57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture (Zoom)

The 57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture will be entitled Creative Women. It will be devoted to Slovene women who demonstrated their creativity, originality and incisiveness in different areas of literary, linguistic and cultural life. We shall consider how they overcame the social inequalities they faced and how, in spite of worse opportunities, injustice and humiliation, they gradually fought for their rightful place in society. Through social engagement they were able to overcome prejudices about the weaker sex and the lesser ability to reason ascribed to women by Antique Roman law. Today’s social position of women and their rights are the result of a millennium of struggle in different areas by exceptional individuals who transcended the average and who fought through words and arguments, and by example. The seminar will have three thematic sections. The first will consider relations between sex and language, in relation to which we shall focus on the use of language in the functioning of gender hierarchy. The second section will look at the poetics of female Slovene writers and their canonisation within the education system. The third will deal with the position of other female creative workers in Slovene artistic, academic and cultural life. We shall consider how women get established within the humanities and what their position and role has been in the cultural-artistic sphere. Christine de Pizan, one of the few educated women of her time and one of the first female writers, who was active in 15^th century Paris fifty years before the invention of printing, drew attention in her The Book of the City of Ladies to the importance of the education of girls. In Slovene lands, it was not until Maria Theresa’s General School Order of 1774 that compulsory primary education for all children was introduced. More than two hundred years later, women on average have a higher level of education than men. Education is now more accessible and although it is not the only condition for the individual’s success, incisiveness, critical stance and independence, it does facilitate and support these things. You are thus warmly invited to take part in the 57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture in order to examine more closely the role, position and importance of creative Slovene women in the development of Slovene literature, language and culture.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alenka Žbogar,
President of the 57^th SSJLK

The seminar is organised by the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language at the Department of Slovene Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Kongresni trg 12, SI-1000 Ljubljana, and will involve the use of a videoconferencing tool (Zoom).

Seminar president: Dr. Alenka Žbogar

Head of the language teachers: Dr. Damjan Huber

Main organisational committee: Dr. Damjan Huber, Mag. Mateja Lutar, Dr. Mojca Nidorfer, Dr. Alenka Žbogar

Student assistance: Patricija Berglez, Anamarija Cemič, Monika Ivančič, Polona Majdič, Pia Rednak, Miha Sever, Vladimir Šatin, Urša Terčon, Jana Vaupotič

The lecturers and language teachers leading the seminar are proven experts from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts and outside collaborators.

Lecturers: Dr. Milica Antić Gaber, Dr. Saša Babič, Dr. Milena Mileva Blažić, Dr. Andraž Jež, Dr. Katja Mihurko Poniž, Dr. Irena Novak Popov, Dr. Urška Perenič, Neža M. Slosar, Dr. Mojca Smolej, Dr. Tone Smolej, Dr. Marko Stabej, Dr. Saška Štumberger, Joe Valenčič, Dr. Marta Verginella, Dr. Branislava Vičar, Ivana Zajc

Language teachers: Vesna Bukovec, Katarina Dovč, Mojca Jesenovec, Tina Jugović, Mag. Meta Lokar, Primož Lubej, Maja Rančigaj Beneš, Nejc Robida, Dr. Jasmina Šuler Galos, Mag. Bojana Todorović, Dr. Luka Zibelnik

The seminar participants are foreign Slovene Studies and Slavic Studies specialists, writers, translators, experts in comparative linguistics and literature, and others who include Slovene in any other way in their life and work: teachers, researchers and students of Slovene and Slavic Studies at universities and research institutes abroad and in ethnic Slovene areas, etc. At the seminar they deepen and enrich their knowledge, learn about the latest findings and have genuine contact with the Slovene language, literature and culture.

The Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture is the central scholarly event through which the Republic of Slovenia promotes the study of and research into Slovene language, literature and culture throughout the world, by granting financial support on the basis of international contracts and co-operation programmes for ethnic Slovene organisations and researchers who are professionally engaged in Slovene, and for students at foreign universities who study Slovene. In allocating these scholarships, priority is given to Slovene specialists, university teachers, research and teaching assistants, postgraduate students and students of higher classes.

Scholarships for the 57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture will be granted within the framework of: lectureships in Slovene at foreign universities; Slovene institutions in Austria, Italy and Hungary; and programmes of international cultural cooperation at the relevant institutions outside Slovenia.

Those receiving scholarships are requested to complete by 1 April 2021 the registration form on our website (57^th SSJLK, Registration Form). You are also requested to send by 1 April 2021, along with the completed registration form, the completed language test, or to send it to ssjlk@ff.uni-lj.si or to damjan.huber@ff.uni-lj.si.

The registration form for participants of the 57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture paying the seminar fee themselves should be sent by 1 May 2021. You can apply via the Internet at the website (57^th SSJLK, Registration Form).

