IDA 2010 Project

In 2010, Professor Hochbruck received the University of Freiburg's Instructional Development Award for his project Combining university courses for student teacher training with professional development for teachers at Gymnasien.

Project Description (in German)

Das Projekt sah die Verbindung des universitär gestützten Teils der Lehrerausbildung am Englischen Seminar der Universität Freiburg mit einem fachwissenschaftlichen Weiterbildungsangebot für Lehrer/Lehrerinnen im Bereich der Kulturtheorie / Cultural Studies sowie im Bereich Übersetzung / Translation vor. Durch die geplanten Lehrveranstaltungen neuen Typs und der gemeinsamen Aus- und Weiterbildung von Lehramtsstudierenden und bereits praktisch tätigen Lehrer/Lehrerinnen sollten Fachwissenschaft und Fachdidaktik kreativ verknüpft werden. Das Englische Seminar setzte sich auch als Ziel, eine Plattform für die Lehrerfortbildung im Hinblick auf das Konzept des „Life-long Learning" zu gründen, welche zusammen mit dem Weiterbildungsprogramm die Englischlehrerinnen und -lehrer kontinuierlich auf den neusten wissenschaftlichen Stand bringen soll. Im Fall des Projekterfolgs sollen die kombinierten Lehrveranstaltungen jedes Semester in das Vorlesungsverzeichnis des Englischen Seminars aufgenommen werden.

Die Mittel aus dem IDA wurden für eine 50%ige Freistellung von Prof. Dr. Hochbruck durch eine 50% Professurvertretung, für Lehraufträge und befristete wissenschaftliche Hilfskraftstellen verwendet. Weitere Mittel wurden für mehrtägige Blockseminare und den Ausbau der E-Learning Plattform benutzt.

Die von Alison Nagel und Kai Woodfin konzipierte Lehrveranstaltung „Translation on Wikipedia" wurde erweitert, um spezifisch auch für die Lehre in der gymnasialen Oberstufe einsetzbare Elemente bereitzustellen, gleichzeitig wurde die Veranstaltung für Lehrende am Gymnasium geöffnet. Mehrere Lehrende nahmen an der Veranstaltung regelmäßig teil oder hatten Beobachterstatus. Die ERASMUS-Partneruniversität Aberdeen wurde ebenfalls einbezogen.

Die Lehrveranstaltung „Popular Culture Theory in the Classroom" wurde neu konzipiert. Diese fand zum ersten Mal im WS 2010/11 als Blended-Learning-Seminar statt, welches zu gleichen Teilen für (Lehramts-)Studierende im Hauptstudium sowie Studierende des Master in British and North American Cultural Studies als auch (in Absprache mit dem Regierungspräsidium) für Lehrende an Gymnasien und Berufsschulen als Weiterbildungsangebot offen war. Der Andrang auf das Seminar war groß. Insgesamt gab es 35 Teilnehmende (davon 17 Studierende) sowie eine Warteliste. Die große Resonanz auf die Veranstaltung bewies, dass die Lehrer/innen großes Interesse haben, ihr Fachwissen aufzufrischen, während die Studierenden ihre fachwissenschaftliche Lehrerausbildung mit didaktischer Praxiserfahrung durch die Mitarbeit an den Schulen der lehrenden Seminarkommilitonen verbinden konnten. Die Veranstaltung war in eine durchgehende E-Learning-Phase sowie zwei Blockseminare am Anfang und am Ende des Semesters aufgeteilt. Der erste Teil fand im November 2010 statt: Die gebildeten Gruppen nahmen ihre Arbeit auf und wechselseitige Treffen / Unterrichtsbesuche wurden vereinbart. 15 Studierende hatten die Möglichkeit, Schulstunden der teilnehmenden Lehrer/innen mitzugestalten. Der zweite Block, für den ein renommierter britischer Fachwissenschaftler als Responder gewonnen werden konnte, fand im Februar 2011 statt. Inhaltlicher Schwerpunkt der Veranstaltung waren britische und nordamerikanische Kulturtheorien. Studierende und Englischlehrkräfte erarbeiteten sich gemeinsam wissenschaftliche Texte und diskutierten sie in E- Foren und im Blockseminar. Angesichts der positiven Resonanz wird der Kurs im Wintersemester 2012/2013 erneut angeboten. Außerdem wird beabsichtigt, dass eine Wiederholung zumindest alle zwei Jahre auch ohne zusätzliche Mittel stattfindet.

