The Gekko makes school
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The Doctoral College of Humanities and Cultural Studies (GeKKo) at the University of Kassel is currently organizing an event entitled "GeKKo macht Schule". Our goal is to make current research from the fields of German linguistics and literary studies, philosophy, Romance studies, English studies, and theology accessible primarily to middle and high school students and to show a relation of the - often very 'far from reality' sounding, scientific content to the reality of life: vivid, communicative, current, and exciting. Research does not remain exclusively theoretical, but can be experienced in practice.
The format of the event is as variable and wide-ranging as the content and can be adapted to the needs of the respective teaching situation after consultation with the teachers: Lectures with a high proportion of interaction or discussion, work in small groups or even day projects (possibly as part of a project week) are possible on our part.
Thematically, the contents can be integrated into different contexts of the curricular programs. For example, a philosophical contribution on the cognitive abilities of animals can be integrated both as a starting point for moral considerations in ethics lessons and under anthropological auspices in religion lessons. The topic of "youth language" can be just as fruitful in German lessons from a linguistic point of view as in political lessons from a youth cultural perspective. For a detailed description of our projects, please refer to our homepage.
General questions about the project: gekkofb2[at]uni-kassel[dot]de (Miriam Langlotz)
For questions about the individual teaching offers, please contact the address given in the short description.
We are open to suggestions from schools and will be happy to answer any questions.
Class offerings:
The Literature Business
Implementation: Anna-Carina Meywirth
(Modern German Literature)
Keywords: books, literature, media, economy, advertising, publisher, author, bestseller
Duration: 90 minutes
Material needed: beamer, laptop, copies
How do books get into bestseller lists?
Who decides what goes in the windows of bookstores? How much does it cost and who pays for it? In the literary business, nothing is left to chance. In order to find an answer to questions like these and to clarify what 'the literary business' actually is, we need to take a closer look at the complicated interplay between authors, publishers and the media. In small teams of detectives, we have to uncover what happens at book fairs, for example, or why each of us falls for the ingenious sales mechanisms of the book trade or the Internet.
People and other animals
Implementation: Martin Böhnert
(Theoretical Philosophy)
Keywords: animal cognition, thinking, anthropology, interdisciplinarity, behavior, epistemology
Duration: 90 minutes
Material needed: beamer, laptop (PowerPoint), speakers
What is man? What distinguishes humans from animals? Can animals think? Starting from initially intuitive answers to these questions, we will try to structure and systematize them by means of a rough sketch of philosophical positions. Subsequently, these will be discussed and critically reflected on the basis of current studies in behavioral biology (in the form of short videos, partly in English). Ultimately, we will also ask ourselves how we actually know what we think we know here. And is this all a philosophical question at all?
On the one hand, the aim of the conversation-oriented contribution is to gain insights into the cognitive abilities of animals and to reflect on various demarcations between humans and animals. On the other hand, it is also intended to offer brief insights into (some of) the ways philosophy works: From refining questions, to deepening our understanding of certain concepts like "thinking" or "language" to reflecting on what we actually call "knowledge" and how we acquire it.
The article offers points of contact in the context of the discussion of different views of man (religion), preliminary considerations of ethical conventions (ethics, philosophy), but also fundamentally an interdisciplinary approach between the humanities and the natural sciences (biology).
Those who talk about spree killers always talk about themselves as well
Implementation: Paul Reszke
(German Linguistics)
Keywords: language - thinking - acting, language reflection, media reflection and analysis, language and violence, constructivism
Duration: 45 minutes (lecture and discussion) or 90 minutes (lecture, joint analysis and discussion)
Required material: beamer, laptop (PowerPoint) - can also be brought along
After every school rampage, the question comes up: How could this happen? The answers are as varied as the people who answer. But where do they get their knowledge, where do the experts get it, where does everyone else get it? What influence do the media have on our thinking and, above all, on the way society deals with this phenomenon? What does "Amok" actually mean, who coined this word and when, and how has it changed?
The article will show how a detailed and diverse analysis of texts also sharpens our view of society and its actions: What laws are passed and why? Who is considered an "expert" on a topic? How do which newspapers report on the phenomenon? Typical working methods of linguistics oriented towards cultural studies will also be shown.
The contribution offers points of contact in the context of the discussion of different images of man (ethics) as well as reflections on the interaction of language, thought and action (philosophy, German). The content will be agreed upon and adapted according to the school level: First and foremost, it is about language, not about running amok.
News
Planned GeKKo meetings in Hofgeismar:
SoSe 2020:
Not applicable!
WiSe 20/21:
October 16/17, 2020
SoSe 2021:
April 23/24, 2021