Studium Generale: Internationales

Aims and Objectives

Foreign students are invited to get acquainted with German history, culture and politics by attending a series of lectures as well as engaging with everyday life and rhythm of contemporary Berlin.

Participants

Exchange and guest students, number of participants restricted to 30 students

Teaching Program

Students are invited to study German society and everyday life in Berlin in several ways as by Dynamic lectures (on German history, culture and politics);
Visits to Berlin institutions of public interest (such as Bundestag and media);
Excursions and walks to important places of historic interest as well as of modern Berlin (Märkisches Museum, DHM, Stasi-Museum; architecture; streets; the ‘Bayerisches Viertel’ around the BSEL; Berlin’s industrial past; Berlin in the Cold War; the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial; Berlin’s present culture and subcultures).

Literature

To be announced at the beginning of the seminar

Diskriminierung kann viele Formen haben. Sie setzt an sozialen und/oder persönlichen Zugehörigkeiten an und stützt sich auf gesellschaftliche Machtverhältnisse. Diskriminierung zeigt sich durch Herabwürdigung, Benachteiligung, Schlechterstellung und Ausgrenzung, durch die Zuschreibung von negativen Eigenschaften und die gleichzeitige Aufwertung der eigenen Gruppe. Auch Hindernisse für gesellschaftliche Teilhabe (z.B. durch Nicht-Beachtung von Bedarfen) können Ausdruck von Diskriminierung sein. Diskriminierung aufgrund rassistischer Zuschreibungen ist spätestens seit 2020 in das öffentliche Bewusstsein gerückt und erfährt, zumindest ansatzweise, die Aufmerksamkeit, die die Opfer dieser Diskriminierungsform verdienen. Auch Debatten über andere Diskriminierungsdimensionen, wie u.a. Geschlecht, Behinderung, chronische Erkrankung, Lebensalter, Sprache, sexuelle und geschlechtliche Identität und sozialer Status werden nicht mehr nur im wissenschaftlichen Kontext geführt. Trotzdem sind wir noch auf einem langen Weg zum Erkennen, Verstehen und Handeln für eine diskriminierungsfreie und gleichberechtigte Gesellschaft.

In dieser Lehrveranstaltung stellen und beantworten wir die unten stehenden Fragen gemeinsam, um am Ende zu einem besseren Verständnis von Diskriminierung und ihren Wirkungsweisen sowie zu Handlungsansätzen gegen Diskriminierung zu gelangen. Wir nähern uns dem Thema auch anhand von selbstreflexiven Übungen für das Erkennen und Hinterfragen eigener gesellschaftlicher Positionierungen und Haltungen sowie anhand von Diskussionen und Austausch in Kleingruppen und im Plenum.

Lehrinhalte:

• Welche Formen von Diskriminierung gibt es und wie wirken sich diese aus? Welche Mechanismen und Ebenen der Diskriminierung gibt es? Was verstehen wir unter intersektioneller Diskriminierung?
• Was ist ein menschenrechtsorientierter Diversity-Ansatz und was hat dieser mit den Diskriminierungsdimensionen zu tun?
• Welche Rolle spielen Macht und Privilegien? Wie begünstigen bzw. verursachen bestimmte Rahmenbedingungen Teilhabe und Ausschluss von Menschen?
• Wie ist der Stand der Antidiskriminierungsgesetzgebung in Deutschland und Berlin?
• Wie machen wir Diskriminierung sichtbar und setzen wirksam etwas dagegen? Was bedeutet es Ally/ Verbündete:r zu sein?
• Und was hat unsere Sprache mit dem Ganzen zu tun?

Zielgruppe:

Die Lehrveranstaltung richtet sich an Studierende aller Fachrichtungen, die sich diesem Thema nicht nur anhand von theoretischen Inputs und Vorträgen widmen wollen.

Studienleistungen:

Für 1 ECTS ist die Anwesenheit an fast allen Terminen erforderlich. Für weitere 1,5 ECTS ist eine Zusatzleistung zu erbringen.

