Seminar on Surveillance Studies

What it is about

You engage with theories, methods and current debates of Surveillance Studies. You analyze historical and contemporary surveillance practices (e.g. facial recognition, social media monitoring, state intelligence programs) and assess their consequences for democracy, privacy and social justice. In the end you will be able to apply theoretical approaches to case studies and critically assess the ethical, legal and social implications.

What you will be able to do

• Understand central theoretical and methodological approaches of Surveillance Studies
• Analyze historical and contemporary surveillance practices
• Critically evaluate societal, ethical and legal consequences of surveillance technologies
• Apply theoretical frameworks to concrete case studies
• Participate in professional discussions on power, security and data protection

What the module consists of

• SeminarCentral format of the course: discussions, case studies, presentations and written work
• GastvorträgeSupplement by experts from the field

Teaching method

• SeminardiskussionenDeepening and collaborative engagement with central texts
• FallstudienanalyseApplication of theoretical approaches to real surveillance practices
• Schriftliche SeminararbeitIndependent scholarly processing of a topic and combining theory and practice
• Präsentationen der StudierendenPresentation and discussion of individual research results in front of the group
• Eigenständige Literatur- und RecherchearbeitDevelopment of topics through independent scholarly research
• BlockformatConcentration of the course in compact sessions; topic assignment at the beginning of the semester