the formal requirements of academic work in terms of literature research, oral presentations and term papers. The course offers you a flying start and equips you for a successful semester abroad at JGU.

Time: tba
Location: tba

Credits: 3 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by Faculty 02: Please add the course to the course registration formular for exchange students and contact your "coordinator" for admission. Your coordinator can register you in Jogustine, or you or the coordinator contact sowiso@uni-mainz.de for registration (we need your student ID/Matrikelnummer therefore).

Link: Course catalogue

 

GIS Special Courses in German for Exchange Students - Summer Semester 2024 - Learning German

Course description

The ISSK offers German courses on the level A1-C2 along with the studies for students in the following study programs:

  • Erasmus+
  • International exchange programs (international partnership programs)
  • English study programs
  • Study programs with exemption from the DSH and German language requirements
  • Other international students in B.A. and M.A. degree programs
Courses on level A1-B2

The ISSK German courses that can be taken parallel to the various courses of studies are addressed to students who are already enrolled in a study program at Mainz University (JGU).

Classes at levels A1, A2, B1, B2.1, B2.2 meet twice a week for a total of 4 or 6 academic units per week and run throughout the semester teaching period.
For every course which you have successfully completed you can obtain 4 or 6 ECTS credit points.

Prerequisites for a graded course certificate and 6 ECTS credit points are the following:

  • regular attendance
  • active participation
  • preparation of homework tasks
  • plus some additional shorter tests and a successful final exam.

Times & locations: here (once available)

Credits: 4 or 6 ECTS (see individual course - ECTS are not based on examination type!)

How to register

Please find information on registration here: https://issk-en.uni-mainz.de/registration-for-the-german-courses/

Link: ISSK

 

Courses on level C1-C2

SB1: German C1 courses accompanying the studies (SB = “studienbegleitend”)

Prerequisite for admission: good knowledge of German at an advanced level (i.e. with completed B2.2 level)
Target groups:

  • Students who have passed the DSH exam with the result DSH-2 and achieved between 60 and 67% in one or more sections
  • Test-DaF graduates with the result 4xTDN4, 3xTDN4 and 1xTDN5, respectively
  • Erasmus+ students or ‘program students’ (= participants of study courses with mandatory language requirements) who have reached C1 level in the placement test or in a previous course

Course offerings include independent modules of 2-4 semester hours (SWS) each that have to be taken successively.

 

SB2: German C2 courses accompanying the studies

Prerequisite for admission: very good knowledge of German (i.e. a high or completed C1 level)
Target groups:

  • Students with a DSH score of 75% or TestDaf with score TDN 4455
  • Erasmus+ students or program students who have reached a high C1 level or a C2 level in the placement test or in a previous course

The focus of these courses (with 2-4 semester hours per week) is academic German or German for Specific Purposes.

Times & locations: here (once available)

Credits: 2-6 ECTS (see individual course - ECTS are not based on examination type!)

How to register

Please find information on registration here: https://issk-en.uni-mainz.de/registration-for-the-german-courses/

Link: ISSK

 

General information

Der Kurs richtet sich an ausländische Studierende auf Masterniveau, Promovierende, Postdocs, Gastwissenschaftler*innen und Mitarbeiter*innen der JGU mit einem abgeschlossenen B1-Niveau.
Da das Ziel des Kurses eine erste gezielte sprachliche Vorbereitung auf den Berufseinstieg für Akademiker in Deutschland ist, ist der Kurs für Teilnehmende vorgesehen, die nach dem Studium oder der Promotion einen berufsbezogenen Aufenthalt in Deutschland planen.

Inhaltlich liegt der Fokus deshalb auf Themen wie Studium/Promotion in Deutschland, Arbeitswelt, Bewerbungstraining, Interkulturelle Kommunikation im Studium und Beruf.
Im Bereich der Grammatik werden die wichtigsten Inhalte der Basisgrammatik A1-B1 wiederholt und gefestigt sowie neue grammatische Phänomene der B2.1 Stufe eingeführt.

