European Graduate School

Infobox University
name =European Graduate School
native_name ="Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien"


established =1994
type =Private Institute
rector =Paolo J. Knill
city =Leuk
country =Switzerland
campus =Saas-Fee
students =ca. 600
free_label =Faculty
free =1 (full-time), ca. 100 (part-time)
website = [http://www.egsuniversity.org egsuniversity.org]

The European Graduate School (EGS) in Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is "Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien" ("European University for Interdisciplinary Studies"). It is governed by a presidential board that includes a representative of the Swiss canton of Valais. Instruction is in English.

History

EGS was established in 1994 as a postgraduate degree-granting school with two divisions: [http://www.egs.edu Media and Communications] and [http://www.egsuniversity.ch/ Arts, Health and Society] . Founding contributors include thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-François Lyotard. The setting of the campus in the Alps at an altitude of 1,800 m (6,000 ft.), with a magnificent view of some of Switzerland's highest mountains, provides a unique learning atmosphere.

It is a fully accredited school controlled by a school council ("Hochschulrat") in which the Canton of Valais is represented with at least one member. The school is supervised by representatives of the education ministry of the Canton of Valais, the Graduate School of Music and Theater, Hamburg, the Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Walliser Bote, Aug 10, 2001]

In 1999, Swiss business magazine "CASH" [http://www.cash.ch] reported that Schirmacher had misleadingly labeled the school "fully Swiss-state approved" and "fully recognized" at a time when the federal accreditation law was still being passed, and the canton had only approved the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees, but not the school itself. The magazine also claimed that Schirmacher had listed chaos theorist Mitchell Feigenbaum and artist Pipilotti Rist among its roster of faculty, even though both denied involvement in and knowledge of the school.CASH German 9 July 1999, CASH German "EGS? Never heard of!", 23 July 1999, retrieved via Factiva.]

The Arts, Health and Society Division

Offers certificate programs (MAPS and CAGS) and Masters and Doctoral degrees in Expressive Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts Coaching and Consulting, Education, and Social Change. The MA Programs in Expressive Arts are designed to further training and research in the therapeutic, coaching, consultative, educational and social use of the arts. The programs encourage students to take seriously the tradition and disciplines of the arts as they have evolved over the course of human history. In all societies up to the present, the arts have played an essential role in enabling human beings to make sense of their world, to live with suffering when necessary and to be able to celebrate the joy of life. Teaching takes place in the town of Saas Fee in the Swiss Alps (State of Valais, Switzerland) in two sessions each summer from June to August. Students and faculty from all over the world meet to participate in intensive training seminars.The doctoral program (PhD)in Expressive Arts combines two Summer residential training's at EGS leading to a Certificate of Advanced Post-Graduate Studies (CAGS) with individualized dissertation research in the student's home country. The Summer training is conducted in English; dissertations can be written in English, German or French if suitable advisors can be found. The granting of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by EGS has been approved by the Ministry of Education, Canton Wallis, Switzerland.

[Faculty http://www.egsuniversity.ch/faculty/] : The format of a Graduate School for Professionals with training exclusively in Intensive Summer Seminars has the advantage that it can commit a faculty of excellent reputation who are internationally engaged leaders or founders in their field. Faculty members come from transdisciplinary practices that cross institutional boundaries. Advocate investigative learning and creative inquiry which embrace the stratified complexity of the concrete problems we face today. They are familiar with thinking that expands the horizon of established frameworks and creates networks between disciplines and institutions in both the private and public sector. Faculty that have joined EGS are enthusiastic about projects that engage the typical adult learner. They appreciate the benefit of the innovative learning that goes on between faculty, students and participants in on-going projects.

Faculty: Media and Communications Division

(Note: the Arts, Health and Society Division comprises a distinct faculty. The following faculty list is applicable to the Media and Communications Division only, with the exception of Sandy Stone who serves in both faculties).

