Study Program

The study program is composed of four basic components: the research colloquium, the basic seminars which are also open to master students from Siegen University, the general lecture series, the courses with guest professors and the workshop seminars.

Doctoral students of the Research Training Group should participate in all these courses and attend the events (workshops and conferences). This will help to establish a common basis of discussion for the fields involved in the program: media studies, history, information science, literary studies, linguistics, ethnology, political science, sociological technology studies.

Research Colloquium

The research colloquium will provide the core of the study program. By regularly presenting their results to the plenum, the doctoral projects of the students will be discussed and supported. The colloquium will be offered in each semester during the whole duration of the Research Training Group.

Basic Seminars

The basic seminars are meant to communicate the fundamental knowledge by widening theoretical and methodological basics connected to the work and research of the students. The theory seminars on locative and situational media research will concretize systematics and specific issues of the research program. The methodological seminars will focus on media-ethnographic methods, media-historical methods and qualitative analysis of media and communication.

Lecture Series

A further element of the curriculum will be the general lecture series during the first, fourth and fifth semesters. It is open to all students and employees of the university. During the first semester the professors responsible for each proposed research team, associated professors and selected guest professors will hold the lectures. In the fourth/fifth semester the students of the college themselves will be responsible for the lecture series. They will thus have the opportunity to present their dissertation projects to a wider public.

Courses with Guest Professors

The program including guest professors working on specific subjects of the research program will underline the inter/national exchange with experts from other universities and institutions.

Workshops and guest lectures

They will be organized by the speakers of the Research Training Group and by request also by the graduate students.

Intensive Workshops

The intensive workshops will be held in cooperation with graduate students from other dissertation programs on a jointly arranged subject held for one to two days. Assisted by the postdoctoral students and individual advisors, the graduate students will introduce and discuss their works.

International Conferences

The conferences will be held within the scope of a central research question. They will present the subjects of the Research Training Group to a wider international public and will bring together renowned national and international scholars. The graduate students will be responsible for moderating the discussions and the panels as well as taking part in joint lectures.

Summer Schools

The Research Training Group will organize longer term residences of guest professors during summer school sessions. For a limited time several international experts will be guests at Siegen; they will contribute their own studies to the work at the Research Training Group within the scope of a predetermined subject.

Workshop Seminars

A particular emphasis is put on other key qualifications which will be improved in workshop seminars during the first (2 SWS), third (4 SWS) and fifth semester (2 SWS). These courses aim at developing basic techniques of dealing with empirical material ("Assessment Workshop", "Evaluation Workshop"), strategies of writing, data analysis and techniques of presentation ("Presentation Workshop").