2020-21 Academic Catalog

What is it to be human? What is the difference between human and animal? How do technology and AI alter our understanding of humanity? How does the rhetoric of personhood affect our judgment of others? What is an immigrant, a migrant, a refugee, a foreigner, an alien? In this English-language survey of German thought and literature, we will ask these questions with foundational philosophers from the Enlightenment to the present, engage with contemporary theorists on post-colonialism and nationalism, and rethink the concept of personhood by analyzing crucial new contributions from literature, theater, film, and art. Taught in English.