WIGS 25th Annual Conference

Saturday 9 November 2013

University of Sheffield

The annual Women in German Studies conference will be held at the University of Sheffield this November. Abstracts (c.150 words) for papers of about 20 minutes duration, on any topic within German Studies, are invited.

Further details about conference registration are to follow in due course.

There will be a workshop for PGs and ECRs on Friday 8 November. Details to follow.

Please send abstracts, including name of speaker, title of paper, and full contact details, to Nina Schmidt (n.schmidt@sheffield.ac.uk) by 24 May 2013.

The next Write Day (and the first of our monthly meet-ups) will be this Friday the 22nd of February everywhere and on the 21st of February in Oxford. If you are still unsure how the hour works, see here: http://www.wisps.org.uk/second-wisps-write-day-friday-30th-november/ for details of our previous days.

We are meeting up in the following places:

*       Café Fresco in the Glucksman Gallery, Cork
*       John Rylands library cafe here in Manchester on Deansgate
*       British Library café upstairs, London
*       The Lit&Phil in Newcastle
*       Common Grounds, Belfast
*       Ground Café, Coleraine

Do tell us where you’ll be through the mailing list, Twitter or Facebook and share your experiences. It only takes two people to do it, and it’s a great way to keep writing a priority as well as an opportunity to meet up with your fellow WiSPS/WiGS members.

Writing: getting unstuck, getting published, and creating an online presence.

Ever wondered on any of these topics? There is a great opportunity coming up in London at King’s College

This is organised by WiSPS (Women in Spanish and Portuguese Studies) but is open to WiGS members and even interested women not yet members of either of these – so alert your colleagues, fellow PhD students or fellow writers!

11.00-12.00       Q&A on Publishing: Chapters, Books and Journals

  Deborah Shaw, School of Creative Arts, Film and Media, University of Portsmouth,

12.00-1.00         Digital Engagement for Academics

  Elena Pierazzo, Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London,

1-2.30                  Lunch

2.30-4.30            Getting Unstuck and Moving the Writing Along

  This will include a Write Day-segment, where you will be encouraged to write and then discuss the process

  Jennifer Fraser, Centre for Learning and Professional Development, Birkbeck, University of London,

4.30                       Close

WIGS is delighted to announce that it is participating in a Study Day with Women in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, on the theme of writing.

Please find attached the poster for the forthcoming study day, which is taking place in King’s on the 2nd of February from 10.30-4.30.  All WiSPS/WiGS members are welcome.

We will hold a series of workshops on writing, publishing and creating an online presence.  For those of you interested in attending you can sign up through the online registration form, http://www.wisps.org.uk/study-day-register/. Details on how to get to King’s are available online here, http://www.wisps.org.uk/wispswigs-study-day/.

Anyone who wants further assistance can contact Charlotte Fereday on 07709872820.

Franco-German Conference on Britain’s Academic Relationship with the Continent

The conference “Taking stock and moving where? Britain’s Academic Relationship with the Continent in Challenging Times” took place on Thursday 22 November 2012, at the Royal Geographical Society London. I attended on behalf of the School of Modern Languages but also as Chair of ‘Women in German Studies’.
The day was jointly organised by the Cultural Department of the French Embassy and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in partnership with the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and the ‘Times Higher Education’ (THE). To bring these different stakeholders in Higher Education at one table under the heading of Modern Languages was an achievement in itself, even more so to be able to get top people to represent their institutions.
This included on the university side Peter-André Alt, the VC of the Freie Universität Berlin and speaker of the newly founded ‘U15 group’, Germany’s answer to the Russell Group and Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive Universities UK, on the “public” side two representatives of the THE, Phil Baty (Editor-at-Large and Rankings Editor, Times Higher Education) and  Matthew Reisz (Features Writer, Times Higher Education) who were made chairs of the two afternoon panels.

