Teaching in the transformation module
Our world is marked by multiple crises that threaten human life and coexistence on various levels. Added to this is an acceleration of change driven in part by digitalization, which constantly opens up new options for action but at the same time reduces the predictability of developments. Information is more readily available, but it also needs to be interpreted more carefully and questioned and classified in terms of its validity and associated intentions. As the world becomes more interconnected, contexts become more complex and problems must be thought about and understood systemically.
The transformation module deals with fundamental questions of social change processes and responsible action in the 21st century in the context of sustainable development. Through a critical examination of both historical developments and current social conditions, students discuss questions about the conditions of social coexistence and explore solutions for shaping today's and tomorrow's societies.
In interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research projects, they independently analyze questions relating to transformation challenges and present their findings during the final conference week.
Students are familiar with theoretical concepts of transformation research from the perspectives of humanities, social sciences, and sustainability science.
By engaging with current social discourses within transformation research and their historical context, they will be able to examine, contextualize, and interpret different positions.
They develop academic reading and writing skills and learn to research topic-specific literature, critically evaluate it according to their level of knowledge, and discuss it independently in their own academic texts.
They will be able to reflect on their own position as well as the positions of others, situate them in their respective contexts, and critically question them. In doing so, they will also strengthen their tolerance for ambiguity.
They can describe and analyze the significance and possible forms of social and individual responsibility in different fields of action.
They are able to develop and work on a question relevant to the field of sustainability and transformation (also for third parties).
They will be able to systematically process and combine knowledge from different disciplines and, if necessary, non-scientific professional fields that are relevant to the subject matter, goals, and questions of your project. In doing so, they will be aware of the value of multiple perspectives.
The lecture covers a broad spectrum and sets out the four subject areas to which the individual seminars and exercises are assigned. Individual topics are examined from both a more historical perspective and a more design-oriented perspective in order to make connections visible to students. The aim is to provide an overview of social transformations; more in-depth study takes place in the seminars and exercises.
Contents of the lecture
Topic ofthelecture | Contents |
|---|---|
1. Overviewlecture and module | Introduction to Leuphana Semester, module structure, examination requirements, conference week, lecture content |
2. Sustainability and sustainabledevelopment | The term “sustainability” and social debate, emergence of the concept of “sustainable development,” different forms of understanding sustainability |
3. Transformation | Definition of terms and differentiation from similar terms, conception of historical and political transformation |
4. Transformation and transition | Shaping our future with regard to the role of science and research, the difference between transformation and transition, opportunities and limitations of transition processes |
5. Typesof Knowledge I | Different meanings of knowledge, differentiation from similar terms, origin of knowledge, boundary between ‘true’ knowledge and fake news |
6. Typesof Knowledge II | Knowledge for designing complex transformation processes in a sustainable manner, knowledge production, changing traditional systems and organizing knowledge |
7. Society | Origin and definition of the term 'society', relationship between the individual, collectivity and society, classical theories (Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx) |
8. Values I | Values and their significance for human coexistence, the relationship between values and morals, the difference between morals and ethics |
9. Values II | How do values change, what role do they play in transformation processes, is sustainability itself a value? |
10. Justice I | Different understandings of justice, connection with visions of the future and transformation conflicts, making debates more constructive |
11. Justice II | Theoretical concepts of justice, relevance to current social issues |
12. Responsibility I | Which groups of actors are assigned which legal and moral responsibilities? |
13. Responsibility II | The concept of responsibility from a philosophical and cultural studies perspective, from classical positions to cultural theory approaches |
14. Wrap up and outlook | Information for the conference week and examination requirements |
In the design-oriented project seminars focused on problem-solving skills, each covering one of the four topic areas of the module, a maximum of 35 students examine one or more specific aspects of current social transformation challenges with the aim of developing future-oriented solutions for them. Using interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary working methods, students independently develop and analyze questions in a research-based learning mode and present their findings at an academic conference (conference week expected to take place March 10-12, 2027).
