First-year of study M.A. methodology workshops for summer term 2024–2025

Literary studies

Comparative Studies

dr Joanna Jarząb-Napierała

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the notion of comparative studies in theory and practice. Comparative literature, which perceives national literatures as insufficiently representative of more general tendencies when analysed in isolation, focuses on the dialogue initiated by different modern literatures. This dialogue, whether mutual or one-sided, not only enhances their development but also provides a platform for comparison on various levels. Students in the course will have the opportunity to see how comparative studies point to the universality of certain literary phenomena while simultaneously highlighting local diversities that reflect literatures’ tendencies to balance between the universal and the local. Since the classes have a ‘workshop’ character, students will conduct a small comparative project of their own to see how comparative studies theories can be applied to particular literary texts.

History of the book and literary studies

prof. UAM dr hab. Joanna Maciulewicz

The aim of this workshop is to look at the methodology of one of the new disciplines called the history of the book and to see how it can expand the area of literary studies. History of the book is primarily interested in the materiality of texts as well as in the economic, social and technological contexts of their creation (or production), circulation and reception. It is an inherently interdisciplinary branch of studies. Robert Darnton, one of its founder, described it as less a field and more a tropical rain forest in which a scholar, like an intrepid explorer, is trying to makes their way. James Raven, considers the interdisciplinarity as “the most productive aspect of the enterprise”. In the course of the workshop we will look at some examples of the studies from the history of the book, analyse the methodological apparatus employed in their execution and design a research project that will aim to explore a particular aspect of book culture.

Introduction to intermedial studies

dr Małgorzata Olsza

Introduction to Intermedial Studies is a compact introductory course to the study of literary and cultural texts in relation to other media, such as film, music, and broadly defined mass and social media. While all of us function in an intermedial world, not all of us are able to describe, analyze, and compare such phenomena in depth using precise terminology. This course attempts to fill that gap. Throughout the semester we will focus on different media and different intermedial relations. We will start by discussing and defining key intermedial terms (such as multimodality, intertextuality, medium specificity, transmediality, remediation) and then move on to analyzing ekphrasis (the visual possibilities of language), narrativity (a given’s medium ability to tell a story), experimental multimodal literature (which tests the limits of the book as a format), adaptions (of literary works into movies), comics and graphic novels (as combinations of words and images), and transmedial storyworlds.

Credits will be given based on attendance and active participation in class discussions, critical reading of the assigned material, and a final project – an analysis of an intermedial phenomenon which engages with and/or furthers the problems discussed in class.

Postcolonial and diasporic studies

prof. UAM dr hab. Agnieszka Rzepa

The aim of the workshop is to familiarize students with major premises of postcolonial and diasporic studies as they apply to literature, and give them an opportunity to practice using postcolonial and diasporic frameworks in literary analysis. Postcolonial and diasporic literary theory and criticism are broad interdisciplinary approaches to literature, strongly rooted in historical and contemporary political, social and cultural processes. While the two approaches often come together, it is not always so: the field of postcolonial literary studies focuses on diver aspects of processes related to colonialism and decolonisation as they affect or are reflected in literature; while diasporic literary studies examines texts related in different ways to the scattering of diverse national, racial and ethnic groups of people all over the world, often (though not always) as a result or in connection to (post)colonial processes.

Workshop on Feminism: history and critical practice

prof. dr hab. Liliana Sikorska

This workshop offers an exploration of the history of feminism from its early roots to the diverse movements and critical practices that shape women’s writings and writings about women today. Designed for students with keen interest in the history of literature and anyone interested in feminist theory and its ideological implications, the workshop will offer both a historical perspective and an analytical framework for understanding feminist struggles and their intersection with broader social and political movements. The classes will also investigate the critical feminist practices, showing how the self-consciousness of women writers prevailed in literature, art and education. We will examine the ways in which feminist practice has evolved, comparing Christian mysticism and its contemporary rendition in fiction as well as feminist ethics feeding the ongoing (twentieth and twenty-first century) struggles for equality in the private and public spheres.