Für die Veranstaltung „Translation on Wikipedia" gibt es bereits Interesse einer Lehrerin, die mit ihrer Klasse das gesamte Konzept übernehmen möchte. Für „Popular Culture Theory" soll ein (E-)Handbuch zum Thema entwickelt werden, welches den teilnehmenden Lehrkräften zur Verfügung gestellt wird, damit diese als Multiplikatoren an den Schulen wirken können.

Cultural Theory in the Classroom

The following contains the documentation of the 2010/11 master's seminar / teacher training program Popular Culture Studies – Theory and the Classroom.

Overview

'Cultural Studies in the Classroom' is a series of workshop weekends and seminars designed to bridge the gap between school teachers and university students in the field of cultural studies. This project was designed at the University of Freiburg in 2010 to close the gap between students (many of them destined to be school teachers) and those teachers in the field who are increasingly required to deal with English language learning materials which no longer fall into the category of literary studies.

Additionally, the scholars in the field of cultural studies at the university acknowledged that in many ways, cultural studies was never meant to be confined within the walls of academia. Instead, its rich history as a challenging critique of all sorts of cultural texts speaks for its ability to bring fresh and critical perspectives into the larger community particularly in the school setting.

As such, the project as a whole has been conceptualized as a two pronged approach which aims to equip those already teaching while giving students hands on experience in using what they learn now in "real life" situations in a high school classroom.

Logistic Considerations

One of the primary challenges of the course was to make it interactive despite of the geographical distance which separated the class most of the time. Although the participants met for two weekends during the six month duration of the course, a great deal of the work done by the participants was based on small group formations of about 4 to 5 people who were required to interact with each other through both campus online (the internal university network), which provided a document repository and lively chat thread, and Edupad, a software program which allowed for real time editing of texts based at the University of Konstanz and available for tertiary education institutions.

In the case of this project, although most participants were at first a little shy about using the platforms, many having never experienced anything quite like it, the general consensus was that this was an effective and user friendly way of approaching the material, and initial hesitance soon gave way to many fruitful debates and shared materials.

The Weekend Workshops

The initial kick-off weekend was held at the University of Freiburg campus. Here, participants were given the opportunity to meet their respective small groups as well as interact with the larger course in a relaxed yet productive atmosphere. Several seminal texts were assigned to the whole group for the weekend which laid the basis for a cultural studies methodology as well as highlighting some of the larger concerns of the course, namely the critical use of popular culture texts within a learning environment and the educational concerns which cultural studies has always aspired to.

After the initial weekend the participants were assigned various texts within their small groups which they were required to read and answer various questions about. Each small group had a particular thematic direction, and the participants were encouraged to think these texts into classroom situations and materials. Here the quick and convenient availability of the internet chat forums proved invaluable. Groups were encouraged to read and engage with both their own texts and the texts assigned to other groups, and to flesh out both their own findings and the concerns of the larger group into a presentation to be given at the final weekend meeting.

In the new year, students and teachers met at the Feuerwehrhotel in Titisee for a two day intensive workshop and report back as well as a guest lecture and additional mentoring from John Storey, an internationally known academic in the field of cultural studies. The focus afforded by such a get away was invaluable for the group, many of whom, as busy professionals, reveled in the chance to concentrate on the material at hand in a setting which promoted both intense discussion and reflection.

