Internship Abroad: Facta Ficta Research Centre

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Internship Abroad: Facta Ficta

Research Centre

PLACEMENT REPORT

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Title Page

Title: Internship Abroad: Facta Ficta Research Centre Type: Placement report

Student name: Joanna Zienkiewicz Student number: 3168883

Internship provider: Facta Ficta Research Centre (Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta) Internship provider’s address: Ośrodek Badawczy Facta Ficta, ul. Opoczyńska 39/9,

54-034 Wrocław, Poland

Internship supervisor (internal): Dr. M.M.Schiller Internship supervisor (external): Dr. hab. Ksenia Olkusz Duration of the internship: 28/11/2020-31/01/2021

Programme: Research Master Arts, Media, and Literary Studies ECTS: 10

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Introduction

I have chosen to include an internship at the Facta Ficta Research Centre in Poland in my final Research Master year as means to familiarize myself with the practical matters and functioning of an academic/ research career in the humanities, as well as for an opportunity to carry out research related to the topic of my thesis – popular music and populism - in Poland. Throughout my placement, I worked on a collaborative research project under the internal supervision of Dr. M.M. Schiller at the University of Groningen. Simultaneously, I became a full-fledged employee of a non-profit research centre for the study of culture: participating in their various projects, moderating interdisciplinary conferences, acting as a member of the “Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative, and Media”, and more broadly contributing to the centre’s internationalization. As a research-oriented placement, my internship has then combined practical and theoretical aspects, becoming a useful time in which I could experience the specificities of academic work and international cooperation to their fullest, as well as network. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic situation, I managed to organize the placement safely, reach most of my learning outcomes, and to reconcile my ongoing study with the internship efficiently. This report serves as an evaluation of an internship abroad which I would much recommend to any bilingual student considering a future career in research within the field of humanities.

Description of the organization

Facta Ficta Research Centre, located in Wrocław, Poland, is a non-profit foundation “established in order to promote contemporary studies in the humanities”1_{. Within the}

organization, Polish scholars from various strands of the humanities (but primarily from disciplines such as cultural studies, media studies, and especially studies of popular culture) come together to prepare academic events (including interdisciplinary conferences, lectures, symposia, seminars, and workshops), publish research on culture (in original journals or as monographs within the centre’s publication series), as well as more broadly support research on culture in Poland (through grants, informational activity, and providing opportunities for academic networking). Facta Ficta’s core aims, as stated in their Statute of the Foundation, feature:

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“1. observing international trends in cultural studies and promoting them in the Polish academic community,

2. spreading and consolidating knowledge of significant events which influence contemporary artistic and media culture,

3. popularizing research and its results in cultural studies carried out by Polish and foreign scholars, educators and cultural personages,

4. supporting specific projects on cultural studies which are considered as valuable academic and didactic activities,

5. supporting and/or preparing specific artistic projects which have a great impact on the development of contemporary culture,

6. organizing and promoting voluntary programmes within academic communities.”2

Given its goals, Facta Ficta is a valuable and rather unique foundation in the Polish academic community. A focus on popular culture, including film, video games, or popular music, might be commonplace in the cultural studies of the West and has been thoroughly supported throughout my Arts, Media, and Literary Studies research master at the RUG; however, in Poland cultural studies began to incorporate serious academic considerations on culture much later3. The discipline is then still based much on the insights coming from the West rather than original research ideas originating in Poland, being exported abroad. The aspirations of equal international exchange and accessibility of Facta Ficta may then allow the research centre to fill in a gap and produce research on culture that, originating in Poland with knowledge of the most recent ideas from the West, could contribute also to cultural studies disputes abroad. Among the ongoing projects of Facta Ficta, “Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative, and Media” is perhaps the most important. This academic journal, established in 2016, curates a “range of scholarship that includes critical, literary, cultural, media, and narrative theory, with a particular concern for the transdisciplinary research in the humanities”4, features book reviews, interviews with renown scholars, and has maintained an international profile through

2_{Facta Ficta Research Centre, “Statute of the Foundation,” July 14, 2019, accessed February 12, 2021,}

https://factaficta.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/ff_statut_fundacji_2019-1.pdf.

3_{Witold Jakubowski, “Media i Kultura Popularna jako Obszar Studiów nad Edukacją,” Studia Edukacyjne 30}

(2014), 100, https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/bitstream/10593/12328/1/art05_Jakubowski%20W.pdf.

