Intercultural Cooperation

International Relations (week 1) This course is focusing on some of the principal rules and ways of entering and administrating international cooperation networks. The topic includes institutional as well as social conditions and constraints on the relationship-building processes. In order to show a complete panorama of the related issues, this course will introduce in some basic terms of political sciences, will sound the frameworks in some societal domains (like media, education, industrial sectors) and will discuss some cases of regional and border-crossing integration processes (e.g. in the EU, but not exclusively). The seminar will as well ask if management and organization are phenomena which can be explained in any context by a ‘typical western perspective’ of rationality, efficiency and effectiveness or if other perspectives are more suitable to guide analysis and problem solving processes. Conflict and Conflict Resolution (week 2) Today’s societies are differentiated up to a very high degree, due to the flux of migration and refugees, but often just because of historical developments that led to the current situation. Influencing factors can be post-colonial politics, economical dynamics, changing awareness of diversity in a specific context, and, of course, the overall globalization of information.Sometimes, intercultural issues derive from differences in the cultural encoding and decoding of our activities. Often, as well, diversity is interpreted as ideology and the encounter of conflicting value systems.This course introduces in the basic terminology of international conflict resolution and peace research, and studies some exemplary cases, e.g. the conflict in Palestine, Timor, North Morocco etc.

Course leader

Prof. Dr. Anthony Teitler Prof. Dr. Michael Zerr

Target group

Students and young professionals