Black Forest Retreat 3: Suits and Power Point. What Makes an Academic?

What Makes an Academic?
Now we would like to focus on the people conducting the work, on the academics themselves,
on the behaviour and attitudes which ‘make’ them academics. We are interested, for example,
in the differences and similarities between what characterizes a scientist and a scholar. In
short, we would like to examine what sociologists call the academic “habitus”.
How are you recognised as a member of the scientific community? Is there a typical
behaviour in your community? Does each discipline have a unique “code of conduct”? What
does a presentation look like in your discipline? How is it discussed? What does a successful
academic look like? How does s/he present her/himself? Are there national differences?
Gender differences? Do they matter? How does the style influence the acceptance of a paper?
Does power point never lie? How do you recognise a competent scientist or scholar when you
meet one? How do you recognise an incompetent one? Does s/he wear a jacket and never a tshirt?
Or vice versa?

Programme
In the workshop, we will work in interdisciplinary small groups, tackling different aspects of
our topic. Participants will first discuss these aspects within their group; following upon that,
each group will have a slot for presentation, followed by a discussion focusing on disciplinary
differences with regard to the design of our topics.