Gießener Graduiertenzentrum Kulturwissenschaften (GGK) / International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC)

The syllabus forms the basis of each seminar, serves as a reference for the entire semester and is curiously awaited by students on the first day of the semester. However, syllabus design is more than just distributing the "material" to the sessions: clear and structured syllabi make a significant contribution to the success of your course and have a positive effect on motivation and learning success.In this workshop we will cover some basics and strategies for an effective, meaningful design of your syllabus. The following questions are in the focus:
• How do I define the overall topic, individual session topics as well as teaching and learning goals for my seminar?
• How do I plan the course of the seminar, and which phases are involved?
• How do I structure the teaching / learning sequences?
• How do I find the 'right' or appropriate methods?
After some thematic input and joint introduction to the topic, we will work on your own seminar plans as examples in a second, practically oriented work phase. Please bring them to the event or upload it to StudIP in advance!

Many offerings of the Teaching Centre can be credited as working units in the basic certificate “Kompetenz für professionelle Hochschullehre” (Competencies for Professional University Teaching) of the Hochschuldidaktisches Netzwerk Mittelhessen (HDM). For further information, please contact the HDM directly.
A related course on „Designing a Course Session” will be held by Prof. Claudia Hattendorff on November 3, 2025.

In the framework of a cooperation between the project Network for Impactful Digital Teaching Skills (NIDIT) and the GCSC Teaching Center, NIDIT lecturer Richard Vargas (International Training Team) will host the workshop “Basic Didactic Principles and Teaching Methods” for members of the IPP “Literary and Cultural Studies” on October 23rd from 10 am to 1 pm.


This practical training is a preparatory teaching session for participants of the IPP workshop series, but members of other JLU centers such as GGK, GCSC, GGL, and GiZo among others can participate. The aim of this workshop is twofold. On the one hand, it puts forward the discussion of teaching methods and approaches as well as the implementation of interactive tools for teaching and learning processes that IPP participants can use on either digital or face-to-face teaching environments. On the other hand, this workshop seeks to broaden participants’ teaching skills when teaching in different formats.

Many offerings of the Teaching Centre can be credited as working units in the basic certificate “Kompetenz für professionelle Hochschullehre” (Competencies for Professional University Teaching) of the Hochschuldidaktisches Netzwerk Mittelhessen (HDM). For further information, please contact the HDM directly.

//Richard Vargas (JLU - Network for Impactful Digital International Teaching Skills – NIDIT)

Universities of Applied Sciences are an attractive professional field for graduates in the study of culture. In this presentation-cum-workshop, Sebastian Pranz, professor of technological development in online communication and a visiting fellow at our centre this winter semester, will provide insights into career options and share his own experience as a researchers and teacher at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Do drop by for a first-hand glimpse into what jobs and academic life are like at Universities of Applied Sciences!

Das ECM und das GCSC laden Sie herzlich zu einer Veranstaltung ein, die speziell für Promovierende der Fachbereiche 03, 04 und 05 konzipiert ist. Diese Veranstaltung bietet Ihnen die Möglichkeit, Vorurteile und Berührungsängste rund um das Thema „Unternehmertum“ abzubauen und zu sehen, wie unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln zur Lösung gesellschaftlicher, ökologischer und ökonomischer Herausforderungen beitragen kann.

Freuen Sie sich auf die inspirierende Gastrednerin Anastasiia Marsheva (Faden e.V.), die erfolgreich gegründet hat, und erfahren Sie, wie Unternehmertum als Mittel zur Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Zukunft eingesetzt werden kann. Die Veranstaltung soll Ihnen praxisnahe Einblicke in die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten des Unternehmertums geben und Ihnen konkrete Wege aufzeigen, ihre Ideen in ein tragfähiges Geschäftsmodell zu überführen.

Nutzen Sie diese Gelegenheit, um neue Perspektiven auf Unternehmertum zu gewinnen, Fragen zu stellen und sich in einer anregenden Atmosphäre mit Gleichgesinnten auszutauschen. Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Teilnahme und inspirierende Gespräche!

