Upcoming conference in Frankfurt still looking for participants

Are you a BA student in the final stages of your degree or an MA student in one of the programs at Frankfurt? Do you have an interesting idea for your thesis and would like some peer review and feedback? Do you want to gather some conference experience but don't know where or how? 

Come join us for our first Student and Graduate Conference here in Frankfurt! See Call for Papers below for more details or contact us at studentconferencefrankfurt@yahoo.com 

P.s.: you can also find us on facebook at Student and Graduate Conference: Transcultural Media Relations

Register for your Modulabschlussprüfung!

It's that time of the semester again, the last two weeks are in full swing and the first essays, take homes and exams need to be handed in. Before you start writing a paper, make sure you're actually registered for it! 

Every BA and MA Student needs to register for every *Modulabschlussprüfung* (term papers and exams) directly with Philprom via the QIS/LSF page.

Here are this semester's dates from the Philprom for BA American Studies, MA American Studies, BA English Studies and MA ALCM. The Philprom now also offers a step-by-step instruction on how to register using the QIS/LSF system.

Remember you can also back out of registered exams if you feel like you won't be able to make it or if you'd rather do it again next semester. But if you don't register, you won't get any credit points for the module!

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

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.

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.