Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Creating Futures through Cultural Entrepreneurship - a Case Study of the Edinburgh Festival (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Laura Fey

Inhalt: This is a bi-weekly postgraduate seminar that provides a brief overview of cultural entrepreneurship and introduces students to the case study of the Edinburgh Festival to gain a deeper, hands-on understanding of creating and legitimizing cultural organizations. Festivals have become common world-wide. The 2015 UNESCO report stated that Germany hosted 240 festivals, France approximately 1000, Spain 700 and Italy 200. Not all festivals are the same – they range from dramatic arts and cinema to the visual arts and music. Moreover, some festivals focus on one theme (e.g., music) whereas others, including our case study of the Edinburgh Festival, are composed of several different disciplines. The importance of festivals is not only their economic impact but also their role in giving a sense of identity, shared value and belonging, in preventing exclusion. Given these important social and economic effects, it is not surprising that the UNESCO report calls for more research into understanding how festivals can be successfully structured and designed. The Edinburgh Festival, is the world’s largest arts festival and has a 76-year history. In 2019, 4.9 million people attended festival shows, generating £313 million in revenue. Edinburgh has been internationally acclaimed as an exemplary festival city. We will explore the phenomenon of the Edinburgh Festival in detail, discuss learnings and critical aspects to its organization. Theoretically, we will focus on cultural entrepreneurship as an active and fast developing area of research in the social sciences, with challenges and opportunities for organizations as well as society. This course aims to give students an overview of cultural entrepreneurship with real life application by diving into the case of the Edinburgh Festival. Students are encouraged to apply theoretical and empirical ideas to their own life. Each introduced idea should be examined with the following questions in mind: How do I understand the topic for myself? How does it matter for my own life and my studies/future jobs? What is/are the overarching question(s) with which the idea is concerned? What are the key concepts? What are the assumptions about causal forces? How far is the empirical evidence convincing? A sub theme that you should consider is why some ideas seem to convince you more than others. That is, pay attention to the crafting and composition of ideas from YouTube videos to academic papers. Lastly, this course is about reflecting on your experiences and to formulate your own research questions and perspectives.

Decolonizing Approaches to Artistic Production: Methodologies and Epistemologies from the South (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Vera-Simone Schulz

Termin:
14-täglich | Freitag | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 12.010 Seminarraum

Inhalt: This course addresses reorientations of art historical and theoretical frameworks that challenge the long-standing dominance of Eurocentric modes of knowledge production and artistic practice. The seminar foregrounds aesthetic practices and ways of knowing that emerged from the Global South or that are shaped by southern epistemologies, unsettling hegemonic narratives of modernity, materiality, and the arts. This entails also questioning of and moving away from universalizing categories toward relational, process-oriented, and often collective modes of making, in which oral traditions, embodied knowledge, local cosmologies, and care play central roles. The seminar will discuss how such approaches call for the recognition of plural knowledge systems that do not conform to Western binaries such as art versus craft, or theory and practice. Artistic production from the South is thus discussed as a generative site of theory, critique, and world-making. The course will investigate how many of these practices deliberately operate at the margins of, or outside, institutional art systems, it will interrogate alternative and counter-archives, temporalities, and modes of historiography. Furthermore, it will examine how decolonial methodologies expose how colonial power relations have shaped not only the extraction of material resources, and the exploitation of human beings, but also regimes of perception, criteria of value, and structures of visibility, and how artistic practices intervene in these regimes through strategies of re-enactment, empowerment, repair, rewriting, or refusal. The course will take place in the classroom as well as in exhibition spaces in Lüneburg and Hamburg. It will also include a dialogue with the Namibian contemporary artist Tuli Mekondjo who will be in residence at Leuphana during the summer semester 2026 and whose work challenges Germany’s colonial past and the legacy of the genocide against the Herero and Nama from the perspectives of decolonial and Black feminist thought.

