Cross-faculty elective subjects WS 2018/2019

Philosophy is often and mistakenly taken as a discipline that has no relation to the real world. This course, centered around ethics in general, and practical ethics in particular, aims at deconstructing this false view about philosophy.
For practical ethics is the area of ethics that tries to analyze specific, concrete and controversial moral issues in order to provide the best (right?) answers. Indeed, as human beings, we are often confronted with real-life situations which require ethical analysis and orientation. For example:

• Should animals be used for medical purpose?
• Should one's privacy be violated for safety or security reasons?
• Should some live wealthy while others die of hunger?
• Should a citizen, even in a democratic setting, disregard his obligations towards the state?

In this course, we'll be asking how and to which extent ethical standards and principles can be applied to the above-mentioned concrete issues.

Einen urbanen und kreativen Lebensstil zu führen und sich entsprechenden Vergnügungen zu widmen, ist für viele alltäglich und begehrenswert. Doch was heisst "urban" oder "kreativ" überhaupt? Zählen dazu ein Event wie der Street Food-Market, die Aktivitäten in der Gartenkooperative oder im Verein des Crypto Country Liechtenstein? Wie und wo lassen sich an einem konkreten Ort in Liechtenstein, der Ostschweiz oder im Vorarlberg urbane Phänomene und Kreativität festmachen und erleben? Wieso wird innerhalb und ausserhalb einer Gruppe und in bestimmten Kontexten etwas als "urban" oder "kreativ" bezeichnet?
Solchen Fragen und weiteren von euch Studierenden aufgespürten Themen gehen wir in diesem Kurs nach, indem wir ethnografische Werkzeuge erproben und anwenden. Dabei beziehen wir uns auf theoretische und methodische Prinzipien der Ethnografie. D.h. wir gehen ins Feld und beobachten mit einem "ethnografischen Blick", was Menschen tun, wie sie es tun, welche Dinge sie benutzen, was sie wissen und wie sie kommunizieren. Wir üben das genaue Hinschauen, Beobachten und Zuhören und testen multisensorielle Herangehensweisen. Wir achten auf das menschliche Verhalten, die Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und Dingen, nehmen ästhetische Codes, Markierungen und Symbole in den Blick und suchen nach Möglichkeiten die eigenen Beobachtungen und Erkenntnisse zu beschreiben, zu deuten, zu interpretieren und zu präsentieren.
Diese Veranstaltung ist eine Einführung in die Ethnografie. Sie bietet im Format des forschenden Lernens Basics und die Möglichkeit eigene Arbeiten, Vorhaben und Fragen zu Ethnografie und euren Fachbereichen einzubringen und zu diskutieren.

The course will deepen and enrich your enjoyment and understanding of art through engagement with some of the key theories and approaches that art historians have developed for interpreting and explaining works of art.

• Learn about Art Periods
• Get to know the highlights of European art from the 15th to the 21st century
• Explore fascinating questions about works of art, their function in society, their various meanings for viewers of the past and of the present
• Meet works of art within their social and cultural context
• Learn about methods used by art historians to analyse, interpret and explain works of art with special focus on social history of art

Die FOOTBALL IS MORE Foundation (FIM) richtet zusammen mit der Universität Liechtenstein (UniLi) eine ausserordentliche Veranstaltung aus und ermöglicht die Bildung zum "Coach for inclusion, health and peace" im Rahmen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in Liechtenstein. UniLi und FIM nutzen dazu das Know-how ihrer Partnerorganisationen und -vereine sowie der Special Advisor.

In diesem ausserordentlichen Kurs mit externen Teilnehmenden stehen nun in der "Pilotphase" den Uni Li-Studierenden 25 Plätze zur Verfügung. Die Teilnehmenden erhalten eine intensive Schulung in Theorie und Praxis (Block), unternehmen Exkursionen, Aktivitäten und durchlaufen eine Fernkurs-Phase mit E-Learning.

