This course introduces the main topics and themes of the transformation studies program. Students will become familiar with the basic principles of research practice and explore different conceptual and methodological approaches in a collaborative learning process with faculty and teammates.

The course kicks off with an intensive series of lectures, workshops, and events, including two field visits to the port of Linz and the floodplain forests along the river Danube in Vienna. Both sites have undergone major transformations over the past decades. Taken together they provide a rich backdrop for interrogating some of the main drivers and pathways of change processes and to unpack their multiple dimensions, temporalities, and intersectional effects. The information and materials gathered will be used in various small exercises in critical thinking and research practice, drawing on inputs from other courses across disciplines.

Toward the end of the term, we will develop a critical dictionary of key concepts and terms. The glossary provides a shared platform for documenting and reflecting on the main insights, experiences, skills, and potentials gathered throughout the semester and will be expanded throughout the program. Contributions to the glossary are mandatory and a graded exercise that makes up most of the final marks. Before submitting their projects students will be supported by three intensive writing sessions to ensure continuous guidance on how to synthesize and apply knowledge from various courses and disciplines in written and visual form. 

Schedule

Oct 4th   10:00  - 17:00  Introductory Lecture: ‘Deconstructing Transformation’; Briefing Field Visit Linz

Oct 6th   10:00 - 17:00   Field Visit Linz Harbour (co-teaching with Artistic Research Methods)

Oct 9th   10:00  - 17:00  Recap Field Visit Linz & Preview Field Trip Vienna

Oct 12th 10:00 - 16:00   Field Trip Lobau, Vienna (co-teaching with Artistic Research Methods)

Oct 13th  10:00 - 13:00  Recap Field trip Lobau; Concluding Remarks & Reflection on Start weeks  (co-teaching with Artistic Research Methods)

Nov 6th   13:00 - 17:00  Tutorium Mapping Exercise (co-teaching with Topics in Artistic Strategies) 

Nov 15th  10:00 - 14:30  Presentation & Feedback Mapping Projects (co-teaching with Topics in Artistic Strategies )

Dec 1st canceled due to illness, replacement date Jan 16th 2024 

Dec 15 th      10:00 - 14:00  Writing Workshop Course Glossary (co-teaching with Research Methods in Humanities ) 

Jan 8th      13:00 - 17:00    ---------- “ –---------- “ –---------------

Jan 16th    09:30 - 13:30   ---------- “ –---------- “ –---------------

For a detailed schedule of the start weeks program see the PDF sent out earlier.

 

Please note that this course is a co-teaching format together with:

Artistic Research Methods 

Topics in Artistic Strategies

Research Methods in Humanities

In order to receive all ECTS points, you have to attend and register all courses!

Your performance will be graded on the basis of a small group exercise, the end of term project (Glossary) and your continuous participation and critical input in class.

The group exercise consists of a collaborative mapping project building up on material gathered during our field visits in Linz and Vienna. It will count towards 30% of final grade. Your contribution to the course glossary (End of Term project) will be a short essay with a multimedia component, which counts for 60% of your grade.

Participation: 10%

Mapping Project: 30%

End of term Project (Glossary): 60%

Attendance in this course is mandatory. Absences without legitimate justifications will result in a failed grade for this course.