At yesterday’s round-table discussion «Vom wissenschaftlichen Text zur Publikation», organized by Tanja Hammel at the History Department of the University of Zurich, some 60 BA students had the opportunity to discuss scientific writing, editorial work, and publishing with Tina Asmussen (traverse–Zeitschrift für Geschichte/editor of Æther #3), Rosmarie Anzensberger (freelance editor), Monika Dommann (Konstanz University Press/Campus Historische Studien), Petra Kerckhoff (Basler Afrika Bibliographien) and Stephanie Mohler (Hier&Jetzt Verlag).

The students were particularly curious about the activities of (academic) editors, for example, in the revision process from first draft to final publication - a commonplace for all those who already have published articles, monographs, and the like, but completely new territory for the students.

The event is to be situated in the context of universities paying greater attention to imparting students with writing skills and basic knowledge about the formats, components, and technicalities of publishing in the humanities. (For example, the restructured history curriculum at the University of Zurich now includes several writing modules at both, BA and MA levels.) While such courses tend to put an emphasis on ‘storytelling’ and kindred skills, they typically aren’t matched with the corresponding commitment on part of the universities to offering students (actual) platforms for writing, collaborating, and making their texts visible. Two projects – Æther by intercomverlag and sonderdruck#, a monograph series initiated by the historians Anke te Heesen, Christina Wessely, Valentin Groebner and Michael Wildt – aim to explore and develop possibilities to make students’ works more visible. On June 19, at HU Berlin, members of the two projects (including Nils) will discuss the history and future of scientific publishing - with an eye to involving our students.