In other words, they should:
- recognize the challenges of social transformation that exist in the relevant subject area.
- develop their own relevant and workable question based on these findings and create a suitable research design to answer this question scientifically.
- carry out their self-developed research project as a group, critically reflect on the results, and present them in a suitable manner at the conference week and in a seminar paper as a scientific paper.
Teaching/learning objectives of the seminar
The students will:
be familiar with key concepts in the respective subject area.
be able to develop and work on a question that is relevant to the subject area of the module (also for third parties).
be able to specifically process and combine knowledge from different disciplines and, if necessary, non-scientific fields of practice that are relevant to the subject matter, objectives, and questions of their project.
be able to select and apply appropriate methods with regard to the question of their project and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.
be able to prepare their results in a goal-oriented manner and present them to a broad audience.
acquire the ability to place individual results in a larger context and reflect critically on them against the background of the knowledge they have acquired.
Didactic structure of the seminar
The seminar is conducted in the mode of research-based learning, i.e., students work in groups on their first research projects, from developing a research question and writing an exposé to carrying out the project and subsequently presenting the results at the conference week and writing up their research project in a seminar paper as a scientific paper.
The exercise relates to one of the four subject areas of the module by dealing with ideas and concepts that help to understand the cultural, social, and historical conditions of current situations and challenges of social coexistence. In addition to this focus, there is an in-depth examination of aspects of academic work, which is also intended to enable an understanding of the connections and origins of concepts, opinions, and theories. In this way, students should learn to question their own assumptions and examine underlying concepts and ideologies in the spirit of critical thinking.
In other words, they should:
- recognize what assumptions they and others have and examine their validity, including by changing their perspective.
- recognize the values and intentions underlying these assumptions and their evaluation.
- recognize the conditions under which the assumption is evaluated and take these into account.
Teaching and learning objectives of the exercise
Students:
- are familiar with key concepts in the respective subject area.
- can reflect on their own thinking. They can critically question their own theories, attitudes, and opinions.
- can develop (critical) questions.
- can recognize and understand the structure of arguments. They can contextualize texts and identify the intentions behind them.
- can express their thoughts in a comprehensible written form, observing the rules of good scientific practice.
- know the reasons for mutual citation.
Didactic design of the exercise
Didactically, the exercise is based on the principles of writing-intensive teaching and is designed to encourage students to think and reflect independently and critically, thus allowing them to develop an according habitus. This requires suitable formats for exchange that leave room for students' own reflections and discourse among themselves.
The exercises are intended to support the seminars and lectures by familiarizing students with essential concepts within their chosen subject area. For this reason, texts, guiding questions, teaching/learning objectives, and materials from the field of scientific work and critical thinking are centrally prescribed and must be implemented equally in all exercises.
Key questions
What is meant by transformation as distinct from other terms (revolution, reform, transition)?
What does it mean to think about transformations that transcend traditional human and political horizons?
Can there be transformation without discontinuity, i.e., without the complete abolition of the previous state of affairs?
What is the problem of historical transformations? How are local and global changes linked? How does the past influence the present? What can we learn from historical transformations?
What role does humanity play in the transformation of the planet?
How can processes of change be shaped and influenced? What role can science play in this?
Teaching and learning goals
Students:
have a historical-philosophical foundation for the concept of transformation.
can distinguish transformation from other concepts in the history of ideas.
are familiar with the objectives of transformation research and transformative research and can distinguish between them.
can position themselves in the controversy surrounding “transformative science.”
Texts
mandatory / optional
- Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference, Campus, Princeton, 2009
- Hannah Arendt, On Revolution. London, 1982. Introduction: War and Revolution, S. 1-10.
- Geels, F. W., Sovacool, B. K., Schwanen, T., & Sorrell, S. (2017). Sociotechnical transitions for deep decarbonization. Science, 357(6357), 1242–1244. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao3760
- Wittmayer, J., Hölscher, K., Wunder, S. & Veenhoff, S. (2018). Transformation research: Exploring methods for an emerging research field (Texte 01/2018). Umweltbundesamt für Mensch und Umwelt.
