Grant recipients:
James Skidmore, University of Waterloo
Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies
Christina Kraenzle, York University
Canadian Centre for German and European Studies
(Completed. Project Timeline: May 2013-April 2014)
Project's purpose
To enhance the teaching of contemporary German studies at uWaterloo and beyond by employing a network of scholars to develop collaboratively a modular, fully online, multimedia course space in contemporary German cultural studies openly available for use free of charge, in whole or in part, online or in a blended format, by any university instructor.
Insights
During the period of this grant we developed and modified our original concept. We conducted two workshops (November 2013; April 2014) with 8-10 colleagues from across Canada to flesh out the concept and draft an outline for the proposed webspace, and with Mark Stuart of the Centre for Extended Learning to realize that webspace.
This process has yielded the following (very positive) results:
- The project and attendant site have a new name: kultur360
- It became clear early on that for this project to further the study of contemporary German-language (D-A-CH) culture in a manner that would appeal to faculty, students and a general public alike, it must present learning and study in this area in a completely authentic manner. The project should therefore not be an online textbook or course website. Rather, it should provide a space for researchers to present legitimate and academically sound research in a manner accessible to a number of potential audiences: academics, students, policymakers, journalists, and a general public interested in intellectual knowledge and debate. In short, instead of being a course materials site, it will be a news site on society and culture in contemporary central Europe.
- The original, authentic material produced for the site can then be employed for various purposes: private study; lifelong learning; course learning at the secondary and tertiary levels; general interest.
- The workshops also clarified matters surrounding operational structure, advisory board membership, ownership, copyright, web hosting, URL, etc.
Dissemination and impact
- At the individual level: The coordinators (Kraenzle and Skidmore) and also several advisory board members (Frackman, Suvak) have been discussing this project with various colleagues from across North America.
- At the Department/School and/or Faculty/Unit levels: The project will be presented in a formal manner at the Waterloo Centre for German Studies Research Forum in December.
- At the institutional (uWaterloo) level: The OND conference theme for 2014 (Assessment) did not allow for a presentation on this project at that time. If other opportunities arise at Waterloo, we will be sure to take advantage of them.
- At the national and/or international levels: A presentation is planned for the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in 2015.