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B.A. | Undergraduate Courses

The Politics of Social Media Platforms

Winter Semester 2024/25

Tech Cultures: Innovation, Ideology, Influence

Winter Sememster 2025/26

M.A. | Graduate Courses

This course offers an introduction to the study of social media platforms, also known as platform studies research, using a sociotechnical lens to understand their impact on society. We will explore the intersection of technology, power, and society, covering aspects such as values, content moderation, platform regulation, algorithmic systems. Through case studies and critical analysis, students will gain insights into key terms of platform studies research, the complex dynamics shaping everyday social media usage and the broader societal implications of digital platforms.

This course introduces students to the cultural narratives, belief systems, and world-building practices that shape current tech cultures. Focusing on Silicon Valley as both a geographic site and a symbolic center of innovation, disruption, and power, we will examine how big tech companies imagine the future, and engineer the present. Topics include the Californian Ideology, cyberlibertarianism, Silicon values, techno-optimism, techno-solutionism, and innovation cultures. Through case studies and critical frameworks, students will explore how these ideologies shape not only technologies and platforms but also broader socio-political dynamics (e.g., AI development).

This course introduces students to digital methods for researching contemporary digital and platform-based environments. With a strong emphasis on methodological experimentation, the course engages a range of approaches, including data and network analysis, API-based data collection, the walkthrough method, and LLM-assisted analysis. Through hands-on exercises and collaborative group work, students gain practical experience applying digital methods, while developing skills in designing and conducting small-scale digital research projects.

The University of Bremen, in collaboration with the University of Antwerp, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle and partner universities in the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) alliance, invites applications for the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program (BIP) entitled Challenges and Futures of the Governance of Platforms and AI. This program offers students the opportunity to explore pressing questions in digital governance in an international and interdisciplinary environment, while developing both academic expertise and transferable skills relevant for research, policymaking and advocacy. Blended Intensive Programs are a relatively new Erasmus+ mobility format. They combine short physical mobility abroad with structured online learning activities before and after the in-person component. This approach makes international exchange more inclusive, particularly for students who cannot commit to semester-long mobility. BIPs are financially supported through Erasmus+ grants that cover travel and living expenses, and participation is recognized with academic credit (ECTS) at the home institution.

The thematic focus of this BIP lies on the governance of digital platforms and artificial intelligence. Platforms such as social media, online marketplaces, streaming services, and generative AI tools increasingly shape social, political and economic life. They also raise critical issues of regulation, accountability and power. Students will develop a deeper understanding of this diversity of digital platforms, explore how platforms govern and are governed, and analyze governance structures within platforms themselves. A strong emphasis is placed on current European regulatory frameworks, including the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act, alongside case studies and debates on possible future governance models.