Key questions
Where do values come from? Do we even need values? What role do they play in ethical thinking?
How are values and cultures related? How do values shape ways of life? Are they universal or culturally relative? If they are culturally relative, how are they established? Who determines the validity of values? Is morality relative? How are values and norms related?
Which values should be taken into account when designing change processes, for example to make them “just” and “fair”? To what extent does sustainability as a goal for shaping the future represent a value in itself? Which futures are desirable, which are not?
How can values be “measured” empirically? How do values influence our actions?
How do we deal with value conflicts, especially in the context of transformations? How can we negotiate values with each other?
Teaching and learning goals
Students:
understand what values are, how they work, and what role they play in societies and individuals.
are familiar with universalism and relativism, two different perspectives on the emergence of values, and can classify them.
can describe and question the organizing role of values in a society.
can analyze and identify the value and underlying value sets in sustainability and transformation controversies.
are familiar with dynamics and patterns (trends) in shifts in values.
can distinguish between hedonistic, altruistic, biospheric, and egoistic values and explain their influence on sustainability-related behavior in theoretical terms.
Texts
mandatory / optional
Deleuze, G. (1988). Spinoza: Practical Philosophy. Chapter 3
Nussbaum, Martha, 'Non‐Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach', in Martha Nussbaum, and Amartya Sen (eds), The Quality of Life (Oxford, 1993; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Nov. 2003), https://doi.org/10.1093/0198287976.003.0019
Bouman, T., Steg, L., & Perlaviciute, G. (2021). From values to climate action. Current Opinion in Psychology, 42, 102–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.04.010
Horcea-Milcu, A.‑I., Abson, D. J., Apetrei, C. I., Duse, I. A., Freeth, R., Riechers, M., Lam, D. P. M., Dorninger, C., & Lang, D. J. (2019). Values in transformational sustainability science: four perspectives for change. Sustainability Science, 25(4489), 250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00656-1
Key Questions
What do we mean by responsibility?
How are responsibility and freedom related?
Who is responsible for what, and to whom does that responsibility apply? Who takes responsibility for the past, and who for the future?
Which parts of society bear responsibility for a successful transformation?
How is responsibility created and assigned? Why do we feel responsible for something?
Teaching and learning goals
Students:
can identify trends and mechanisms of social group accountability.
are familiar with problems of responsibility attribution in the context of sustainability and can use approaches to reflexive responsibility as design options.
can identify and distinguish between key concepts of responsibility (individual vs. collective, ethical vs. political, discursive vs. affective)
understand that responsibility is negotiated culturally, historically, and socially.
Texts
mandatory / optional
Hans Jonas: The Imperative of Responsibility. In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age Chicago 1984, (in particular: “Concerning Ends and Their Status in Reality” / “The Good, the “Ought,” and Being: A Theory of Responsibility“).
Sartre (2007). Existentialism is a humanism.
Giesler, M., & Veresiu, E. (2014). Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 840–857. https://doi.org/10.1086/677842
Grunwald, A. (2011). On the Roles of Individuals as Social Drivers for Eco-innovation. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 15(5), 675–677. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00395.x
Key Questions
What ideas of justice come together when we are in transformation processes about where we should develop as a society and how?
How do different understandings of justice differ?
How are they linked to different visions of the future, and what transformation conflicts arise as a result?
Whatisjustice?
What types of justice are there?
What role do intergenerational and intragenerational justice play?
Teaching and Learning goals
Students:
are familiar with various concepts of justice and can distinguish between the different dimensions of social justice.
can analyze and identify different concepts of justice and their evaluation as causes of exemplary transformation conflicts.
can position themselves according to their own ideas of justice.
Texts
mandatory / optional
Chomsky, N., & Foucault, M. (2006). The Chomsky-Foucault debate: On Human Nature. The New Press.