Empirical Research Design and Causal Inference: Applications and Reflections (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Henning Schröder

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 6.320 Seminarraum

Inhalt: The course aims to introduce students to empirical research methods and applied data analysis. It will help participants to better understand common empirical research designs frequently applied in the field social sciences. Specifically, the course discusses how these methods are used in top-tier research papers and provides an introduction on how to apply the discussed methods to real-world archival data using statistical software. The first part of the course reviews econometric fundamentals and introduces students to the widely used statistical software STATA (available via a Campus license). In the second part of the course the focus will be on endogeneity issues, causal inference, and empirical identification strategies. The course is well suited for students who want to work with archival data in future research projects or during their master thesis. Participants should have at least a basic knowledge in statistics. However, this course will not resemble the statistics courses students might have taken. Instead, the course is designed to be more hands-on and discussion-oriented.

Ethnographic Film and Multimodal Methods (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Anna Lisa Ramella

Inhalt: In this seminar, we turn to the methodology of audiovisual anthropology and approach the methodological advances of ethnographic filmmakers and multimodal anthropologists on the basis of their productions, which will be shown at the 18th German International Ethnographic Film Festival (GIEFF2026) in Göttingen. The GIEFF is one of the most renowned ethnographic film festivals worldwide and will take place from 13-17 May 2026. Our seminar takes this as an opportunity to consider ethnographic and multimodal methods through the medium of film and to question which aspects of filmmaking support ethnography in its endeavour to describe place, time and experience. Via a spectrum of camera and interview techniques to sensory ethnography, which we will discuss in preparatory sessions using selected texts and examples, we will review and discuss the festival films together. We will also take the opportunity to talk to international ethnographic filmmakers and multimodal anthropologists about their methodology in interviews. The seminar consists of one preparation date (22 April, 2026), an excursion to the film festival in Göttingen with daily meetings in the group (13-17 May, 2026) and a follow-up/evaluation meeting (20 May 2026).

Experimental methods in research and development (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Anthimos Georgiadis

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 12:15 - 13:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 14.102 b Seminarraum

Inhalt: The seminar refers to the systematic procedures and steps followed in a research and development project to conduct experiments, gather data, and analyse results. It aims to provide a detailed description that allows other researchers to replicate the study and evaluate its validity and implement the results into the product development. This course covers an advanced treatment of experimental methods in the context of electro mechanical systems by way of example. Health and condition monitoring as well as predictive maintenance and resilience of production machines and systems are in the focus of the seminar. Students will study significant components of experimental apparatus or the hole system, use those to collect data or use collected data, interpret the resulting data, and write reports on the experiments. Assessment of the results in relation to the applied methods and comparison with alternatives follow in discussions.

Feel REAL: Growing Together. Regenerative Entrepreneurial Actors (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Theres Konrad

Inhalt: Course vision: - -Encounter yourself and one another - -Come closer to own ideas AND their realization [implementation competency] - -Realize own learning objectives [self-efficacy, ownership, attitude] - -Develop an entrepreneurial mindset and useful competencies The course “Growing Together” allows students to deeply engage with oneself within a learning community to explore one´s own entrepreneurial potential. Inspired by Theory U and the often-cited quote of Bill O´Brien “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor”, this course starts with the exploration of one´s own “interior condition” (intrapersonal competency) as a foundation for entrepreneurial action (interpersonal & implementation competency). The course gives space to the verbalization, exploration, development, and refinement of (own) ideas that want to be realized (after the retreat!). The course takes place in the shape of an intensive 3-days-retreat, drawing on experiential learning theory and the concept of the flipped-classroom. This means that the course is highly dependent on students´ pre-retreat preparations and willingness to engage in offered learning opportunities. The course includes phases of individual work and plenary sessions, input, reflection, and experiences and takes place in- and outdoors. On day 3 of the retreat students will present artefacts, elaborated along the semester, during the retreat, and outside of class (assignments on Friday and Saturday) [oral part of examination]. The written part of course examination happens throughout the semester along a provided template, providing space for individual reflection assignments documenting the student´s individual process towards their anticipated learning objectives and project goals, including a final project reflection. Note that this course requires the willingness to intensively explore yourself. It builds upon the pre-retreat assignments and a meaningful experience can only be provided if you fully immerse yourself into course, content, and community for the entire course duration. I invite you to see this course as the unique opportunity to have a retreat for yourself and your ideas. The course Growing Together is based upon several premises: - -“The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervenor” (Bill O´Brien via Otto Scharmer, Theory U) // The roots create the fruits! - -It not only takes a village to raise a child but a community to make the best out of an idea. - -It doesn´t matter how far you go. It´s all about how deep you dive. (Peter Jenkins)

