Academic Writing for the Thesis

  • Wer?

    Juliane Strohschein

  • Wann?

    Every second Monday 4pm to 7pm. The last session will be on the 29th of January.

    Start: Monday, 23th of October 2023/ 4:00pm – 7:90pm

  • Wo?

    Online - Moodle

  • Credits

    2 SWS / ECTS 1

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F15

Every second Monday 4pm to 7pm, starting on the 23th of October 2023. The last session will be on the 29th of January. Please check in Moodle for up to date information.

Please use this class to prepare and support the current or upcoming writing of your Bachelor Thesis or Master Thesis.

Feeling at home in academic writing – and in the academic world in general – is an important prerequisite for academic success and student’s satisfaction. Also, it is a challenging process that we all go through in our own way and it’s great to have guides and company in this learning journey.

The main approach of the class is to provide a structured space to address and deal with any concerns, questions and troubles with writing. There will be regular opportunities for Q&A, discussion and feedback. The focus of the class is to support students to see themselves as writers who express themselves and participate in the academic world.

Aims and Content: Academic writing is a process, a product of that process and a set of skills necessary in the process. Acquiring complex academic literacy is the aim of this class while practicing English for Academic Purposes. We will start by looking at basic academic writing conventions such as “KISS” meaning: “keep it short and simple”. Then, we will move on to explore “IMRaD”, the widely used format for scientific papers: introduction, methods, results and discussion.

The class will take place online using Moodle and BigBlueButton.

Resources:

  • Macgilchrist, Felicitas (2014): Academic Writing.
  • Morley, John (2014): Phrasebank.
  • Wayne et al (2008): The Craft of Research.

Berlin as a Place of German History, Culture and Politics

  • Wer?

    Kurt M. Lehner

  • Wann?

    Seminar
    21.10., 28.10. & 4.11.2023
    10 am-7:15 pm

  • Wo?

    Campus Lichtenberg

  • Credits

    2 SWS / ECTS 1 - (2.5 bei Zusatzleistung)

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F13

Aims and Objectives

Foreign students are invited to get acquainted with German history, culture and politics by attending a series of lectures as well as engaging with everyday life and rhythm of contemporary Berlin.

Participants

Exchange and guest students, number of participants restricted to 30 students.

Teaching Program

Students are invited to study German society and everyday life in Berlin in several ways as by Dynamic lectures (on German history, culture and politics);
Visits to Berlin institutions of public interest (such as Bundestag and media);
Excursions and walks to important places of historic interest as well as of modern Berlin (Märkisches Museum, DHM, Stasi-Museum; architecture; streets; the ‘Bayerisches Viertel’ around the BSEL; Berlin’s industrial past; Berlin in the Cold War; the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial; Berlin’s present culture and subcultures).

Literature

To be announced at the beginning of the seminar

Berlin as a Place of German History, Politics and Culture

  • Wer?

    Justinus Pieper

  • Wann?

    Seminar
    12.01.2024/4 pm-7 pm, 13.01.2024/10 am-7 pm
    19.01.2024/4 pm-7 pm, 20.01.2024/10 am-7 pm

  • Wo?

    Campus Schöneberg

  • Credits

    2 SWS / ECTS 1 - (2.5 bei Zusatzleistung)

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F14

Aims and Objectives

Foreign students are invited to get acquainted with German history, culture and politics by attending a series of lectures as well as engaging with everyday life and rhythm of contemporary Berlin.

Participants

Exchange and guest students, number of participants restricted to 30 students

Teaching Program

Students are invited to study German society and everyday life in Berlin in several ways as by

Dynamic lectures (on German history, culture and politics);

Visits to Berlin institutions of public interest (such as Bundestag and media);

Excursions and walks to important places of historic interest as well as of modern Berlin (Märkisches Museum, DHM, Stasi-Museum; architecture; streets; the ‘Bayerisches Viertel’ around the BSEL; Berlin’s industrial past; Berlin in the Cold War; the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial; Berlin’s present culture and subcultures).

Literature

To be announced at the beginning of the seminar

Data visualisation with R

  • Wer?

    Alessandro Bramucci

  • Wann?

    Semesterkurs, wöchentlich
    Montag, 16.10.2023
    16 – 18 Uhr

  • Wo?

    Campus Schöneberg

  • Credits

    2 SWS /ECTS  1 – (2.5 bei Zusatzleistung)

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F59

Objective

The objective of the course is to provide an introduction to the work with data and in particular to data visualisation using the statistical package R/RStudio and the numerous available libraries. In the course it will be shown how to work efficiently with data and how to ensure the reproducibility of its own findings as the academic standard requires. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to produce different graphics such as scatter plots, line charts and bar charts working primarily with macroeconomic data (e.g., GDP, inflation, public debt). However, the skills acquired are applicable to many other areas of research. No prior knowledge of R/RStudio is required but interest for coding is necessary.

