Courses

This course will explore patterns of international communication formation including its historical, theoretical, and practical implications. Students will analyze international communication processes in the global context and in the context of Central Europe through both theoretical and practical perspectives. Emphasis will also be given to the impact of culture on international communication and on globalization.

This course will focus on learning how to pronounce and read German. Students will process reading German in public spaces, as well as learn useful German phrases and expressions to get around in German speaking countries. They will also earn to use German in communications in public, at stores, in restaurants, with new German-speaking friends and others. This course will help you discover how knowing another language deepens the understanding of another culture.

This course is an introduction to Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The course, which will link global and regional history, follows the principles of the Educational Philosophy of Yad Vashem and is based on the “Ten stages of Genocide” by Gregory H Stanton. The course focus is on events in Central Europe. The course topic is the Holocaust and the Genocide in Bosnia. The Nazi past and the Holocaust shape Austria until this day. The class will also discuss local Jewish history, Holocaust in Tyrol and Austria, National Socialism in Tyrol and Innsbruck, Righteous among the Nations from Tyrol and Austria.

This course, as the title suggest, is a comprehensive study of European history from the end of WWII to the modern day. It ranges broadly, including Austria, but covering the whole of the continent, especially Germany, France, the UK, and eastern Europe.

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to destination management and marketing, focusing on service marketing concepts and theories. Students will learn to define the roles and tasks of destination management, understand the specific framework conditions, and explore the functions of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) across various nations. They will develop skills in planning, assessing destination boundaries, and evaluating core tasks and strategic options. Additionally, students will analyze the effects of tourism, study the lifecycle of destinations, and apply principles of destination marketing at both strategic and operational levels. The course also covers the analysis of tourism trends and their impact on destination management and marketing, providing students with the tools to critically assess and apply strategies within the tourism industry.

This course is a study of the intersections, practices, techniques, and schools of contemporary art and popular music in Austria. Austria has historically had a rich tradition of radical artistic revolution. Today, it is one of the great epicenters of cutting-edge, experimental, and avant-garde music and art. The class will closely examine the rise in the 1970s of the seminal Austrian theater-rock band Drahdiwaberl, and the political/cabaret-inspired Die Schmetterlinge. A path will be traced through New Wave and Funk, to underground bands of the 80s, Falco (of “Rock Me Amadeus” fame), Heavy Metal, Punk, and R’n’B, to the gender-defying pop sensation, Conchita Wurst, winner of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, and recent electronic music by Der Schwimmer and Tosca. The class will also explore Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music and its critical reception in Austria. This course has a fieldwork component with several concerts and gallery exhibitions.

This is an introductory course focused on the field of travel writing. Drawing on three interrelated fields - journalism, tourism and communication - the course will expose students to the skill set needed to begin their journey in this freelance dominated industry. Students will be exposed to the important genres of travel writing--blogs, commentaries and long form narrative (both written and visual). They will develop a portfolio during this class.  

This course provides a framework for the study of the behavior of human beings in a formal workplace.  It will explore the nature of organizations and the ways in which people function within them to achieve a set of desired outcomes.  

This intensive course provides a comprehensive understanding of leadership principles and continuous improvement strategies in healthcare systems. It combines leadership theories, organizational behavior, and quality improvement tools, with a focus on international healthcare systems, particularly in the European context. The course also integrates real-world applications, exploring how healthcare leaders can effectively lead organizations through cultural, regulatory, and socioeconomic challenges. Through a mix of theoretical foundations, practical case studies, and interactive activities, students will explore the critical role leadership plays in improving healthcare outcomes, patient safety, and organizational efficiency. Special emphasis will be placed on leadership in multicultural and cross-border healthcare environments, drawing examples from European, Austrian, and global healthcare systems.