Feel REAL: Systems Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Managers: A Practical Application (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Frederic Kohlhase

Inhalt: In the course “Systems Thinking for Entrepreneurs and Managers: A Practical Application”, students learn the fundamentals of systems thinking and systems theory and apply them in small groups to real-world entrepreneurial and managerial challenges in a practical project. Key systems thinking tools such as causal loop diagrams, systems mapping, and leverage points are introduced and embedded in a structured problem-solving process. Students form small groups and each group collaborates with an organisation or venture to analyse a complex challenge and develop system-based intervention strategies. The instructor support this process through regular coaching sessions. The course concludes with a presentation of the system analyses and proposed solutions to the partner organisations.

Gender and Diversity Research Methods (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Chiara Stefanoni

Inhalt: The course aims to provide an introduction to gender and diversity methods in research in the humanities and social sciences. Beyond the feminist perspective, it also addresses dimensions of diversity related to race/racism and disability (crip theory) and their intersections. We will begin with a fundamental question to frame the course: why the need for the specific charachterization of “gender & diversity” when discussing methods? Answering this requires both a theoretical and a historical approach. Theoretically, it involves examining epistemological debates and the foundational concepts of feminist theories, critical race theory, and critical disability studies – in short, of critical epistemologies (e.g., situated knowledges, standpoint theories, decoloniality, construction/deconstruction, opacity). What does this adjective critical stand for? Critical of what? This theoretical framework is crucial, as it guides and underpins the various and numerous gender- and diversity-sensitive research methods. Historically, it means understanding the socio-political context of emergence of something like “Gender and Diversity Methods” in the academia. How can we learn to ask research questions differently? And to conduct research differently? This is the methodological part of the course, articulated for instance through methods in the humanities - for example: how does one do feminist philosophy? How does one analyze a cultural product (film, book, artwork, archive) from a decolonial perspective? as well as through a selection of qualitative social research methods. In this part, students will engage hands-on with texts from their own disciplines in which gender- and diversity-oriented questions and methods are central and substantially addressed. Finally, through guided class activities, students will have the opportunity to practice integrating questions, methods, and/or goals that take gender and diversity into account – or focus explicitly on them – into their own research practice.

Hands-On Systematic Literature Reviews (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Jorge Gustavo Rodríguez Aboytes

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 14.204 Seminarraum

Inhalt: This seminar introduces students to the practical steps of conducting a systematic literature review as a transparent and reproducible research method. Together we will work on formulating clear research questions and translating them into structured search strings. Students will learn how to identify and select relevant academic databases and apply systematic screening procedures to titles, abstracts, and full texts. We will practice extracting and organizing metadata from articles while ensuring consistency and traceability of the review process. The seminar emphasizes transparency and reproducibility at each stage, from documenting search decisions to reporting screening outcomes. Students will engage with methods for synthesizing findings and critically reflecting on inclusion and exclusion choices. An innovative concept of textual abundance analysis will also be introduced, offering students a fresh perspective on identifying thematic patterns in large bodies of text. The course highlights common pitfalls and biases in literature reviews and how to address them. Finally, students interested in advanced approaches will be introduced to programmatic tools for automating parts of the workflow. Overall, the seminar combines hands-on exercises with critical reflection to prepare students for applying systematic review methods in their own fields. Preliminar seminar structure: week 1 - Why systematic reviews matter? week 2 - Types of reviews, Topic selection, research problem and review methodology week 3 - Creating search strings and databases week 4 - Metadata retrieval from databased week 5 - Abstract screening week 6 - Full-text retrieval and full-depth search week 7 - Meta-analysis and network analysis week 8 - Content analysis week 9 - Textual abundance analysis week 10 - Reporting findings and creating visualizations week 11 - Writing the methodolgy week 12 - Putting everything together week 13 - Round of questions/self-work week 14 - Final presentations Bonus (optional) - Workflow automation with Python

Integration of AI into Society: Foundations, Methods, and Applications (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Antonia Meythaler

