Politics makes history

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Target group / prerequisites:
This profile is aimed at students who have an interest and enthusiasm for political and historical issues, questions and topics, and who want to question and understand complex interrelationships of the time and memory history. In addition, it is expected that the interested students bring openness and creativity to engage with digital media in a design-oriented and interdisciplinary way and to create products (e.g., short films) in tandems/teams. It is also expected that there is a willingness to read longer texts and sources, as well as enjoyment in shaping our school democratically and getting involved for more participation of students. In the profile-generating subjects, it is essential to want to engage in open discourses and discussions on the teaching subject and to contribute to the exchange of content-based argumentation. This profile is especially suitable for those who want to understand the world around them better and who want to engage with substantive arguments about history culture and the spirit of the times. And for those who think about central ideas for today’s future and who perhaps want to become makers of tomorrow. We will not have all the answers, but we will be able to ask the right questions, and perhaps we will find in the past the answers that the present has kept secret for the future?

 

Contents profile-generating subjects:

In the profile-generating subject History, which is taught four hours per week at an advanced level, the thematic focus lies on engaging with historical topics and questions, personalities and sources from the major epochs of the Early Modern Period (15th–18th centuries) and Modern Times (19th–20th centuries). Exemplary for this are, for instance, the American and French Revolutions, the Napoleonic era, but also the German Empire, National Socialism and the Cold War in the four semesters. These topic examples are only a possible selection and can be worked on in history class alongside other topics; also, the Roman antiquity can be the content frame of the teaching work.

In the profile-generating subject PGW, which is taught four hours per week at an advanced level, we deal with a variety of topics and challenges that currently shape the media and political landscape and which are also decisive for central questions of shaping diverse future worlds.

To prepare you in the PGW subject with a “Democracy Kit.” This includes the tools to recognize social trends, understand today’s and tomorrow’s world of work, use media wisely, question arguments and, above all, cultivate your judgment. In this profile we also work closely with our external partner, Haus Rissen, to be able to partake in the diverse range of simulations and lectures there that fit our thematic focus in the profile course. 

Furthermore, at the end of the second semester a one- to two-day Berlin trip is planned, which will be prepared and carried out together with the PGW profile course of our profile “Technology in Focus.”  

Content-wise we also look back into the past, at the pioneers of our democracy, perform a stock analysis and also explore possible alternative concepts. Is our democracy perhaps still improvable? In sociology, we look at our consumption behavior. Is everything nowadays only an experience? How do we deal with risks such as nuclear power or global warming?

The international relations as another semester topic go in search of the dream of peace and why it is so hard to implement. In the economics area we examine how digitalization is integrated into the world of work, whether the state sometimes needs to intervene more, and whether it is sensible to order from Amazon?

 

Content accompanying subject:

For the accompanying subject Informatics, which is taught two hours at a basic level, no prior knowledge or experience is necessary. This means that in the upper grade levels the subject contents of informatics are taught fundamentally from the beginning, without requiring prior knowledge. Content-wise, it covers basics of object-oriented programming, network encryption, simulation of social media and democratic decision-making processes (programming a voting automaton) and artificial intelligence.

 

Introduction to academic work:

The introduction to scientific work methods and presentation techniques is usually done in the S1 project week (either just before the autumn holidays or during the travel week of S3) and is mandatory in the seminar subject. In the first semester, students learn scientific preparatory work techniques within the framework of the Federal President’s History Competition.

 

Contents Seminar subject: Projects, competitions, etc. (BOSO obligatory):

The seminar subject is linked thematically to the subject of History in the first and second semesters and to the subject PGW in the third and fourth semesters.

In the first semester, students work project-based on the Federal President’s History Competition (https://www.koerber-stiftung.de/geschichtswettbewerb) from 01.09. to 28 February of the following year independently, as a team or in a small group on individual competition contributions to an overarching competition theme, which deals with the regional history of Hamburg or the students’ own family history, and use as a presentation medium a medium of their choice, e.g., podcasts, films, short stories, comics, graphic novels, written texts like short stories, dramatic presentations, etc.

Within the framework of the History Competition, it is possible to have the created contributions evaluated as a special learning achievement (BLL) as a so-called fifth Abitur examination for the Abitur.