This course examines the ways organizations satisfy consumer and organizational needs and wants for products and services. Emphasis will be placed on how the elements of the marketing mix are used to provide customer satisfaction in the marketing of goods and services, both domestically and internationally. Specifically, upon completion of this course, the student should be able to define and explain the marketing concept and related terminology, explain the importance of target markets, understand segmentation and positioning and explain the basic methodologies of marketing research, identify and appropriately respond to ethical issues faced by marketing managers, and recognize the differences between domestic and international marketing environments.

This course introduces students to the main concepts, practices, organizations, and problems of international politics in a global context, i.e. all things related to “world politics”. The course pays attention to theoretical attempts to understand concepts and phenomena of international relations, the current international system, and its institutions and organizations. In addition, the course addresses current and future global political trends and challenges. After an introduction to International Relations theories, the course examines main concepts such as agency, structure, the state, power, security, war, and global governance. Seemingly domestic political issues and problems such as issues of identity and human dignity have long since begun to affect global politics. This is, in particular, the case for concepts of illiberal democracies or rightwing populism. The course therefore also addresses some of today’s most pressing global political problems today, such as those related to identity politics and human rights. Despite its general focus, the course relies on current events and examples, mainly drawn from the contexts of US, European and international organizations contexts. The course is accompanied by several simulations in the classroom, guest lectures from practitioners (e.g. international law), experts (e.g. on current wars), and a field trip to an international organization (all tbc).

This course offers an introduction to social psychology through the works and contributions of prominent Austrian psychologists. Each week, students will explore core themes of social psychology, analyze theories developed in Vienna, and visit significant locations that shaped these thinkers' lives and work. By examining these theorists' perspectives, students will gain insight into how social, cultural, and historical contexts influence psychological theories.

Cross-cultural, global, comparative, and critical perspectives on human behavior and culture. Diversity of human cultures from hunter-gatherers to industrialized city dwellers. Implications of sociocultural analysis of economic, social, political, symbolic, and religious systems. This course will present a topical and theoretical overview of cultural anthropology, including (i) explaining culture and cultural diversity; (ii) cultural categories, such as race, ethnicity, and gender; (iii) social institutions, such as marriage, family, religion and law; (iv) subsistence practices, such as hunting/gathering, pastoralism, and farming.  

This course is a survey of money, commercial banking, financial institutions, the Federal Reserve System, and the formulation and execution of monetary and economic stabilization policy. The class will weave the development of the European Central Bank and the adoption of the euro into the class discussions.  Examples will also be used from the local area to highlight various issues.  For example, during the 1930s the Tirolean town of Worgl implemented a localized, depreciating currency; this experiment will be highlighted to show the role of money and explore the relationships of money and the local economy and culture.

An introduction to the literary art of American film based on classics set in Austria. Students will apply their "reading" skills to iconic films set in in Austria, such as The Sound of Music (1965), The Third Man (1949), Amadeus (1984) and Before Sunrise (1995), thinking through how--in addition to representing movements within American cinema (i.e., the musical, film noir, realism)--the setting informs the work and vice versa.

This is a studio course designed to introduce to the student various methods and materials traditionally used in drawing and early painting. Emphasis is placed on the learning of correct observation and on the translation of that observation accurately on to a flat surface by means of the non-verbal language of line and value (lightness and darkness). Because correct observation requires so much contact with actual objects, the course addresses a rich variety of actual objects and environments for utilization in drawings, paintings and mixed-media work. The class also focuses heavily on color theory and the application of it during creative exploration. Each drawing session may be followed by brief discussion of the work.

In this class, we will explore the theme of love (romantic, familial, patriotic, etc.) in the cinema of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia (later Czech and Slovak Republics). Through specific films, students will learn about some of the major directors, cinematic trends, and political and social developments of Central Europe from the middle of the 20th century until today. 

