Turning this into a possible colloquium

Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Adrian Döring -
Number of replies: 6

Hey all,

this topic is most important for those of you who study at the Grad School of Humanities. To graduate, we have to attend a certain amount of colloquia or seminars; thing is, there isn't a colloqium for English cultural/literary studies yet, which leaves us with little options.

I have talked to Prof. Ackermann about the matter and he'd be more than happy to provide certification for a colloqium (further details to be figured out later) from summer 2022 onwards. We figured the best place to gather people for this venture would be the writing group, since this is basically already an informal colloqium.

What do you think? Should we shift this from an informal writing group to a slightly-more-but-not-completely-formal colloqium? It would be great for the Grad School students, and might be also be slightly easier on the organzational side than organizing meetings basically on the spot.

Looking forward to hear your input,

Adrian

In reply to Adrian Döring

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Julia Görtz -

 Hey Adrian, hey all,

I think this could be great but as I am not the target group, I just want to respond to tell you something in my position as speaker at the GSH.

There usually is a difference between Oberseminare und colloquiums. What you propose sounds more like what is called Oberseminar in Romanistik. My main supervisor offers a regular colloquium for only her PhD candidates where we discuss our progress etc. So this is just to remind you that there may be ways to fulfill the requirements in other ways. 

But I definitely think, that a formal Oberseminar-colloquium would be very helpful. 

Julia

In reply to Adrian Döring

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Camille Lavoix -

Hello,

I'm not sure of the exact rule but I think it is one colloquium each year we must attend? And we actually have one already in Amerikanistik with Bamberg and Bayreuth where we present our topics. So maybe if you are the only Phd student without this opportunity at the moment you could join ours? We could also do one English colloqium but I am hesitant about turning this group into a colloquium because these are two different things. I feel the emotional support provided by this group and exchange of tips on how to write etc, is really important and a colloquium is great too to get feedback on our presentations but it is different.

What do you think?


Best,


Camille

In reply to Camille Lavoix

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Adrian Döring -
Hey all,

thanks for the replies, and yeah, this group should definitely stay where it is. :)

My proposal was mostly directed at the English grad students, which don't have a colloquium yet (opposed to the ppl in Romanistik, as I understand?), and therefore have to rely on the Oberseminar. So I think we should maybe do it in additon to the writing group, if there is any interest.

Best
Adrian
In reply to Camille Lavoix

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Mary Ann Snyder-Körber -
Dear All,

I hope that it is okay that I chime in on this question. I am still in the email list, I think, because I originally set up the WueCampus room. However, you can most certainly eliminate me as this is really your space as graduate students for working together without faculty.

However, as long as I am here..... The Grad School is very flexible regarding what it gives credit for. The Colloquium can be an Oberseminar that shows up on WueCampus. It can also be a combined university format like the regional American Studies Colloquium with Bayreuth, Bamberg, and Würzburg, or it can be a regular departmental meeting to share work, which I think that the Anglistik does have. Isn't this your "Think & Drink"? I would suggest giving it another name before asking for grad school credit, but my sense is that this would absolutely work.

Take care!

Best,

MaryAnn Snyder-Körber
In reply to Adrian Döring

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Deleted user -
Hey everyone,
I'm somewhat on the fence regarding this idea. On the one hand, I can see how it would be a good opportunity to get credits for those who need them, especially if choices are limited. On the other, I personally appreciate the informal character of this group very much - we have a space here where we can exchange ideas, texts in progress and even scraps, or use this for casual get-togethers without any "pressure to perform", if you get what I mean. So if we do "convert" this into an official seminar/colloq, I'm worried we would lose a good bit of this carefree exchange. I tend to share Camille's position on this one (esp. regarding the emotional support aspect - past Zooms have been really helpful in this regard as well, which is not to be underestimated).
However, I do know that there have been Anglistik colloqs in the past, so I'm wondering what happened to them? Surely they can't be hard to revive. Maybe if there's already one in Amerikanistik, it could be worth asking how it was set up and if one could join in or (if the number of participants becomes too great) set up one for Anglistik as well which follows a similar model. Just an idea.
Best,
Kita
In reply to Deleted user

Re: Turning this into a possible colloquium

by Zeno Ackermann -
Dear Gradwriters,

Like MaryAnn, I have also somehow been enrolled as a participant in your online-course. And, again like MaryAnn, I would like to ask you to perhaps kick me out. After all, this is (as it should be) primarily 'your space' ... (However, I am not sure about who originally set up the course room and whether that person may need to stay enrolled for the room to 'hold' ;-)

Most importantly, I'd like to signal my agreement with the position already taken by all of you: The Gradwriting Group should remain as it is, i.e. independently self-organised, flexible, open, de-tached from the logic of credits etc.

As to the people writing (or planning to write) a dissertation under the supervision of a person at the Lehrstuhl für Englische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft, I think that MaryAnn's point is very helpful: we do have the -- unfortunately named -- "T&D" format. Indeed, Adrian has already presented his project in this format, and both Camille and Anna Frieda will do so very soon. => I could simply issue a certificate for you, and those of you who need to do so can present this certificate to the grad school. (I guess this will work; if not, I trust we can work out a solution as to how to present the information differently.) Others who are planning a dissertation attached to the ELK chair might perhaps want to contact me in due time to arrange a presentation in the T&D format.

One last thought: I have only now learned about the American Studies cooperation between Würzburg, Bamberg and Bayreuth. This seems a very good thing. I do not know whether the Americanists would be keen for people with non-Americanist topics to join this format -- but if so, this might be an option, of course. On a different note: I am not sure whether there are people who'd like to have and join an additional Würzburg-based PhD (& Habil?) colloquium -- either one that takes on board the 'English-speaking' philologies generally or would perhaps even have a broader perspective, such as literary and cultural studies in all the modern philologies. If so, the best approach might be to work your needs and ideals out amongst yourself and then contact one or two professors with a suggestion. Perhaps, this could start a process of inductively developing a format? However, I certainly do not wish to 'force' this ...

All best wishes!
Zeno Ackermann