Our classes will be devoted to reading and discussing short fictional and non-fictional texts by key historical figures so as to survey how writers have responded to issues of gender, class and sexuality. Our goal is to be able to engage critically with feminist thought and practice, considering its relevance and application to current issues of economic precarity and human rights.

Linguistics

Introduction to research with human participants

dr Iga Krzysik

This course is for you if you are keen to learn how we study language processing, that is how people process language.

This course aims at (i) helping you understand the basic constructs in designing and doing experimental research on language processing (i.e., language perception, comprehension, and production) and showing you what types of study designs there are, and what types of variables language processing studies feature. We will take steps in formulating research questions, and building hypotheses, as well as establishing key ingredients of language processing study designs, and types of variables crucial for such studies. You will learn how to evaluate the internal, external, and construct validity of studies, and how to respect the ethics codes in studies with human participants. This course also aims at (ii) helping you acquire the know-how of reading-and-writing study reports, as you will get to know the standards of reporting experimental research: the descriptive and inferential statistics, and types of statistical tests we use. On top of that, you will get a grasp of different research methods employed to study language processing (e.g., RT, EEG, GSR, fMRI). Join the course to discover more!

Introduction to qualitative research methodology

prof. UAM dr hab. Agnieszka Kiełkiewicz-Janowiak

This course, distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative research paradigms, will consider collecting and analyzing language data through a qualitative lens, focusing on linguistic detail toward understanding the processes of language use in context. Doing linguistic fieldwork involves, for example, surveys and interviews, to gather unique insights into speakers' language behaviours, motivations, and attitudes.

Students will explore various (qualitative) methodological approaches to empirical data and learn how to choose the right tools to address specific research aims. This is to help students determine which methods suit their future MA projects. As a practical exercise, students will carry out individual mini-projects, selecting study populations, data types and appropriate analytical methods for their research questions.

Another key aspect of the course is the consideration of ethical principles, particularly the researcher's responsibility toward participants and the proper handling of collected data. Thus, students will examine the "debt incurred" when conducting research with human participants for the sake of their social safety and well-being.

Theoretical linguistics

prof. UAM dr hab. Bartosz Wiland

Course aims

The aim of the course is to familiarize the students with basic theoretical tools that will enable them to correctly describe, classify, compare and analize linguistic forms. In particular, the focus of the course is on basic elements of languages: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and basic lexical semantics. Practical methods of obtaining specific linguistic data (i.e. data points required to carry out specific linguistic tasks), such as the use of corpora, conducting field research, experimental methods (MagnetoEncephaloGraphy, ElectroEncephaloGraphy, eye-tracking), or designing an experiment will also be discussed.

An important aim of the course is to allow the students to acquire the ability to practically apply the knowledge and skills – both in their work on individual MA projects in linguistics, as well as in teaching, translation, and other work related to the conscious application of linguistic knowledge.

During the lectures, students will learn how to properly describe and classify the linguistic data, make cross-linguistic comparisons , and base theoretical analyses in both typologically diverse as well as more similar languages (e.g., English, Polish, North Saami, Yaqui, Czech, Ukrainian, Italian, etc.).

Teaching methods

lectures, audio-visual presentations, in-class discussions

Major topics

1. Basics of linguistic description, comparison, and data analysis in the domains of:
   1. phonetics (general, British vs. American English vs. Polish, etc.)
   2. phonology
   3. morphology
   4. syntax
   5. basic lexical semantics
2. How different languages differ and how they don’t: what to look for in the linguistic data
3. Methods of linguistic data collection and classification
   1. the use of corpora
   2. linguistic fieldwork
   3. experimental methods (questionaires, EEG, MEG, eye-tracking, etc.)

Credit requirements

1. active participation (attendance and participation: 50%)
2. a short end-of-semester test (50%)