The set-up thus was pertinent and the questions asked urgent (Could closer engagement between the UK and its most important European partners, France and Germany, help strengthen global competitiveness in Higher Education in all three countries?), the outcome slightly less impressive. There was the eternal problem of preaching to the converted – most, if not all of the audience knew the figures about the lack of language learning in the UK and the problems of outward mobility by heart and were practising international research collaboration

The panels had been deliberately large to turn as many as possible stakeholders into speakers but that made for very long statement time and very little in the way of real discussion. Nevertheless, the lunch break allowed for some networking and the venue plus the following reception to celebrate 60 years of the DAAD London added some splendour to the day.

The highlight of the day was provided by Colin Riordan who opened the whole day with a statement on the panel “Does the Continent still matter in times of Global Academic Endeavours?”, then took the following statements with him to an afternoon meeting with David Willetts where he presented as Chair of the International Policy Network a new report on strengthening outward mobility in UK students – and was able to announce at the evening reception that they had been granted an additional million pound to boost the taskforce on ‘UK National Outward Mobility’.

Hopefully, the message of the day “to discuss shared aims and different perspectives in international Higher Education with a range of senior university leaders and practitioners in research and teaching from the UK, France and Germany” will after all find their way into university strategies and widen the horizon of the political and public stakeholders.

WiSPS Write Day is based on the Shut Up and Write! format that originated in the San Francisco Bay area (http://www.meetup.com/shutupandwriteSFO/). It is a way of bringing members together with each other or with other researchers on a local level and, first and foremost, write, then talk. The aim is to get away from writing as an isolated solitary activity and to connect with others who are also WiSPS members.

Here is a link to Thesis Whisperer’s blog which gives you an idea of what this is all about.

http://thesiswhisperer.com/2011/06/14/shut-up-and-write/

WiSPS are planning a Studies day at King’s College London on 2nd February 2013; they have secured two speakers (Jennifer Fraser will give a writing workshop and Deborah Shaw will talk about publishing books, chapters, journal articles etc). The day will take place from 11-4 to facilitate travel and WiGs members are welcome. I will post more information as soon as I have it.

We at WiGs would welcome feedback and/or ideas/suggestions for how to optimise this exciting and collaborative undertaking! Henrike has already got involved, offering Newcastle’s Lit&Phil building as a venue.

Do get in touch with me here at WiGs with ideas or if you would like more information about Write Days.

emily.spiers@new.ox.ac.uk

Stellenausschreibung

Freie Universität Berlin

Fachbereich Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften

Internationales Graduiertenkolleg InterArt

Wiss. Mitarbeiterin / Wiss. Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) 
befristet auf 2 Jahre

Im Internationalen Graduiertenkolleg InterArt am Fachbereich Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften der Freien Universität Berlin ist zum nächstmöglichen Termin eine Stelle als Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin / Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) zu besetzen.

Die Stelle ist auf zwei Jahre befristet.

Die Vergütung erfolgt nach:  E 13 TV-L FU

Aufgabengebiet:

•             Mitarbeit in der Forschung, Konzeption und Durchführung von Veranstaltungen im Forschungs- und Studienprogramm des Kollegs

•             Mitarbeit bei der Koordination des Kollegs

Einstellungsvoraussetzungen:

Promotion in einem der am Kolleg beteiligten Fächer.

Erwünscht:

•             herausragende Promotion in einem der am Kolleg beteiligten Fächer

•             eigenes Forschungsprojekt im Themenbereich des Kollegs

•             einschlägige Erfahrung in der Entwicklung international zugfähiger Tagungskonzepte

•             fundierte Kenntnisse in der Drittmittelakquise

•             Erfahrung mit der Arbeit in Drittmittelprojekten

•             hervorragende Organisations- und Teamfähigkeit

•             Erfahrung in der Betreuung von Publikationen (insbesondere redaktionellen Tätigkeiten)

•             Interesse an interdisziplinärer Zusammenarbeit

•             sehr gute Englischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift und Kenntnisse einer weiteren Fremdsprache

Bewerbungen sind mit aussagekräftigen Unterlagen bis zum 19.11.2012 unter Angabe der Kennziffer IRGK 2012/2 zu richten an die

Freie Universität Berlin


Fachbereich Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften

Internationales Graduiertenkolleg InterArt

Frau Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Erika Fischer-Lichte


Grunewaldstraße 34


12165 Berlin (Steglitz)