Times & locations: here (once available)

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Please find information on registration here: https://issk-en.uni-mainz.de/registration-for-the-german-courses/

Link: ISSK

 

Course description

The conversation class German is aimed at exchange students of all subjects who have completed at least A2 level, who wish to improve their oral expression in German and who are willing to participate regularly in class. Otherwise, students cannot benefit from this course.

The focus is on free speaking, which is practiced using current and regional topics.

Recommended literature:
Working materials will be distributed in the course of the semester.

In order to take part in the A2/B1 course, you must have completed at least level A2; in order to take part in the B2/C1 course, you must have at least level B2. If your language skills do not correspond to at least A2, you will unfortunately not be able to take part in the conversation class as you do not have the appropriate qualifications.

In the first course session, the course instructors will check once again whether your language skills match the corresponding course. If this is not the case, you could be placed in the other course. If the check determines that your oral level is lower than A2, you will unfortunately not be able to take part in the course.

Important: Course registration is only possible by e-mail to gis@international.uni-mainz.de and NOT!!! via the "Course registration for exchange students" form. Please send an e-mail with your certified German level (if available) and the following information: Last name, first name, country of origin, home university, subject of studies, German level, matriculation number (if already available), e-mail address. Please also indicate whether you have already taken part in a conversation course at JGU.

Registrations will be accepted from 10.04.2024 up to and including 14.04.2024 (earlier registrations will unfortunately be ignored). If there are more registrations than places, a waiting list will be introduced and students will be informed accordingly. Students who wish to participate in the conversation course for the first time will be prioritized. Students who have already taken part in such a course at JGU can only participate if there are remaining places. On 15.04.2024 you will be informed whether you have a place on the course or are on the waiting list.

 

Completed A2 or B1 Level - Course A

Time: Thursdays, 08:15 - 09:45
Location: Georg-Forster Gebäude (GFG), room 02-511

Credits: 1-4 ECTS

 

Completed A2 or B1 Level - Course B

Time: Thursdays, 12:15 - 13:45
Location: Philosophicum, room 01-471

Credits: 1-4 ECTS

 

Completed B2 or C1 Level

Time: Thursdays, 10:15 - 11:45
Location: Philosophicum, room 01-471

Credits: 1-4 ECTS

 

How to register

Course offered by GIS in cooperation with German Studies: see course description

Link: Level A2/B1 - Course A / Level A2/B1 - Course B / Level B2/C1

 

Course description

Was ist Sprache und wie wird sie gebraucht? Welche Ziele hat die Sprachwissenschaft? Diese Veranstaltung gibt einen ersten Überblick über verschiedene Teilgebiete und ihre Fragestellungen, Methoden und Theorien. Die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer sollen dazu befähigt werden, anhand von Beispielen aus dem Deutschen selbständig sprachwissenschaftliche Analysen durchzuführen. Nach einer Einführung in die Grundbegriffe der modernen Sprachwissenschaft werden in dieser Veranstaltung die Kerngebiete Phonetik/Phonologie, Morphologie und Syntax behandelt.

Empfohlene Literatur
Meibauer, Jörg et al. (2015): Einführung in die germanistische Linguistik. 3. Auflage. Stuttgart: Metzler.
Für die Veranstaltung steht ein Reader zur Verfügung, in dem Sie Informationen und Materialien zur Veranstaltung finden.

Der Kurs findet in Kombination mit einem begleitenden Tutorium (obligatorisch) statt. Das Tutorium richtet sich speziell an internationale Studierende und bietet Raum für Fragen und Übungen. Die Zeit für das Tutorium wird zu Beginn des Seminars bekanntgegeben.

Voraussetzung: Sprachniveau: Mindestens B2

Time: Wednesdays, 10:15 - 11:45 (Course A) or Thursdays, 08:15 - 09:45 (Course B)
Location: Philosophicum, room P205 (Course A) oder Philosophicum, room P6 (Course B)

Credits: 6 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by German Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue (Course A) - Course catalogue (Course B)

 

Course description

In dieser Übung werden zentrale Bereiche der Grammatik des Deutschen behandelt wie etwa Wortart-, Satzgliedbestimmung und Satzstruktur. Ziel ist die Vermittlung eines fundierten grammatischen Basiswissens, das sowohl für ein Linguistikstudium als auch für den Deutschunterricht an Schulen eine wesentliche Voraussetzung ist.

