210086 UE BAK17b.1: Politikwissenschaft in der Praxis (2021W)

Goals
• To extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the nature, complexity and political challenges for humanitarian action in international crisis situations
• To improve the capacity to analyze conflict situations by integrating a humanitarian perspective
• To get a better understanding of the possibilities of action and the ways of working of political and humanitarian actors in international crisis situations
• To understand the role and the way of working of the EU as a humanitarian donor
• To develop the ability to prepare a political briefing dossier for decision makers
• To actively participate in a group work and to improve the techniques of written and oral presentations
Contents
• The nature and complexities of humanitarian crisis in recent history; Perspectives regarding to climate change and the impact of health pandemics
• The development of humanitarian principles and International Humanitarian Law and their challenges in the current political environment
• The nature and specificities of international humanitarian actors (UN Organizations, the Red Cross Family, humanitarian NGOs), their way of working
• The role and the way of working of the EU as a humanitarian donor
• Challenges for humanitarian actors and their work in current crisis situations (access, security, financing etc) with particular regard to armed conflicts and refugee situations;
• Challenges arising from political action (counterterrorism measures, sanctions et al); the specifics of interaction between policy makers and civil society
• How to prepare and to present a briefing dossier for political decision makers
Methods:
• Individual study of a limited set of readings (for compulsory reading see below)
• Discussions and interviews with experts and representatives of relevant institutions and organizations
• Research and preparation of a briefing dossier on the basis of concrete case studies and its oral presentation in a role play (group work 1)
• Written and oral feedback to the briefing dossier of a peer group (group work 2)
The course will be blocked into 4 Friday/Saturday sessions with lectures, discussions with invited guests and group work. The course will be organized in a hybrid way, ie part of the students will be present and another part will participate online. For the first sesssion, students will be required to register for presence/online participation on moodle. In the following, presence and online participation will alternate to allow all students a certain number of presence sessions. Respective groups as well as particular responsibilities (chat moderators, etc) will be organized at the beginning of the course. If necessary due to new regulations, the course modality would switch to an online course.
Preparation and active participation by students during the sessions will be part of the assessment. Assistance is compulsory with tolerance of absence in 2 units (1,5 hour)
In the period between the sessions, students will work on
• Compulsory and additional readings; Reflection and preparation of upcoming discussions with experts (individually); The first elementary reading will be distributed on moodle and will be assessed ahead of the first course block.
• Research on and preparation of a briefing dossier related to a specific case study (group work 1). Particular case studies will be given at the beginning of the course .
• Preparation of a feedback note to the briefing dossier of a peer group (Group work 2)
Online support sessions for working groups will be offered on 3 occasions and whenever necessary or requested.
The last session of the course will be dedicated to the presentation of the group work and to feedback by peer groups.
All presentations, discussions and readings as well as examinations will be in english.