Der Kurs besteht aus drei vermittelten Modulteilen. Diese werden in Seminaren/Übungen durch Lehrende eingeführt, durch e-Learning vertieft und möglichst in praktischen Übungen erprobt:

• Modul: Grundlagen der Philanthropie und mögliche Bezugsfelder zum (Fussball-)Sport
• Modul: Grundlagen der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit
• Modul: Allgemeine motorische und fussballspezifische Förderung (inkl. Übungsleiterverhalten)

Zudem besteht ggf. die Möglichkeit für eine individuelle Vorbereitung auf einen anschliessenden Auslandeinsatz.

Philosophy is a discipline that attempts to tackle big questions about life by means of a method based on argumentation and critical thinking. As an introduction to philosophy, this course propose to examine following questions:

• The nature of philosophy - what are philosophy's main areas and what distinguishes philosophy from other disciplines
• The history of philosophy - what are decisive moments in the history of philosophy
• The objects of philosophical investigation - what are the central questions philosophy raises
• The methods of philosophy - how does philosophy deal with its objects of investigation
• The goal of philosophy - what does philosophy want to achieve
• The relevance of philosophy - why do we need to study philosophy

This course will also offer students the opportunity to learn basics of argumentation - kind of arguments, analysis of arguments, logic, etc. - and to train critical thinking - ability to think clearly, rationally, and coherently.

Alle Menschen wollen glücklich sein. Jedoch: Was ist das - Glück? Welche Dinge machen Menschen glücklich? Wie wichtig sind Beziehungen für unser Glück? Braucht ein Leben einen Sinn um ein wahrhaft glückliches Leben zu sein? Was haben Charakterstärken mit Glück zu tun? Welche Arbeiten machen glücklich? Wie hängen Geld und Glück zusammen? Dieser Grundkurs will klare Anworten auf diese und weitere Fragen geben, indem er grundlegende Konzepte und empirische Erkenntnisse aus der Positiven Psychologie vermittelt. Ergänzend und vertiefend gibt es Exkurse in verwandte Fachdisziplinen (z.B. Philosophie der Lebenskunst, Arbeitssoziologie).

Der Kurs bietet eine bunte Mischung aus theoretischen Reflexionen und praktischen Übungen. Zu letzteren zählen etwa die Positiven Psychologischen Interventionen (PPIs), die nachweislich die Lebenszufriedenheit steigern.

Life shows that on the long-run personality often makes the difference to be successful both in business and your private life. That's why having a better understanding about yourself and managing your personal resources is crucial. In this module we focus on the three elements Mindset, Brain and Body and enable you with knowledge and self-experience to high perform on the long run.

The Liechtenstein Academy Foundation elaborated a unique offer together with three external lecturers that cover the following main topics:
1) Purpose & Mindset: Why is purpose and mindset so crucial for success in professional and personal life?
2) Brain: Do you know how your brain actually works and how you can positively influence your brain performance?
3) Body Resources: Are aware of the power that lays within a conscious management of your body resources?

Everybody is talking about the media. The word is that traditional mass media are dying out while new digital media are about to revolutionize modern society. But what are "the media"? Instead of reviewing what media scholars wrote on this question, we will try to give answers by inquiring into our everyday life: What do you personally regard as a media experience? Who or what plays a role in this course of action? How are these human and non-human actors connected with each other? To which demand is the media experience responding? And what might an alternative response be? By closely describing and mapping events in their daily lives, the students will not only get to know main concepts of actor-network theory, but also develop creative skills along the lines of critical cartography.

Nature conservation has emerged as one of the most powerful globalised paradigms of the present time. Nature conservation projects are almost always represented as win-win situations beneficial to both nature and humans. Critical reflection is extremely rare.
However, from the perspective of local populations especially in the Global South, nature conservation projects are often connected with an array of highly problematic aspects: their participation in decision-making processes is marginal, farmers lose their land without proper compensation, some have ended up behind prison bars, and cultural values are rarely recognised and respected.
The seminar sheds light on ethical and political issues surrounding nature conservation in the Global South from a social anthropological perspective. We discuss these issues on the basis of studies from different disciplines (especially social anthropology and political science, but also history, agroforestry and paleo-ecology) while always focusing on the perspective and situation of the directly affected people. We investigate in detail the case of Madagascar, a country which has since the 1980s been at the forefront of international conservation efforts.