Student Projects

All student members of the group where required to produce essays/ and or classroom projects for their final grades. Through this, many of the students had the chance, many for the first time, to teach a lesson plan of their choice using the methodological tools and ideas discussed in the workshops, alongside participating teachers. This proved to be a valuable learning experience and a chance for fresh perspectives outside of the university setting which many of the students have reported was both invigorating and challenging in ways they might not have previously foreseen.

Conclusions

Cultural Studies in the Classroom was a bold move for a more community-oriented university. Its success and the eagerness of many of its participants to continue such overlapping projects between schools and the University of Freiburg was clear, and will hopefully pave the way for further projects of this sort.

The use of internet based learning was a valuable one. Although many of the participants would have enjoyed more "face time" to chat and debate in person (and certainly, should the course continue this would be a goal), the use of technology to underwrite and encourage learning was a great success.

The opportunity to work with John Storey was one which all the participants enjoyed. A gracious and generous scholar, his contribution to the course, both through the feedback sessions and the session in which he explained his own current work , were a great enrichment.

Certainly this is an important part of the university of the future – one which both upholds the high standards of rigorous academic research while concurrently seeking to serve and enrich the larger field of academic enquiry in schools and other educational examples.

Reading Assignments

Basic Reading Assignments

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. 1978. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Chapter "Panopticism."

Hall, Stuart. "The Work of Representation." Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Ed. Stuart Hall. London: Sage, 1997. 13-74.

Storey, John. "What is Popular Culture?" Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 3^rd ed. Ed. John Storey. London et. al.: Prentice Hall, 2001. 1-16.

GROUP 1 – MASS CULTURE / POP CULTURE

Reading Assignments Group 1.1

Bourdieu, Pierre. "Field of Power, Literary Field and Habitus." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 88-98.

Lears, T.J. Jackson. "The Concept of Cultural Hegemony: Problems and Possibilities." American Historical Review 90.3 (1985). 567-593.

Lewis, Justin. "Public Arts Funding. Who profits?" The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 441-456.

Handout Group 1.1

Reading Assignments Group 1.2

Morris, Meaghan. "Banalities in Cultural Studies." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 119-144.

Potter, Russel A. "History – Spectacle – Resistance." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 457-474.

Radway, Janice A. "The Institutional Matrix of Romance" The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 507-519.

Handout Group 1.2

Online Discussion Forum – Complete Transcript (Group 1)

GROUP 2 – IDENTITY POLITICS / RACE AND GENDER

Reading Assignments Group 2.1

Bordo, Susan. "Reading the Slender Body." The Visual Culture Reader. Ed. Nicholas Mirzoeff. London et. al.: Routledge, 1998. 214-223.

Butler, Judith. "Subversive Bodily Acts." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 337-384.

Gledhill, Christine. "Genre and Gender: The Case of Soap Opera." Representation. Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Ed. Stuart Hall. London et. al.: Sage, 1997. 567-593.

Handout Group 2.1

Reading Assignments Group 2.2

Markus, Hazel R., and Paul M.L. Moza. "Doing Race. An Introduction." Doing Race. 21 Essays for the 21^st Century. Ed. Hazel R. Markus and Paul M.L. Moza. New York et. al.: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1-102.

Handout Group 2.2

Online Discussion Forum – Complete Transcript (Group 2)

GROUP 3 – CLASS AND CULTURE

Reading Assignments Group 3.1

Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies. Theory and Practice. London et. al.: Sage, 2000. Chapter 4: "A New World Disorder?". 99-129.

Bauman, Zygmunt. "Time and Class." Cultural Studies. From Theory to Action. Ed. Pepi Leistyna. Malden et. al.: Blackwell, 2005. 56-67.

Stallybrass, Peter, and Allon White. "Bourgeois Hysteria and the Carnivalesque." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 99-105.

Handout Group 3.1

Reading Assignments Group 3.2

Clark, John, Stuart Hall, Tony Jefferson, and Brian Roberts. "Subcultures, Cultures and Class [1975]." The Subcultures Reader. Ed. Ken Gelder and Sarah Thornton. London et. al.: Routledge, 1997. 100-111.