Target audiences

All Bachelor’s and Master’s students, especially those who intend to work with data in their thesis project.

Teaching contents

  • Introduction to the basics of R and RStudio
  • Find and import data
  • Data wrangling using the dplyr package
  • Data visualisation with ggplot2 and plotly
  • Presentation of the results with rmarkdown
  • Interactive visualisation with shiny

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures and code-along. Students are expected to work on a final project.

Diskriminierung erkennen, verstehen und dagegen handeln

  • Wer?

    Felina Franke

  • Wann?

    Seminar
    Mi, ab 18.10. bis 29.11.2023
    16-20 Uhr

  • Wo?

    Campus Schöneberg

  • Credits

    2 SWS / ECTS 1 - (2.5 bei Zusatzleistung)

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F36

Diskriminierung kann viele Formen haben. Sie setzt an sozialen und/oder persönlichen Zugehörigkeiten an und stützt sich auf gesellschaftliche Machtverhältnisse. Diskriminierung zeigt sich durch Herabwürdigung, Benachteiligung, Schlechterstellung und Ausgrenzung, durch die Zuschreibung von negativen Eigenschaften und die gleichzeitige Aufwertung der eigenen Gruppe. Auch Hindernisse für gesellschaftliche Teilhabe (z.B. durch Nicht-Beachtung von Bedarfen) können Ausdruck von Diskriminierung sein. Diskriminierung aufgrund rassistischer Zuschreibungen ist spätestens seit 2020 in das öffentliche Bewusstsein gerückt und erfährt, zumindest ansatzweise, die Aufmerksamkeit, die die Opfer dieser Diskriminierungsform verdienen. Auch Debatten über andere Diskriminierungsdimensionen, wie u.a. Geschlecht, Behinderung, chronische Erkrankung, Lebensalter, Sprache, sexuelle und geschlechtliche Identität und sozialer Status werden nicht mehr nur im wissenschaftlichen Kontext geführt. Trotzdem sind wir noch auf einem langen Weg zum Erkennen, Verstehen und Handeln für eine diskriminierungsfreie und gleichberechtigte Gesellschaft.

In dieser Lehrveranstaltung stellen und beantworten wir die unten stehenden Fragen gemeinsam, um am Ende zu einem besseren Verständnis von Diskriminierung und ihren Wirkungsweisen sowie zu Handlungsansätzen gegen Diskriminierung zu gelangen. Wir nähern uns dem Thema auch anhand von selbstreflexiven Übungen für das Erkennen und Hinterfragen eigener gesellschaftlicher Positionierungen und Haltungen sowie anhand von Diskussionen und Austausch in Kleingruppen und im Plenum.

Lehrinhalte:

  • Welche Formen von Diskriminierung gibt es und wie wirken sich diese aus? Welche Mechanismen und Ebenen der Diskriminierung gibt es? Was verstehen wir unter intersektioneller Diskriminierung?
  • Was ist ein menschenrechtsorientierter Diversity-Ansatz und was hat dieser mit den Diskriminierungsdimensionen zu tun?
  • Welche Rolle spielen Macht und Privilegien? Wie begünstigen bzw. verursachen bestimmte Rahmenbedingungen Teilhabe und Ausschluss von Menschen?
  • Wie ist der Stand der Antidiskriminierungsgesetzgebung in Deutschland und Berlin?
  • Wie machen wir Diskriminierung sichtbar und setzen wirksam etwas dagegen? Was bedeutet es Ally/ Verbündete:r zu sein?
  • Und was hat unsere Sprache mit dem Ganzen zu tun?

Zielgruppe:

Die Lehrveranstaltung richtet sich an Studierende aller Fachrichtungen, die sich diesem Thema nicht nur anhand von theoretischen Inputs und Vorträgen widmen wollen.

Studienleistungen:

Für 1 ECTS ist die Anwesenheit an fast allen Terminen erforderlich. Für weitere 1,5 ECTS ist eine Zusatzleistung zu erbringen.

How to discover and really reach Goals

  • Wer?

    Susanne Hake

  • Wann?

    Blockseminar
    Monday, 11.12.23, 18.12.23 & 08.01.23  
    9 am to 12:30 pm

  • Wo?

    Online - Moodle

  • Credits

    2 SWS / ECTS 1

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F19

Content

Are you getting distracted from discovering goals worth reaching? While most of us know that intrinsic motivation and goal-oriented action is important: It sometimes is difficult. Most of the times it is not lack of knowledge that stops us. It’s our own so-called ‚inner resistence‘.

This workshop is designed as a group coaching with 12 participants as a morning group (9 am to 12:30 pm).

