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| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2019 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende |
Charlotte Akers (charlotte.akers@unibas.ch)
Manfred Max Bergman (max.bergman@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | We are living in challenging and interesting times, and the social sciences ought to exert greater efforts to understand, even deal with contemporary and future challenges and opportunities. However, most social scientists are uncomfortable dealing with the future. We are most at ease when we are called upon to explain the past, somewhat at ease with explaining current trends (mostly by referring to the past), but we are highly reluctant to deal with the future. If we do, we tend to extrapolate past trends into the future, which has often led to embarrassing failures. Speculating about future trends is left to others, mainly politicians, religious leaders, business leaders, and technology developers. Interestingly, these actors not only have to deal with, but they also participate in shaping the future. Considering the arsenal of theories and methods at our disposal, it is surprising that we are not part of this conversation. It is time to explore the future from a social science perspective, especially considering that we find ourselves in the middle of large-scale geopolitical power shifts that are affecting all individuals, relationships, and institutions in ways that parallel the industrial and digital revolutions. In this seminar, we will explore a selection of themes that are at the forefront of important studies on future trends, such as migration, robotization, fiscalization/monetization, climate change, or population growth. These themes will be connected to areas of study, such as health, education, work, or mobility, and they will be localized in a specific geographic region. Thus, the seminar may explore societal effects of climate change on health in the Sahel, or the social consequences of monetization of university education in Basel. The focus and themes of the seminar will be negotiated with the participants at the first meeting. As part of the seminar, we will practice the sociological imagination about the future based on existing forecasts. Most predictions about the future turn out to be incorrect, but we can rest assured that things will not stay the same. Social scientists ought to practice their theories and methods on important societal issues that transcend the past because we have important contributions to make in shaping our future. |
| Lernziele | The participant - will be exposed to future trends, - will explore how future trends will affect individuals, groups, regions, and societies differently, and - will explore how a social science perspective can contribute to recognizing challenges, solutions, and even opportunities. |
| Literatur | National Intelligence Council (2017). Global Trends: Paradox of Progress. Washington DC: Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (www.dni.gov/nic/globaltrands) Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva: World Economic Forum. (https://luminariaz.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-2016-21.pdf) |
| Bemerkungen | The seminar will be held in English. |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
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Keine Einzeltermine verfügbar, bitte informieren Sie sich direkt bei den Dozierenden.
| Module |
Modul: Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor Studienfach: Soziologie) Modul: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master Studiengang: Critical Urbanisms) Modul: Wirtschaft, Wissen und Kultur (Bachelor Studienfach: Soziologie) |
| Leistungsüberprüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| Hinweise zur Leistungsüberprüfung | Presentation or short essay (pass/fail) |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Leistungsüberprüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Wiederholtes Belegen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Fachbereich Soziologie |