John Rawls: A Theory of Justice, Chapter 1, §§ 1 and 2: The Role of Justice und The Subject of Justice.
Haughton, G. (1999). Environmental Justice and the Sustainable City. Journal ofPlanning Education and Research, 18(1), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X9901800305
McCauley, D., Quintavalla, A., Prifti, K., Binder, C., Broddén, F., & van den Brink, H. (2024). Sustainability justice: a systematic review of emergent trends and themes. Sustainability Science, 19(6), 2085–2099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01565-8
The examination consists of a combined academic paper comprising three parts: a portfolio, a presentation during the conference week, and a seminar paper.
The portfolio is written during the exercise and, in addition to elements from the field of scientific work, comprises reflections on content. In addition, there are study reflections, which can refer both to meta-reflections on scientific work and to one's own further development and the connection of the module content with further studies. These reflective elements also incorporate the project seminar and the lecture. The design of these artifacts is specified by the module and is therefore the same for all students.
The results of the project carried out in the seminar are presented during the conference week and written up in a seminar paper based on an academic paper.
- Tuesday 8:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
- Friday 8:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
- Friday 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
- Friday 12:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
- Friday 2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
- Friday 4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
- Friday 6:15 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.
Seminars and exercises may also be offered every 14 days; block seminars are not planned for didactic reasons.
The lecture takes place on Tuesdays from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
The teaching assignment includes:
preparation and follow-up work for the course
supporting students by offering office hours
administering and grading exams and providing appropriate feedback to students
mandatory participation in continuing education and information events related to teaching in the module
For SEMINARS, this also includes participation in the conference week (expected to take place from March 10-12, 2027).
In order to design the teaching in the transformation module, teachers need comprehensive knowledge of the content (including the link to the lecture content and the four subject areas in each exercise or seminar, the coupling of exercises and seminars, the conference week topic) as well as the didactic requirements (including scientific work and research-based learning, and the achievement of learning objectives such as critical thinking, reflective skills, and sustainability skills).
Therefore, we offer our new teachers a combination of a blended learning unit via Moodle and a one-day teacher workshop on September 10, 2026, in person on the Leuphana campus. The blended learning unit provides basic information about teaching in the Leuphana semester and in the transformation module. The teaching workshop offers space for the (further) development of teaching concepts and for all teachers to exchange ideas about their work in the module – both within the exercises and seminars and beyond.
Travel expenses for the in-person event will be covered.
Exercise
The teaching assignment includes preparation and follow-up work for the exercise as well as correction of the examination (portfolio).
Lecturers with a university degree: €40.00/SWS
Lecturers with a postdoctoral qualification or doctorate: €55.00/hour
Professors: €70.00/SWS
A teaching assignment comprises 14 sessions x 2 SWS (1 semester hour corresponds to 45 minutes)
External lecturers can be reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs upon submission of the original receipts, up to a maximum of €350 per exercise per semester.
Detailed information can be found at teaching assignment.
Seminar
Due to the increased supervision required, particularly during the conference week, teaching assignments in seminars are remunerated at 1.5 times the hourly rate (equivalent to 3 SWS). The teaching assignment includes preparation and follow-up work for the seminar, including the design of contributions to the conference week and the correction of examination work (presentation and seminar paper).
Lecturers with a university degree: €60.00/SWS
Lecturers with a postdoctoral qualification or doctorate: €82.50/SWS
Professors: €105.00/SWS
A teaching assignment comprises 14 sessions x 2 SWS (1 semester hour corresponds to 45 minutes) as well as attendance at the conference week.
External lecturers can be reimbursed for travel and accommodation costs upon submission of the original receipts, up to a maximum of €500 per seminar per semester. Please also factor in the conference week in March 2027 when calculating your travel and hotel costs. This usually includes travel to and from the venue and one or two nights' accommodation.
Detailed information can be found at teaching assignment.