Working on a term paper? Preparing for your thesis? Join our workshop series for Academic Writing, designed to support you at every step of the way. Whether you are grappling with fine-tuning your research question, structuring your outline or with managing your literature. This workshop series will provide the guidance you may need: you will receive information on the principles of Academic Writing (in English) as well as personalized feedback on your drafts and we will discuss strategies for learning and doing research efficiently.

What are your questions and/or concerns about Academic Writing? Let’s talk about common challenges and solutions, so you will gain more confidence in your writing skills.

You can attend all four workshops or simply drop into each session individually as needed. You are always welcome to bring you questions and concerns.

1. Tuesday 29th of October 2024, 4pm - 6pm: Getting started! Let’s talk about Academic Writing
2. Tuesday 12th of November 2024, 4pm - 6pm: Focussing attention with ABT statements
3. Tuesday 10th of December 2024, 4pm - 6pm: Knowledge landscapes for orientation
4. Tuesday 21st of January 2025, 4pm - 6pm: Knowing and switching writing strategies

Literature

Macgilchrist, Felicitas (2014): Academic Writing.

Elbow, Peter (1973): Writing without teachers.

Studying as an international student in Berlin not only means attending classes and learning. You also have to organize your life in a new and maybe demanding environment to keep up to your goals. If this causes stress to you or even anxiety, our workshop offers insights and support to improve your coping.

We will talk about:

• recognizing stress symptoms
• finding out, why you feel like that and what you can do against it
• how your views on yourself and your situation can make a difference
• what is really important to you and how you can care for your well-being and happiness
• the impact of supporting each other

Dates

1. Saturday, 16th of November (On Campus Schöneberg), 10-17 o´clock
2. Monday, 18th of November (Online), 16.30-19.00 o´clock
3. Monday, 25th of November (Online), 16.30-19.00 o´clock
4. Monday, 2nd of December (Online), 16.30-19.00 o´clock
5. Monday, 9th of December (Online), 16.30-19.00 o´clock

Please notice

The seminar will be held in English. The main target group for this seminar are international students from our English speaking bachelor and master programmes. Available vacancies are open to anyone.

To take part in the seminar, the attendance of the first session on campus is compulsory.

Number of Participants: 14

Learn from Nobel prize winners, such as Engle (ARCH Models, 2003), Scholes, Merton, (Derivative Valuation, 1997) or Modigliani (Financial Markets Analysis, 1985) to understand statistics of financial markets!

The class is addressed at students with excellent knowledge of multivariate statistics and students with good skills in statistical software. This course is a starting point for students interested in quantitative finance and students with ambitions to work in derivative, investment banking or risk-control departments. Former students of this course work for example at Deutsche Bank, Sal. Oppenheim, Citigroup, European Central Bank, BAFin, KPMG, Nadler Company and many international universities.

Prerequisities

The course Multivariate Statistical Analysis I or knowledge of statistics and econometrics is required. (Material and support for students from HWR will be provided.)

Course Learning Objectives

Wiener processes, option based portfolio insurance, implied volatility dynamics, interest rate modelling, exotic options, binomial trees, option pricing, Black-Scholes model. Plenty of opportunities to meet with graduates at Deutsche Bank. Visit of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Course Structure

The course Statistics of Financial Markets I starts with an introduction into the basic concepts of option pricing and its stochastic foundations. After a short revision of basic statistical concepts we present the Wiener process as the core element of a probabilistic financial market model. Itô's calculus allows us to reach the first milestone of the course - the Black-Scholes (BS) European Option Pricing formula. The BS model is simple but seminal - as argued by Black in 1992: "Yet that weakness (simplicity) is also its greatest strength. People like the model because they can easily understand its assumptions . . . and if you can see the holes in the assumptions you can use the model in more sophisticated ways." This is also the main message of this part of the course - students should understand the BS model, see its strength and understand the possibility of its generalizations. The portfolio insurance (hedging) issues, concept of implied volatility, and tree-based (binomial and trinomial trees) are discussed. In addition to the European style derivatives the valuation of the American and modern Exotic derivatives are discussed. This course is not limited to the description of the models and methods but focuses on the statistical analysis, presents the applications to real financial data. In addition, important issues e.g. calibration to market data and connected numerical and statistical pitfalls are presented. The course will be structured in blocks until the end of December, some of which will be held at the university, the remainder at the Deutsche Bank Risk Center. At the end of the course (mid/end January) we will have an excursion to Frankfurt with a visit to Deutsche Boerse.

