COURSES IN ENGLISH - uni-frankfurt.de fileInstitute of Sociology – Courses in English – Summer Semester 2015 1 1. Preliminary remarks 1.1 Aim The institute of sociology at Goethe-University

Institute of Sociology – Courses in English – Semester 2013/14

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,

COURSES IN ENGLISH

This booklet gives a review of courses that are taught in English in the

sociological programs at the Institute of Sociology at Goethe-University

Frankfurt.

SUMMER

SEMESTER 2015

Institute of

Sociology

Institute of Sociology – Courses in English – Summer Semester 2015

CONTENT

1. Preliminary remarks .......................................................................................... 1

1.1 Aim ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 How to use this booklet ................................................................................................................................................. 1

1.3 Further Information ....................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.4 Online selection of English seminars ....................................................................................................................... 2

2. Course descriptions .......................................................................................... 3

3. Program Integration ........................................................................................ 12

3.1 BA Program Sociology – Modules .......................................................................................................................... 12

3.2 MA Program Sociology – Modules ......................................................................................................................... 13

3.3 MA Program Economic and financial Sociology – Modules ......................................................................... 14

4. Academic Staff ................................................................................................. 15


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1. Preliminary remarks

1.1 Aim

The institute of sociology at Goethe-University Frankfurt is aimed at strenghtening its international profile in

teaching and extending its English-taught courses in the BA and MA programs. This booklet provides a review

of English-taught courses that take place in the summer semester 2015.

We hope that this overview can help foreign and German students that like to enhance their English skills in

making their course.

1.2 How to use this booklet

The booklet includes the core information about the courses that are taught in English in the BA and MA pro-

grams in sociology. It is advisable, hoewever, to check the details in the online university calender (LSF) since

dates, times, and rooms might have been changed. The LSF is accessible at URL https://qis.server.uni-

frankfurt.de.

Please note:

1.) While the majority of courses will take place at the PEG building on the Campus Westend, some courses

will be on the Campus Bockenheim.

2.) At German universities courses usually begin 15 minutes later (c.t. = cum tempore) and end 15 minutes

earlier than stated in the course description. For example, a course that is scheduled for 2-4 PM will

probably start at 2.15 PM and end at 3.45 PM. There are exceptions to this custom of course; if you are

not sure about it, ask your teacher or fellow students about the time arrangements for the certain course.

1.3 Further Information

Lecture period: 13 April 2015 – 13 July 2015.

Website of the Faculty of Social Sciences: http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de.

Study Information can be found here: http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/39791657/studium

International Office: PEG Building 1/2nd floor, Campus Westend.

https://qis.server.uni-frankfurt.de/


http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/

http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/39791657/studium


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1.4 Online selection of English seminars

1. Go to https://qis.server.uni-frankfurt.de, take the links to “Courses” and “Search for Lectures”

2. For English-taught courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences please select the following characteristics:



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2. Course descriptions

"Ain’t I a Woman*?"

Other(ed) Feminisms and the (Im) Possibilities of Feminist Solidarity Vanessa Thompson

https://qis.server.uni-frankfurt.de/qisserver/rds?state=verpublish&status=init&vmfile=no&publishid=177248&moduleCall=webInfo&publishConfFile=webInfo&publishSubDir=veranstaltung

Black, Chicana and "Third-World" feminisms have crucially intervened in the theories and practices of main-

stream western white feminisms. They have not only unmasked the universalist assumptions of global sister-

hood by pointing at the effects of race, class, gender and sexuality on women’s identities, experiences and

struggles but have also explored the realms of complicity in white, western feminist theories.

This course is designed to provide students with a comparative perspective on the genealogies, interventions

and current debates on Black (hooks, Carby, Smith, Lorde, Collins), Chicana (Anzaldúa, Sandoval) and post-

colonial (Mohanty, Lugones, Spivak) feminisms. Departing from an analysis of the so called forerunners of

intersectionality (Truth, The Combahee River Collective, Davis), we will critically engage with the emergence,

reception and popularity of the concept of intersectionality and discuss its recent critiques. We will further lay

out the promises and pitfalls of identity politics and focus on the (im)possibilities of transnational feminist soli-

darities by engaging with current feminist theories and activisms in the German context.

