This seminar explores the political economy of radicalization, with a particular focus on how economic crises, globalization, migration, financial instability, religion, war, propaganda, and political violence can shape radical political movements. Students will engage closely with recent academic research in economic history, political economy, and related fields, with an emphasis on understanding and critically assessing quantitative empirical analysis.
Course participants are expected to read academic papers carefully, prepare reading summaries, and give a group presentation on a historical case study. The graded term paper requires students to develop their own research question and conduct an independent quantitative empirical analysis. This includes working with data, presenting descriptive evidence in tables and figures or maps, formulating an empirical strategy, interpreting results, and discussing the limits of causal interpretation.
- Lehrende/r: Alexia Ibrahim
- Lehrende/r: Monique Reiske
This seminar explores the historical origins of economic growth across regions, cities, and countries. The course focuses on three broad themes: the role of first- and second-nature geography, the importance of institutions, and the effects of shocks, persistence, and path dependence. Students will read and discuss academic papers in economic history, regional economics, urban economics, and political economy, with particular attention to how scholars use quantitative empirical analysis to study long-run development.
A central aim of the seminar is to help students understand, evaluate, and apply empirical research methods. Participants are expected to read one academic paper for most sessions, prepare short reading summaries, and give a group presentation that explains and critically discusses one paper. The graded term paper is a short empirical essay in which students develop their own research question and conduct an independent quantitative analysis using data. The course also introduces practical skills in QGIS and R/RStudio to support students in working with spatial and historical data.
- Lehrende/r: Alexia Ibrahim
- Lehrende/r: Monique Reiske
- Lehrende/r: Thilo Albers
- Lehrende/r: Alexia Ibrahim
- Lehrende/r: Monique Reiske