How can utopian and dystopian fiction help us imagine—and reimagine—the future? This seminar explores innovative methods of teaching speculative literature by engaging students as "archeologists of the future." Through hands-on, creative approaches, we will consider how examining imagined societies can deepen critical thinking, foster interdisciplinary dialogue, and inspire students to reflect on present challenges and possible worlds to come.
Key Themes:
·       Utopia and dystopia as literary genres
·       Pedagogical strategies for teaching utopian and dystopian texts
·       Creative classroom activities and experiential learning
·       Fiction as a tool for critical inquiry into politics, culture, and the future
This event is open to EFL students, and all those interested in literature and speculative futures.

In nur wenigen Jahren haben auf künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) basierende Sprachmodelle wie ChatGPT ihren festen Platz in Alltagskultur und beruflichen Zusammenhängen gefunden. Routinierte und gut beschreibbare Prozesse können (vermeintlich) einigermaßen sicher durch diese Systeme erledigt werden. Die Rückwirkung auf schulischen Englischunterricht sind daher offensichtlich, da Lernende hier u.a. befähigt werden sollen, generische Textformen zu generieren und die Verführung groß ist, sich dabei von KI unterstützen zu lassen. Andererseits kann KI auch potentiell auch Lehrkräfte in vielen routinierten (und lästigen) Bereichen unterstützen.
In diesem Seminar wollen wir die Nutzung von KI zur Unterrichtsplanung untersuchen und kritisch reflektieren. Gleichzeitig soll das Seminar Gelegenheit bieten, zu hinterfragen, wie KI das Berufsbild einer Englischlehrkraft verändern wird und inwiefern wir das als wünschenswert betrachten.

How can fiction and storytelling enhance the teaching of academic subjects in EFL and CLIL classrooms? This seminar introduces FACUL (Fiction and Content Unified Learning), an innovative approach that places storytelling at the center of subject and language learning.
Through novels, short stories, plays and films from the Anglophone world, we will explore how stories provide a universal gateway to knowledge. The seminar will show how FACUL combines the motivational power of fiction with the cognitive demands of academic content, creating more inclusive, engaging, and sustainable learning experiences.
Key topics include:
·       Why storytelling is a universal human learning strategy.
·       How fiction (novels, drama, film, graphic novels) can supplement subject teaching.
·       Neuroscientific insights into motivation, memory, and creativity in learning.
·       Practical ways to design multimodal, production-centered tasks for EFL and CLIL contexts.
·       The role of LabLit and other genres that merge narrative with scientific or historical knowledge.
Who should attend?
This seminar will be of particular interest to students and faculty in English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics, Education, and Cultural Studies.

In this course we will critically dicuss how discourses about climate change transform cultural ideas of progress, human-nature relationships, agency and participation. Employing different scholarly approaches and methodological frameworks we will gain insight into different conceptualizations and narrativizations of environmental issues.
Requirements:
• regular attendance and oral participation
• in-depth knowledge of the reading material
• oral presentation and handout

Multilingualism is a normal condition for most people in this world. Monolingual people, in turn, are the minority.
This seminar will examine different aspects of multilingualism and plurilingualism. We will look at individual multilingualism (i.e., plurilingualism) such as the multilingual brain, early bilingual language acquisition, multilingualism in education, as well as multilingualism in societies.

The class work will consist of thematic input, discussions, individual and group work, reflection tasks, hands-on activities, …
The seminar aims to explore various aspects of multilingualism and connect them to your work as current and future teachers.

For the ungraded “Seminarleistung” (SL) you will be required to
(1) create a Pecha Kucha presentation and present it in class at the end of the semester.

For the graded “Prüfungsleistung” (PL) you will
(1) create a Pecha Kucha presentation and present it in class at the end of the semester;
(2) Complete a term paper.

This class will be conducted within the research area Blue Humanities. Blue Humanities studies oceans, rivers, and coastal areas in terms of (colonial) histories, migration and travel, sustainability and ecological issues, circulation of people and ideas, marine and Indigenous knowledges, literature and cultures, new geographies, extractivism, energy and economic issues, among others.

After discussing ocean literacy in general and the sustainable development goals of the UN on water, we will read theoretical texts on ocean literacy. We will also watch documentaries and invite experts on ocean knowledge to class. We will read and discuss a short text from the collection The Imperiled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea by Laura Trethewey and the The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. The idea is that in class we develop materials on ocean literacy together.
Hemingway’s text will be ready for purchase at the university bookstore at the beginning of the semester (10,50€; pls purchase the Pengion edition, should you want to acquire it yourself). Other primary and secondary texts will be uploaded on StudIP.
Pls note that regular attendance, class preparation and active class discussion are mandatory. You must register on StudIP for this class and be willing to work in a team to prepare and carry out an ocean literacy project you could later use in school.