Wolfgang Schirmacher was the founding Dean of the Media and Communications division (which confers Masters and Ph.D. degrees). Professor Schirmacher retired from that post in the Autumn of 2006 and now serves as the Program Director. The current (as of 15 March 2007) Dean of this division is Professor Friedrich Ulfers (also distinguished faculty at New York University). Visiting faculty typically come during the 3 week summer seminar to give a 1-6 day course. Visiting faculty have included Giorgio Agamben [Gregory, Derek. "The black flag: Guantánamo Bay and the space of exception": Geografiska Annaler. Series B: Human Geography. December 2006, Vol. 88 Issue 4, Pages: 405–427] Kuhn, Albert. [http://www.weltwoche.ch/artikel/?AssetID=12511&CategoryID=62 Interview mit einem schnellen Brüter] . Die Weltwoche. No. 45/05, 2005] e-flux. [http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/757 Think Media: The Black Mountain College is back - in Switzerland! Gregory Ulmer.] e-flux. International network of Visual Art Professionals. 2002] , Chantal Akerman [Fedianina, Olga. [http://www.j-zeit.de/archiv/artikel.379.html 6. Juni 1950: Chantal Akerman] . Jüdische Zeitung. Unabhängige Monatszeitung für zeitgenössisches Judentum. June 2006] [Haber, John. [http://www.haberarts.com/chantal.htm Chantal Akerman: Bordering on Fiction.] Haber Arts.] [http://www.arts.rpi.edu/?siteid=3&pageid=59&personID=44&deptid=2&pgid=1 Kathleen Ruiz] . Associate Professor of Electronic Arts. Faculty Page at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. (Accessed October 2007)] , Pierre Aubenque, Alain BadiouBeit Berl Academic College. [http://www.beitberl.ac.il/engDataPages/DataPagesPreview.asp?ID=3812 The School of Multi-Disciplinary Studies at Beit Berl College and EGS] . Beit Berl Academic College. Accessed October 30, 2007.] , Lewis Baltz, Julian BarnesAndra Matzal. [http://www.cotidianul.ro/index.php?id=13701&art=35113&diraut=388&cHash=8f5427c6fa Academic Conferences on YouTube.] Cotidianul. September 5, 2007] , Jean Baudrillard [Die Welt. [http://www.welt.de/kultur/article749442/Philosoph_Jean_Baudrillard_ist_tot.html Philosoph Jean Baudrillard ist tot.] Die Welt. March 6, 2007] [Berliner Literaturkritik. "Die primitive Gesellschaft der Zukunft." August 20, 2004] [Mccarthy, Bridie. "When Poets Take Up Arms: Combating (Hyper)real Wars under the Abstractions of the New Empire." Melbourne Journal of Politics, Vol. 30, 2005] [The South Atlantic Quarterly. "Notes on Contributors." The South Atlantic Quarterly. Spring 2002, Volume 101, Number 2, pp. 435-439] , Yve-Alain Bois [Hans-Joachim Ruff-Stahl [http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&q=http://www.europeangraduateschool.com/pdfs/hans-ruff-stahl-intuitive-cyborg.pdf The Intuitive Cyborg.] 2005] , Catherine Breillat [Maddock, Trevor. "Surrealist poetics and the cinema of evil: the significance of the expression of sovereignty in Catherine Breillat's A ma soeur (2001)" December 2003, Volume: 3, Issue: 3, Pages: 161-171] , Victor Burgin, Judith Butler [Lengbeyer, Lawrence A.. "Rhetoric and Anti-Semitism." Academic Questions. Spring 2004, Volume 17, Number 2, Pages: 22-32] ["Troubling identities: reflections on Judith Butler's philosophy for the sociology of education." British Journal of Sociology of Education. September 2006, Volume 27, Issue 4, Pages 421 - 424] [Borgerson, Janet. "Judith Butler: On organizing subjectivities." The Sociological Review. October 2005, Volume 53, Issue s1, Page 63 - 79] , Sophie Calle, Helene CixousVictor J. Vitanza. [http://www.clemson.edu/caah/rcid/RCIDHandbook2.pdf Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design. Program Handbook (2007-08) Study Abroad] . Clemson University. College of Architecture, Arts, Humanities. 2007/2008] , Diane Davis,