Tuesday 4-6 PM; PEG 2 G 107

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-S1; SOZ-BA-S2; SOZ-BA-S3; SOZ-BA-SP

Challenges of democracy and democratization in Europe Sergiu Gherghina


For more Information see you LSF

Friday 12-2 PM; PEG 3 G 129

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-SP

Colloquium

Heather Hofmeister


This Colloquium is recommended for students writing Bachelor- or Masters-Theses (or similar) and receiving

supervision within the team of “Arbeitssoziologie” or planning to do so in the near future. We, the team and

participating students, review students’ project concepts and give constructive feedback. Students upload

their Powerpoint presentations by the Monday before the meeting in OLAT by noon so that participating stu-

dents can review and prepare feedback. Participants present their research concepts for 10 minutes, focusing

on these components: research question, background concepts and theories, and methods plans. After the

presentations, we all give feedback. Participation for a “Schein” requires attending and offering constructive

feedback for others. More than 2 absences is too many for a Schein but those students are welcome to attend

anyway.

Wednesday: 2-4 PM; PEG 1G 111

Bachelor level and Master level: SOZ-BA-KO; SOZ-MA-9; KO



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Elections and referendums in comparative perspective Sergiu Gherghina


For more Information see you LSF

Friday 2-4 PM; PEG 1 G 107

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-SP

Empirical Research Methods Jonas Buche


This course complements the “Research Design” course, offered in the winter term by Prof. Wagemann or

Markus Siewert. While the winter course concentrates on more general questions of research designs, this

summer course looks at the practicalities. This means that we will deal with concrete questions of data collec-

tion. The main focus will be – as in the winter term – on the empirical, qualitative and case-oriented research

tradition, although students preferring other approaches will also benefit from the course. This course is

thought to be fundamental for a successful reception of empirical research, both for political science and soci-

ology M.A. students, but should also prepare for the M.A. theses. Furthermore, it introduces some topics of

“methodology” as a social science sub-discipline and keeps the students up-to-date with current develop-

ments. It is especially recommended for those students who are at the beginning of their M.A. studies.

We will place an emphasis on (oral and written) interviews and various forms of text analysis. With regard to

these techniques, we will deal with a practical research example so that a more intensive treatment of them is

possible. Furthermore, participant observation, focus groups and other methods of data collection will be

treated. We will also discuss different strategies on how to conceptually combine different types of collected

data into one indicator.

It is especially recommended for students at the beginning of their M.A. studies.

The course is held in English. The knowledge of the English language will not be a criterion for the grading.

The central textbook for this course is: Bryman, Alan (2012). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford Uni-

versity Press.

Monday 2-4 PM; Seminarpavillon SP 0.04

Master level: SOZ-MA-6

Encountering Gender and Religion - theoretical and methodological implications Marija Grujic and Safet HadziMuhamedovic


The course approaches gender and religion first and foremost as analytical categories that have been adopted

in social research much like other ‘big’ concepts - ethnicity, race, class, etc. Our aim is then to ‘unpack’ these

terms and look into their genealogies and context-specific manifestations. One of the ways to ‘complicate’ the

colloquial meanings of gender and religion will be to find the points of intersection, namely where gender and

religion meet other forms of identity politics. You will learn to critically engage with a range of concepts from

within the sociological and anthropological toolbox, such as: intersectionality, articulation, embodiment, affect,

agency, liminality, syncretism and hybridity, discourse, habitus, cooptation and resistance.

We are especially interested in the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the qualitative, empirical

studies that are building up on these concepts and offering their critical and discursive interpretations. Thus,

these important concepts will be grounded through topical discussions and ethnographic examples of various

regions and trajectories. It will help us situate the intimate and everyday human practices within the many wid-

er phenomena, such as the media representations of the ‘image of men’ and ‘image of women’, ‘honour kill-

ings’, veiling practices, ‘hybrid’ and ‘alternative’ expressions of gender and religion, as well as the meaning



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and function of religious and political rituals. At the end of the course, these examples should provide you with

a good comparative framework for your post-graduate research.

