CLCS 238T Reading the Postcolonial City: Berlin and Hamburg
Colonialism has left its traces not only very obviously on the former colonies themselves but also on the face of the cities of the colonisers. Host of the "Congo Conference" that carved up the continent in 1885, Germany was late into the "scramble for Africa." However, it has long been implicated in colonialism through trade, scientific exploration, and Hamburg’s position as a "hinterland" of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Seeking to explore colonial echoes in less obvious places, namely in contemporary Berlin and Hamburg, the course asks how we can remember colonialism in the modern world, become conscious of its traces, and encourage critical thinking about the connections between colonialism, migration and globalization.
As an Academic Travel, this course will include an on-site component where the class will team up with postcolonial focus groups in Berlin and Hamburg, going onto the street and into the museum to retrace the cities’ colonial connections, and to experience and engage with the colonial past through performance-based activities.