"The world - An introduction"

During the seminar we will read together the book “The world. A beginner’s guide” from Göran Therborn, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. The text is an empirically based survey of the whole world today, in its historical context. It discusses the sociocultural geology of the world, its major civilizations, its historical waves of globalization, its family-sex-gender-systems and its pathways to modernity.

The seminar will be exclusively in English language. It is supposed to train the seminar participants in understanding English scientific texts as well as expressing themselves in English, which is an important condition for international research and occupational careers.

Teilnahmevoraussetzung:

• Basic skills in English; ability/willingness to read and discuss in English
• Oral presentations

Zusätzliche Voraussetzungen für den Erwerb von Leistungspunkten:

Several short summaries on the reading text

Literatur:

Therborn, Göran (2011): The world. A beginner’s guide, Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press