The savanna is both a physical space—an expansive topography covering between half and two-thirds of the African continent, albeit with porous boundaries—and a topos, a culturally constructed idea mobilized and circulated for specific (neo)colonial purposes. This workshop, at the intersection of postcolonial critique, environmental humanities, and area studies, traces the invention of the savanna: from the coinage of the term in the 16th century, to its transfer from the Americas to Africa, to its transformationfrom topos to topography—without ever fully losing its symbolic charge. We will explore how the savanna became scientificized, and how this trajectory continues to shape contemporary imaginaries, public policies (such as the Great Green Wall), and the region’s exposure to green colonialism, fortress ecologies, and the militarization of national parks. Finally, we will debate whether the term savanna should be retained, extended to European and Global North spaces, or abandoned altogether.



Bio:

Camille Lavoix completed her PhD in Environmental Humanities at the University of Würzburg, Germany, with a dissertation titled Re-imagining the Sudanian Savanna. Before her academic career, she worked as a journalist for outlets such as Le Monde, El País, Arte, The Guardian, and the BBC, reporting mainly from West Africa and South America. She is the author of several books in French for adult and youth audiences—including non-fiction, poetry, and tales—some of which grew out of her reporting on the savanna.

Das ECM und das GCSC laden Sie herzlich zu einer Veranstaltung ein, die speziell für Promovierende der Fachbereiche 03, 04 und 05 konzipiert ist. Diese Veranstaltung bietet Ihnen die Möglichkeit, Vorurteile und Berührungsängste rund um das Thema „Unternehmertum“ abzubauen und zu sehen, wie unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln zur Lösung gesellschaftlicher, ökologischer und ökonomischer Herausforderungen beitragen kann.

Freuen Sie sich auf die inspirierende Gastrednerin Anastasiia Marsheva (Faden e.V.), die erfolgreich gegründet hat, und erfahren Sie, wie Unternehmertum als Mittel zur Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Zukunft eingesetzt werden kann. Die Veranstaltung soll Ihnen praxisnahe Einblicke in die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten des Unternehmertums geben und Ihnen konkrete Wege aufzeigen, ihre Ideen in ein tragfähiges Geschäftsmodell zu überführen.

Nutzen Sie diese Gelegenheit, um neue Perspektiven auf Unternehmertum zu gewinnen, Fragen zu stellen und sich in einer anregenden Atmosphäre mit Gleichgesinnten auszutauschen. Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Teilnahme und inspirierende Gespräche!

The savanna is both a physical space—an expansive topography covering between half and two-thirds of the African continent, albeit with porous boundaries—and a topos, a culturally constructed idea mobilized and circulated for specific (neo)colonial purposes. This workshop, at the intersection of postcolonial critique, environmental humanities, and area studies, traces the invention of the savanna: from the coinage of the term in the 16th century, to its transfer from the Americas to Africa, to its transformationfrom topos to topography—without ever fully losing its symbolic charge. We will explore how the savanna became scientificized, and how this trajectory continues to shape contemporary imaginaries, public policies (such as the Great Green Wall), and the region’s exposure to green colonialism, fortress ecologies, and the militarization of national parks. Finally, we will debate whether the term savanna should be retained, extended to European and Global North spaces, or abandoned altogether.



Bio:

Camille Lavoix completed her PhD in Environmental Humanities at the University of Würzburg, Germany, with a dissertation titled Re-imagining the Sudanian Savanna. Before her academic career, she worked as a journalist for outlets such as Le Monde, El País, Arte, The Guardian, and the BBC, reporting mainly from West Africa and South America. She is the author of several books in French for adult and youth audiences—including non-fiction, poetry, and tales—some of which grew out of her reporting on the savanna.

Ben Knight's "mostly funny documentary" portrays people whose world is coming to an end: from preppers to climate activists, he meets people all over the world to discuss life in the shadow of a social and ecological collapse. However, his protagonists are more than just witnesses to the apocalypse – they also show how one can create meaning by drawing on the fact "that we will one day run out of time" (Lazar 2019, 11). As a follow-up to the screening on Wednesday, we have the opportunity to meet Ben and discuss questions at the interface of cultural Studies and cultural production: How can we be resilient in the face of crisis? How can we 'answer' the challenges of a post-apocalyptic world (Hoppe, 2024)? What are the politics of temporality (Lazar 2019)?