As a coursework assignment, you will be asked to engage in a practice-based visual project and see to what

extent our discussions may be useful to interpret your own data. As a relatively new field of enquiry, visual

sociology/anthropology offers exciting perspectives upon the question of what constitutes ‘evidence’ for the

researchers of the social.

The reading list will include, on the one hand, the work on cultural representations and different signifying

practices (Stuart Hall), intersectionality as a method and theory (Helma Lutz, Kathy Davis, Nira Yuval-Davis),

constructions of femininities and masculinities in the framework of critique of heteronormative homogeniza-

tions and queer and masculinity studies contributions and feminist epistemologies (R.W. Connell, Ninna

Lykke, Judith Butler), and the contribution of post-colonial theory (Chandra Mohanty, Franz Fanon). On the

other hand, we will explore the rich field of anthropological theory and ethnographic study, particularly on the

problem of scales (Arjun Appadurai, Aihwa Ong, Lila Abu-Lughod), syncretism, hybridity and mixture (Michael

Stewart and Rosalind Shaw, Margaret Mead, Sharyn Graham Davies, Glenn Bowman), body, affect and

agency (Saba Mahmood, Bruno Latour, Emma Tarlo), marginality, borders and otherness (Frances Pine and

Joao de Pina Cabral, Tom Boellstorff, Anna L. Tsing), and political and religious ritual (Victor Turner, Roy

Rappaport, Susanne K Langer).

The above-mentioned topics problematise gender and religion by focusing on their social and political for-

mation and instrumentalisation.

Student Profile:

This course is especially suitable for those students interested in widening and strengthening their knowledge

about micro-sociological, ethnographic methodologies and research techniques.

block seminar, Introductory session: 17.4. 2015, Seminar dates: 15 May – 16 May 2015; 5 June- 6 June

2015; 3 July -4 July 2015 – for the room-information, see you LSF

Master level: SOZ-MA-1; SOZ-MA-2; SOZ-MA-6

Ethnografic Practices Part 1 Endre Danyi


Course description

Although ethnography as a distinct method was developed mostly within anthropology, over the course of the

twentieth century it went through several waves of transformation, blurring the boundaries between ethnology,

sociology, history and a number of other disciplines. The aim of this course is to deepen students’ understand-

ing of ethnography as a complex social scientific method by offering a series of focused discussions and

hands-on exercises centred around the making and uses of ethnographic fieldnotes, drawings, photos and

various other materials.

Course structure & assessment

The course will be structured as a block seminar organised around several specific themes, namely ‘fields,

sites, objects’, ‘inscriptions’, ‘transcriptions’, ‘drawings, photos and audiovisual recordings’, ‘descriptions’, ‘s i-

lences’. Each theme will be explored through group discussions as well as individual research assignments.

block seminar (A preparatory meeting will be held on 17.04.2015 10-12 AM; termins

28.05./29.05./01.06./ 02.06.2015 9 AM-5 PM – for the room-information, see you LSF

Master level: SOZ-MA-7; SOZ-MA-8; WF-MA-6; WF-MA-7



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Food Systems Part 1: Makroperspektives (Agrar- und Ernährungswirtschaft Teil 1:

Makroperspektiven) Heather Hofmeister

https://qis.server.uni-frankfurt.de/qisserver/rds?state=verpublish&status=init&vmfile=no&moduleCall=webInfo&publishConfFile=webInfo&publishSubDir=veranstaltung&veranstaltung.veranstid=169237

The inspirations for this class are the growing environmental crises around agriculture and political crises

around water, combined with social inequality issues around access to food and waste of food as well as

working conditions around and in food industries. I plan to teach this course in two parts. The first semester

will focus on macro-level issues around farming and animal husbandry (palm plantations, corn, wheat, sugar,

fishing, mass raising of animals for food). One part of the class will focus on inequalities in the food growing

and distribution systems, work conditions, migrant work and so on. Here we will also look at social movements

that are addressing these issues. The second semester, in Winter 2015-16, will focus on micro-level dimen-

sions: food choices, taste cultures, issues of self-presentation around consumption.This is a partial list of the

kinds of topics we will cover. The two parts can be taken independently or together.

