Study Program

The RTG places particular importance on the graduate researchers having enough space to use their own initiative to concentrate on their own dissertation project and in academic discourse with all the other participants in the RTG program, contribute to the improvement of the quality of the papers being written. The study program, divided into many parts, should support this aspiration, in conjunction with intensive project supervision in a supervisor team and a six month practical phase. The study program sets Its focus on the methodical and theoretical further training of the dissemination of practical knowledge relevant to research and training for roles in research and teaching.

During the first phase of the graduate program, in total three research seminars will take place, which have above all literary theory and methodical questions from a transdisciplinary perspective as their central focus. Media science aspects will be given a particular importance. The influence of new media formats and digital communication channels on literary production, dissemination and reception of literature may draw on a combination of different methods of literary study, (for example methods of the research of dissemination, research into evaluation as well as intermediality theory) and - dependant on the orientation of the projects - sociological procedures. Thus the research seminars will put their focus on the theoretical and methodical knowledge needed to implement the intentions of the doctorate proposals.

Alongside the research seminars the study program foresees three formats of accompanying event formats throughout the whole doctorate study period.

Actors from the literary market place and academics will be invited to expert talks, which are established to a special degree for the topics of the RTG (practice partners, guest academic program). The talk with representatives of literary dissemination (publishers, readers, agents, representatives of publishers, literary critics, heads of houses of literature among others) should allow an insight into their everyday work life as well as exposure to contemporary and often only private discussion in the literary field. In addition there will be academic reflection on this discussion. The academically accentuated expert talks should take place, depending on the needs of the graduate students, - for example for sociological, print or media science topics.

In the research Workshop, contemporary and relevant texts for the topic of the RTG should be read and discussed together, such as new research literature on media theory questions or for contemporary developments in the book market. The graduate students will have the chance to put forward research contributions for discussion which are of particular relevance for their respective papers.

A core element of the supervision concept at the same time are the review colloquia which occur each semester. During a three day closed meeting, the graduate students have a forum available to them to present their papers. In the plenary with all the participating professors and the academic coordinator they discuss - depending on the phase of the paper - excerpts, progress and problems from their projects. Participation in the review colloquia is obligatory for graduate students and supervisors.

Aside from these obligatory kinds of event the curriculum envisages facultative Events which are partly run by the graduate students themselves. Part of these events is to be ascribed to the academic Event Management. In this way the graduate students shall organise a workshop open to the graduate school or lecture series on a topic of their own choice, following discussion with the co-chairs of the RTG and supervisors. In doing so they won't just increase the knowledge content of the curriculum but may gain experience in academic and event management. Since practical knowledge in project management opens up additional career prospects in academia as well as the cultural sector experience in this sector are among the key qualifications of graduate students of the humanities and cultural sciences. For these reasons the graduate students have been included in the organisation and implementation of the international conference.

With a view to their further academic career, graduate students should be given the opportunity to gather teaching experience at the University. In order not to hinder their teaching, potentially putting back their doctorate, the graduate students are planning seminars with help of their supervisors, which are thematically closely tied to their topic of graduate study. Further to this, the graduate students are open to the manifold program of Göttingen's division for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education as well as, in particular the Hetairos Programme which is in cooperation with them and the Graduate School of Humanities Göttingen (GSGG), especially tailored to meet the needs of the graduate students.

The study program is rounded off with the equally facultative practical Workshop. This is a course oriented towards tackling problems, tailored to the needs of the graduate students in the phase during and after their PhD is submitted. It serves first and foremost to disseminate specific knowledge with practical applications but can in some instances also help aid the transition into work life. Since in the course of writing the PhD, from experience, different career options arise, it is important to proceed flexibly and start from the supervisor relationship to find the right further education measures for each graduate student. Which teaching events it concerns will be decided as soon as the topic spectrum to be supported is settled, or rather, when the papers are so far advanced that the graduate students are capable of making the decisions on their further career paths.

In addition the graduate students can use the different courses offered which are most useful in their further career path or rather for the transition from the PhD writing phase into professional life. Belonging to these are qualification measures such as presentation techniques, academic writing, rhetoric and voice coaching, job application training etc. Here too individual solutions should be found which are fitting for the interests and existing knowledge of the graduate students.

With the curriculum of the GSGG, the Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG) and the University of Göttingen (bundled together in the Qualification Portal for PhD Students) graduate students may draw on a broad spectrum of soft skills and further qualification courses in the area of social science methods.