OSL Research Day (11 October 2019, Groningen)

The fourth OSL Research Day will take place on October 11, 2019 at the University Library in Groningen. We invite scholars from all Dutch universities to explore affinities in their research interests and possibilities for future collaboration around a number of research topics (mentioned below).

The Research Day hopes to stimulate more collaboration between literary scholars and existing research groups in the Netherlands. Although literature is the main scope of the OSL Research School, we explicitly encourage multidisciplinary research.

Programme
The Research Day will start with the presentation of the 2019 OSL Award, followed by a PhD Forum and a session on Research Funding. After a short lunch break, our special guest Prof. David Alworth (Harvard) will give a keynote lecture presenting his current research project on ‘Paratextual Art’.

In the afternoon, the participants will discuss their own research projects and interests in sessions organised by existent and emerging research groups. Sessions are planned on the topics of literature and law, European crises, literature and the region, literary prizes and cultural transfer, as well as arts and the public sphere. These sessions take 1.5 hour each, and are open to all researchers; they will take different shapes and forms, dependent upon the ideas of the organizers and participants (please see descriptions below).

Seed Money
We would explicitly like to invite participants to think about future collaborations with other OSL members. The OSL Board will make € 1000,- of seed money available for the most promising initiative, including for instance:

• planning of symposia
• book publications
• joint funding applications
• organization of OSL budgeted academic events such as the Ravenstein Seminar in January 2020 (in this case, the seed money will be added as an extra to the budget already made available by OSL).

Applications (short description of the collaborative project and estimation of expenses, approx. 500 words) should be sent to the OSL office by 15 November 2019 (osl@rug.nl). The OSL Board will notify the recipients by Dec 9.

Registration
Participants can register for the Research Day by sending an email to osl@rug.nl before 7 October 2019; please be aware that places are limited, and will be granted on a ‘first come first served’ basis. NB: Please indicate in your email in which sessions you would like to participate, including the parallel sessions in the afternoon.

The event will take place in the RUG University Library, Broerstraat 4, Groningen.

We look forward to meeting you all in Groningen on Oct 11!

Pablo Valdivia, Alberto Godioli, Judith Jansma, Camilla Sutherland, Florian Lippert, Elizabeth Pinilla and the OSL Board

Description of Parallel Sessions:

1. Literature, Law and Society: Format = Introduction + open discussion; description available here
2. Literature and the Region: Format = Invited speakers + open discussion; description available here
3. Roundtable on academic publishing: Description: ‘At this publishing panel we like to discuss with you some challenges involved in academic publishing in the field of literary studies. Currently there are tensions created by 1) decrease in library budget for literary studies and an increasing pressure on academics to create output; 2) increased engagement with Open Access publishing in the humanities, but lack of funding supplied by universities in these areas to pay for the article or book publication charge; 3) decreased interest by librarians in collected volumes and theses (at times rightly so) though unwavering interest to propose these to a publisher in order to get tenure or connect with other researchers. Based on this we’ll offer you some pointers on what we consider a good (or bad) proposal, and will offer tips on how to write an academic title for your article or monograph. There will also be plenty of room to share your burning questions about academic publishing or to throw in topics for us to discuss from our points of view. We’ll be happy to share all you wish to know.’
4. Literary Prizes and Cultural Transfer: Description available here
5. Arts and the Public Sphere: Format = Introduction + roundtable discussion; description available here
6. European Crises: Format = invited speakers + open discussion; description available here