Language: English and German

Tuesday 4-6 PM; PEG 1 G 107

Master level: SOZ-MA-4; SOZ-MA-5; SOZ-MA-6; WF-MA-2; WF-MA-3; WF-MA-5

Gender in Motion Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies Susanne Bauer and Christine Löw


This interdisciplinary course examines recent contributions from postcolonial studies within Science and

Technology Studies (STS). Drawing from gender studies, feminist technoscience studies and postcolonial

theory, we will discuss postcolonial interventions and challenges in the field. Key questions include: What

were the roles of medicine and the life sciences in the project of colonialism and postcolonial liberation

movements? Which connections can be drawn between the travels of European naturalists (i.e. Sybilla Meri-

an) and recent forms of bioprospecting? Whose knowledge counts as indigenous knowledge and how is this

construction related to gender and the globalization of intellectual property rights? Which visions can be de-

veloped for democratic, feminist and decolonializing versions of science(s) and technologies? The seminar

combines theme-oriented discussions and case studies with close reading of theory.

Monday 4-6 PM; PEG 3 G 129

Master level: SOZ-MA-1;SOZ-MA-2; SOZ-MA-6

Gender, Work and Family

Sandra Buchler


This seminar explores the interplay between family, gender roles and the division of paid and unpaid work,

with particular emphasis placed on the role of gender in structuring men and women's lives. In addition to in-

troductory material, substantive themes within the seminar will be divided into three areas: an examination of

the private sphere, the public sphere and the interplay between the two. Seminar sessions will consist of dis-

cussions of topics and readings, presentations, group work and reflection activities.

Wednesday 12-2 PM; PEG 3 G 129

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-S1; SOZ-BA-SP




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Introduction to the Sociology of Sex and Gender Heather Hofmeister


Description:

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the Sociology of Sex and Gender, using clas-

sical and contemporary English-language core texts. We’re going to challenge ourselves to understand what

are sex and gender, what aspects of sex and gender do sociologists study, how they study these topics, and

where the field is heading. Inequalities, gender and work, intersectionalities, and historical perspectives will be

the focus of some of the classes.

Language / Sprache: English and German

Requirements:

1) One take-home exam assigned on 30. June 2015, due 31. July 2015.

2) Attendance at least 10 of 13 sessions is required. (Misses for any reason count as misses, please talk to

me if there are extreme circumstances).

3) Class participation, active responsibility for your part in group work and giving each other feedback.

LN: all three requirements.

TN: Requirements 2 and 3, plus a 3-page reflection paper due 31. July.

How to be successful:

Read the texts and bring thoughtful questions to class about the texts.

Participate in meaningful discussion, which includes constructive commentary, thoughtful questions, and

active listening.

Attend all seminars and field trips, arriving on time.

No Smart Phones or Tablets except for reading class texts. Use during class for surfing, Email, and tex-

ting counts as an absence.

Course organization and structure

Most weeks, we will use a mix of frontal teaching (I explain something about the reading) and group work. For

group work, we will divide into specialty groups to learn and to teach each other about our respective texts.

The idea is that you learn best by teaching others!

Wednesday, 12-2 PM; PEG 1 G 111

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-S3

Introduction to the Sociology of Work and Organizations Heather Hofmeister


This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the Sociology of Work, using German and

English core texts and overviews. We’re going to challenge ourselves to understand what “work” is, what as-

pects of work sociologists study, how they study work, and where the field is heading. I’ve chosen an exciting

mix of classic and contemporary texts and three or four field trips: “Ausstellung Institut für Stadtgeschichte

“MIT DAMPF IN DIE ZUKUNFT!Frankfurts Weg in die Industrialisierung” (Innenstadt), Apfelweinkelterei Pos-

smann (Rödelheim), Frankfurter Flughafen, and Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Innenstadt). The costs for these

field trips are € 3 for the Apfelweinkelterei, which includes a tasting.

Language / Sprache: English and German

Requirements:

1) One take-home exam assigned on 30. June 2015, due 31. July 2015.

2) Attendance at least 10 of 13 sessions is required. (Misses for any reason count as misses, please talk to

me if there are extreme circumstances).

3) Class participation, active responsibility for your part in group work and giving each other feedback.

LN: all three requirements.

TN: Requirements 2 and 3, plus a 3-page reflection paper due 31. July.



