INTRODUCTION
This Department is the educational and research centre of English Studies in North-Eastern Slovenia and makes an important contribution to the development of the field in English-speaking cultures. We also successfully cooperate with other university institutions in Slovenia and abroad.
The Department of English and American Studies offers one undergraduate study programme: the English Language and Literature Combined Study Programme, and two postgraduate study programmes: the English Studies Combined Non-pedagogical Study Programme and the Teaching English Combined Pedagogical Study Programme. We are currently developing a doctoral programme.
In the undergraduate programme, students learn about language structure (phonetics, morphology, syntax, etc.) and the laws of its use (sociolinguistics, differences between British and American English, etc.) They are also able to gain familiarity with the culture and literature of English-speaking areas. In addition to Slovenian lecturers, native speakers from Canada, the UK, and occasionally the USA also participate in these programmes. This gives the students an additional opportunity to learn about intercultural dimensions, to hear authentic accents, to expand their vocabulary, and to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in English. As future teachers, they are introduced to the methods and techniques they will need to teach in primary and secondary schools, as well as gaining their own teaching experience through teacher observations, performances, and teaching practice.
How is the Course Taught?
Our study programmes are regularly updated to provide an interesting, interactive, and modern study experience that ensures the acquisition of in-depth and useful knowledge of the language, literature, and culture of the English-speaking field. We offer a wide range of elective modules to enrich the elementary compulsory subjects. We use a variety of teaching forms and methods as well as modern technologies.
Our graduates are trained for jobs that require effective communication with English speakers, creativity, and humanistic knowledge. Graduates of the pedagogical programme often go on to teach in schools, such as secondary and primary schools, with the exception of nurseries, for which they need additional qualifications. We are especially proud of the fact that the Teaching English programme offers practical pedagogical work across all four semesters. This includes teacher observations in the first semester, teaching in a primary school in the second semester, teaching in a secondary school in the third semester, and a choice of teaching in a primary or secondary school in the fourth semester.
Practical Pedagogical Work
Practical pedagogical work consists of activities and tasks that students carry out at the Faculty, namely: lesson observations (observing the mentor-teacher, other teachers and student colleagues), teaching (teaching individual activities, teaching in pairs, and independent teaching), and other work and activities (e.g., preparing for lesson observations and teaching, discussions with the mentor-teacher, other teachers and student colleagues, analysis and self-evaluation of teaching practices, reading professional literature, familiarisation with school legislation and documentation, attending meetings, etc.) Practical pedagogical work includes a preparatory seminar before the beginning of the practical, as well as an evaluation seminar after its completion (both held at the Faculty).
MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Research activities of the members of the Department are related to the subjects and disciplines that form part of the study programmes. They focus on linguistic research (languages in contact, sociolinguistics, syntax, diachrony, phonology, textology, pragmatics), literary aspects (British, American, Canadian literature), interdisciplinary intercultural research, and the didactics of English language teaching.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Department of English and American Studies is active in international cooperation. Since lectures and tutorials are usually given in English, our courses are often chosen by exchange students, including those who do not study English Language and Literature. Our students often choose to study abroad, especially under the Erasmus+ programme, which enables them to spend a semester of their studies at a European university, gaining valuable professional and intercultural experience. The Department is also part of the CEEPUS Inter-American Studies Network, coordinated by the University of Graz, which offers both short and long student exchanges within the Central European universities participating in the network. We have also successfully cooperated with the University of Graz in the Joint Lecture Hall and organised joint study activities for students from both universities. We organise international conferences and symposia, and regularly host foreign lecturers. As a result, we are able to enrich our study programmes with new topics and different perspectives.
In the past, members of the Department were visiting scholars at several distinguished international institutions. For example, Dr Nada Šabec was a visiting scholar at the following universities in the USA (the University of Arizona (1987), the University of Kansas (2004), Georgetown University (2019), Brigham Young University (2019), the University of Minnesota), in Canada (the University of British Columbia), Australia (Sydney), and in New Zealand.
We also host foreign professors in Maribor, both within the framework of short-term mobilities (Dr David Nunan (2016), Dr James Sutton, Dr Mark Bernheim, Dr Donathan Brown (2017)) and Fulbright scholarships. Dr James Sutton from Miami International University, Florida, also lectured at our Department in 2020/21 as part of a short mobility period (unfortunately only remotely due to the pandemic).
International Scientific Symposia and Conferences
The Department of English and American Studies has organised several international scientific symposia and conferences, including the following:
Organisation of Summer Schools
Various members of the Department of English and American Studies (especially prof. Michelle Gadpaille and prof. Victor Kennedy) were amongst the initiators and organisers of several high-profile international summer schools organised by the Faculty of Arts shortly after its foundation. These included (amongst others):
- 4th International Summer School of the Faculty of Arts: Europe and Canada – Contemporary Issues (2008)
- 5th International Summer School of the Faculty of Arts: Climate Change – The View from Japan to Canada (2010)
- 6th International Summer School of the Faculty of Arts: Intercultural Learning – Technical Culture and Human Sciences from Russia to Japan and Canada (2011)
- Summer school TEMPUS SEEPALS: Interdisciplinary English: a creative blend of literature, language, and culture (2011)
- 7th International Summer School of the Faculty of Arts: At the Hub of Culture: The European Cultural Capital 2012 (2012)
- 9th International Summer School of the Faculty of Arts: Aspects of Migration: Historical and Current (2016)
- Summer School in cooperation with the University of Graz and the University of Pittsburgh: Comparative Healthcare in Austria, Slovenia, and the US (2018)
- Summer School Comparative Healthcare in Austria, Slovenia, and the US (June 2019 and July 2019)
- Summer School Comparative Healthcare in Austria, Slovenia, and the US (June 2022)
STUDENT AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
The Department also organises extracurricular activities, such as the English Club, which enables both socialising in English through informal meetings and the exchange of views and opinions on various topics. The English Club organises fun and educational events to enrich student life, and is also open to students from other departments. Everyone is welcome!
The student magazine Crumbs is also published as part of extracurricular activities. It offers students the opportunity to publish their work, including prose, poetry, drawings and photographs. Crumbs was revamped in 2019, and now operates within the English Club, Maribor.
The magazine is available at this link.
All of the above undoubtedly ensures a high level of motivation, enabling students to both work independently and creatively engage in research work, as well as to feel successfully prepared for their professional careers to come.
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND PUBLISHING
The Maribor International Review (MIR) journal is a broad-based, multidisciplinary academic journal published in English and dedicated to the research of literature, linguistics, discourse, language teaching and translation. The journal has a particular focus on English, but also considers the perspectives of other languages and cross-linguistic comparisons. We are planning to revamp the journal and publish a new issue in 2023.
