Teaching at the Professorship of Comparative Cultural and Social Anthropology
Courses in the winter semester 2025/2026
The seminar documents, descriptions and announcements can be found in Moodle.
Important: Please do not forget to also register in viaCampus so that we can enter your achievements and grades.
BA seminar, in English, Tuesdays, 16:15-17:45, start of event: 14 April 2026
Room: HG 201b
Modules:
KUL|MAS|SOZ|-FM research module
KUL|MAS|SOZ|-WPM-MEE compulsory elective module: Migration, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism
While the field of migration studies has placed a strong emphasis in recent years on the forced migration and displacement of disadvanted populations, and of those rendered poor by adverse events such as military conflict, natural disasters etc., this seminar will focus on the cross-border mobility of those who are in a much more beneficial position to move abroad. As states around the world seek to attract foreign financial investment and skilled labour, they facilitate the movement of 'the rich' (be it financially or skills-related) through 'golden visa' schemes, fast-track citizenship, tax breaks and the like. In this course, we will engage with literature that focuses on states' border management strategies in relation to these advantaged groups, and examine some of the consequences for local populations, especially as they relate to transnational gentrification. Students will develop small case studies as research projects and present them towards the end of the semester.
Literature: Bauböck, R. (2014). Should Citizenship be for Sale? European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS). Advani, A., Burgherr, D., & Summers, A. (2025). Taxation and migration by the super-rich. Kosnick, K. (2024). Temporary Lives: Border Temporalities and Retirement Mobilities in a Turkish Tourism Hot Spot. Borders in Globalisation Review, 6 (1), 109-119.
.Notes on the course: You can speak English in class and write your course paper in English.
Certificates of achievement: Regular active attendance is a basic requirement for all participants. For 6 ECTS: formulating an informed question regarding the mandatory readings for it to be discussed in class, plus engaging in research for a small case study and presenting its results towards the end of the semester. For 9 ECTS: additionally writing a 20-25 page paper based on the respective case study.
BA seminar, in English, Tuesdays, 14:15-15:45, start of event: 14 April 2026
Room: HG 217
Modules:
KUL|BAC|CSS|2020|-WM3- Difference - Migration, Gender and Diversity
KUL|REPO|-MÖM-Migration, Öffentlichkeit und Medien
KUL|REPO|-MGIII.4.: Module III.4.: Recht und Politik / Politik und Recht im transnationalen Kontext (Vertiefung)
KUL|BAC|KUWI|-SOWI-V-Vergleichende Sozialwissenschaften: Vertiefung
In this seminar we will investigate the links between the cross-border movement of people and global inequalities as they are shaped by national and regional border regimes, by legacies and continuities of colonial history, and by the contemporary dynamics of neoliberal capitalism. We will thus situate migration in the context of global inequalities that have emerged and exist both between and within colonial empires and contemporary nation states.
Literature: Walia, H. (2021). Border and rule: Global migration, capitalism, and the rise of racist nationalism. Haymarket Books. Jones, R. (2016) Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move. London: Verso Books.
Credits: Active participation and regular attendance are mandatory. For 6 ECTS credits you will have to pass at least three out of six unannounced short written assignments (pen and paper) that will be graded. Students aiming for 9 ECTS credits will take an additional short oral exam in the final session of the semester. For further and more specific information please refer to moodle.
BA/MA seminar, in English
Block events:
17.04.2026 | 11:15 - 17:45
08.05.2026 | 11:15 - 17:45
29.05.2026 | 11:15 - 17:45
19.06.2026 | 11:15 - 17:45
10.07.2026 | 11:15 - 17:45
Room: HG 201b
Modules:
KUL|BAC|CSS|2020|-M6-Methods, Academic Writing and Research Skills
KUL|MAS|SOZ|-FM Research Module
Participation requirements: Students should be ready to start planning their BA or MA thesis project, and have a concrete idea of the topic they might want to focus on. They should ideally have taken a prior course that relates to that topic, or have read some scientific literature that is relevant to it.
Target group: BA and/or MA students ready to embark on their final thesis in the near future
In this research colloquium we will collectively support students in the development of research questions and the planning of actual research for their final thesis projects. Students will present their topics and continuously work on them to eventually develop a project proposal that will be a solid foundation for their final thesis. In this colloquium, we will initially address the development of a suitable research question and the structure of an exposé before we also discuss ethical and methodological issues depending on the needs of the students and the status of the respective projects.
Literature: will be decided collectively depending on student needs
Proof of achievement: All students will present their ongoing efforts to develop their final thesis ideas in class, and MA students will submit a research proposal (Exposé) at the end of it. The length will depend on the number of ECTS credits they are aiming for.
MA seminar, in English, Tuesdays, 11:15-12:45, start of event: 14 April 2026
Room: GD 205
Modules:
KUL|MAS|MES|-110-WPM 3: Migration, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism
KUL|MAS|SOZ|-WPM-MEE compulsory elective module: Migration, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism
Participation requirements: I'm looking forward to active participation and lively and reflected discussions about the literature and materials.