Inhalt: Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how individuals work, learn, and interact within society. The rapid diffusion of AI (e.g., chatbots, generative AI, AI agents or multi-agent systems) creates both opportunities and challenges that require academic research. This seminar examines the integration of AI into work and society. The seminar provides an overview across three thematic blocks. The first part introduces conceptual foundations for human-AI interaction, including trust, fairness, bias, and accountability. The second part covers methodological approaches for studying human-AI interaction, drawing on qualitative methods from the social sciences (interviews, group discussions, observational methods) as well as methods from design thinking and psychology. The third part discusses the requirements and challenges for responsible AI development and adoption across application domains such as the workplace and public life. Examples of topics: • Human-AI collaboration in the workplace: Applying Self-determination theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness) • Psychological and societal consequences of AI adoption (e.g., well-being, digital stress) • AI-based content moderation: Fairness, transparency, and user experience

Introduction to statistics (PhD Course open for Complementary Studies) (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Henrik Wehrden

Inhalt: Introduction to statistics

Methods of Knowing about Ecological History (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Anthony Waters

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 08:15 - 09:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 12.010 Seminarraum

Inhalt: Ecological history is about how the land and biosphere change in response to human culture and human organization. Some of this is popularized as it has been by Jared Diamond who wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel, and Collapse. More recently, and important book is The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wuthnow. Other works of relevance include William McNeill Plagues and Peoples, Alfred Crosby Ecological Imperialism, and William Cronon Changes in the Land.

Mixed Methods Research (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Matheus Monteiro Nascimento

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 14.102 b Seminarraum

Inhalt: This seminar provides a practical guide to Mixed Methods Research. Students will learn the fundamental principles of this approach, including when it is the most appropriate methodology. The course covers how to select and design a mixed methods strategy, how to plan for integrated data collection, and techniques for analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data together. Key topics also include ensuring the validity of the study and effectively structuring a mixed methods research report. Through real-world examples, students will gain the practical skills required to design a coherent and justified mixed methods research project.

Organisation der Produktentwicklung im Zeitalter generativer KI (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Kata Schiller, Arthur Seibel

Inhalt: Die Veranstaltung untersucht die Organisation von Produktentwicklungsprozessen in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen (KMU) anhand eines klassischen, phasenorientierten Referenzmodells der Produktentwicklung. Aufbauend auf diesem organisatorischen Grundmodell analysiert das Seminar systematisch, inwiefern das Aufkommen generativer KI etablierte Methoden, Rollen, Entscheidungsstrukturen und Dokumentationspraktiken entlang des Produktentwicklungsprozesses verändert oder verändern kann. Im Fokus stehen dabei ausgewählte Phasen und Entscheidungspunkte, etwa in der Planungs-, Entwurfs- und Ausarbeitungsphase. Die Studierenden vergleichen klassische ingenieur-, betriebs- und organisationswissenschaftliche Vorgehensweisen mit KI-gestützten, datenbasierten Methoden.

Qualitative Methods (PhD Course open for Complementary Studies) (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Elke Schüßler

Inhalt: Qualitative research is a research strategy that emphasizes large bodies of unstructured data (textual, graphical, audio, and video data) that cannot be meaningfully analyzed by formal, statistical approaches. Despite differences, qualitative research approaches share at least the following two assumptions: (1) by systematically generating and analyzing data new theory can be discovered (inductive view), and (2) this theory stresses the understanding of the socio-economic world through an examination of interpretation of that world by its participants. Since each particular research method is informed by different philosophical traditions, this course will first introduce different perspectives on the socio-economic research process like positivism, interpretativism, realism, and postmodernism. Students will then learn how to set up a qualitative research project using different research design perspective, e.g. a case study approach, an ethnographic study, grounded theory, or a discourse analysis approach. In addition, the course will tackle different qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, including a reflection about practical and ethical considerations. The course is designed for doctoral students and advanced master's students with a strong interest in research. Throughout the course, initiative, creativity, and critical thinking on part of the students will be appreciated and encouraged. The course aims to facilitate students' progress in their thesis project.