This class is an introduction to environmental history in a global context – a history across cultures, nations, geography and time. It is not meant to be an exhaustive class in which you will be taught everything you will ever need to know about environmental history around the world.  Instead, this class is intended to help you to explore some basic issues and themes. Given our location in Innsbruck, much of the time will be spent focusing on Europe. The class will discuss nature and the birth of civilizations, epidemics from the Plague of Justinian to the Black Death, the impact of European colonialism on the global environment, and the rise of the worldwide environmental movement. It will also range beyond Europe, however, to East Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa, and across time from the Ice Age to the present day. In the process students will also touch on a wide spectrum of historical approaches: social history, labor history, political and policy history, women’s history, and more – not to mention biology, ecology, anthropology, and a number of other interdisciplinary influences. 

This course is a historical overview of the Church and society in Western Europe from the origins of Christianity through the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. After examining key aspects of early Christianities and the emergence of normative or “Catholic” Christian belief and practice, the course focuses on the institutions and culture of Christianity as it developed in Western Europe in the Middle Ages.  Themes will include the varieties of monasticism; relationships with Judaism and Islam; the development of Roman primacy and Papal government; scholasticism and other intellectual movements; and late-medieval attempts at institutional and intellectual reform. The course will introduce students to major themes and ideas through the reading of survey texts, and to historical interpretation through the analysis of primary sources.  

This course on Nazi Germany and the Second World War is designed to accommodate both beginner and intermediate students who have an interest in the most catastrophic war of human history. The focus is on origins and outcomes of the conflict, wartime diplomacy, the strategic and operational aspects of the struggle, the impact of the war on the major civilian societies, the ideological dimensions of the conflict, the problem of moral judgment under the stress of war, and the Holocaust. While the focus of the course will be on the period 1939-1945, the course will also examine, in some depth, the diplomatic and military origins of the war in the interwar period. World War II had a decisive impact upon the world order. The division of much of the world into two armed camps, one dominated by the United States and the other by the Soviet Union, was to a large extent the consequence of actions and decisions made during the decade 1937 to 1947.

In this course students will learn to read and pronounce Italian. They will learn how to engage in simple conversations with others at university, in stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. They will also grow in confidence in using Italian as they travel in Italy and will gain a deeper understanding of a foreign culture by learning a foreign language.

The appearance and rapid spread of misinformation, particularly via digital media platforms, have affected communication and major world events in recent years. False news stories, often orchestrated by coordinated attacks internationally, have been shared millions of times on main social media platforms, more rapidly and widely than real ones. Mimicking writing and production styles of real news stories, false ones prey on vulnerable populations and effectively propagate inaccurate beliefs. College students are not exempt from the effects of widespread misinformation; especially in the early years of their college lives when uncertainly can increase susceptibility to persuasive messages. This course explores the ongoing debate about “fake news,” with a focus on explaining its origins, reach, characteristics, and effects. It offers students strategies to recognize and deal with misinformation and propaganda messages in the digital world and build basic media literacy skills.

This course is designed to expose the student to current research and theory in a variety of management topics. This Management Leadership course is tailored specifically for international students, emphasizing leadership theories, organizational behavior, and interpersonal communication within a global framework. By integrating transformational, authentic, and purpose-driven leadership models with leader-member exchange theory (LMX), the course addresses the diverse cultural and socioeconomic perspectives that shape leadership in international contexts. Through a combination of theoretical foundations and practical applications, students will explore how leaders influence organizational outcomes, manage cross-cultural teams, and foster innovation across geographically dispersed environments. The course emphasizes building effective communication strategies, managing team dynamics, resolving conflicts, and promoting leadership innovation, thus preparing students to adapt and lead effectively in multicultural settings.

This course is an overview of the history of Western Art Music with an emphasis on the music of Austrian and German composers. The course will consist of lectures, discussion, video, listening, and video examples, and attendance at live musical events in Innsbruck and throughout Austria. Students will learn the basic elements of music and acquire knowledge of the periods of music history, including major composers, styles, and selected works. Special emphasis will be placed on the music of Austria, including the Classical era's Mozart and Haydn, the Romantic period's Mahler and Bruckner, the twentieth century's musical revolution spearheaded by Schoenberg, and the reigning "bad boy" of contemporary music - Georg Friedrich Haas.  No musical background necessary. Fieldwork will include concert attendance in Innsbruck and Salzburg.