Manuel DeLanda, Claire Denis [Martin, Adrian. [http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/index.html Ticket to ride: Claire Denis and the cinema of the body.] La Trobe University. Screening the Past. Issue 20, December 11, 2006.] , Jacques Derrida, Tracey Emin [Fanthome, Christine. "The Influence and Treatment of Autobiography in Confessional Art: Observations on Tracey Emin's Feature Film Top Spot." Biography. Vol. 29, 2006] , Bracha Ettinger [Special Issue on Bracha L. Ettinger, "Theory, Culture and Society Vol. 21(1)" 2004] , Christopher Fynsk [Ascribe Higher Education News Service. "Binghamton University Faculty Honored by SUNY". Ascribe Higher Education News Service. November 12, 2003] , Antony Gormley, Peter Greenaway [Takeuchi, Craig. "News from Hollywood North. Movie Notes." Straight. April 19, 2007, Available: http://www.straight.com/issue/2052/section/81] [BBC. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6217537.stm Greenaway's maverick film-making.] BBC. December 30, 2006] , Durs Grünbein, Werner Hamacher, Barbara Hammer, Donna Haraway [Irish Times. "Science's gender deficit". Irish Times. March 9, 2005] , Michael Hardt, Martin Hielscher, Michel Houellebecq, Shelley Jackson [University of Alabama. [http://events.ua.edu/EventDetails.aspx?data=Nghe9Mdf%2B6o%2FhuQoYvP3Ug%2BbJ4wMrewXwKU1Fr0gz%2B4%3D Bankhead Visiting Writers Series.] University of Alabama. College of Arts and Sciences, Crimson Arts. November 08, 2007] , Claude Lanzmann [Santos, Alfredo Ortiz. "Estamos en la barbarie absoluta." Le Chronica de Hoy. (Mexico) June 16, 2006] [La Journada Semanal. [http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2006/06/18/sem-claude.html El presente y lo inmemorial.] June 18, 2006] , Christian Marclay [BBC. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artist/2mn8/ Music Profiles. Christian Marclay] . BBC. September 2006.] [Die Gestalten. [http://www.die-gestalten.de/news/detail?id=2177 Christian Marclay Shuffle] . Die Gestalten. Event Info. 2007.] , Carl Mitcham [Carlson, Joannie. [http://www.thetartan.org/2005/10/31/news/lectureseries University Lecture Series features Mitcham and Fischhoff.] The Tartan. Carnegie Mellon's Student Newspaper. October 31, 2005] [Strijbos, S and A. Basden. "In Search of an Integrative Vision for Technology" Interdisciplinary Studies in Information Systems. 2006, Page XVI] , Jean-Luc Nancy [Nancy, Jean-Luc. "A-Religion *". Journal of European Studies, Vol. 34, 2004] [Comer, T.A. "Playing at Birth: Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren". Journal of Narrative Theory. 2005, Vol. 35.2, Pages: 172-195] , Klaus Ottmann [ev+a. [http://www.eva.ie/db/tblCuratorDetail.asp?id=9&pageno=1 Curator - ev+a 2007 Klaus Ottmann.] e v+ a. Annual Exhibition of Visual+ Art. 2007] [Visual Artists Ireland. [http://www.visualartists.ie/news_archive_sept_dec06.html ev+a Announces Curator for 2007] . September - December 2006.] [Klaus Ottmann. Independent Curator. [http://www.klausottmann.net/cv.html Curriculum Vitae] 2007.] [Ottmann, Klaus. The Genius Decision: The Extraordinary and the Postmodern Condition. Paperback. Spring Publications, Inc. February 1, 2004, ISBN 0882145754] , Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cornelia Parker, Laurence A. Rickels, Avital Ronell [New York University. [http://www.nyu.edu/fas/dept/complit/faculty/index.html#Ronell Avital Ronell.] New York University. Department of Comparative Literature.] [Grossman, Joan [http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&q=http://www.europeangraduateschool.com/pdfs/joan-grossman-blackout.pdf Blackout] . 