Faculty: Dr. Thomas O. Haakenson

Program Orientation: May 18, 2026

Before traveling abroad, the class will hold a required online orientation.

Program Dates in Berlin: May 24-June 12, 2026

• Housing Check-in: May 24, 2026
• Housing Checkout: June 15, 2026 

Program Description

Open to undergraduate and graduate students

Berlin, Germany’s capital, is a global destination for art and culture and the site of some of the world’s most significant historical and political transformations. Artists and activists within Berlin’s dynamic queer community have long been key agents of social justice and community organization, shaping the city both creatively and politically. Queer Berlin offers students direct access to this legacy through site-specific encounters and archival research, engaging with the individuals and movements that have transformed—and continue to transform—the city into a center of creative excellence, community engagement, social justice, and avant-garde innovation.

Students will visit world-renowned museums and exhibitions, artist and designer studios and archives, community-based activist and social justice organizations, and historical monuments and present-day political centers. Students will create visual and textual maps, dynamic and interactive visual storyboards, using archival finds and detailed research, in-person interviews and site-specific encounters, to showcase the individual and collective journeys of Queer Berlin’s artists, designers, architects, and activists. The spectacular exhibition “LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT! Queer Movements in Germany since Stonewall” at Berlin’s Schwules (LGBTIQ+) Museum will be just one of the key resources for the course.

This course allows students to engage directly with some of history’s most horrific and most euphoric moments. From the “scramble for Africa” at the Berlin Conference to the unbridled sadism of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, from the creative enthusiasm of the Bauhaus and Weimar to the cataclysmic division of East Germany and West Germany, and from the tragedies of the Cold War to the possibilities of a reunified country and unified European Union, Queer Berlin is a palimpsest not only of the past and present, but of the future as well.

Key sites include:

• Schwules (LGBTIQ*+) Museum (“Gay LGBTIQ*+ Museum”)
• Institut für Queer Theory (iQt) (“Institute for Queer Theory”)
• Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung (“Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design”)
• Berlinische Galerie / Museum für Moderne Kunst (“Berlin Gallery / Museum for Modern Art”)
• Dekoloniale Berlin (“Decolonial Berlin”)
• Dekoloniales Denkzeichen (“Decolonial Memorial”)
• Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V.: Forschungsstelle zur Geschichte der Sexualwissenschaft (“Magnus Hirschfeld Society: Research Center for the History of Sexology”)
• Jüdisches Museum Berlin (“Jewish Museum Berlin”)
• Neu National Galerie (“New National Gallery”)
• Käthe Kollwitz Museum Berlin
• Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (“Memorial Site Berlin Wall”)
• Mauerpark Berlin (“Memorial Wall Park Berlin”)
• Reichstaggebäude (“Parliament Building”)

About the Instructor

Dr. Thomas O. Haakenson is Professor in the graduate Critical and Visual Studies Program, as well as in the undergraduate Critical Studies Program and the History of Art and Visual Culture Program. He is also Visiting Faculty in the School of Fine Arts and Design at Philippine Women's University (Manila), and has been Visiting Faculty at the Freie Universität as well as the Humboldt Universität, both located in Berlin, Germany.

Haakenson has received awards and fellowships from the U.S. Fulbright Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte / Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the Transatlantic Program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs & Climate Action, the U.S. Embassy Berlin, the German Academic Exchange Service / Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department, and the Freie Universität / Free University - Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, among others.

A recognized expert on underrepresented and minority communities, visuality, German-speaking cultures, and international relations, Haakenson is a former fellow of Cultural Vistas "New Transatlantic Synergies: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Culture of Remembrance (DAICOR)" Program (https://culturalvistas.org/programs/specialty/daicor/), and the American-German Institute's Program "Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Futures" (https://americangerman.institute/project/building-lgbtq-communities-in-germany-and-the-united-states/)

Learn more about Dr. Thomas O. Haakenson

Prerequisites

Completed Study Abroad Sign-Up Form

• Undergraduate students: Critical studies 2000 and completion of at least sophomore level (57 units) by summer 2026
• For 3000-level History of Art and Visual Culture Elective credit: Intro to the Modern Arts (HAAVC-1080)
• Graduate students: completed Study Abroad Sign-Up form

In addition, all students must be in good academic, conduct, and financial standing for the 2025–26 academic year. Students who are on probation in fall 2025 are not eligible to enroll in a 2026 summer study-abroad program.

Course Satisfies

• For undergraduate students, this course satisfies a History of Art and Visual Culture elective (HAAVC-2000), History of Art and Visual Culture elective (HAAVC-3000) or a Philosophy & Critical Theory elective (PHCRT 3000)
• For graduate students, this course satisfies a Grad-wide elective (GELCT-6100) or a Visual & Critical Studies elective (GELCT-6800).

Program Tuition

estimated cost* $8,000-8,500 + $50 summer registration fee

Included in program tuition:

• 3 credits; housing; some meals; local transportation; guest artists; field trips; entrance fees

Not included in program tuition:

• Airfare to and from Berlin, Germany; ground transportation to and from airport; most meals

*total cost will be confirmed by December

Please read the Summer Study Abroad Registration & Related Information in its entirety.

Questions

Please see Frequently Asked Questions or email studyabroad@cca.edu.