The Writing Center

The Semester is in full swing and it's time to worry about the first essays and term papers? If you feel like you want or need to talk to someone about your idea, brainstorm titles, work on your thesis, structure your paper, or if you have already written something and would like to hear a second opinion, come see us at the Writing Center!


The Writing Center is a teaching and learning workplace, not a "fix-it" shop or an editing service, but we can help you become a better writer. Long-term, the Writing Center's mission is to help students become independent learners and writers, building their confidence and helping them develop writing tools for learning on their own.

We're located at IG 3.256 and open mondays and wednesdays from 2 - 5 p.m., and tuesdays from 2 - 4 starting next week. Sign-up sheets for 30-minute sessions are on the door, but feel free to simply knock and see if one of us is free to work with you!

Don't be shy, stop by! ;) And remember: "The most productive change most students need to make in working on their essays is to begin writing sooner" - Yale Writing Center

Lecture Series "Das europäische Judentum und der Erste Weltkrieg"

I stumbled over an announcement poster for a lecture series today and thought I'd share it with you. Apparently, not all lectures are in English. If some of you are interested in WW I, there will be a couple of lectures to honor the centennial this year. This series is one of many.

All lectures will be held at Hörsaalzentrum HZ 8 and start at 6 p.m. Check the posters or the website for details! Lectures start this week. Here's the program for you.

23. April: Prof. Dr. David Rechter (University of Oxford)
Trauma on the Eastern Front: European Jews and the Great War (Auftakt des Internationalen Workshops)

24. April, 9 bis 14 Uhr, Campus Westend, Casino, 1.801: Internationaler Workshop „European Jewry and the Great War: Comparative Perspectives“

Prof. Dr. Pierre Birnbaum (Université de Paris): Between Nationalism and Patriotism: French Jews and the First World War

Dr. Semion Goldin (Hebrew University Jerusalem): The Great War, Russian Jewish Elite and Russian State – The Problem and the Challenge of Loyalty

Dr. Tim Grady (University of Chester): German Jews, the Great War and the Necessity of Commemoration

Prof. Dr. Tony Kushner (University of Southampton): Remembering (and Forgetting) the Jews of Britain in the „Great War“

Sarah Panter (Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz): „We must maintain absolute neutrality“ – The Dilemma of American Jews at the Outbreak of the First World War

30. April: Prof. Dr. Shulamit Volkov (Tel Aviv University): Walther Rathenau im Krieg: Hellsichtigkeit und Verwirrung

7. Mai: Prof. Dr. Derek Penslar (University of Toronto/University of Oxford): Every War A Civil War?Jewish Soldiers and Veterans in Europe, 1914-1939

14. Mai: Prof. Dr. Christian Wiese (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main): Martin Buber, der Prager Kreis und die Folgen des Ersten Weltkriegs

21. Mai: Prof. Dr. Michael Löwy (Centre national de la recherche scientifique Paris): Walter Benjamins verspätete Überlegungen zum Ersten Weltkrieg

28. Mai: Prof. Dr. Glenda Abramson (University of Oxford): Life and Writing in Palestine During the First World War

4. Juni: Prof. Dr. Barbara Hahn (Vanderbilt University): „Die Schuld unseres unpolitischen Lebens“. Margarete Susmans Antwort auf die Zäsur des Ersten Weltkriegs

11. Juni: Dr. Ilse Lazaroms (Hebrew University Jerusalem): Between Lamentation and Loyalty: The Hungarian Jewish Predicament in the Wake of the Great War

18. Juni: Prof. Dr. Micha Brumlik (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main): Franz Rosenzweig, Mitteleuropa und der Erste Weltkrieg

25. Juni: Prof. Dr. Dan Laor (Tel Aviv University): The Twice Told Tale: S. Y. Agnon and the Great War

2. Juli: Prof. Dr. Vivian Liska (Universiteit Antwerpen): „Ein Reigen des Volkes.“ Ein Motiv in Kafkas Kurzprosa 1914-1918

9. Juli: Prof. Dr. Steven Aschheim (Hebrew University Jerusalem): The Great War and the Radical Weimar Jewish Revival

16. Juli: Prof. Dr. Shlomo Avineri (Hebrew University Jerusalem): European Jewry and the Great War

Important Information

Here's important information for all BA American Studies Students, especially first and second semester.

Die Einführung "Amerikanische Kultur und Kulturwissenschaft" bei Frau Buschendorf findet ab dem 22.4. in Raum IG 311 statt.

If you want to receive updated information directly on your email adress, go register for the student newsletter here

Student Get-Together - Institutsgruppe

On Thursday, April 24th, the IEAS "Institutsgruppe" organizes a little get-together for the students at IEAS.