This course is part of the LINK module. In order to get credit for the entire module, students must also complete the course with Matthias Myrczek: 10-E76-3-LINK-01 Teaching Literature.

This part of the module will offer an opportunity to explore contemporary fiction from the perspective of the book market, specifically the production, circulation and reception of novels in the UK. Students will become familiar with the economic and cultural conditions of the contemporary literary marketplace, its key participants and their interaction. Our focus will be on the culture of literary prizes in Anglophone fiction, in particular on the Man Booker Prize 2025. As UK's most prestigious literary prize, the Booker Prize presents a nodal point on the literary calendar, exposing and connecting the diverse interests of authors, publishers, booksellers, critics and readers. The course will introduce students to the main issues and developments of the Booker 2025, and invite them to analyse its background on four levels: textual analysis, marketing, reviewing and prize coverage.
By the beginning of term, students should have purchased and read two of the six novels on the 2025 Booker shortlist which will be announced by the end of September.
Please, sign up to the Booker mailinglist, check out the Booker website and be aware of the following —
Important Dates:
• The judging panel: announcement on 10 Dec 2024
• The longlist: announcement on 29 July 2025
• The shortlist: announcement on 23 September 2025 at a live public event at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London
• The winner: announcement on 10 November at an awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London (live stream via the Booker Prize’s channels)

Please note that this seminar is offered in conjunction with the seminar in language education "Teaching Linguistics" in the same module. Students need to register and participate in both seminars to complete the module.

IMPORTANT !!! Note that only registered M.Ed. students can participate in this seminar The turn of BA students will come later.

Please note that this seminar is offered in conjunction with the seminar in linguistics "Seminar: 10-E76-3-LING-02 Key Topics in Linguistics for Teachers of English: Global Englishes Language Teaching". Students need to register and participate in both seminars to complete the module.

This seminar is the practical application of the knowledge gained in the linguistics seminar “Key Topics in Linguistics for Teachers of English: Global Englishes Language Teaching”. We will tie sociolinguistic and pedagogical implications of the global spread of English with curricular requirements and discuss potential ways of incorporating different varieties of English into teaching practice, focusing on the evaluation of existing teaching and learning materials.

This course will be given in close cooperation with Dr.Anna Auguscik's "Contemporary Fiction, the Book Market, and Prize Culture" (10-E76-3-LINK-03). Attending both classes is mandatory if you want to take the credits for the LINK module.
Based on your insights from Dr. Auguscik's course, we will discuss and plan teaching possibilities for various kinds of literature, particularly contemporary fiction. We will also discuss whether literary prizes can serve as guides for choosing texts for the classroom. Active participation and weekly readings assignments are required. A lesson plan needs to be handed in as "Prüfungsleistung" after the course has ended.

As the title of this course suggests, we will look at various forms of adaptation and their use in the English language classroom. These forms include films and graphic novels, but also video games and (radio) drama. Students will explore these adaptations regarding their use of (visual) language, the relationship between source and target medium as well as their use in the classroom.

This course is part of the Practical Language Studies, and therefore the focus is on the language functions and the active use of the language rather than didactic concepts.

Please note that this class is part of the Master of Education and only MA students are eligible to take part.

The aim of this course is to establish a deeper understanding of theatrical improvisation and consider potential applications to the language classroom. First, we will take a closer look at the history as well as contemporary forms of improvisational theatre, focusing especially on "Chicago-style long-form improv”, that originated in Chicago in the 1990s and has spread to New York and L.A., having a significant impact on the US entertainment industry and specifically the writing rooms of many TV series and movies. In addition, we will investigate how the language used in this form of theatrical improvisation differs from and is similar to everyday communication, and whether principles and exercises from improvisational theatre can serve as tools to emphasize particular aspects of language use. We will reflect how this can be applied in the language classroom, focusing on areas such as idiomatic use of language, context-dependency of meaning and navigating common ground. Finally, we will examine how more general skills relevant for improvisation—such as listening, flexibility, and especially the cooperative mindset inherent in the yes-and principle, which is essential to all improvisation—can be of use in teaching situations.

This course is part of the Practical Language Module, and therefore the focus is on the language functions and the active use of the language rather than didactic concepts.