Every participant works on his or her strengths, visions and goals – and with his or her inner resistance. You will develop individual strategies to receive and generate more energy to discover goals that are inspiring and reachable.

During the first two meetings you will chose your own project to practice. (Something useful for your education or a dream project never realized) Inbetween the second and the third meeting you will work on your project for at least 15 hours.

During the third meeting you will share a 15 minute project presentation about your progress, your results and your learnings.

Please register only if you know that your schedule allows you to participate through all the three meetings. Because of the structure of the workshop, there can’t be latecomers.

Learning targets

The participants find, understand and communicate their strengths, skills and competences.

The participants develop an individual vision, goals and milestones.

The participants get to consciously know their inner resistance, while building a time and organizing system and finishing their project.

Methods

3 group coaching online-meetings. Lecture, individual work, teamwork, individual online presentations Prerequisite for attending: Activated camera on your computer.

Voluntary commitment in higher education policy and civil society contexts

  • Wer?

    Valeria Jimenez Rodriguez

  • Wann?

    Projektseminar
    Mi, 18.10.2023 & Do, 25.01.2024
    16 – 20 Uhr 

  • Wo?

    Campus Schöneberg

  • Credits
  • Kursnummer

    SG-NZ01

Short description: The module is intended to thematise the voluntary internal university and/or civil society commitment of the participating students, contextualise it in terms of content and provide an opportunity for their own and/or joint (peer) reflection on their voluntary commitment. The aim of the module is for students to learn to classify and reflect on their engagement. The module is a necessary step towards obtaining the sustainability certificate and is intended to function both as a companion to the engagement and as a retrospective reflection. The module can also be completed independently of the Sustainability Certificate.

The first block of the course takes place at the beginning of the semester and establishes the joint kick-off. The students are encouraged to report on their own commitment and to make an initial classification of it: How is my commitment located? What motivates me and what do I want to achieve through my voluntary work (in the future)? How can I raise awareness and motivate other students and/or the civil society community through my volunteering? Students are also invited to give each other initial feedback and discuss questions such as: How do volunteering and everyday study life go together? In the second block of the course towards the end of the semester, the main focus is on recognising and classifying one's own progress: How have I developed over the past six months? What have I been able to achieve? But also: What do I want to continue working on? What changes do I need to make in order to continue my commitment, e.g. beyond my studies? Both block events are moderated by the lecturer and, if necessary, enriched with materials such as short texts, video or audio contributions on the topic.

Frame: The course is offered in English in the winter semester and in German in the summer semester. Ideally, the course size is 12 to 16 participants.

Examination: 1 CPs is awarded for participation and the presentation of one's own engagement in both blocks. Those who also write an essay or blog post series on the topic of "engagement" at the end of the semester and successfully pass it will receive a total of 2 CPs.

Scope: The seminar is offered as a double block in presence; in two times 4 lecture hours (180 minutes) at the beginning and end of the semester. The exact dates will be announced.

Info Sustainability Certificate: If you want to complete the Sustainability Certificate, the voluntary commitment must be completed during the course of study, cover at least the period of one semester (6 months) and at least the scope 50 hours (2 CPs = 50 real hours á 60 minutes).

Writing your term paper efficiently

  • Wer?

    Astrid Schürmann

  • Wann?

    Zweitägiges Seminar
    08.03. und 15.03.2024
    10.00 – 18.00 Uhr

  • Wo?

    Online – Moodle

  • Credits

    1 SWS / ECTS 0,5

  • Kursnummer

    SG-F21

Learn the basics of academic writing and kickstart your writing with planning and drafting techniques! Fine. Think you’re done? Well, you got to know: Writing is rewriting. So revise your text, your first draft.

Ever heard of freewriting, looping, annotated outlines, mind mapping, top-down and bottom-up writing, reader-based and writer-based prose, the CARS-model? Or effective revision techniques for completing a text?

This workshop follows a hands-on-approach to getting you started with or revising your term paper. Although we will be covering models of the writing process and features of writing skilldevelopment, theoretical input is limited to necessary basics.

Most important is to see where you are with your term paper and how you can devellop it. Therefore, bring your text with you to work on it in the workshop.

By trying out different writing techniques, we will tackle questions like:

  • Gardener or an architect: what type of writer are you?
  • What are your theses and/or research questions? And how to formulate them?
  • How do you structure a term paper and come up with an outline?
  • Instead of feeling used by the literature, how do you stay in charge?
  • Writing blocks and writing flow: how to avoid the former and invite the later?
  • How do you revise your draft with less stress by preparing an action plan for revising and editing?
  • What steps are there that help you handle the revising easily?
  • How to test the structure, style, references, and language use?

As we go about this I will point you to online-resources for writers, which can assist you in revision and editing.