Here's their text for the event:
"The IEAS Institutsgruppe invites you to join us for a little get together to get to know us! What is it that we do, why is what we do so important and how can you become a part of all this? We are going to answer all of your questions and the best part is: we got coffee and cookies!"

Here is some more info on the Institutsgruppe. You can also join them if you're interested in getting involved. They have regular meetings at room 16, every Tuesday at 4 p.m. or contact them via email: Institutsgruppe-IEAS@gmx.de 

If you're interested in seeing what it's all about or getting to know a few of the students at the IEAS, then join them on April 24th at Room 16, starting at 4.p.m.!

Concerning Guest Lectures

To get credit points for your Optionalmodul or Academic Training module, you can visit guest lectures and write a (very) short summary about the attended lecture. Four lectures add up to one credit point. It's helpful if these lectures are connected to English- and American Studies, but related fields, like film studies, media studies, history and politics, also work.

The best way to find out about Guest Lectures is by walking through the university and looking for posters and announcements. All guest lectures will be announced by posters in the hallways and on office doors. However, there are a few lecture series which are offered every semester and can be accessed through university websites. You have to visit four guest lectures to get one credit point for your Optionalmodul or Academic Training Module. Here are a few that might be interesting for you:

Exellenzcluster Normative Orders - offers a "Ringvorlesung Gesetzt und Gewalt im Kino" that is offered every semester and combines lectures from various fields discussing different movies.

Kracauer Lectures - offered by the TFM institute, these lectures are concerned with film theory

Rechtswissenschaft Ringvorlesung - lectures about the development and future of (international) law

ZIAF - Center for interdiscipllinary African Studies. They offer a few lectures per semester, nothing current right now

Cornelia Goethe Zentrum - for women's and gender studies

IZO - international center for eastasian studies - offering lectures and workshops

FZHG - Forschungszentrum historische Geisteswissenschaften offers "lunch papers" and various guest lectures

We will also post guest lectures and conferences on this blog as they occur, so make sure you check back here.

Athletics - Hochschulsport

The new Semester also means that the new schedules and workshop dates are online. You can participate in a wide range of team sports, workout groups and courses, anything from Aerobics to Zumba! Some courses, like Tennis training, requier an individual registration at predetermined meetings, other sports can be registered online, or by visiting the trainings.

Aerobics and team sports are usually 10 Euros per semester, Tennis, Fitness and various other special offers, like using the beach volleyball or tennis facilities, cost more.

Here is the A - Z sports program for this semester. Simply go through it or click on the letter for the sport you're interested in for more information. You can also register online by following this link.

In addition, there are various excursions that you can register for:
25.05. - 01.06.2014 Segelwoche 'Elba'
02.08. - 21.08.2014 Wandern in Fjord-Norwegen
24.08. - 29.08.2014 Kitesurfkurs in Warms
31.08. - 05.09.2014 Kitesurfkurs in Warms
17.09. - 29.09.2014 Tauchen 'Korsika'
04.10. - 11.10.2014 Segeltörn 'Kroatien'

as well as tournaments and workshops (Anti-Stress, Gesellschaftstanz, Folkloretänze, Klettern, modernes Ballett, Rückenbalance, Selbstbehauptung). You can find the workshops by clicking on the A-Z sports program and then click on "W" for workshops!

Most of the venues are at the Goethe University Sport Campus at Ginnheimer Landstraße 39. To get there, take the subway 6 or 7 to "Kirchplatz" or the tram 16 to "Frauenfriedenskirche"

Some courses are taking place in local schools. Simply check the course description for details. 

Go to http://web.uni-frankfurt.de/hochschulsport/ for general infos.

The "Reader"

In time to the start of the new semester, here's some information about the infamous "reader" you might have to buy for some of your seminars.

A "reader" is a collection of xeroxed course material that is reassembled for every semester individually. Many seminars, ILS courses and introductory classes work with readers, because it is great for collecting the required reading for your class. Check the class description in the "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" (university calender) to see if your seminars are accompanied by a reader. Usually, the instructors send out an email to tell you you're registered for their class and also to let you know when and where you can get the reader.

The readings in the reader are usually mandatory for the respective class, so make sure you buy it early enough and get a head start!
Most readers are already available in the last week of the break or the first week of the semester. You can buy most of them at the copyshop Skript & Kopie at Wolfgangstraße. Here's a google maps plan of how to get there:

You see it's very close to the university and very easy to get there.
Leave the IG-Farben Haus through the main entrance and walk down to the bus stop.
Cross the street and walk down Parkstraße.
On the next corner, turn right into Wolfgangstraße.
The copyshop is at the end of the block in the corner house on the left.

Most readers will be available here. There are lists with the names of the instructors and the titles of the courses. Simply pick the course you are taking (e.g. Writing Skills) and the respective instructor (e.g. Peggy Preciado) and tell the nice people behind the counter the number of that reader as  printed on the list. Please not that the copyshop only takes cash; you cannot pay with your debit card there. 