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How to be successful:

Read the texts and bring thoughtful questions to class about the texts.

Participate in meaningful discussion, which includes constructive commentary, thoughtful questions, and

active listening.

Attend all seminars and field trips, arriving on time.

No Smart Phones or Tablets except for reading class texts. Use during class for surfing, Email, and tex-

ting counts as an absence.

Course organization and structure

Most weeks, we will use a mix of frontal teaching (I explain something about the reading) and group work. For

group work, we will divide into specialty groups to learn and to teach each other about our respective texts.

The idea is that you learn best by teaching others!

Tuesday, 2-4 PM; Hörsaalzentrum HZ 5

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-3

Globalization in American and European Perspective

Markus Siewert


Globalization is a contested term. While some hail it as the greatest transformation in recent times, others are

skeptical about its reach and impact. The aim of the course is to engage with these debates and examine the

globalization in its many facets and from a comparative perspective. We will discuss the term itself, its histori-

cal origins as well as its contemporary dimensions. These include economics, politics, security, culture as well

as environment. By doing so, we will touch upon the role of the state as well as non-state actors such as glob-

al civil society and multinational enterprises. The first part of the class will look at globalization from a concep-

tual perspective and introduce the term analytically and in its historical origin and development. We will then in

a second part discuss globalization in its different dimensions. The third part focuses on actors enacting or

countering globalization.

As course objectives are concerned, this course will provide students with the opportunity to learn about glob-

alization and discuss is in its many facets from a comparative perspective; to enhance interest and factual

knowledge of globalization and the current international order by elaborating different dimensions of both;

to contribute to student interest in a number of contested global issues pertaining to world peace, develop-

ment, equality, human rights, and democracy that need to be dealt with internationally.

The seminar takes place from July, 20th until July, 31st 2015 – thus in the first two weeks after the regular

semester. It is foreseen to have classes every weekday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm. Additional meetings, lec-

tures and excursions are planned during these two weeks. The course is offered in cooperation with the Uni-

versity of Texas, San Antonio with 12-15 American students flying over to our campus. Therefore, it is a great

opportunity to engage in intercultural contacts and broaden your perspectives on globally relevant issues.

To apply for this seminar, please, send a short letter of motivation (app. 1 page) and a transcript of attended

courses to Markus Siewert ([email protected]) and Matthias Hofferberth (matthi-

[email protected]) by April, 1st 2015.

block seminar A first meeting of selected participants will be held on April, 13th 2015 6.00 PM PEG 3 G

129, seminar dates This course takes place in the first two weeks of the semester break (July, 17th -

July, 31st).

Bachelor level SOZ-BA-S1; SOZ-BA-SP


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Islam and in Transnational Perspectives

Hande Brikalan-Gedik


This course aims to look at gender and Islam in transnational perspective and it primarily focuses on ethno-

graphic examples in transnational space between Turkey and Germany, however expanding its scope by cull-

ing out examples on the larger Middle East and Europe at times. The course is based on the assumption that

the transnational imaginary is not a linear transformation and transportation of concepts, discourses and prac-

tices from one place to the other, but rather it is a space that presents us with a complex set of relations, ena-

bling the production of new meanings, discourses, and identities in the context of gender and Islam. Through-

out the semester our emphases will be on, but not limited to, the notions of gender regimes, secularism, and

Islam; relationship between Islamic feminisms and others; (Islamic) women’s movements in transnational

space; Islamic movements and women; everyday practices of (Muslim) women, their subjectivities, and their

personal and political aspirations in the context of transnationality.

Wednesday 10-12 AM; Neue Mensa NM 126 – Campus Bockenheim


Masculinities - Encounters Between Literary Studies and Sociology

Helma Lutz and John Landreau


Gender plays a fundamental role in our social institutions, our relationships, our history, and our experience.

The concept of gender refers to the beliefs, behaviors, norms, advantages and disadvantages that distinguish

men from women, and to the signs, symbols, ideas and ideologies that adhere to and sustain notions of mas-

culinity and femininity. In the past twenty years, a particular interest in masculinity has surfaced among schol-

ars, as well as in the press and media. This interest emerges initially from feminist scholarship and activism

(which traditionally focused on women’s lives, and on the social construction of femininity) and responds to the

need for a critical analysis of men as men, and to the social construction of masculinity.