2003] , Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky [iQ. Im Zeitalter des Multiplen, iQ (Quartalsinfo für Uni und ETH) Nr. 44/2004.] [Harvard Crimson. [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=506336 Freestylin': DJ Spooky, a.k.a. Paul Miller, In His Own Words.] The Harvard Crimson. March 10, 2005] [Wall, Patrick. Subliminal Messages. The Method to DJ Spooky’s Madness. Free Times. Issue #20.43, October 24, 2007, http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=1992912064227409&ShowArticle_ID=11462310071285778] that Subliminal Kid, Wolfgang Schirmacher [Wolfgang Schirmacher. "Net culture." Psychoanal Review. February 2007, Volume 94, Issue 1, Pages 141-9.] , Volker Schlöndorff, Michael Schmidt, Hendrik Speck, [ZDF. [http://nachtstudio.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/10/0,1872,3975018,00.html Porträt Nachtstudio. Hendrik Speck.] Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. September 17, 2006] , Bruce Sterling [Sterling, Bruce. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030202043.html My Dot-Green Future Is Finally Arriving.] Washington Post. Sunday, March 4, 2007, Page B01] , Allucquére Sandy Stone [UC Santa Cruz Currents. [http://currents.ucsc.edu/06-07/04-16/brief-stone.asp New media artist, writer to speak at Merrill College April 26.] UC Santa Cruz Currents. April 16, 2007] [http://home.actlab.utexas.edu/newmedia/people.shtml University of Texas at Austin, New Media Initiative - People] ] , Elia Suleiman, Friedrich Ulfers, Gregory Ulmer, Agnès Varda, Paul Virilio, Victor J. Vitanza, Hubertus von Amelunxen [ [http://www.isnm.de/personinfo.php?id=30 Hubertus von Ameluxen.] Faculty page at International School of New Media. Accessed: October 2007.] [Hubertus von Amelunxen. [http://on1.zkm.de/zkm/stories/storyReader$5034 Biography.] ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe. 2007. Accessed November 2007] [Humboldt Universität Berlin. [http://www2.hu-berlin.de/arthistory/pub/semLs2.php?pg=s12 Fading Documents. Das Dokument zwischen Fakt und Fiktion.] Humboldt Universität. Symposium. Berlin Photography Festival. October 21./22. 2005, Accessed: October 2006] , John Waters [Busack, Michael. "New Waters flick 'A Dirty Shame'." Financial Times. America's Intelligence Wire. September 28, 2004] [Die Welt. [http://www.welt.de/kultur/article741977/Kurzbiografie_von_John_Waters.html Kurzbiografie von John Waters.] Die Welt. March 12, 2007] [Florida Film Festival. [http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/films/007334.html A Conversation with John Waters] . 2006] [Gibson, Mike. [http://www.metropulse.com/articles/2007/17_38/gamut.html Cleaner Waters. Has shock auteur John Waters grown more accessible, or has the mainstream moved his way?] MetroPulse. Knoxville's Weekly Voice. September 2007] , Samuel Weber,
Caveh Zahedi [ [http://blogs.indiewire.com/caveh/archive/010418.html Caveh Zahedi] . Blog.] , Krzysztof Zanussi, Siegfried Zielinski, Slavoj Žižek [Žižek, Slavoj. "A plea for ethical violence." The Bible and Critical Theory. December 2004, Volume 1, No. 1] , and Jan Zwicky [Roberts, Siobhan. "It's like this, you see." The Toronto Star. July 30, 2006, IDEAS, Page D04] .

