Admission requirements
Students can only register for this course once they are selected by the organizers. This selection is on the basis of a paper written within their previous studies, which will be evaluated in terms of the quality of the writing and argumentation. On top of this, students are asked to briefly motivate (one paragraph) how their paper could be rewritten and developed into an article that relates to this year´s theme ´nature´ (understood in the broadest possible sense). We aim for a diverse group of students from different (disciplinary) backgrounds. The maximum amount of participants in this seminar is 15.
Proposals (paper + motivation) should be sent to Nanne Timmer and Astrid Van Weyenberg before 15 January 2022.
Description
This yearly seminar invites students from different (R)MA programmes within the Faculty of Humanities to work towards a publication in the second issue (Summer 2022) of the online, annual, faculty-broad Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP). Under the guidance of two senior scholars, students work both as individual authors and as a collective editorial board, jointly responsible for the journal issue as a whole.
Students will be selected on the basis of a paper written within their previous studies, which will be evaluated in terms of the quality of the writing and argumentation. On top of this, students are asked to briefly motivate (one paragraph) how their paper could be rewritten and developed into an article that relates to this year´s theme ´nature´. While they depart from their own disciplines, they also engage in a dialogue with peers from other disciplines. This allows students to experience first-hand what interdisciplinary collaboration (which can be difficult, but also extremely productive) entails.
In weekly sessions students discuss their work in progress. This involves, among other things, peer-reviewing and editing each other’s work, collectively deciding on the structure and format of the journal issue. Students also learn how to engage with and respond to the feedback of expert peer-reviewers (staff from within the Faculty of Humanities). In addition, students are trained in editing and copy-editing their own work and that of their peers. In practice, students together form the members of the editorial board of this year’s issue, with the two senior scholars operating as the chief editors. In principle, the journal should be able to accommodate different languages and alternative genres (such as a book review or a video-essay), so as to safeguard inclusivity.
In the course of the semester, students additionally prepare the mini-symposium Leiden Humanities Presents, where they present their work-in-progress (based on the draft versions of their articles) to students and staff within the Faculty, thus practicing how to prepare and coordinate a symposium. Finally, to festively conclude the project, students organize a Journal Launch, where they present their work to family, friends, and other interested people from outside the university.
The Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP) is intended as a platform where (R)MA students can present their work. Each seminar edition results in a new journal issue, with a new (broad) theme that holds relevance within different scholarly fields and within society at large. The Journal, therefore, functions as a bridge between the different disciplines of the Humanities, but also between the Faculty of Humanities and the wider world. It is a space where Leiden University can communicate the diverse ways in which ‘culture’ is studied within the Humanities. In a world in which the value of the Humanities is increasingly questioned, this visibility is especially important.
Course objectives
After this course students:
Have experience in writing an academic article for a Journal.
Have experience in collaborating on a Special Issue of a journal (discussing, peer-reviewing, editing)
Have learned how to engage with and respond to the feedback of expert peer-reviewers
Have learned how to edit and copy-edit their own work and that of their peers
Have learned how to work as part of an interdisciplinary team
Have experience in organizing an academic mini-symposium (practicing their moderating, chairing, presenting skills) and a Journal launch.
Timetable
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Mode of instruction
Interactive seminar with individual and group work
Assessment method
Assessment and weighing
Resit
Inspection and feedback
Reading list
Registration
Contact
- For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
Remarks
Participation in this course does not automatically guarantee a publication in LEAP.
Passing this course does not necessarily depend on a publication in LEAP.