Literature and Sources

Franke, J., Härdle, W., and Hafner, C. (2015) Statistics of Financial Markets: an Introduction. 4th ed., Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN: 978-3-642-54538-2 (555 p)

Härdle, W., Hautsch, N. and Overbeck, L. (2009) Applied Quantitative Finance. 2nd extended ed., Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-69177-8 (448 p)

Hull (2005) Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives. 6th ed., Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-149908- 4 (816 p)

Härdle, W., Simar, L. (2015) Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis. 4th ed., Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-662-45170-0 (580 p)

Cizek, P., Härdle, W., Weron, R. (2011) Statistical Tools for Finance and Insurance. 2nd ed., Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN: 978-3-642-18061-3 (420 p)

Preliminary dates (not all of them will be used, but it is a good idea to keep these dates free):

• 14.10., 16-19, <location tbd>
• 21.10., 16-19, <location tbd> (—> school holidays)
• 28.10., 16-19, <location tbd> (—> school holidays)
• 4.11., 9-12 (lecture), 14-16 (tutorial), Deutsche Bank (Ernst-Reuter-Platz)
• 11.11., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank
• 18.11., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank
• 25.11., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank
• 2.12., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank
• 9.12., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank (—> NatP not available)
• 16.12., 9-12, 14-16, Deutsche Bank
• End Jan: Trip to Frankfurt to Deutsche Börse

Die SDGs stellen die anspruchsvollste internationale Vereinbarung dar, um eine nachhaltige und gerechte Welt zu erreichen. In 17 miteinander verbundenen Zielen werden Themen, die von sauberer Energie, Gesundheit, dem Schutz der Meere bis zur Entwicklung von Städten und Gemeinschaften reichen miteinander systematisch verbunden, durch Zwischenziele konkretisiert und ihr Erfolg durch eine Reihe von Indikatoren auf lokaler und staatlicher Ebene erfasst. In diesem Seminar gehen wir zunächst auf unterschiedliche Positionen zum Thema der Globalen Gerechtigkeit in der politischen Theorie ein, beschäftigen uns anschließend mit der Konzeption der SDGs und prüfen danach kritisch anhand von 2-3 Praxisbeispielen inwieweit die SDGs ihrem Anspruch gerecht werden können.

Learn the basics of academic writing and kickstart your writing with planning and drafting techniques! Fine. Think you’re done? Well, you got to know: Writing is rewriting. So revise your text, your first draft.

Ever heard of freewriting, looping, annotated outlines, mind mapping, top-down and bottom-up writing, reader-based and writer-based prose, the CARS-model? Or effective revision techniques for completing a text?

This workshop follows a hands-on-approach to getting you started with or revising your term paper. Although we will be covering models of the writing process and features of writing skilldevelopment, theoretical input is limited to necessary basics.

Most important is to see where you are with your term paper and how you can devellop it. Therefore, bring your text with you to work on it in the workshop.

By trying out different writing techniques, we will tackle questions like:

• Gardener or an architect: what type of writer are you?
• What are your theses and/or research questions? And how to formulate them?
• How do you structure a term paper and come up with an outline?
• Instead of feeling used by the literature, how do you stay in charge?
• Writing blocks and writing flow: how to avoid the former and invite the later?
• How do you revise your draft with less stress by preparing an action plan for revising and editing?
• What steps are there that help you handle the revising easily?
• How to test the structure, style, references, and language use?

As we go about this I will point you to online-resources for writers, which can assist you in revision and editing.