Postcolonial Europe - Einzelansicht

Is the notion of postcolonial Europe an oxymoron? How has European identity been shaped through its colonial empires? How do colonial pasts inform the emergence of new subjectivities and political frontiers in contemporary Europe? And how has coloniality shaped differences within Europe? In Europe, the colonial past has often been marginalized in the collective memory, as practices of imperialism and colonialism seldom fit into contemporary national narratives. The course invites to rethink European colonialism in the light of its vanishing empires and explore the above questions from different theoretical, geopolitical and media perspectives. It will examine how experiences of colonialism and imperialism continue to be constitutive of the European space and of the very idea of Europe. By approaching Europe as a complex political and cultural space, the course attempts to investigate topical concerns around its politics of inclusion and exclusion, as well as its take on internal conflicts, transitions and cosmopolitan imaginaries. The course will further set a dialogue between postcolonial and decolonial thinking from various interdisciplinary angles, combining theoretical and practical reflections framed in public issues on the ground. 

Students enrolled in Seminar 1 will be assessed based on their assignments (3 ECTS; pass/fail); students enrolled in Seminar 2 (”Referat oder Kurzessay”) will be assessed based on their short paper (3 ECTS; graded); students enrolled in Seminar 2 and signed up for a Portfolioprüfung will be assessed based on their long paper (Hausarbeit) (6 ECTS; graded)