Have a successful summer term! 

The "PhilProm"

Today's post aims to explain the purpose and usage of the "Philosophische Promotionskommission" or Philprom for short. They are in charge of all administrative duties concerning your study program, exams, final thesis and credit points, so if you want to suceed in your studies, try and become familiar with the system asap.

I would advise you to put the link to the Philprom website in your favorites, because you will have to go back there a couple of times during your studies. The Philprom website has many useful information for your studies in Frankfurt, starting with your "Prüfungsordnung" examination regulations. So let's go through the website and the offered functions step by step.

Examination Regulations - Prüfungsordnung

Everything you need to know about classes, seminars, term papers and other requirements concerning your studies can be found in the Examination Regulations. This is also the place where you can check word counts, requirements for regulations concerning your final exam and thesis and other useful information about your course of study. Make sure you read the Regulations carefully at the beginning of your studies and become familiar with them. I even recommend printing them out and maybe even highlighting the things that will be important for you (like regulations concerning your "Modulabschlussprüfung" or how your final grade will be formed).


The Examination Regulation can be found on the Philprom Website by clicking on the header "studium" then "Bachelor" or "Master" and then "Prüfungsordnung"


An overview of all study Programs will open. Click on your course of study (I chose BA American Studies Hauptfach) for this demonstration) and the Examination Regulations will open. As I said, you can look up everything here, from word count to seminars you have to take, focus areas you can choose from and things you can do for your Optionalbereich.

This is the link to the Prüfungsordnung BA American Studies Hauptfach

and for the English Studies Hauptfach

Unfortunately, the examination regulations for the Master courses are still not online :/

Examination deadlines and registration info

Another very important function on the Philprom website is an overview of all relevant deadlines for your examination registration for every semester. Remember that you have to register online for every exam and term paper you want to hand in (not for essays or presentations, but for every "Modulabschlussprüfung). The dates and times as well as the required exam registration numbers and a step-by-step instruction of how to register online can be found under the following links for the respective study Programs:

Bachelor American Studies (HF) deadlines and registrations
(deadlines are the same for the American Studies NF)
Master American Studies exam deadlines and registrations

Bachelor English Studies (HF) deadlines and registrations
(deadlines are the same for the American Studies NF)
Master Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media deadlines

Moving Cultures Master deadlines and registration

Always check back on these pages (especially towards the end of the semester) so you won't miss any deadlines! If you don't register for a class/term paper/ Modulprüfung, you won't get any credit points for that class!!!

Anmeldung zur Bachelorprüfung/Anmeldung zur Masterprüfung

Last but not least, here are the links for the formulas you will need to register for your BA and MA thesis. Note: You have to fill in the form "Antragsformular English/American Studies Bachelorprüfung/Masterprüfung im Haupt/Nebenfach" (depending on your personal course of study) in your first semester BEFORE you register for any exams to open your credit points account. If you don't fill out that form, you won't be able to collect credit points! Once you're ready to register for your actual BA or MA thesis, you have to fill out the form "Anmeldeformular English/American Studies Bachelor/Masterarbeit"

Forms for BA students (pick your course of study to find the apropriate formulars)
Forms for MA Students (click on your program to find the apropriate formulars)

If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment or ask the Philprom directly :)

How to find seminars for your "Optionalmodul" (and Academic Training)

Good morning,

today, I want to show you how to find seminars and lectures for your "Optionalmodul". This is mostly interesting for BA American Studies Students, but also for Master Students, since you can use the lectures and seminars to get credits in your Academic Training Module.

The easiest way of finding out if there are other seminars about America or American topics is to search the "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" Simply click on the QIS LSF system and open the site "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" (course overview) There is a button called "Suche nach Veranstaltungen" or "Search for Lectures", simply click on that

The next site is a search mask, where you can search for any and all seminars and events in the current semester. You can look for everything here, but for the purpose of this blog entry, I've typed in "America" to get an overview over all seminars concerned with America. (you can also choose "language of instruction" and type in *English* that will give you all seminars held in English!)

Click on *search* and you will see a list with direct links to the various seminars. Seminars outside of the IEAS that are concerned with America are seminars in the history department or in the "Institute für Theater Film und Medienwissenschaften" (TFM), but there are also some in Economics, Law, politics and education. Whenever you want to visit a seminar outside the IEAS you have to sent the instructor an email and ask him/her if it's ok for you to join their class. Some classes are restricted to certain study programs, and not everybody will let you in, but it's worth trying.
Now, be aware, the credit points don't always translate the way you'd want them to. For example, a lecture in history might get you two credit points in the history department, but lectures are only one credit point in our department. Prof. Bernd Herzogenrath has the final say in what will be useful for your Optionalmodul and what will be difficult. Talk to him if you're unsure!

