Global Citizenship Education in the UCLA Digital Humanities Classroom: In the Light of Early German Romantic Philosophy

This chapter introduces a course model for Global Citizenship Education that merges literary research and contemporaneous pedagogy. I approach decolonizing literature and language courses through the Romantic concept of symphilosophy. Global Citizenship—as it refers to a sense of belonging to a broader community and common humanity—requires ultimately cooperation in terms of symphilosophizing; a notion that was fundamentally rooted in democratic thinking. I make an argument for Early German Romantic philosophy as a relevant and important tool for pedagogical interventions related to diversity and inclusivity; imagining the Romantic salon as a decolonizing space that can be re-envisioned through Digital Humanities and social media projects. Like the Romantic salon, online instruction can provide a learning environment for subjective and collective development (Bildung) while practicing contemporary forms of sociability and symphilosophy that focus on communication and collaboration.