4_{Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media, “About,” accessed February 12, 2021,}

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providing abstracts in English for each Polish-language article, featuring English-language articles, publishing translations of important works on culture, and Polish-language reviews of research in various languages. The journal invites articles in both English and Polish, features researchers such as W.J.T. Mitchell & Marie-Laure Ryan within its advisory board, and importantly, it is licensed under Creative Commons, making its scholarly contributions open-access5. Another significant project is Facta Ficta’s Polish-language monograph series “Perspektywy Ponowoczesności” (“Postmodern Perspectives”), published consistently since 2016 as means to “complete the landscape of Polish humanities with important problems and research topics of philosophy, culture, and art”6, accessible to all readers. Besides the ongoing publication projects, the centre (throughout my internship) has curated online guest lectures (e.g. Mathilde van Dijk’s “The Way of the Force. Religion and spirituality in Star Wars”7_{) and}

organized two to three weekend thematic conferences in the humanities within the online platform Webex each month. Interestingly, the centre has a history of cooperation with the University of Groningen – starting from hosting an online lecture by Dr. K. McGee, working with the joint PhD candidate mgr. F. Kwiatkowski, up to my placement.

Description of tasks

During my placement, I have performed four basic varieties of tasks: editorial tasks, conference moderation/organization, PR-related tasks, and finally, research tasks. As described in my detailed work plan the placement was to consist of two main parts:

1. developing abilities of practical work in the academic field of cultural studies and

2. conducting research oriented at a co-authored publication in the International Journal of Cultural Studies.

My weekly practical tasks were flexible, suited to the needs of Facta Ficta. By now, I have  helped organize six weekend thematic/interdisciplinary conferences in the online

Webex platform (“Cities: Culture, History, Society”; “Catastrophe, Tragedy, Trauma”; “Digital Landscape and Online Worlds”; “Past, Memory, History”; “Fantasy,

5_Ibid.

6_{Facta Ficta Research Centre, ‘‘Perspektywy Ponowoczesności,” accessed February 12, 2021,}

https://factaficta.org/pp/.

7_{Facta Ficta, “Mathilde van Dijk, The Way of the Force. Religion and spirituality in ‘Star Wars’,” YouTube video,}

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Phantasms, Imaginaria”; “Conflicts, Disputes, Quarrels”). During the conferences, I have acted as a moderator of multiple conference panels and the in-between breaks, led the discussion with pre-prepared questions based on participant abstracts, communicated with the organizational team, and helped resolve technical issues of the online situation.

 acted as an editor of “Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative, and Media”, working on the release of four special issues ( vol. 1, no 3. “Sacrum”, vol. 2, no. 4 “Politics”, vol. 1, no. 5 “Dissent”, and vol. 2, no. 6 “Imaginations”), as well as pre-preparing the release of an upcoming issue on travels. Within the editorial team, my primary task was proofreading and line editing the submitted articles after they have passed the peer-reviewing process in order to get them ready for publication. My most important role was perhaps ensuring that the abstracts of Polish-language articles (in English) prepared by the authors were linguistically correct and up to an academic standard; as such, in the journal, I was credited as a “language editor (English)”. It is important to note here that the release of the “Sacrum” and “Politics” issues was overdue from 2019, which required me to work especially fast for their quick release at the beginning stages of my placement. As a member of the editorial team, I have also regularly communicated with other editors, participated in (online) editorial team meetings, during which we determined the theme of the next special issue, as well as suggested important English-language articles that could be translated and English-English-language books that could be reviewed in the upcoming journal issues. Following my internship, I have agreed to remain on the editorial board of “Facta Ficta Journal” as a proofreader, editor, and an agent for its desired internationalization.

 reacted to PR needs of the research centre, contributing ideas, translations of promotional material, helping in refurnishing the websites of both the research centre (https://factaficta.org/en/) and the journal (https://factafictajournal.com/about/), and (most recently) reinvigorating the Twitter account of Facta Ficta (@Facta_Ficta). Whenever announcements of online lectures and other events on the Facta Ficta Facebook page had to be bilingual, I have stepped in to provide translations, usually within the same day. For refurnishing the websites, I have worked together in collaboration with mgr. Konrad Zielonka who took care of technical matters while I created the content, expanding it to fit the new needs of the centre, and making sure each page was available in equally high-quality Polish-language and English-language versions. Lastly, reinvigorating the Twitter account of Facta Ficta has been my personal

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initiative, which I have been permitted to do after bringing it up in a meeting of the centre’s employees, and which I continue engaging in after the formal end date of my placement.