As for the Master Students: as far as I know, you're free to choose any master class from a  different master degree you like, so you can also simply to to the course overview and pick the topic you're interested in and then look through the offered master seminars.

How to register for (most) classes online

Especially if you are new at the university, registering for classes can be difficult and most of the mandatory introductory classes are already full. But don't worry, you can take them next semester :)

You can register for some of the seminars and all of the (also mandatory) ILS courses online by logging into your own QIS account. This account is very important and contains all necessary administrative tools you need to sucessfully register for classes, tests, term papers and check if you've already paid your semester fee. You can also check your grades online once they were submitted to the *Philprom*

Here's the link to the system: The QIS LSF System

To log in, simply use your student ID (e.g. s12345) and your HRZ password (the password the university sent you when you were accepted into the program)

Whether you're logged in or not, the QIS system is also where you can check the current *Vorlesungsverzeichniss* and plan your schedule for next year. But since you can also create your own schedule and safe it online once you're logged in, it makes sense to always log in right away ;)

Once you're logged in, you'll automatically see all the administrative functions, like *Prüfungsverwaltung* and such. But since this post is about registering for classes, go ahead and click on *Veranstaltungen*

and then click on *Vorlesungsverzeichnis* to get to the official class registry for the current semester.

Choose Fachbereich 10 then Anglistik und Amerikanistik and your degree (English or American Studies, BA or MA) and pick the class you want to register for.
Sometimes you can register via mail or you have to sign into a list; if that's the case, the instructions for registration will be written under the header "Vorraussetzungen". Just send the professor an email then ;) But make sure to send out your emails as soon as possible so your place in the seminars you're interested in is guaranteed!!!

If you can register for this class online, you will see the comment "Die Veranstaltung ist belegpflichtig in QIS-LSF" under the header "Voraussetzungen" in your course description. If this is the case, look for the button where it says "jetzt belegen/anmelden" and click on it. 

The next site will show you an overview of the chosen course and this is the last step to registering. For the ILS courses, you can choose a priority (the one you want to take is priority 1, but also choose two more just in case you don't get into the one you want) Now click on "Platz beantragen" and you will be registert for this class. 

However, since we have many students, this class might be full and you have to check back to see if you actually got in. 

One more thing: ILS classes (and this includes writing skills) are mandatory for all students pursuing a Bachelors or a Masters Degree at the IEAS. BA students taking English or American Studies as their minor (Nebenfach) need to take at least 3 ILS classes, BA students taking English or American Studies in their major need to take 4. Since ILS classes are always full, make sure to register early and also give priority 2 and 3, since you only have 6 semesters to complete those four classes :)

Master Students in Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media and American Studies have to register for an ILS 3 course. Unfortunately, you cannot find them in the masters program (this will be fixed soon hopefully) but you can find them in the "Magister" program and register for them all the same. Here's the link for this semester's classes: ILS 3 link for Master Students

Some interesting Student Projects for you to join, follow or support

Before we start with the administrative tipps and tricks, here are some of our very own student projects currently under way at our institute for you to follow or support:

We'll start with the A-Journal, our very own monthy magazine written and published by students of the department. The A-Journal is published during the semester and filled with interesting tipps about the institute, announcements, interviews and articles. If you're a writer and you want to participate, please contact the writing staff. You can get your copy of the current A-Journal for free at room 17.
Also check out their website: A-Journal

Another interesting project connected with writing is the Student Anthology. Currently in its sixth edition, the Student Anthology is a collection of creative works (poetry, short stories) written by current and former students at the IEAS. The Anthology is designed and published with the expert guidance of Dr. Peggy Preciado. For current information about the Student Anthology, please contact the current team at poetry@chaincourt.org or check out their Call for submissions
The latest versions of the Student Anthology can be purchased for a small price at Room 17.

For those of you who are interested in acting or working on a play, check out the Institute's very own theater company The Chaincourt Theater at The Chaincourt Theater  Mr Fisk is in charge of upcoming productions and tasks connected with the company involve acting, stage management and front of house duties during events.


For Infos on all current Student Projects also look up our Institute's website Student's Creative Participation page!

Welcome at the Institute for English and American Studies!

This blog is supposed to act as a manual for new and visiting students. We (a group of students currently enrolled at Goethe University) will try to shed some light on the workings of Goethe University's administration as well as offer help with organizational questions concerning your studies. In addition, we will update this page with news around the IEAS, student projects you can join or follow and current and future conferences that might be interesting for you.

If you are a Bachelor- or Master Student or are thinking about studying English Studies, American Studies, Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media, or Moving Cultures at Goethe University in Frankfurt, this blog is made for you!

You can use the labels or the archive (on your right) or the search button (on your left) to find what you are looking for. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!

We will fill this site with updates and helpful links as soon as possible, just be patient with us and follow our blog!