The Challenges of Interdisciplinary States of the Art
Organizing, Writing, Reviewing
Abstract
This research seminar is organized as a series of workshops that all address central predicaments with which many researchers, who blur disciplinary boundaries or draw on multiple reservoirs of knowledge, are confronted with: How to organize and write an interdisciplinary state of the art? How to critically position one’s own approach and research in more than one rapidly changing field? How to develop from the observation of these interdisciplinary states of the art a productive lense through which to grasp one’s own research agenda and legitimate one’s own approach and argument?
The research seminar provides insight into and practical training for dealing with the challenges of academic writing in interdisciplinary contexts, of reviewing multi- and interdisciplinary contributions, and of developing one’s own position towards it. It is an offer for – among others – geographers, historians, anthropologists, social scientists, and global and cultural studies scholars who position themselves in interdisciplinary and global environments. The workshop series is designed specifically for all members of the SFB 1199 – not only for its doctoral students – and is simultaneously as a whole package as a research seminar offered to all PhD students of the Graduate School Global and Area Studies.
Programme
Session 0: EEGA Roundtable “Aktuelle Ansätze für das Schreiben der jüngsten Zeitgeschichte im östlichen Europa”
9 October 2017, 5:00–7:00 pm, GWZO | Specks Hof, Entrance A | Reichsstr. 4–6 | 4th Floor | 04109 Leipzig
Session 1: Introduction (Matthias Middell & Steffi Marung)
25 October 2017, 9:00–11:00 am, venue tbc
Session 2: Dealing with the challenges of interdisciplinary states of the art: strategies and experiences I (Matthias Middell, Sarah Sippel & N.N.)
8 November 2017, 9:00–11:00 am, SFB 1199 | Strohsackpassage | Nikolaistraße 6–10 | 5th Floor | 04109 Leipzig
Session 3: Dealing with the challenges of interdisciplinary states of the art: strategies and experiences II (Katja Naumann, Ute Rietdorf & Steffi Marung)
13 December 2017, 9:00–11:00 am, venue tbc
In these two workshops experienced scholars are invited to give insights into their strategies and experiences of organizing and writing an interdisciplinary state of the art. Based on their own texts or contributions by other scholars, different ways of dealing with the challenge will be identified and discussed. Participants will bring their own examples and questions, which can be further addressed in the roundtable discussion.
Session 4: Dealing with the challenges of peer review in interdisciplinary contexts: practices and examples (Matthias Middell & Steffi Marung)
17 January 2018, 9:00–11:00 am, SFB 1199 | Strohsackpassage | Nikolaistraße 6–10 | 5th Floor | 04109 Leipzig
This workshop addresses a frequent predicament related to publication of academic texts: Peer reviewed journals and publishing houses invite for comments from the often interdisciplinary community in order to improve the quality of articles. In order to learn how to deal with this challenge, it might be helpful to adopt different positions: both of reviewers and of authors. Thus, in this workshop some participants will take the first position and review an article, while other will reflect the latter and make suggestions for how to react to such reviews from the author’s position.
Session 5: Writing and reviewing: Peer workshop on state of the art chapters, journal contributions and other chapters in progress
31 January 2018, tbc, SFB 1199 | Strohsackpassage | Nikolaistraße 6–10 | 5th Floor | 04109 Leipzig
This concluding workshop provides particularly space for presentation of participants’ texts in progress. Against the background of the previous discussions, feedback by peers and supervisors will be granted on the basis of texts in the making. In this way, writing and reviewing not only in interdisciplinary contexts can be further trained.