 worked on my own research, geared towards a co-authored publication with Dr. M.M. Schiller, tentatively titled “Cultural Hegemony, Populism and Popular Music: Comparative Perspectives on Sweden and Poland”. The project has required me to familiarize myself with the literature on the topic, develop insights into my chosen case studies of focus (populist campaign songs and disco polo in Poland), communicate with Dr. M.M. Schiller to formulate research questions, theses, and a general sketch of the argument, and finally, to prepare a detailed outline of the article, that could be later developed into a full first draft to be revised after Dr. Schiller’s comments. The general division of responsibilities for the article’s sections is as followed:

1. Introduction (Joanna Zienkiewicz)

2. Theoretical framework/ state of field/ literature review (Joanna Zienkiewicz) 3. Case studies:

a) PiS’ Populism and Disco Polo in Poland (Joanna Zienkiewicz) b) SD’s Populism and Dans Band in Sweden (Dr. M.M.Schiller) c) Discussion/comparison (Joanna Zienkiewicz & Dr. M.M. Schiller) d) Conclusion (Joanna Zienkiewicz & Dr. M.M. Schiller)

e) Bibliography (Joanna Zienkiewicz)

The first three of the mentioned varieties of tasks have been performed under the supervision of the director of Facta Ficta, Dr.hab. Ksenia Olkusz. The research component has been carried out under the supervision of Dr. Melanie Schiller, however, due to its direct relation to studying popular culture in Poland, it is considered to be closely tied with the placement abroad.

Evaluation

1. How was the placement obtained? Why was this particular organization chosen? The placement at Facta Ficta was obtained through a direct recommendation from Dr. M.M. Schiller, my ReMa mentor. My decision to look for an internship was primarily motivated by my drive to enter the professional academic field and expand my CV prior to finishing my Research Master study; besides that, I have been strongly considering an internship abroad within the Eastern European area due to my research interests in this region’s popular music.

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After an independent search, I asked Dr. Schiller if she was aware of any universities or research institutions in Eastern Europe that could be willing to host me as an intern and that I could reach out to. I have been soon advised to contact Dr.hab. Ksenia Olkusz, the director of Facta Ficta, to inquire whether I could do my placement at this research centre, and after an exchange of email messages and a scheduled (online) interview, I have been accepted. The particular organization was particularly fitting to my profile as a student and researcher, which is also why I chose to do my internship there. Firstly, its focus on studying popular culture has matched my specialization in popular music and its interdisciplinary aspirations could relate to my ambitions of researching nexuses between fields of music and political science. Secondly, its location allowed me to combine the placement with kicking off the fieldwork for my ReMA thesis that had to be carried in Poland and its international orientation allowed me to seamlessly incorporate the language skills and knowledge that I have acquired while studying in the Netherlands. Facta Ficta was to me an inspiring institution, much needed for the development of cultural studies in Poland, with fascinating projects that I could both contribute to and learn from.

2. What aspects of the course have been useful for the placement?

The aspects of my ReMA programme have been most useful for the research component of my placement, although they were not without influence on the practical segment. For the research component, I have drawn on, among other, the knowledge of theory I have acquired throughout courses such as “Music, Politics, and Resistance”, “Arts and Media in Society”, as well as on my individual tutorial “Popular Music and Populism”. Moreover, structuring and formulating academic papers, as well as conducting individual research and developing viable research questions/ theses statements have been some of the skills I have acquired in my ReMA that proved invaluable for developing the argument of the co-authored publishable article with Dr. M.M. Schiller. As for the practical part, it was especially important for me to draw on my prior knowledge of formal journal standards and referencing styles while editing for “Facta Ficta Journal”; meanwhile, the conferences of the research centre required me to swiftly apply my scope of expertise within cultural studies (gained in the ReMA) to converse with scholars of various specializations and pose well-targeted questions during the panel discussions.

3. What new knowledge and skills have you acquired?

The internship has allowed me to develop both research skills and practical skills of working in an academic environment, alongside new knowledge and understanding. However, most

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importantly, it has taught me cooperation in a team setting, self-discipline, and the responsibility of acting as an agent in a cross-cultural exchange of research.

Firstly, working on a co-authored research project with Dr. Schiller has required me to, among other, communicate research ideas clearly before we even began working on them and to develop a joint, overarching thesis fitting for both case studies from this communication. Early on, we applied for an ICOG research grant for the project, which has been my first experience with applying for funding, and for which I had to formulate a concise, attractive abstract. Further in the research, I had to acquaint myself with new literature on themes such as cultural hegemony, populism, and the connections between cultural studies and politics, all of which will be exceptionally useful for my MA thesis. Moreover, I had to conduct my own research to discover various Polish populist campaign songs and other instances of popular music genres (especially disco polo) being used in a populist context, to later analyze these case studies from a multimodal and theoretical standpoint. I found translating my research results for an international audience and explaining the context of Polish populist-cultural developments in a concise manner to be especially challenging and an important lesson; likewise, as our project was to be published in a cultural studies journal, I have learned how to structure research for readers of a cultural studies background. Halfway through the project, I also experienced a situation, in which much of the expected argument had to be altered and reformulated due to new findings. This situation has taught me the importance of flexibility in research planning that could account for such potential changes and once more, required effective communication with Dr. Schiller as a co-author of the upcoming article.