Morley, David. "Theoretical Orthodoxies: Textualism, Constructivism and the 'New Ethnography' in Cultural Studies." Cultural Studies. From Theory to Action. Ed. Pepi Leistyna. Malden et. al.: Blackwell, 2005. 171-187.

Said, Edward W. "Invention, Memory, and Place." Cultural Studies. From Theory to Action. Ed. Pepi Leistyna. Malden et. al.: Blackwell, 2005. 256-269.

Handout Group 3.2

Online Discussion Forum – Complete Transcript (Group 3)

GROUP 4 – EDUCATION AS CULTURAL PRACTICE

Reading Assignments Group 4.1

Giroux, Henry A. "Cultural Studies as Performative Practice." Contesting Empire / Globalizing Dissent. Eds. Norman K. Denzin and Michael D. Giardina. Boulder: Paradigm, 2007. 213-230.

Giroux, Henry. "Rethinking Cultural Politics and Radical Pedagogy in the Work of Antonio Gramsci." Gramsci and Education. Eds. Carmel Borg et. al. Lanham et. al.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. 41-65.

Gramsci, Antonio. "The Organisation of Education and Culture." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 45-58.

Handout Group 4.1

Reading Assignments Group 4.2

Giroux, Henry. "Militarization, Public Pedagogy, Biopolitics." Mirror Images: Popular Culture and Education. Ed. Diana Silberman-Keller. New York: Peter Lang, 2008. 39-55.

Kahn, Richard, and Douglas Kellner. "Internet Subcultures and Political Activism." Cultural Studies. From Theory to Action. Ed. Pepi Leistyna. Malden et. al.: Blackwell, 2005. 217-231.

Williams, Raymond. "Ideas of Nature." The Cultural Studies Reader. 3^rd ed. Ed. Simon During. London et. al.: Routledge, 2007. 283-297.

Handout Group 4.2, Pt. 1 (Giroux)
Handout Group 4.2, Pt. 2 (Kahn & Kellner)
Handout Group 4.2, Pt. 3 (Williams)
Study Questions Group 4.2

Online Discussion Forum – Complete Transcript (Group 4)

WORKSHOP WEEKEND

In the new year students and teachers met at the Fireman's hotel in Titisee for a two day intensive workshop and report back as well as a guest lecture and additional mentoring from John Storey, an internationally known academic in the field of cultural studies. The focus afforded by such a get away was invaluable for the group, many of whom, as busy professionals, reveled in the chance to concentrate on the material at hand in a setting which promoted both intense discussion and reflection.

Final Discussion / Feedback Session (audio files):

CLASSROOM PROJECTS

All student members of the group where required to produce essays/ and or classroom projects for their final grades. Through this, many of the students had the chance, many for the first time, to teach a lesson plan of their choice using the methodological tools and ideas discussed in the workshops, alongside participating teachers. This proved to be a valuable learning experience and a chance for fresh perspectives outside of the University setting which many of the students have reported was both invigorating and challenging in ways they might not have previously foreseen.

Projects conducted by groups of teachers and students included:

"Grammy Awards: Consumerism and Mainstream Culture's Impact on the Music Industry". The project was conducted by Angela Riedel (MA student) and Kathrin Borgerding (teacher) in a 12^th grade class at a business highschool ("Berufsschule").
"Race as a 'Thing' vs. Race as a 'Doing'"
"Applying Russel A. Potter's Theories in the Classroom: New York Represented through the Song 'Empire State of Mind' by Alicia Keys"
"Gender in the Classroom"

ASSESSMENT OF BIBLIOGRAPHY

After the seminar took place, participant Elmo Feiten, who was enrolled in the Master in British and North American Culture Studies program, wrote an essay in which he examined the selection of texts used in the course, and offered constructive criticism. More specifically, he expressed his dismay with four particular texts, explaining why he thought these texts were problematic and how a future rendition of the course could benefit from certain changes to the bibliography.

Elmo Feiten: "Cultural Studies in the Classroom: An Assessment of the Reading List"