This seminar is taught by a literary studies expert and a sociologist. It combines the theory, methods and ob-

jects of study of both sociology and literary studies. The motive of this interdisciplinary dialogue is to stimulate

a flexible and incisive critical vocabulary for the study of masculinities. The texts for the course include those

of Pierre Bourdieu, Raewyn Connell, Jeff Hearn, Michael Kimmel, Michael Messner, Michael Meuser, George

Mosse and many others. The seminar corresponds with the Cornelia-Goethe-Summer Semester lecture series

on ‘Masculinities’.

Tuesday: 10-12 PM; PEG 3 G 191


Money and Values

Matthias Thiemann


Class description for Money and Values

Money is clearly one of the most powerful social linkages between individuals, groups and nation states that

exist. Its power of abstraction generates equivalences where none existed, forms the basis of most calcula-

tions and has the metaphysical quality of generating off-spring (interest). Yet, sociological inquiry into its

emergence, institutional underpinnings and importance for the development of societies is fragmented. This

course will draw on these different sociological sources, and complement it with work in economic anthropolo-

gy and heterodox economics. It asks: How has money changed human societies? What is its linkage to as-

cendant state bureaucracies and markets? It argues that a proper historical and conceptual understanding of

money and its relationship to markets and states allows us to overcome the state-market dichotomy.



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In a first step, we focus on the preconditions for calculation of money prices in exchange, on the disentangle-

ment of goods from their context and the creation of a comparative calculation space. We compare this calcu-

lative space and the construction of equivalencies with gift-giving economies, looking at the very limited use of

money before the ascendancy of markets, mostly for specific ritual functions. We then link the emergence of

market exchange to the emergence of slave trade and the military-coinage-slavery complex, in which violence

created the disentanglement (Graeber 2011).

This leads us to consider the social construction of money and monetary systems, investigating the historical

origins of money, contrasting it with the myth of the barter economy put forward by neoclassical economists.

This will lead us to appreciate the primary function of money as money of account, as credit systems predate

coins, and its linkage to debt and accounting systems. The role of states and their taxation systems on the one

hand, and trading relationships between merchants on the others will be identified as two organizing principles

of monetary systems. The extension of monetary values to human beings, first in the form of slavery, later in

the form of wage labor, opened the door to mass production for the market in common undertakings (e.g. fac-

tories). We will focus on the organizing impact accounting in monetary terms had on these common undertak-

ings, and thus the role it played in the formation of what Weber termed „rational industrial capitalism“. He

characterized it as long-term engagement in the production of goods and commodites in a rational, forward-

looking manner driven by the profit motive. Weber and Sombart pointed to the role of double entry book-

keeping in this respect. We review evidence that suggests that book-keeping in this respect might have more

had a rhetorical than a technical function.

We then focus on how thes expansion of production for the market turned products of human labor, which

primarily had use-value into commodities with an exchange value. We will critically discuss Marx’s attempt to

link exchange values of commodities to the larger social system in which the production of these commodities

is embedded. In a next step, we consider the impact of capitalism on the environment and the value judgment

inherent in the question what is and what is not productive. In a last step we ask how to deal with the debt

overhang after the crisis, given that debt is a social relationship that unites debtors and creditors in their fate.

Readings: Will be provided via OLAT

block seminar: 17.04.2015/27.06.2015/17.07.2015 for more information see you in LSF

Bachelor level: SOZ-BA-ST; SOZ-BA-SP

Practice Turn in the Social Sciences

Endre Danyi


This is an introductory course centred around the concept of practice. It aims to offer a general overview of

the so-called practice turn in the social sciences, compare and contrast the most important theories of practice

in sociology, and examine a series of case studies in practice research informed by recent developments in

cultural anthropology, ethnomethodology, discourse analysis, and science and technology studies.

Course structure and assessment

After an introductory session we proceed by identifying various components of practice theory as possible

focus points. Each component – ‘bodies’, ‘texts’, ‘materialities’, ‘temporalities’, ‘spatialities’ – is discussed in

two consecutive sessions with the help of (a) classical social scientific texts and (b) specific case studies. The

main requirements for taking the course are the submission of comments on the weekly readings (25%), ac-

tive participation in the seminars (25%), and the writing of a final essay of 3000 words, due 1 September 2015

(50%).