Secondly, working as an employee of Facta Ficta I familiarized myself with the field of cultural studies in Poland, which I have been rather distant from since I began to study in the Netherlands. Throughout its conferences, events, and in my editorial work, I have acquired an understanding of the current state of affairs of this field and was rather positively surprised to see the work of the Polish scholars who submitted their articles and conference papers be so full of interesting insights and so well-aware of Western research developments. Operating in this new academic setting, I had to account for cultural differences, and reconciling my habits from Dutch/Western academia with the Polish expectations has been an important challenge: for instance, different forms of addressing scholars, different honorifics, and varying accepted formats of academic papers have been some of the variables I had to learn. My translation responsibilities have likewise taught me to recognize settling between accuracy in translation of scholarly abstracts/papers and the flow of the language used as underlying every

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cross-cultural research exchange. In Facta Ficta’s conferences, I learned how to actively engage with discussions in an interdisciplinary setting; as a moderator, I had to be flexible and attentive, giving feedback on research even vastly different from my own interests – a skill which may prove very useful for future networking purposes. Furthermore, regarding a more technical set of skills, I acquainted myself with a new online conference platform (Webex), learning how to organize academic events in the new “socially distant” context, promote them (via a variety of online platforms and social media), and how to resolve any potential problems that may arise from its specificity. Although this last skill may seem minute, it might prove itself to be more and more desired in the professional academic practice of the digital age, especially in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

4. How has the placement tied in with professional practices?

The placement has tied in closely with professional cross-cultural academic practices, allowing me to explore a wide variety of facets of this work: researching, writing papers, networking, running academic journals, organizing/attending conferences, events, belonging to a research centre community, and promoting its work online (all in the context of the pandemic). As I continue to cooperate with Facta Ficta as an editor of “Facta Ficta Journal” and as the person in charge of the research centre’s Twitter, I can confidently say that besides expanding my CV, my set of professional skills, and my view of the academic professional practice, the placement has left me with lasting connections with Polish scholars, who can continue to help facilitate my fieldwork on Polish popular music phenomena, and whose work I will gladly continue to make known to the Western academia.

5. To what extent did you reach your learning outcomes?

The learning outcomes for the placement, as stated in the detailed placement work plan were as followed:

1. Have knowledge and understanding of the current state of affairs in the professional field of (Polish) cultural studies. (Learning Outcome A-1)

2. Be able to give an analysis, interpretation, and motivated critique of music trends in the context of Polish politics and populism and apply this knowledge at expert level in the academic-professional setting of thematically-related Facta Ficta research centre conferences and International Journal of Cultural Studies publication (Learning Outcome B-1)

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3. Be able to participate actively in academic activities and moderate conference debates as an employee of a research centre, as well as a member of a co-authoring research group. Be able to make use of, present, and translate research outcomes in English and Polish to the extent that this is relevant for the field of cultural studies and allows for research exchange between the two cultures. Demonstrate responsibility and sensitivity to context and ethics in handling situations in the academic field of cultural studies. (Learning Outcomes D-1; D-2; C-6) 4. Be able to formulate a research proposal and conduct research, in a team setting, with the required self-discipline and realistic planning. Be able to make an original contribution to the disciplines of popular music, populism, and campaign music, to the standard of an academic publication and a conference presentation. (Learning Outcomes E-2; C-3).

At the end date of my placement, I consider outcomes 1 and 3 to be reached fully, while outcomes 2 and 4 have been reached mostly. As described in section (3) of the Evaluation in further detail, I consider myself to have gained knowledge and understanding of the current state of affairs in the professional field of Polish cultural studies and I was certainly an active participant of the research centre, tackling research exchange, and demonstrating responsibility throughout the internship. My direct Facta Ficta supervisor, Dr.hab. Ksenia Olkusz has communicated to me multiple times that she was satisfied with my work and especially with my skills that made me a valuable member of the research centre. As for outcomes 2 and 4 (again, as described in section (3) of the Evaluation in further detail), I consider them majorly reached to the extent in which they apply to my consistent work on the co-authored publication: I have formulated a research abstract with original contributions, conducted research in a team setting, and gave an analysis, interpretation and motivated critique of music trends in the context of Polish politics and populism already in the project’s outline. I did my best to implement self-discipline and realistic planning, however, it must be noted that the change of the argument followed by new research results has taken me by surprise and necessitated pushing the originally planned deadlines slightly further. As far as the limitations of my placement are concerned, I was not able, so far, to present my research at one of Facta Ficta’s conferences, due to practical reasons (the pre-planned themes of conferences not matching my research focus). However, I still plan to do so at a later date; moreover, I have recently attended a different international conference (workshop “Popular music in the Post-Soviet sphere” organized by Södertörn University) during which I have presented my research, receiving positive feedback for my work from its participants.

