The second edition of the Induction Days of the Erasmus Mundus Master Crossways in Cultural Narratives took
place this year in Sheffield between the 4th and 6th of
September. After the success of the first edition held in Lisbon
in 2012, Sheffield ’s team worked hard to
prepare a flawless second edition to what is aiming to be a fundamental event
for the organizations of the Consortium
and an additional mark of excellence for future students.
Sheffield welcomed the different delegates and the students with its
best weather, the kindness typical of Yorkshire people (together with their
challenging accent and their peculiar characteristic of calling whoever they
are talking to “love”), still half empty and getting ready to start the new
academic year with its usual frenzy. All the guests were hosted at Endcliffe Village
Prof
Michael Perraudin, Dr Sophie Watt and Caroline Wordley took care of the organization in every little
detail, from the preparation of a dedicated website to the organization of a
Gala dinner, and an intensive 3 day programme was scheduled for all 2013
participants in the degree.
Day 1
Early arrives joined the research seminar presentation by Prof Claudia
Kozak (Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios) on the topic of Experimental Poetry and Technology in Latin America . Towards a Theory and Critique of Translanguages. The seminar was the Mundus way of welcoming everyone and
declaring the opening of the Induction Days 2013, which this year numbered 41
participants, including professors, students and administrators.
The introduction to the research of Prof Kozak was a great opportunity
to share one of the various on-going projects supported by the members of the
academic staff and have a better understanding of the diverse fields of study
that exist at the different Universities. This element should definitely be
added to the standard programme of the Induction Days for the next editions as
it is a unique opportunity to inspire new ideas and projects and fuel new
collaborations and connections.
After the presentation the group gathered in a local pub, where they
could indulge in the British habits of having a pint and eating some extremely
caloric food. However we all know that taste comes with calories, so no one
seemed to be disappointed by the end of the night.
Day 2
The morning of the second day of the Induction Days started with
official welcome speechs by Prof Michael Perraudin and by the Head of the School of Languages Jessop West
Building
Then the programme was given over to presentations by the ten different
institutions who are part of the Consortium,
given by the representatives of each University. Only Universidad
Iberoamericana had no representative, so the aim of next year’s meeting is to
have a full house!
Before
starting these presentations Prof Jonathan Pollock, together with Prof Michael
Perraudin, welcomed everyone, summarizing the developments achieved by the Master’s
programme in the past years and explaining the purposes of the meeting.
The Induction Days represented the first day of class for the students,
who started to understand what their life was going to be like in the next two
years and also began to become familiar with the faces and names of their
future study companions. They could explore the geography of the Master’s,
discover the different academic approaches, understand the different accents
when using the lingua franca of contemporary society, put a face to names that
for the students were previously only the signature on an email or a link in
the page of Contacts on the Crossways website.
Academics and staff members were able to appreciate some improvements in
the powerpoint presentations presented by some members of the Consortium and
could gain a better insight into the different Universities.
During the lunch break professors and students had the chance to
continue discussing the MA and get to know each other better, but in a more
relaxed context. After lunch professors and students went their different ways
and resumed work in different rooms to discuss matters concerning the
respective sides.
Also present at the professors’ meeting was Maryan
Ansari, student representative for the 2012-2014 round, who was in charge of
bringing up the issues the students had encountered during their first year, in
order for the staff to understand gaps
in the organization and administration of the partner universities. The
implementation of a new structure of credits was also discussed: 30 per
semester, as strongly suggested by Brussels Poznan
In the meantime the students were having their meeting with Chiara Dalla
Libera (Crossways administrator at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and previous
Crossways student). This meeting had the purpose of helping the students
clarify their uncertainties, creating a first core of information and
connections that would then also be useful for the other students who were unable
to attend the Induction Days. During the meeting the students elected their
course representative, Natnaree Kanjanawattana.
One
of the suggestions made by the students was the creation of a database with the
abstracts of the dissertations that had been written by the students in
previous years, in order to have an idea of possible topics and contents that
could be undertaken. Before getting ready for the dinner the student group then
took a tour of some of the facilities available at Sheffield
University : the Information Commons Sheffield
University
The annual programme dinner was held in Firth Hall, part of Firth Court University
of Sheffield University
of Sheffield
Day 3 and 4
English weather finally made its appearance and the combination of cold,
rain and grey sky accompanied the participants during what was for some of them
the last day of the Induction Days in Sheffield .