Universities of Applied Sciences are an attractive professional field for graduates in the study of culture. In this presentation-cum-workshop, Sebastian Pranz, professor of technological development in online communication and a visiting fellow at our centre this winter semester, will provide insights into career options and share his own experience as a researchers and teacher at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Do drop by for a first-hand glimpse into what jobs and academic life are like at Universities of Applied Sciences!

As the first generation in your family to study at university and now continue on the path to academia, you bring special perspectives with you - and often face specific challenges: Experiencing uncertainty and doubt due to feelings of foreignness, navigating the academic environment and the feeling of having to figure a lot of things out for yourself. The mentoring programme “First Generation Doctorate” is aimed at doctoral students who come from a non-academic family background and are looking for exchange, orientation and support beyond academic questions. Together with a mentor who has travelled this path themselves, we create space for your questions - and strengthen your individual path in academia.

Das ECM und das GCSC laden Sie herzlich zu einer Veranstaltung ein, die speziell für Promovierende der Fachbereiche 03, 04 und 05 konzipiert ist. Diese Veranstaltung bietet Ihnen die Möglichkeit, Vorurteile und Berührungsängste rund um das Thema „Unternehmertum“ abzubauen und zu sehen, wie unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln zur Lösung gesellschaftlicher, ökologischer und ökonomischer Herausforderungen beitragen kann.

Freuen Sie sich auf die inspirierende Gastrednerin Anastasiia Marsheva (Faden e.V.), die erfolgreich gegründet hat, und erfahren Sie, wie Unternehmertum als Mittel zur Gestaltung einer nachhaltigen Zukunft eingesetzt werden kann. Die Veranstaltung soll Ihnen praxisnahe Einblicke in die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten des Unternehmertums geben und Ihnen konkrete Wege aufzeigen, ihre Ideen in ein tragfähiges Geschäftsmodell zu überführen.

Nutzen Sie diese Gelegenheit, um neue Perspektiven auf Unternehmertum zu gewinnen, Fragen zu stellen und sich in einer anregenden Atmosphäre mit Gleichgesinnten auszutauschen. Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Teilnahme und inspirierende Gespräche!

The workshop departs from two observations about the state of the civil society in Botswana and its relatedness to practices of a Green Transformation. Firstly, a civil society according to the established understanding of the concept (Habermas 1996; Taylor 1990) largely not exists in Botswana. According to Taylor, civil society “includes those dimensions of social life which cannot be confounded with, nor swallowed up, by the state” (Taylor 1991: 117). Whereas in Botswana, there is no such strict separation of the state and (civil) society. Due to an understanding of society that is highly based on the legacy of the state (Mogalakwe/Sebudubudu 2006; Maundeni 2005), it does not attach to the genuinely “Western Tradition” (Taylor 1991) of the civil society. The understanding of the public sphere linked to this concept has not established in Botswana which makes it, seemingly, difficult to apply the concept of the civil society on Botswana. Which does request the invention of a specific Batswana approach to civil society. Secondly, Botswana might lend itself as paradigmatic case of the civil society due to the importance of the communities within its overall structural societal organization. In large parts, communities and villages in Botswana rely on practices of self-organization, participatory action and inclusive communication, anchored in the system of the Kgotla (Alm 2025; Holm et al. 1996); citizen participation in Botswana “ranks top in the world” (Reiter 2024: 1). Reiter claims that it is Botswana’s “ancient tradition of institutionalized, village-based, local direct democracy, kgotla, that accounts for its exemplary performance” (Reiter 2024: 1). Despite its profound commitment for measures in sustainable development, all pointing into the direction of a Green Transformation of the Botswana society, there still is a significant gap left between the well-established level of engagement of the Botswana government in transnational sustainability governance and the production of national concepts on the one hand and strategies to include the communities and to fully recognize their social actors who are, eventually, addressed by those concepts, on the other. The missing link in Botswana’s efforts for sustainable development as Green Transformation is the one between grassroot community action, especially including its individual actors and community-based organisations, and the level of state governance. Such linkage is of key meaning as the community level is that social sphere within which practices for sustainable development and Green Transformation need to be anchored. Hence, the top-down, vertical organization of climate agency, run by government actors, needs to be supplemented by a horizontal mode of organization that guarantees the networking and communication between various actors and communities. By emphasizing such grassroot logic, ordinary social actors in their everyday life routines and life-world topographies turn out to be the backbone of civil society and Green Transformation.