Rechtsphilosophie (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Alexander Stark

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 14.027 Seminarraum

Inhalt: Die Veranstaltung befasst sich mit rechtsphilosophischen und ethischen Fragestellungen und legt dabei einen besonderen Schwerpunkt auf die kritische Reflexion wissenschaftlich-methodischer Aspekte. Das Seminar ist eine Lehrveranstaltung zur Vorbereitung auf die Schwerpunktbereichsprüfung nach § 4 a Abs. 3 S. 1 NJAG und dient insbesondere der Vermittlung von Präsentations- und Vortragstechniken.

Researcher Well-Being & Sustainable Research Practices (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Harry Rana

Termin:
14-täglich | Mittwoch | 12:15 - 15:45 | 13.04.2026 - 27.05.2026 | C 14.202 Seminarraum
14-täglich | Mittwoch | 12:15 - 15:45 | 10.06.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 14.201 Seminarraum

Inhalt: This course explores the human side of the research process, focusing on emotional, psychological, and ethical demands placed on researchers. Learners examine how institutional pressures, research design, and methodological choices impact researcher well-being. The course emphasizes reflective practice, emotional resilience, and sustainable work habits to support long-term research careers.

Sustainable Infrastructures and Community Ownership in South Asia (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Lars Holstenkamp

Termin:
wöchentlich | Mittwoch | 10:15 - 11:45 | 06.04.2026 - 10.07.2026 | C 5.310 Seminarraum

Inhalt: The global community has set itself the goal to build resilient infrastructures globally (Sustainable Development Goal, SDG 9). Separate global goals exist for health (SDG 3), education (SDG 4), water (SDG 6) and energy (SDG 7). Infrastructure development in Sout Asia has improved significantly over the last decades. Nevertheless, many challenges remain: Rapid urbanisation (SDG 11), inadequate transportation (SDG 9) and recurring load shedding (SDG 7), i.e. interruptions of electricity supply, in poorer neighbourhoods are examples in an urban context. Lack of access to infrastructures – social such as health facilities (SDG 3) and schools (SDG 4) as well as hard such as water (SDG 6) and energy (SDG 7) – is still an issue in many rural areas of South Asia. These challenges have a gender dimension as many of them add on the already existing burdens for women and girls. In the course, we develop a basic understanding of the challenges of urban and rural infrastructure development, infrastructure governance and community ownership or benefits. We look into major developments and the status quo of infrastructure development in different South Asian countries (esp. Pakistan, but – depending on participants’ interests – also in other countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka). Sadia Ishrit Satti, SDPI Islamabad, who is planning a stay at ECOLOG Institute and will work as guest researcher on a gender-just energy transition, will give first-hand impressions from her research. Based on these inputs, we identify interesting research questions and develop and discuss potential research designs to address these questions.

Think Mathematically, Act Algorithmically: Optimization Techniques (Complementary Studies) (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Paolo Mercorelli

Inhalt: MATLAB is a platform for scientific calculation and high-level programming which uses an interactive environment that allows to conduct complex calculation tasks more efficiently than with traditional languages, such as C, C++ and FORTRAN. It is the one of the most popular platforms currently used in the sciences and engineering. Optimization techniques can be applied in a wide interdisciplinary range of applications in control, estimation and identification problems. Using Matlab, the course embraces the most important optimization techniques and methods which can be used in control systems. The proposed techniques, e.g. Model Predictive Control, Two Point Boundary Optimization Problem, etc. are implemented using Matlab/Simulink. Through discussions on the mathematical origin of the proposed techniques and methods and their inspiring ideas the students should reach, not only a good command on the software, but also a critical spirit to interpret the nature of the algorithms and to reflect on their foundations and structures.

User vs. Machine Generated Content in der Musik. Künstlerische und medientheoretische Forschungszugänge (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Jan Claußen

Inhalt: Digitale Produktionstools sowie Verbreitungskanäle prägen Musikformen. Das ist grundsätzlich nicht neu, gewinnt aber im Zeitalter von Künstlicher Intelligenz und den so genannten Sozialen Medienplattformen wie Instagram, TicToc oder YouTube zunehmend an Einfluß. Im Seminar setzen wir uns sowohl auf der Grundlage medientheoretischer Texte als auch durch künstlerische Forschung damit auseinander, wie sich dieser Einfluss im Detail darstellt und wie er analysiert und erforscht werden kann.