Analysis of chosen texts and pictures of European history from the late ancient world up to the 16th century. Visits to libraries and archives and field studies. The course material will be divided into different realms: Space and environment, social...
This is a survey of the history of opera from the Romantic period to the present. Opera as a performance form will be analyzed in context of pervasive socio-political, artistic, architectural, and musical climates at various stages of its development...
This course explores how Korean fashion, beauty, and design shape both global trends and everyday life in Seoul. From streetwear to skincare and digital branding, students examine how visual culture expresses identity, status, and social values...
This course offers students the opportunity to explore one of the most iconic and globally recognized aspects of French culture: French cuisine. Sessions will alternate between presentations on the importance of French cuisine, discovering local...
After years in the shadow of Hollywood versions of Ireland, a vibrant indigenous Irish film industry is now well established. In this course, we will explore the role of Irish film in representing and shaping Irish culture and identity. Through a...
Have the Viennese always eaten schnitzel or wiled away the afternoon in a coffeehouse with strudel and a mélange? How has the history of the Habsburg Empire and the more recent history of the Second Republic affected what the Viennese eat and drink...
Italy is a country with an age-old tradition of wine-drinking that can be traced back millennia. In Renaissance society, for example, the act of drinking wine was a marker for higher social class and inspired artists, thinkers, writers and poets, and...
A study of the cultural and political importance of Vienna as a 'city' throughout its history, from the strategically important Roman military encampment of Vindobona, through the centuries-long imperial capital of the Habsburg monarchy to the...
Vienna has always been—and continues to be—a palimpsest of Jewish life: a city layered with traces of Jewish presence, written and rewritten over time. Three mass expulsions (1420/21, 1669/70, and 1938–45) stand in stark contrast to periods of...
The Mafia and the Italian State originated in the same period, the end of the 19th century, and from then on their histories have always been closely related. From Sicily, the “octopus” (piovra), as the Mafia is called in Italy, has spread throughout...