Berlin is considered a multi-layered urban lab with a contradictory landscape; luxury housing, big urban development projects next to squats, small urban garden projects, urban parks and green areas, etc. Over the course of the 1990s and 2000s till today, over 50 percent of the city’s public housing stock has been sold to private investors and the city has become a highly desirable destination for international property investment. The lack of affordable housing and a rise in the speculative real-estate market spur new discussions about gentrification. Meanwhile, inhabitants and newcomers fight for their rights in the city. The focal point of this course is an examination of the changes associated with urban development in Berlin and “counter actions” as urban social movements. This interdisciplinary course explores Berlin through urban activism in with several lenses, including: housing, urban environmental activism, community gardening and political power relations in the city. In addition to that this course offers an analysis of right to the city, participation, social justice, urban resistance, grassroots organizing, and urban development policy. Within the broad theme of “urban activism”, the course focuses on the ways in which neighborhood/inhabitant experiences and citizens’ collide to produce different forms of resistance within Berlin’s political sphere. The course offers to the participants to learn, discuss and use urban activist practices and tools in their everyday life.
language requirements English B1, German A1
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You will find the detailed syllabus for this course on the Berlin Perspectives Website:
hic.hu-berlin.de/en/berlin-perspectives/course-list
In order to participate, you have to register through the Berlin Perspectives online registration form:
hic.hu-berlin.de/en/berlin-perspectives/application
Registration period: 15 September – 25 October 2020:
Seminar places are allocated to the students registered and present in the first session.
This seminar carries 5 ECTS.
Berlin Perspectives is an international and interdisciplinary course program for incoming international students to complement their regular studies at Humboldt-Universität. It is also open to regular HU students who may enroll as part of their elective course requirements (üWP). Courses are taught in English or in bilingual German-English formats.
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