Aims

By the end of the course, students should have acquired a solid knowledge of the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries. They should be able to describe in detail the political institutions, the different social actors (employers, trade unions, etc.) and the important social questions discussed in the German-speaking countries.

Main themes

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries. It describes the political institutions and the different actors (parties, trends) and tackles the important legal questions discussed in society. During the course, we will describe the major recent social trends by studying the different participants (employers, trade unions, etc.) Finally, the economic underpinnings of the country will be tackled (finance, employment, the structure of companies, management, etc.), in order to speed up the economic immersion in the economic life of these countries.
This course also has a seminar component (15 hours) where different aspects of the course using articles and videos are discussed in German.

Content and teaching methods

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries using a variety of sources: newspaper articles, videos, internet sites, etc.) Emphasis will also be placed on the current events of the countries concerned using different media (newspapers, television etc.)

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisites: B1 level of oral German (Common European Framework of Reference).
Evaluation: Written and/or oral examination: the written part consists of a case study that the student will write on a legal, social or political topic chosen by the student. The oral part of the exam will be based on the theoretical courses.
The teacher will, whenever possible, invite members from the business, diplomatic and journalistic world to come and speak to the students.

Part 2 of the course (15 hours) is given by the Institut des Langues Vivantes (ILV).

Other credits in programs