Police – The problematic of civil security forces in the U.S.

Other than volunteer fire departments as a self-help organization aiming at protection and emergency response, policing can be described as a mode of violence in the fabrication / maintenance of social order.

Policing is a form of structuring urban as well as rural environments. Policing negotiates protection and service in the pursuit of justice – but the question of justice, and with it the very definition of crime, and of property, strongly depends on the needs and wishes of the hegemonial block.

The question of whom police forces actually serve and protect, and at whose expense, became particularly prominent during the summer of 2020, including some discussions as to whether there are alternatives to the received forms of policing, and what they might look like. The U.S. especially have a difficult history of vigilantism in lieu / excess of police operations.

We will look at a variety of argumentations concerning the logic of police forces, the objectives for their existence, their funding, their training, and their experiences between the mythology of the “thin blue line”, and calls for their ‘defunding’ / reform.

We will read / watch a variety of texts from within and without (mostly North American) police forces, from crime series to comedy, and from a variety of genres. We will also check out some of the similarities and differences between U.S. American and Canadian police theories, practices, and mythologies.

Aim

The class will enable (future) teachers to topicalise / respond to questions concerning the police forces in North America (and, to a lesser degree, in Germany), their training, their history, and their position in contemporary society.

Referent

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck ist Professor für Nordamerikastudien am Englischen Seminar der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität und seit Beginn des FACE einer der Leiter des Praxiskollegs.

Veranstaltungsart

Onlineseminar für Studierende und Lehrkräfte

Adressat*innen

Zielgruppe: Lehrkräfte für Englisch aller Klassenstufen der Sek I + II

Schulart: Gymnasium, WRS, HS und RS

Leitung

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Termine

immer freitags (14x) vom Fr, 23.04.2021 bis Fr, 23.07.2021
jeweils 14:00 – 16:00 Uhr
(Ausnahme in der Pfingstwoche Fr, 28.05)

Anmeldung

Zur Anmeldung auf der Webseite des Zentrums für Lehrkräftefortbildung (ZELF) der Pädagogischen Hochschule Freiburg

Anmeldeschluss: Mi, 14.04.2021