Are there any reading/discussion groups at the RCC?
The “Works-in-Progress” meeting has become a fixture as an unofficial fellows' colloquium that takes place once a week on Wednesdays. Using pre-circulated manuscripts, the participants (fellows, visiting scholars, and interested doctoral students) have the opportunity to discuss their ongoing scholarship with their peers. Works-in-Progress is an internal discussion group and there are no formal presentations; participation is organized by the members themselves.
Above and beyond that, fellows and visiting scholars have the opportunity to set up their own reading groups and informal workshops. Currently, there are two Reading Groups that meet regularly: the “Environmental Humanities Reading Group” and the reading group “Multispecies and More-Than-Human Ethics.” Upcoming events for the latter are announced via the mailing list and the calendar of events.
Past initiatives include workshops on cultures of risk (with Ulrich Beck as a special guest) and discussion groups on eco-utopias (with film screenings in the center’s conference room), eco-feminism, multi-species, and natural disasters, to name just a few.