This course critically examines and deconstructs the negative and damaging cultural stereotype of “Gypsy.” It reconceptualizes the Roma peoples as the largest ethnic minority of Europe that is quintessentially European but has its own language, social mores, and cultural norms. The course materials move students through and beyond the socio-economic marginalization of Roma in Europe to a “thick” ethnographic understanding of their history (their migration from India, subsequent enslavement in the Balkans and the Roma Holocaust) and culture (purity beliefs, music), without romanticizing or essentializing them. The course also allows students to learn about the systemic discrimination faced by the Roma and the work of Roma activists.  

This course explores the European economic environment.  European economic integration, including the introduction of the euro, is examined.  Topics include inflation, unemployment, economic growth, and national fiscal policies.  Special focus is placed on the economic implications of European Union corporate sustainability regulation.

Reading, evaluation, and discussion of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and related works. A significant section of Frankenstein (whose title character is German-Swiss) takes place in the Alps--a setting that contributes to the meaning of the novel, which was conceived of during Shelley's visit to Switzerland in 1816. Mary Shelley's travels throughout the region and feelings about it inform the approach (i.e., she discusses Austria explicitly in her last published work, Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844)) to complicate thinking about the author or text as exclusively British.

This class is an introduction to art in which the visual elements and principles are examined through a study of the key monuments in the history of art from cave paintings to the present. Important styles of painting, sculpture, architecture, and twentieth century media are explored with attention to the personalities of the artists and the cultures in which they lived. This class will explore local art museums in order to provide a real-world experience in relation to the material covered in class.

This is an introductory course to the field of International Communication (hereafter, IC). IC developed as a subset of the field of Mass Communication (a field based on the premise that mass media -- which includes film, television, smartphones, social media, video games, etc.) are central to making sense of the nature of contemporary society. IC takes those assumptions and extends them to a global level, arguing that mass media connects societies, cultures, and states across regions and the world at large. Most critically, it mobilizes discourses of Identity within and across national borders. The following equation sums up the field: Globalization + Media + Identity = International Communication. Students in any field, but especially Business, Management, Mass Communication / Journalism/ Public Relations, etc. will benefit from exposure to the field of IC.

This is a production-oriented class where students will learn documentary and narrative/fictional storytelling through hands-on projects that use video recorded with a Smartphone or a small DSLR still/video camera. By the end of the course, each student will make four short documentary or narrative/fictional projects while learning about the basics of all the major aspects of the cinematic medium, from the idea and development to production and postproduction. Students will also watch and discuss clips from documentary and narrative/fiction films to understand the range of possibilities in style and technique in contemporary documentary film and narrative cinema. Students should bring to Innsbruck a laptop computer with basic editing software installed.

This course introduces students to important political, social, artistic, and religious developments in Europe from around 1050 to around 1500. Students will explore medieval society from various perspectives through close attention to a series of primary sources, including works of literary fiction, philosophical and theological works, secular and ecclesiastical legal texts, and works of visual art and architecture.

This course provides a framework for the study of the behavior of human beings in a formal workplace.  It will explore the nature of organizations and the ways in which people function within them to achieve a set of desired outcomes.

Aside from wages, healthcare is the greatest employee cost for your business or industry. This course will discuss how healthcare is provided in the US and around the world and introduce students to global health issues such as the relationship between global health and economic development and selected thematic areas identifying future trends.  A variety of media will be used to demonstrate health statistics, disease transmission, and preparedness before emergencies. Health comparisons between countries and multicultural environments will be examined to note unique distinctions, costs, outcomes, and inequalities. We will all need the healthcare system at some point in our lives. Understanding those services, their costs, benefits and risks is essential.