In May or June 2021 placement interviews with participants will take place via videoconferencing.

The registration fee includes language classes, conversation classes, phonetics classes, lectures, learning materials, the seminar proceedings, the accompanying programme, and event organisation.

Price for those paying for themselves: 572 EUR

After we have received your registration form, we will send you the invoice for payment of the fee by e-mail. You can pay the invoice at any bank or post office. Please send your payment receipt no later than 15 June 2021.

Upon receipt of your registration form we shall send you the language test, which will help us place you in the right group.

In May or June 2021 placement interviews with participants will take place via videoconferencing.

Participants at the Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture achieving 80 per cent participation in the compulsory seminar programme (language exercises, conversation practice, phonetic exercises and lectures) will receive a certificate of participation. The seminar will be credited under the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Students who regularly attend language, conversation and phonetics classes, as well as lectures, and who pass the exam at the end of the seminar, will receive 3 credit points (3 ECTS).

The doors of the libraries of the Department of Slovene Studies and the Department of Slavic Studies will also be open to participants during this year’s seminar. Participants can consult librarians at the address ohk.sla@ff.uni-lj.si with regard to scanning study materials. During the seminar, the Faculty of Arts bookshop (https://knjigarna.ff.uni-lj.si/si/, knjigarna@ff.uni-lj.si) offers all participants a 25% discount on the purchase of all textbooks from the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language as well as publications of the University of Ljubljana Press, Faculty of Arts.

Univerza v Ljubljani
Center za slovenščino kot drugi in tuji jezik
Seminar slovenskega jezika, literature in kulture
Damjan Huber
Kongresni trg 12
SI-1000 Ljubljana

T: 00386 1 241 86 76
E: ssjlk@ff.uni-lj.si, damjan.huber@ff.uni-lj.si

The main seminar programme includes practical language classes (18 school hours*), conversation classes (18 school hours*), phonetics classes (4 school hours*), conversation practice with students of Slovene from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies (16 school hours*) and 12 lectures. Participation in this part of the programme is compulsory and is required in order to obtain the certificate of attendance. In the afternoon and evening there is a non-compulsory accompanying programme for participants.

Language exercises, conversation practice, phonetic exercises and lectures will involve the use of a videoconferencing tool (Zoom). Otherwise, the classes will be similar to classroom teaching. The language teachers will be with you live each day for 4-6 school hours and are available for questions.

To take part in the online seminar you will need a good internet connection, a computer with a camera and microphone, and a quiet space.

*1 school hour = 45 minutes.

Practical language classes

Practical classes will probably be organised in 2 beginners, 4 intermediate and 3 advanced groups. According to their interests, participants of the advanced groups can choose among linguistic, literary and general groups. Individual participants are assigned to an appropriate group on the basis of a language test completed before arrival at the seminar, and oral testing before the seminar starts. Practical classes are compulsory for all participants.

The classes take place between 9.00 and 10.30 (Slovene time).

Conversation classes

These classes are aimed at improving communication skills, extending vocabulary, internalising communication patterns and eliminating errors. They will deal with themes taken from everyday life, with an emphasis on practical communication and on extending acquaintance with Slovenia and its culture. Conversation classes are compulsory for all participants.

The classes take place between 11.00 and 12.30 (Slovene time).

Conversation practice with students of Slovene from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies

In the afternoons, beginners and optional intermediates groups will have 16 additional hours of conversation with Ljubljana students of Slovene Studies; these conversation classes are compulsory.

The classes take place between 14.00 and 15.30 (Slovene time).

Phonetics classes

Phonetics classes are compulsory and organized on two different levels: (a) classes for beginners that start with an introduction to the Slovene spoken language and specifics of its phonetics, with examples from texts. This is followed by practical exercises to improve pronunciation and listening skills necessary for more efficient learning and use of the language. The exercises are adjusted to the participants’ level of knowledge and to their mother tongue; (b) exercises for intermediate and advanced level, intended to improve speaking skills and understanding of spoken texts.

The classes take place between 9.00 and 10.30 or 11.00 and 12.30 (Slovene time).

Lectures

Lectures (12 lectures) will offer the latest thoughts on and achievements in Slovene linguistics, literature and culture. They are compulsory for participants in advanced and optional in intermediate groups, but others can also attend since they are public. The 57^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture will focus on Creative Women in Slovene Language, Literature and Culture. As always, the lectures will appear in the seminar proceedings and on the website. Similarly, the lectures will also appear on the portal Videolectures.

The lectures take place between 14.00 and 15.30 (Slovene time).

The seminar also offers an afternoon-evening programme, which includes the viewing of a Slovene film with English subtitles, a discussion about the film, a literary evening, a virtual tour of Ljubljana and hanging out with Ljubljana students of Slovene.