190076 SE Bachelor's Paper II (2019W)

The central aim of the seminar is to map the European university with specific attention to the role the Humboldtian ideal plays in its past, present, and future constitution. Roughly three types of bachelor theses can be elaborated within this seminar, that each correspond to a particular time frame. The first type is historiographical in nature and explores the role the Humboldtian ideal of the university played in the foundation or re-envisioning of universities on the European continent in the 19th century. The second types focuses on the present and aims to critically analyze the re-emergence of Humboldtian ideals within policy discourses on the European level. The third type has its eye on the future and is more speculative or philosophical in nature in that it inventories and analyzes so-called 'neo-Humboldtian' universities. As such, the central topic of this seminar is role the Humboldtian idea of a university has played in the past, present, and future constitution of the European universities. According to their own interests, students can apply different methodologies (e.g. historiographical, discourse analysis, philosophical) in order to deal with their research question that focuses on one aspect of the overall theme. In the course of the seminar students will be assisted in developing their research question, finding relevant literature, analyzing their material, and writing their bachelorpaper.