!!!Please be aware: These courses do not serve the aim of language acquisition and are no courses in which you practice German grammar, as they are linguistic courses intended for a German native speaker audience!!!

Recommended literature

Gallmann, Peter et al. 2017. Schülerduden. Grammatik. 8. Auflage. Mannheim: Dudenverlag.
Pittner, Karin und Judith Bermann. 2021. Deutsche Syntax. Ein Arbeitsbuch. 7. Auflage. Tübingen: Narr.

Austauschstudierende: In dieser Veranstaltung können Sie zwischen 1 und 4 ECTS-Punkte erwerben. Genauere Informationen erhalten Sie in der ersten Sitzung.

 

Time: several courses available, please see course catalogue
Location: see individual course in the course catalogue

Credits: 1-4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by German Studies: Please use the form "Anmeldung Lehrveranstaltungen für Austauschstudierende" (after immatriculation).

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Der Schreibkurs richtet sich an internationale Studierende aller Fächer (Erasmus, Degree Seekings etc.) mit mindestens abgeschlossenem B2-Niveau, die Unterstützung beim wissenschaftlichen Schreiben auf Deutsch suchen. Ziel des Kurses ist, Studierende beim Strukturieren und Formulieren durch verschiedene Techniken zu begleiten und Schreibhemmungen abzubauen. Darüber hinaus werden auch Aspekte der deutschen Wissenschaftssprache im Bereich Wortschatz und Grammatik und der kritische Umgang mit KI-Tools behandelt.

Time: Thursdays, 14:15 - 15:45
Location: Am Kisselberg, room K1 (00-229)

Credits: 3-6 ECTS (depending on typem of examination)

How to register

Course offered by Deutsch als Fremdsprache / Deutsch als Zweitsprache:

Anmeldung für Austauschstudierende des Deutschen Instituts über das Anmeldeformular „Kursanmeldung für Austauschstudierende“ des Deutschen Instituts

Anmeldung für alle anderen über Damla Özkan (Koordinatorin Internationalisierung FB 05) per E-Mail an international-philis@uni-mainz.de

IMPORTANT: Only students attending the 1st session will be able to take the course!

Link: Course catalogue

 

Course description

Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) zählt mit seinen Dramen und Erzählungen zu den bedeutendsten Schriftstellern des „Jungen Wien“. Mit seiner berühmten Erzählung „Traumnovelle“ (1925/1926) widmet sich die Veranstaltung einem späten Text aus der Zeit nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg und dem Ende der Habsburgermonarchie. Erste Ideen zur Erzählung reichen jedoch weit zurück, und thematisch wie motivisch lassen sich an ihr wesentliche Spezifika von Arthur Schnitzlers Prosakunst aufzeigen. Die „Traumnovelle“ gehört zu den populärsten Texten Schnitzlers. Sie wurde von Stanley Kubrick mit Nicole Kidman und Tom Cruise („Eyes Wide Shut“, 1999) prominent verfilmt.
Die Übung zielt vor allem auf ein gründliches inhaltliches und strukturelles Verständnis des Textes, das im Rahmen einer schrittweisen Lektüre gewonnen werden soll.

Empfohlene Literatur:
Bitte beschaffen Sie sich für den Unterricht unbedingt folgende Textausgabe, sie ist im Buchhandel erhältlich:
Arthur Schnitzler: Traumnovelle. Textausgabe mit Kommentar und Materialien. Hg. v. Sabine Wolf. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2021 (= Reclam XL, Text und Kontext; 16130). ISBN-13: 978-3-15-016130-2

Erste Sitzung: Dienstag, 23. April.

Time: Tuesdays, 10:00 - 11:30
Location: Am Kisselberg (dormitory "Kisselberg"), room K4 (00-115)

Credits: (max) 4 ECTS

How to register

Course offered by German Studies: Registration only via email from Friday, 12. April 2024, 8.00 to Thursday, 18. April, 18.00 (please mind this period). The teacher will inform you on Friday about your registration status on Friday, 19. April, via email.

Link: Course catalogue

 

For an overview of special courses for exchange-students in earlier semesters, please visit our archive.