Wednesday 4-6 PM – Seminar

Master level: SOZ-MA-6


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Robotics and societal Innovations

Antonio Moniz

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Blockseminar – for more information see you LSF

Master level SOZ-MA-4, SOZ-MA-6

The Nature of Gender

Federica Gregoratto


One of the most relevant and thorny questions of feminist theory and gender studies concerns what is, and

what is assumed to be “natural.” In particular, our “nature” as gendered and sexual beings has been investi-

gated in its historical, social, cultural aspects. The idea that what we “are” (or have “become”) is fixed by un i-

versal, “natural” laws – which are supposed to determine what is inevitable, appropriate or even good – has

been widely challenged. In this seminar, we will deal with the question of the “nature of gender” by relying on

some of the most renowned voices in this field of inquiry (especially Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler.)

By analysis of their writings, we will discuss the followings issues: conceptions of nature; conceptual connec-

tions between nature, body and matter; relations between nature and society; the sex/gender distinction; and

the “natural” roots of oppression, power and domination.

Tuesday 12-2 PM; Seminarpavillon SP 0.02

Master level SOZ-MA-2, SOZ-MA-6

Work, Care, Love

Helma Lutz und Marija Gruijic


In this seminar students will have the opportunity to conceptualize recent events and transnational social and

political phenomenon such as: ‚care revolution’, ‘unfinished gender revolution’, domestic work labor migration,

“Euro-orphan”/ ‘motherhood’ discourses and silencing of ‘fatherhood ‘in these discussions.

We will investigate the argument that the continuing unequal distribution of domestic and care work and the

unilateral perception of these caring activities as female gendered are two of the most pressing challenges of

the 21st century. The question posed by the Global Care Chain concept, however, is whether the outsourcing

of care work to migrants can be continued interminably. From a feminist perspective, acceptance of this ar-

rangement is, however, unsatisfactory. Our idea is to look for answers by enquiring European gender, migra-

tion and class regimes from a feminist and gender studies perspective. In this regard we will engage with ‘post’

of today’s concerns on (post)socialism and (post)transitions, in particular their entanglement with neolibera l-

ism, nationalism and modern view of capitalism. Our themes are the ‘backstage’ stories of these grand narra-

tives, such as outsourcing practicing in child care, reproduction work and varieties of services. In this endeav-

or we will look into genealogies of workers and women’s movements for equal political and social rights,

‘housewifization’, sex work/prostitution dialectics, breadwinning/caregiving models and concept of intimate

labor.

Monday, 6-8 PM; PEG 1. G 107

Master level SOZ-MA-2, SOZ-MA-4, SOZ-MA-5, SOZ-MA-6



12

3. Program Integration

3.1 BA Program Sociology – Modules

Propaedeutics (SOZ-BA-SE)

n/a

Sociological Theories (SOZ-BA-ST)

Money and Values (Matthias Thiemann)

Nation, Space, Social Inequality (SOZ-BA-S1)

"Ain’t I a Woman*?" Other(ed) Feminisms and the (Im) Possibilities of Feminist Solidarity (Vanessa Thompson)

Gender, Work and Family (Sandra Buchler) Globalization in American and European Perspective (Markus Siewert)

Culture, Communication, Subject Constitution (SOZ-BA-S2)


Work, Organization, Gender (SOZ-BA-S3)


Introduction to the Sociology of Sex and Gender (Heather Hofmeister) Introduction to the Sociology of Work and Organizations (Heather Hofmeister)

Foundations of Social Sciences (SOZ-BA-T)

n/a

Research Competencies 1 (SOZ-BA-F1)

n/a

Research Competencies 2 (SOZ-BA-F2)

n/a

Specialization (SOZ-BA-SP)


Challenges of democracy and democratization in Europe (Sergiu Gherghina) Elections and referendums in comparative perspective (Sergiu Gherghina) Gender, Work and Family (Sandra Buchler) Globalization in American and European Perspective (Markus Siewert) Money and Values (Matthias Thiemann)

Supervision of BA Thesis (SOZ-BA-KO)

