14110

Kreuzkölln deconstructed - forays through Berlin beyond the ‘multicultural’ narrative

Victoria Mummelthei

Information for students

Guest auditors welcome.

Additional information / Pre-requisites

No previous knowledge necessary.

Comments

Welcome to Kreuzkölln! But wait a minute - this is not just about falafel stores and clan crime. We're taking a closer look: does migration shape the architecture and social structure of a neighborhood and, if so, how? What stories and memories are made visible and invisible in the streets of Kreuzkölln? And how do people negotiate their identities in these hybrid spaces? This seminar not only wants to change your perspective on Berlin, but perhaps also on your field of study. Because we won't be dealing with dry theories à la "What is Arabic Studies?" or cramming through bare facts and figures from the history of the Islamic-influenced world between the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East conflict and the Arab Spring. Instead, we learn to work with methods such as text analysis, mapping, ethnographies and discourse analysis - all approaches used by thinkers such as Foucault, Deluze and Guattari, or Latour to devise concepts relevant to our topic such as heterotopias, rhizomatics and assemblage. You might be wondering heteroWHAT? But don't worry, this won't just be a methods course in which we throw around grandiose concepts and names of past thinkers without any reference to the here and now. Imagine you are working on a photo essay that you are developing yourself. You talk to people in Berlin, document their stories and put them into a larger context, such as the hybridity of urban spaces and the intersections between different cultural practices. And the best part? We will discover how exciting and meaningful cultural studies research can be. How does the architecture of a neighborhood influence coexistence - and how does a concept like Lefebvre's theory of the "right to the city" help us? What role does food play in the formation of identity - and how can the analysis of "gastropolitics" and "culinary identity" provide information about social integration? How do religious practices or urban art create new spaces of belonging and resistance - and how does the idea of "cultural appropriation" explain these dynamics? What role do places of memory play - and what can we learn about them from Halbwachs' "memory theory"? These are just initial examples of how we can view and understand a space like Kreuzkölln from a cultural studies perspective. This seminar is not simply an academic exercise - it is an invitation to actively participate in the discourse on the city of Berlin. We offer you space for openness, curiosity and critical reflection. For all those who are enthusiastic about Berlin's diversity and want to conduct independent research, engage in exciting discussions and process them creatively. close