This course examines the ways organizations satisfy consumer and organizational needs and wants for products and services. Emphasis will be placed on how the elements of the marketing mix are used to provide customer satisfaction in the marketing of goods and services, both domestically and internationally. Specifically, upon completion of this course, the student should be able to define and explain the marketing concept and related terminology, explain the importance of target markets, understand segmentation and positioning and explain the basic methodologies of marketing research, identify and appropriately respond to ethical issues faced by marketing managers, and recognize the differences between domestic and international marketing environments.

Exploring the history of Electroencephalography (EEG) through the lives and theories of influential figures who lived and worked in Vienna, paired with site visits that contextualize the evolution of psychological thought in historical and clinical settings. Each week, students will explore core themes of neuroimaging, analyze theories developed in Vienna, and visit significant locations that shaped these thinkers' lives and work. This course immerses students in the history of EEG but also utilizes Austria's scientific environment, allowing for a deeper appreciation of how local research ties into the global neuroscience community.

• ANTH 1020: Fad, Fallacies, & Human Origins 
• ANTH 3090: Anthropology of the Roma (Gypsy) People 
• ANTH 3340: People and Cultures of the World 
• ANTH 4440: Religion Magic and Witchcraft
• BA 3010: The Legal Environment of Business
• BA 3021: Business Law 
• ECON 2221: Money & Banking 
• ECON 3000: Managerial Economics 
• EES 1006: Dinosaurs 
• EES 2096: Alpine/Glacial Geology and Climate Change
• ENGL 2090: From Battlefront to Homefront: The Legacy of World War II in Literature
• ENGL 2091: Literature of the Holocaust 
• ENGL 2238: Reading Fiction: European Horror Fiction
• ENGL 2312: International Film as Literary Art 
• FA 1010: Art Appreciation 
• FA 100: Core Studio I – Surfaces/Process/Practice 
• FIN 3300: Financial Management 
• FIN 4306: International Finance
• FTA 2090: International Communication 
• GER 1001: Beginning German 
• HIST 2991.1: Nazi Germany and World War II 
• HIST 2991.2: Holocaust and Genocide 
• HIST 2991.3: Human Rights 
• HUMS 2090: Contemporary Art and Popular Music in Austria
• JOUR 2790: Travel Writing 
• MANG 3401.1: Introduction to Management & Organizational Behavior 
• MANG 4446: International Management
• MANG 4750: Business Intelligence and Analytics
• MATH 2785: Elementary Statistics for Business and Economics
• MUS 1000: Music Appreciation 
• POLI 2993: Introduction to International Relations
• PSYC 1000: General Psychology 
• PSYC 2091: Cultural Psychology 

• ANTH 1010: Peoples of the World 
• ANTH 1020: Fads, Fallacies, and Human Origins 
• ANTH 2052: Cultural Anthropology w/ Service Learning
• ANTH 4440: Religion, Magic and Witchcraft 
• BA 3010: The Legal Environment of Business 
• BA 3021: Business Law 
• ECON 3000: Managerial Economics 
• EES 1006: Dinosaurs
• EES 2096: Alpine/Glacial Geology and Climate Change
• ENGL 2090: The Legacy of World War II in Literature 
• ENGL 2312: International Film as Literary Art 
• FA 1010: Art Appreciation 
• FTA 2090-92: International Communications 
• FA 1001: Core Studio I - Surface, Process, Practice 
• FTA 3090: Cinematic Storytelling with your Smartphone or DSLR Camera 
• GER 1001: Basic German I 
• HIST 2000: Environmental History 
• HIST 2991.1: Nazi Germany and World War II 
• HIST 2991.2: Genocide and Holocaust 
• HIST 3992: Imperial Europe: Austria & Germany 
• HIST 4003: Modern Military History 
• HUMS 2090: Interculturalism and Gender Equality 
• ITAL 1001: Basic Italian I 
• JOUR 2790: Travel Writing 
• MANG 3401: Introduction to Management & Org. Behavior 
• MANG 4446: International Management 
• MKT 3501: Principles of Marketing 
• POLI 2993: Introduction to International Relations
• PSYC 2091: Culture, Drugs, and Behavior 
• PSYC 1000: General Psychology