The Black Atlantic constituted through the violence of the Transatlantic slave trade, its racialised and colonial aftermaths as well as the diasporic connections and communities that were built throughout it and carried on beyond it, still shape the globe's racialised present. Recent and all too often deadly paths and politics of migration across the Mediterranean have been recognised as connected to that long history of racialisation and colonisation by speaking of a 'Black Mediterranean'. Drawing the parallel can enrich our understanding of the perpetuation, reproduction, and renewal of (anti-Black) racism as well as of forms of resistance against racial colonial capitalism. Race and in particular Blackness as we know it and live it today has been significantly shaped by the history of Transatlantic enslavement. This history and the Black radical traditions that arose from it can therefore still teach us a lot on racism and its role for capitalism and on anti-racism and the reconstitution of subjectivity and collectivity. The aim is not to equate nor to compare vastly different contexts of suffering and survival, but rather to recognise continuities, connections, and contrasts between violent systems of oppression and communities and traditions of resistance. This course seeks to enable us to consider the contiguity and contested transformations of race-based violence and vulnerability by practicing a grounded, relational and reflexive contextualisation. For this purpose, we will also discuss which forms of migration, enslavement, and racialisation have existed before, during and after the Transatlantic slave trade and continue to shape societies across the Mediterranean and North Africa. Furthermore, we will ask in how far the forging of the Black Atlantic has durably impacted relations within Africa and in globalised anti-colonial and diasporic communities and what future we can envision for the 'Black Mediterranean' on that basis.
Credits: For 3 ECTS credits: Short presentation (around 5 minutes) on a piece of art related to the topic of the course. For 6 ECTS credits: Short presentation (as for 3 ECTS) plus essay of 10 pages. For 9 ECTS credits: Short presentation (as for 3 ECTS) plus essay of 15 pages. For further and more specific information please refer to moodle.
BA seminar, in English, Thursdays, 14:15-15:45, start of event: 16 April 2026
Room: GD 203
Modules:
KUL|BAC|KUWI|-SOWI-V-V-Vergleichende Sozialwissenschaften: Vertiefung
KUL|REPO|-MGIII.4.-Modul III.4.: Recht und Politik und Politik im transnationalen Kontext (Vertiefung)
KUL|REPO|-MÖM-Migration, Öffentlichkeit und Medien
KUL|BAC|CSS|2020|-WM3-Difference - Migration, Gender and Diversity
Participation requirements: Participants in the course should be willing to read one academic article per week and engage with the literature in a critical and reflexive way.
The course will introduce the externalisation of European borders notably to North and West Africa and West Asia which has been pursued since decades and is becoming ever more critical for a European border regime aimed at deterrence, containment, and control. The concept of externalisation is examined critically as it relates to forced migration and other social phenomena and relations which characterise Europe's role within its surrounding and in the world. We will discuss how migration policies, security and development cooperation, and international agreements reshape notions of sovereignty and territoriality and extend Europe's influence as well as dependence, notably on prior colonies. Examples and actors of externalisation both within Europe and beyond Europe are examined based on empirical cases and ethnographic studies. The diverse legal, social, political-economic, ethical and cultural contexts and effects of externalisation will be discussed considering its impact both on forced migrants and host societies in transit areas.
Credits: For 6 ECTS credits: write three reading diaries (2 pages) and present a short comment of 5 min for the class. For 9 ECTS credits: write three reading diaries (2 pages) and a reflection on the literature in the form of an 8-page essay. For further and more specific information please refer to moodle.
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Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick
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Creative Imaginaries of Migration
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Collective Emotions, Public Feelings and Political Affect
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Migration in the Context of Global Inequalities
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Introduction to qualitative research and methods (compulsory elective)
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The instrumentalisation of Gender and Sexuality in the far-right: Femonationalism, antigenderism, and racism
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Dr Özlem Savaş
Cultures of Migration
BA Seminar: Comparative Social Sciences: Specialisation
Dr. Özlem Savaş
Feminist and Queer Repertoires of Resistance
MA seminar: SMG: Compulsory elective module: Multimodality, Discourse and Media // MASS: Compulsory Elective Module: Cultural practices, orders of knowledge, aesthetic formations // MASS: Compulsory elective module: Gender Studies and Queer Theory
Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick
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Introduction to Queer Studies
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Sexuality and Racism
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Affect/Emotion in Culture and Politics
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Dr Luis Manuel Hernández Aguilar
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Searching for traces: Jewish and other Berliners in the Spandauer Vorstadt.
Part 1: Migration Studies Perspectives and Part 2: Urban Studies Perspectives
MA Seminar: MASS: Research Module // MASS: Compulsory Elective Module: Migration, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism // MASS: Compulsory Elective Module: Urban Studies
Notes on seminar papers
Here you will find the formal requirements for the written submissions at the Professorship of Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick.
Please be sure to include the declaration of independence with every written assignment!
Here you will find recommendations and formal guidelines for submissions to the Professorship of Prof Dr Kira Kosnick.
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The big questions about final theses at the Professorship of Prof. Dr Kira Kosnick.
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Here you will find a guide for an exposé für final theses (empirical qualitative research, example from cultural anthropology Goethe University Frankfurt).