Dorte Hühnert-Hugendubel
TEACHING
Winter Term 2018/2019: America's Wars - Analyzing Conflicts in Peace and Conflict Research
(BA Political Science)
Since World War II, the United States has taken a central position in the international system and has shaped international relations not only through diplomacy and through trade, but through with a number of conflicts. During the Cold War, the power struggle with the USSR was fought in proxy wars. Most recently, US foreign and security policy was dominated by the fight against terrorism and led to wars fought in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.
The seminar focuses on war as a special form of violence in the international system, with an empirical sample of American wars after the end of the Second World War. After an introductory phase in which the basic concepts of peace and conflict studies are clarified (war, conflict, violence, peace), the various forms of conflict, their causes and strategies for resolution are discussed. Different actors (state and non-state) as well as structures (regional and global orders, power constellations) and processes in the course of conflict play a role here. The seminar gives students the opportunity to strengthen their analytical and argumentative skills. The sessions focus on conflict analyses of given cases, which are to be presented with the help of visualization techniques to be learned, as well as the joint development of concepts for conflict management and their application. In addition to the analysis of causes, this also includes concepts for the classification of conflict progressions as well as conflict resolution and consolidation in the post-conflict phase. The seminar concludes with an oral group examination.
Winter term 2016/2017 and Winter Term 2017/2018: War - Causes, Forms, Solutions
(BA Political Science)
Since the end of the World War II the way of warfare has changed from interstate war to asymmetric warfare. How can these different forms of conflict be conceptually grasped? Where exactly are the differences in warfare? When is conflict a war? How can we end new wars and what are the conditions for a stable peace?
The seminar focuses on wars as a special form of violence in the international system and the foundations of international law. After an introductory phase in which the basic concepts of peace and conflict research are clarified (war, conflict, violence, peace), the discussion takes place with different forms of conflict (new vs. old wars, civil wars, proxy wars, etc.), their causes (e.g. political, ethnic, religious) and solution strategies (e.g. UN missions, diplomacy). Different actors (state and non-state) as well as structures (regional and global orders, power constellations) and processes in the course of conflict play a role here. In addition to analyzing conflicts, this course teaches students how to present their results to specific target groups and how to use visualization techniques to present them. The seminar concludes with an oral group examination.
Summer term 2016: Development and Security - Causes of Conflicts and Solutions
(BA Political Science)
Development problems are often paired with security problems. Particularly in fragile or disintegrated states, aid programmes are therefore being set up to tackle both levers simultaneously - development and security. Sometimes the aid measures themselves become a security problem. On the other hand, development problems are often the engine of conflict and development aid can prevent conflicts or eliminate structural problems. But how useful is development aid if the safety of the aid workers is not guaranteed? First create security and then promote development - or all at the same time? How can development aid become part of conflict resolution?
The seminar deals with development problems with a specific focus on security policy issues. On the basis of selected cases, the students develop different conceptual approaches. The focus is on development problems as causes of conflicts on the one hand and on the potential of development aid measures for conflict management and resolution on the other. For example, the war in Sierra Leone is being investigated in terms of resources and the conflict in Afghanistan is being taken into account in terms of civil-military cooperation. Students are given the opportunity to train their presentation techniques. In this way, participants can apply and expand their skills in developing, presenting and defending research designs. In the discussions, the participants will have the opportunity to deepen the subject areas further and to examine individual research questions with regard to their relevance and practicability. The seminar concludes with a term paper. The assignment is to process and present in a structured way the state of research on a selected course issue. The aim is to work on the ability to compile and evaluate relevant research literature.
Winter term 2015/2016: Introduction to International Relations and Academic Writing
(BA Teaching Profession)
In the narrow sense of the word, international relations refers to the politics between states. In a globalized world, a number of non-state actors – such as Greenpeace, the Red Cross and Google - play a role in the negotiation of political problems alongside states. Not only are such players multiplying, but the problems are also becoming more complex. For instance, how can cross-border issues such as climate change or refugee flows be solved on the global level?
The seminar addresses first-semester teacher training students and pursues two objectives: first, it provides an introduction to international relations (IR) and second, it teaches the general principles and basic techniques of political science research and academic writing. As an introduction to IR, students gain an overview of the major schools of theory (realism, liberalism, constructivism) and learn about central concepts (war, peace, cooperation). Furthermore, the participants of the seminar acquire a basic understanding of the central actors (states and non-states), get to know different structures (anarchy, hegemony, bipolar and multipolar world order) and encounter complex processes (old and new wars). In the field of research skills, the students acquire the knowledge step by step and expand their competences, which enable them to write their research paper at the end of the semester. In addition to teaching the essential working techniques (research and reading techniques, literature and knowledge management), the seminar focuses on independently practicing scientific writing (excerpt, abstract, proposal).