Courses
Life Plans in the Area of Tension between Economization, Self-realization and Sustainability (23-30.01.241)
Buzzwords such as "work-life balance", "sustainability" and "mindfulness" currently characterise everyday working life. At their core, all of these terms deal with the question of a good life in business. They describe an individual process of finding a balance between professional demands on the one hand and personal values and ideas about life on the other. We are all part of a culture and an economic system with formative institutions, processes and ideologies. In order to lead a self-determined life, we therefore have to come to terms with both ourselves and the economic culture that surrounds us. However, the economy is usually approached in an objective form - in figures, data and facts - but not from the very personal perspective of individual life plans. In this seminar, we will therefore explore together our values and ideas about life in relation to the economic world around us.
The aim of this seminar is to critically reflect on our personal and professional roles in the economic world. The aim is for course participants to develop an awareness of unconscious worldview patterns in relation to economic knowledge. Together, they explore the role they ascribe to themselves. Or also: the roles they think they have been assigned and the roles they actually want to live.
Societal Impact through Entrepreneurship (23-31.312.241)
The aim of this course is to take you through the essential steps to becoming an impact entrepreneur, i.e. an entrepreneur with a positive social impact.
Throughout the course you will experience innovative learning content and active and stimulating methods for entrepreneurship. You will meet inspiring guest speakers from the field and experience an impactful environment beyond the university campus. By the end of the course, you will be able to think and act entrepreneurially; you will know how to gain a deep understanding of societal challenges in order to address them; you will be able to develop your own entrepreneurial idea and present it to impact entrepreneurship stakeholders.
The course is divided into three parts:
- developing your own entrepreneurial personality,
- effectively shaping a sustainable future and
- innovative business models and financing strategies.
Transformational sustainability entrepreneurship
The seminar Transformational Sustainability Entrepreneurship puts emphasis on the reflection of ethical aspects in the context of business and real-economy. Students reflect philosophically and practically on social normative thinking and behaviour in entrepreneurial and business contexts. It is the goal to learn thinking in transformative alternatives and realizing these in a fictive start-up.
Therefore, at the beginning of the seminar students will learn about the theoretical background on Transformational Sustainability Entrepreneurship (TSE). The aim of the seminar is that the participants will be able to independently develop entrepreneurial-transformational ideas and to elaborate on them in a professional and creative way.
Deep Dive: Immersion in regenerative business models (23-21.23.241)
Regenerative and distributive business models are the future. With these types of business models, companies position themselves in a forward-looking way and navigate more resiliently through entrepreneurial, social, and ecological crises. In this course, we will first provide an overview of regenerative and distributive business models, clarify principles and design approaches. In the second step, we will introduce specific archetypes of these business models, such as circular models, sharing approaches, and sufficiency-based forms, and get to know exciting companies that are already implementing them in practice. In the third step, we will focus on a particularly forward-looking business model: the community-based business model. This approach turns our thinking about the economy upside down. We will examine the origins of this business model, underlying economic principles, and its practical application. We will discuss the model in the context of the Doughnut Economics and the concept of humanity. In the final part of the course, students will work in groups to develop community-based business models for their own or fictional startup ideas and receive valuable feedback. This course will be conducted in German.
Energy transition - Perspectives from physics and economics
Will the energy transition succeed? That depends not only on politics, but also on us.
Economics and physics are two scientific disciplines that take a complementary perspective on the energy supply of society. This seminar examines the physical and social requirements for the implementation of the energy transition in Germany, with a focus on electricity, heat and transportation.
In this sense physics considers the scientific fundamentals and the technical possibilities and risks that the various proposals for a sustainable
supply hold. The economic sciences deal with the financial, social and political possibilities of an alternative energy supply. Thus, both disciplines together provide valuable insights into the requirements for a successful transition to renewable energy sources.
The new jobs in the sector need economists and physicists with knowledge regarding both aspects: the technology and the social framework.
Deep Dive: Idea development for entrepreneurs
The course gives you the chance to develop new skills and competences. You will learn to develop your passions, (hidden) interests and values entrepreneurially. In the first phase, "Time to Flourish", the focus is on getting to know yourself and your dreams better, taking them seriously and turning them into a realistic picture of the future.
To do this, we enter your world of thoughts and ideas with the help of exciting and unusual methods and illuminate your ideas in the group. In this context, we get closer and closer to the differences between profession and vocation. In the second phase, 'Time for Business', we turn to the implementation of your vocation. Now that you have brought it to the fore, you deal with the concept and its concrete implementation in a business model.