In the second, third and fourth semesters it is planned to work on further society-relevant competition formats project-based alone, in a team or in a small group; these can be, for example, the following offers for History & PGW:

  • History: European Competition “YOUrope – it’s about you!”, EUSTORY (German-French History Competition), HISTORY-AWARD, Denkmal aktiv and Umbruchzeiten
  • PGW: Democratic Action, Democracy Experience Award for democratic school development, Bertini Prize, Student Contest for Political Education, all for ONE WORLD for all, European Competition (EW) and Euroscola

 

Phases of project-based or practice-oriented teaching in the profile area:

In PGW the plan game “Experience Democracy” establishes the creation of a school’s own fictional party as a central foundation for several semesters. In addition to central conditions (e.g., concept, party program, organizational structure of the party, etc.), the election of these parties at GyRa at the end of the working process is also a focus. For this, students form various interest groups, work independently on their party contents and goals, present themselves to the GyRa student body in preliminary and interim polls, and are continuously supported and guided by the PGW teacher, conduct panel discussions among themselves and engage with content of regional, state and federal politics.       

In addition, the PGW classroom introduces the concept of the “Current Hour” or “News of the Week” practically, where students conduct a factual discussion in the profile course about day-to-day and important but especially controversial issues and debates from the public in a problem-oriented way and independently moderate.

In History, in the third semester, thematic deepening on National Socialism and, in particular, Jewish policy and the destruction of Jews will be pursued. The Hamburger project “Stolpersteine” can be anchored in history teaching and a joint day excursion to important memorial sites in Hamburg’s city center can be conducted. Here, together we should examine at which places in our city’s history, how, why and by whom historical events of the 20th century are remembered.   

 

Possibilities for interdisciplinary cooperation in the profile area:

In “Media Worlds” the strengths and commonalities of History and PGW are most vividly combined. Here the focus is on practical- and outcome-oriented engagement with various media (worlds of media); this is not another designation for the subject Informatics, but for example:

  • “Fake news,” conspiracy theories about social media, carriers of these and other communication channels (e.g., who benefits from deliberate misinformation? How do fake news arise in the first place and how can one search for the truth behind misinformation? How do conspiracy theories about social media work and how did they work in the past and today? What were and are significant conspiracy theories, like the Kennedy assassination, and who believes why? How should one deal with Holocaust- or Corona-deniers today? How do conspiracy theories work at all?  
  • Selected film and series analysis in PGW & History: How do historical films and series differ from actual contemporary sources and representations? What can we derive from them for memory and commemoration of historical events today – who wants to remember what and why is not remembered differently? What does the future of our society look like? How do we change ourselves through innovation, politics and technological progress? Will the dystopias of the series “Black Mirrors” become reality or is there hope for our time? What can we learn from films and series for our future and to what extent can we learn from our history? Must/can/should or may history repeat itself?

The work in the subject Media Worlds is fundamentally aligned with the factual content of History and PGW and links the historical with the political or social perspective. Both subjects are closely interwoven here, and the teaching content is therefore always analyzed from both viewpoints. Students in the subject Media Worlds will work with and about digital media and will receive necessary space for free thought, exchange opportunities, and discussion to examine existing media problem-oriented and to independently produce their own media (short films, explainer videos, podcasts, etc.) in teams or small groups.

 

Content reference to societal-relevant and current topics and questions:

  • In which system (political, historical, social and economic) do we live, and how can we make it more sustainable now and in the future?
  • Which developments and changes determine our current politics and democracy, and what difficulties do we currently face? How can and must politics and democracy be shaped in the future and change?
  • Where are the origins of our current society, and in what society do we actually want to live together in the future? Do we as a society have to tolerate all opinions and what does our own past teach us in dealing with those who think differently?
  • What opportunities and risks does the past offer us to deal with current challenges and difficulties of the present and future, such as the climate crisis, digitalization or terrorism?
  • Why is democracy the best form of government of our time and would there be alternatives? What do we have to protect and preserve in our democracy socially, politically, economically and historically?

 

Possible cooperation partners:

 

Profile trip:

With regard to the social science demands of the profile, the following destinations may be available for selection: Rome, Paris, Strasbourg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, etc.

Besides these suggestions, other cities or urban regions can also be selected by the current profile course, the instructing profile teachers, or the tutor. In general, it is important that a European metropolis or metropolitan region is visited, whose past, present and future are collectively rediscovered on the profile trip and the spirit of the times can be experienced through the profile.