Social innovation is about the various ways in which people are creating new and more effective answers to the biggest challenges of our times such as climate change, poverty, migration and food security. Social innovations can be defined as concepts and ideas that meet societal needs through re-thinking social relationships and collaborations. These innovations can be products, services or models. Co-working spaces, (skill-, tool-) sharing platforms, repair cafés and community-supported agriculture projects are some examples of existing social innovations. Generally, social innovations contribute to a more just and sustainable society. This course examines the potentials of social innovation in Liechtenstein. Based on a theoretical foundation, new impulses for selected local initiatives will be developed.

Diese Einführung in philosophisches Denken und die Kunstform des Theaters findet in Auseinandersetzung mit drei ausgewählten Theateraufführungen statt. Sowohl Theater wie Philosophie beschäftigen sich in kritischer Perspektive mit dem Menschen und dem, was er tut: Wer oder was sind wir überhaupt? Was ist gut, was kann, was soll verändert werden? Was bedeutet es, dass uns manches selbstverständlich erscheint und anderes uns zutiefst befremdet? Welche Rolle spielen Gefühle, Körper, Gesten und Blicke?
Im Seminar machen wir das Experiment, Philosophie und Theater mit einander ins Gespräch zu bringen. Beide sollen als Medium kritischen Denkens in den Blick genommen werden, die uns immer wieder neu vor die Herausforderung stellen, uns selbst zu bestimmen.
Das Programm beinhaltet die Lektüre und gemeinsame Diskussion einiger wichtiger philosophischer Klassiker sowie eine kurze Einführung in die Auseinandersetzung mit Theater. Unsere philosophischen Diskussionen konfrontieren wir mit drei ausgewählten Theateraufführungen, in denen menschliches Sein buchstäblich auf dem Spiel steht.
Das Seminar wird von dem Philosophen Manuel Scheidegger und von Jan Sellke, Leitender Dramaturg TAK Theater Liechtenstein, zusammen gestaltet.

Technology is a cross-sectional dimension of our life world and a catalyzer of socio-cultural change - also in realm of work. For example, containerization made logistics more efficient but also dramatically accelerated structural change for dockers. The seminar investigates the intertwining of technology and work in a cultural-anthropological perspective, focusing on historical processes, technological change, and the ethnographic study of organizations. The aim of the course is to get a broader understanding of how technology is socially constructed, not only in the realm of work, but in our everyday life in general: A cultural anthropology's perspective on technology and work argues that the using of technology and the organization of work are results of social negotiations in which cultural norms, as well as individual and group interests, are involved. The select literature will comprise the disciplines of cultural anthropology, cultural studies, history, and sociology.

In this course, students will approach current infrastructural problems from a social science point of view. We understand infrastructure as an assemblage of installations, operating procedures and usages, involving supply, storage, transport and evacuation of goods, people and data. The course offers a reflexion on contemporary urban transition in the western world: to address contemporary challenges, such as demographic pressure, climate change or energy shortage, one major issue is to adapt, optimise and revalorise systems and practices that surround infrastructures today.

What influence has people's identity on how they are leading their everyday lives? How they relate to others by feeling either close to or distant from them? What consumption practices they engage in? How people arrange the physical space around them? What they perceive to be their place in the world? The course starts out from the observation that, over the last decades, identity has become one of the most central categories in social life - for example, by motivating people to engage in specific types of action, giving rise to wars in identity's name, and serving for processes of social inclusion and exclusion. Yet, identity is also an elusive and highly contested category. Identities are not fixed and stable but are socially constructed and transforming over time, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to determine who someone 'really' is. Also, in many cases, there are tensions between what identity a group of actors claims to have and what identity they are ascribed to by outsiders. Claims about identity therefore often take the form of controversial 'identity politics'. All of these issues make pertinent the vexing question at the centre of this course: What do we mean when we talk about 'identity'?