East Germany's Secret Police and Contemporary Surveillance Culture - Detailseite

What does it mean to live in a surveillance society? How does the digital age challenge questions regarding privacy, individuality and freedom? When does surveillance as care tip over into surveillance as control? And how does the Stasi system of vigilance prefigure contemporary surveillance culture? This course will on the one hand examine the impact of surveillance on society by looking at the multifaceted ways technologies, societies and the arts interact and, on the other hand, reflect on surveillance in a totalitarian context while comparing observation techniques in the GDR with contemporary surveillance methods. The course further encourages students to critically engage with the representation of surveillance in contemporary literature, film and popular culture and maps out important themes with regards to surveillance and its repercussions (e.g., visibility, identity, privacy and control). Furthermore, the course provides an overview of the interdisciplinary field of surveillance studies and covers the latest research in the following major areas: 1. Relationship between surveillance, power and social control; 2. Histories of Surveillance: GDR and the Stasi (especially in the context of Berlin) 3. The concept of privacy; 4. Surveillance in the arts and popular culture.

Language requirements: English B2

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This course is part of the Berlin Perspectives program for international exchange students. Regular degree-seeking students are also welcome to attend within the elective part of their study program. Courses are offered by the Career Center as part of the elective program üWP.

Berlin Perspectives seminars are specifically designed for undergraduate-level students. As a master's student, please check with your university beforehand to confirm whether the study points can be recognized.

Upon completion of the seminar, students will receive 5 ECTS.

The detailed syllabus for this course is available on the Berlin Perspectives website:
https://hic.hu-berlin.de/en/berlin-perspectives/courses 

Registration for the Summer Semester 2024 is open until 9 April 2024.

Places are allocated via Agnes through a lottery procedure (not on a first-come, first-served basis).

You will be notified by 12 April 2024 if you have been allocated a place.

Please make sure to attend the first session to confirm your participation. If you have changed your mind about the course, kindly sign out in Agnes. Other students will be happy to take your place in the seminar.

If you were placed on the waiting list, there is still a chance of moving up in the first few weeks of the semester if other students decide to drop the course. In that case, please inform the teachers of your interest.