The programme of the morning meeting of the third day gave space to the
students to present themselves to the Professors, to talk about their
expectations and to allay their fears and clarify their doubts. It was a first
appetizer of what the Professors should expect form the students this year:
each student would bring to the programme a range of projects and ideas, each influenced
by his or her own cultural heritage and mindset.
The word was then passed to Dr Jocelyn Dupont and Dr Victoria Donovan,
who explained the mechanism of the workplacement, the possibilities, the
requirements and how the report of the workplacement experience should be
structured and developed. They both clarified that the workplacement is an
option and is not mandatory, and that the dissertation is still the main focus
of the Master’s. The workplacement is a practical experience that is to be
followed by an academic production that should mirror the cultural content of
the experience, with a solid theoretical basis.
Dr David Evans, as the Crossways coordinator of dissertations, explained
to the students how the preparation and production of the dissertation should
ideally be distributed during the two years: when the topic should be chosen,
when the first draft of a bibliography should be put together, the role of the
supervisor at each university, the language of the dissertation and the
criteria for evaluation. He also took a moment to clarify the difference
between the dissertation report and the dissertation and how the dissertation
report gives the student a margin for failure, in the sense that, as it is a preamble
to the main dissertation, students can develop and explore a theory and establish
whether or not it works well. This will give them the space for development and
innovation and will allow them the chance to adjust the structure of their
ideas later on. The dissertation report is a place of experimentation, while
the dissertation is the logical objectification of the theories developed.
According to Dr Evans students, when approaching him for the first time to
choose of the topic of the dissertation, usually either do not have any idea of
what they want to focus on, or they can have a very specific idea in mind, but
sometimes this can be impractical in terms of production. He underlined that
the main thing to take into consideration is the corpus of the dissertation:
gathering a consistent bibliography and always remembering to try to be
practical in terms of production planning.
Chiara Dalla Libera added her input, explaining her experience in
writing the dissertation. She reinforced the suggestion of thinking also in
practical terms, depending on the chosen path within the universities of the
Consortium. As soon as students are able to identify the core of their
dissertation it becomes easier to gather a relevant bibliography and plan the
evolution of the dissertation towards the aimed conclusions.
Prof Pollock clarified the policy of the Master’s regarding plagiarism,
quotations and the format of the dissertation, and he also shared with the
students the main topic of discussion during the staff’s afternoon meeting on
the previous day. He explained the possibility of redistributing the credits over
the two years with a new system of 30 credits per semester, and he asked for
the students’ opinion, even if most probably it would not be possible to apply
this change to their round.
The last part of the morning meeting gave space to questions by the
students and to their feedback regarding the Crossways and local webpages: the difficulties they had encountered
when applying for the Master’s, the areas that did not have enough information
and the suggestions they had to improve them.
The hard part was over and students and professors had a deserved lunch
and a hot cup of tea while outside it kept on raining. A group of brave
adventurers took an energizing two-hour hill walk in the nearby Peak District
during the afternoon, while another group opted for the safer and drier option
of a bus tour through the region.
The farewell dinner took place in Butler ’s
Balti, a well-known local Indian restaurant, honouring the tradition that claims
Indian food to be the really typical British food, even if the Indian food that
can be found in the UK
On
Saturday the last group of a dozen aficionados
took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
near Wakefield
So the 2013 Induction Days came to an end, succeeding in their intention of
facilitating the students’ access to the Master’s, creating a first core of
experience and ideas that would help them in facing this new adventure in the
best way, with more information and better tools to get the most out of this
experience, and minimizing the cultural shock they will have to face at each
change of institution.
For academics and members of staff was a great opportunity to exchange
ideas and experiences, plan possible collaborations, and share suggestions to
improve the Master’s on a local level and increase the number of students. It
was interesting to understand the bureaucracies and university structures in
the different countries and their position within their national systems of
education.
Again, each one of the participants was going home with a general sense
of optimism and excitement for all the possible projects they could develop and
for the range of achievements they could gain from the degree.
Author:
Chiara Dalla Libera