Colloquium (Heather Hofmeister)


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3.2 MA Program Sociology – Modules

Sociological Theories and Methodologies (SOZ-MA-1)

Encountering Gender and Religion - theoretical and methodological implications (Marija

Grujic and Safet HadziMuhamedovic)

Gender in Motion Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies (Susanne Bauer and

Christine Löw)

Masculinities - Encounters Between Literary Studies and Sociology (Helma Lutz and John

Landreau)

Gender Relations (SOZ-MA-2)




Christine Löw)

Islam and in Transnational Perspectives (Hande Brikalan-Gedik)


Landreau)

The Nature of Gender (Federica Gregoratto)

Work, Care, Love (Helma Lutz and Marija Gruijic)

Social Psychology and Elementary Forms of Life (SOZ-MA-3)

n/a

Society and Economy (SOZ-MA-4)


Makroperspektiven) (Heather Hofmeister)

Robotics and societal Innovations (Antonio Moniz)


Social Inequality and Political Sociology (SOZ-MA-5)





Specialization (SOZ-MA-6)

Empirical Research Methods (Jonas Buche)






Christine Löw)



Landreau)

Practice Turn in the Social Sciences (Endre Danyi)

Robotics and societal Innovations (Antonio Moniz)

The Nature of Gender (Federica Gregoratto)



14

Research Practice 1 (SOZ-MA-7)

Ethnografic Practices Part 1 (Endre Danyi)

Research Practice 2 (SOZ-MA-8)


Supervision of MA Thesis (SOZ-MA-9)

Colloquium (Heather Hofmeister)

3.3 MA Program Economic and financial Sociology – Modules

Basics and theories of economic sociology (WF-MA-1)

Labor and organization (WF-MA-2)



Economic markets and cultures (WF-MA-3)



Money, banks and financial markets (WF-MA-4)

n/a

Political governance and institutional embedding (WF-MA-5)



Logic the social research (WF-MA-6)

n/a

Elective part (WF-MA-7)


Research Practice


Final module (WF-MA-10)

n/a


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4. Academic Staff

Bauer, Susanne; Junior-Prof., Dr. (Sociology of Knowledge)

Brikalan-Gedik, Hande, Prof., Dr. (Sociology of Women’s and Gender Studies – Visting Prof.)

Buche, Jonas, M.A. Academic Fellow (Qualitative Empirical Methods in the Social Sciences)

Buchler, Sandra, Dr. Research Fellow and Lecturer (Quantitative Analyses of Social Change)

Danyi, Endre, Dr., Lecturer (Methods of Qualitative Interpretive Social Research)

Gregoratto, Federica, Dr., Research Felllow (Exzellenzcluster Normative Orders) and Lecturer

(Political Theory and Philosophy)

Gherghina, Sergiu, Dr., Lecturer (State and Politics in Germany in a European Context)

Grujic, Marija, M. Sc. Research Fellow (Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies)

HadziMuhamedovic, Safet, associate lecturer and a doctoral researcher in anthropology

Hofmeister, Heather, Prof., Ph.D. (Sociology of Work)

Landreau, John; Prof., Dr. (Sociology of Women’s and Gender Studies – Visiting Prof.)

Löw, Christine, Dr. Lecturer Feminist and Political Theory/International Relations

Lutz, Helma, Prof., Dr. (Sociology of Women’s and Gender Studies)

Moniz, Antonio, Prof., Dr. (Sociology with Focus on Industrial sociology and Organizational

studies – Visiting Prof.)

Siewert, Markus, M.A. Academic Fellow (Qualitative Empirical Methods in the Social Sciences)

Thiemann, Matthias, Junior-Prof., Dr. (Sociology of the Financial Market, Banks and Money)

Thompson, Vanessa, M.A. Research Associate (Sociology of Culture and Migration)

For further information about office hours, email contact, research interests and more please check

the LSF or the academic websites that can be acceesed via the faculty’s website (see above, Nr. 1).

Documents

COURSES IN ENGLISH - uni-frankfurt.de fileInstitute of Sociology – Courses in English – Summer Semester 2015 1 1. Preliminary remarks 1.1 Aim The institute of sociology at Goethe-University