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During my placement, my practical tasks have been supervised by Facta Ficta’s director, Dr.hab. Olkusz, while the research segment was developed under the supervision of my internal supervisor, Dr. Schiller. I have stayed in close contact with both supervisors, although the means of this contact were different. For external supervision, I had two online meetings with Dr.hab. Olkusz, an interview prior to starting the internship, as well as a meeting of the editorial board that I have attended. Between these meetings, we have primarily communicated through Facebook, either via direct messages or within employee groups I have been added to (an editorial group and a conference organization group): through these messages Dr.hab. Olkusz could coordinate my tasks and I could update her on the ongoing progress. For internal supervision, I had two meetings (on Skype) organized with Dr. Schiller: during these meetings, we developed and refurnished the argument for our article, divided tasks, and I updated her on the progress of my internship. In the meantime, we communicated through email whenever a smaller issue needed to be resolved. The interim evaluation check was carried out and towards the end of the placement I received information about all remaining documents I needed to submit.

7. How did the placement help you to sharpen your career goals?

Following the placement, I continue to intend on developing my career in the academic field of cultural studies. Even the most meticulous, editorial tasks or organizational labor I had to carry out were enjoyable and certainly highly satisfying. This satisfaction is also connected to my position as the person facilitating cross-cultural accessibility of Facta Ficta’s research projects– a go-to moderator for English-speaking conference panels, a language editor/proofreader, and a translator of PR material. I am now certainly motivated to continue contributing to internationalizing Polish academia while working on my own research, equipped to tackle various facets of professional academic work, and as stated before, I developed a network of support that will be worthwhile for my future MA thesis fieldwork within Poland.

Conclusion

Overall, the placement abroad at Facta Ficta has been a great opportunity to immerse myself in professional research centre work, while working on my own research in Poland. Most aims of the placement have been reached in full and the communication with both supervisors was satisfying and contained useful feedback. Without a doubt, doing this internship had many perks and helped me learn skills that regular university courses could not provide. Although

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organizing a placement took time and effort, it ended up being a worthwhile experience, which allowed me to bring what I learned in the Netherlands back to my home country, while also helping Polish academia become more accessible to a Western audience.

Bibliography

Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media. Website. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://factafictajournal.com/about/.

Facta Ficta Research Centre. Website. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://factaficta.org/en/. Facta Ficta Research Centre. “Statute of the Foundation.” July 14, 2019. Accessed February 12, 2021. https://factaficta.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/ff_statut_fundacji_2019-1.pdf. Facta Ficta. “Mathilde van Dijk, The Way of the Force. Religion and spirituality in ‘Star Wars’.” YouTube video. October 20, 2020. Accessed February 12, 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zToZBfF5SGc.

Jakubowski, Witold. “Media i Kultura Popularna jako Obszar Studiów nad Edukacją.” Studia

Edukacyjne 30 (2014), 100.

https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/bitstream/10593/12328/1/art05_Jakubowski%20W.pdf.

Supplements

Facta Ficta’s refurnished website: https://factaficta.org/en/

Facta Ficta Journal’s refurnished website: https://factafictajournal.com/about/

Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media, vol. 3, no. 1 “Sacrum”:

https://factafictajournal.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/facta-ficta-nr-1-3-2019-sacrum.pdf

Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media, vol. 2, no. 4 “Politics”:

https://factafictajournal.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/facta-ficta-nr-2-4-2019-polityka.pdf

Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media, vol. 5, no. 1 “Dissent”:

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Facta Ficta Journal of Theory, Narrative and Media, vol. 6, no. 2 “Imaginations”:

https://factafictajournal.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/facta-ficta-nr-2-6-2020-imaginacje_3.pdf

Facta Ficta conferences – information links:

https://kdckonferencja.wordpress.com/ https://pphkonferencja.wordpress.com/ https://ffikonferencja.wordpress.com/ https://kttkonferencja.wordpress.com/ https://mkhskonferencja.wordpress.com/ https://kswekonferencja.wordpress.com/

Internship Abroad: Facta Ficta Research Centre