In 2006, Slavoj Žižek became the Jacques Lacan Professor at EGS, which has helped to further publicize the school regionally and globally.

Teaching philosophy

Studies involve two years of coursework, including rigorous on-line writing requirements based upon a structured reading list, and two three-week summer seminars in Switzerland, during which students are evaluated for their active participation in approximately nine hours of seminars and lectures each day with visiting professors, philosophers, filmmakers, and artists [http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/blog/2004/03/european-graduate-school.php Filmmaker Magazine Blog, The European Graduate School, by Scott Macaulay, March 2004] ] and spend their final three years writing a thesis or dissertation, followed by a traditional oral defense.

Slavoj Žižek described his involvement in EGS in an interview with Swiss magazine "Die Weltwoche":

There is an international summer school, the European Graduate School. It's for professionals who only have a few weeks per year for their continued education. They go there for two or three seasons, pay and get a speedy certification, a master's or doctor's. What's interesting with this school is the selection of the lecturers – there are well-known philosophers and artists from the whole world, including the filmmakers Peter Greenaway and Volker Schlöndorff, the theorists Donna Haraway and Sandy Stone, and the philosophers Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou and I. We three are friends. We meet there each year, are engaged for three weeks. I can bring my wife, do a 90 minute lecture each morning and am free afterwards. [http://www.weltwoche.ch/artikel/?AssetID=12511&CategoryID=62 "Die Weltwoche" 45/05, "Interview mit einem schnellen Brüter", by Albert Kuhn, 2005] ]

Intercollegiate connections

EGS has established curricular cooperation with:
* Appalachian State University Boone, North Carolina.
* Beit Berl Academic College. Doar Beit Berl, (Israel) [Beit Berl College. [http://www.beitberl.ac.il/engDataPages/DataPagesPreview.asp?ID=3812 The School of Multi-Disciplinary Studies at Beit Berl College and EGS] . Beit Berl College. Accessed: 30 October 2007.]
* California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, California.
* Clemson University, College of Architecture, Arts, Humanities. Clemson, South Carolina. [Victor J. Vitanza. [http://www.clemson.edu/caah/rcid/RCIDHandbook2.pdf Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design. Program Handbook (2007-08) Study Abroad] . Clemson University. College of Architecture, Arts, Humanities. 2007/2008]
* Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
* Instituto de Estudios Críticos. Mexico [ [http://www.17.org.mx/index.php?cont=69 Maestría en Teoría Crítica] . 17, Instituto de Estudios Críticos. ]
* International School of New Media, Lübeck, Germany.
* Internationale Hochschule für künstlerische Therapien und Kreativpädagogik, Calw, Germany. [Internationale Hochschule Calw. Staatlich anerkannte Fachhochschule für Kreativpädagogik und künstlerische Therapien. [http://www.internationale-hochschule-calw.de/_about_koo.php Kooperationspartner] Juli 4, 2007]

In addition, EGS is engaging in a collaboration with Resling Publishing House, including the translation of the book “Stupidity” by Prof. Avital Ronell.

ee also

*Media studies
*New media
*Film studies

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.egsuniversity.org/ European Graduate School]
* [http://www.egs.edu/ Media and Communications Department]
* [http://www.egsuniversity.ch/ Arts, Health and Society Department]
* [http://www.vs.ch/Public/doc_detail.asp?DocumentID=12038 Canton Du Valais |Kanton Wallis Department of Education]
* [http://www.alexanderklemm.ch/?European_Graduate_School_%28PhD_Candidate%29 Student website]
* [http://deletetheborder.org/node/591/ One student's blog entry about EGS]
* [http://schools.gradschools.com/graduate-schools/European-Grad-School.html EGS at gradschools.com]
* [http://blog.wired.com/sterling/index.blog?from=20060602 Bruce Sterling's 2006 Summer Seminar Notes]
* [http://www.e-mediate.info/egs/ulmer.htm Jamming with Condoleezza. Interview with Greg Ulmer at EGS]
* [http://www.egspress.com/index.php EGS Press: home of POIESIS journal, a forum for material emerging from EGS work]