2019 OGM
Saturday 7 December 2019
The Woburn Suite, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU
We invite you and your department to register delegates for the Ordinary General Meeting of University English, to be held on Saturday 7 December 2019 in Senate House, London. The meeting will run from 10.00am to 4.00pm and be followed by a wine reception, with proceedings closing at 5.00pm. Please join us to hear about the latest developments affecting the subject, to share experiences between departments across the sector and to have an opportunity to shape our future engagement.
Because of the UCU strike action scheduled in the run-up to the OGM we would be particularly grateful if you could please register as early as possible; registration will remain open until Friday 29th November. Registration fees are at the same level as in past years (standard rate of £60). As last year we are offering a reduced rate for postgraduate attendees (£35) and the same reduced rate for additional delegates from a member institution.
Our OGM booking page is now closed.
9:30 Registration – Tea/coffee
10:00 Panel 1: Working with Europe
11:30 Tea/coffee
11:45 Business meeting
12:30 Buffet lunch
13:15 Panel 2: English A-level: Behind the headlines
14:30 Tea/coffee
14:45 Panel 3: Decolonizing the Discipline
16:00 Wine Reception
17:00 Close
This year’s OGM will explore a range of critical issues for English in Higher Education given the contemporary political context. Our three panels will focus on how to work with European partners in a time of radical uncertainty over Britain’s future relations with the continent, English A-level: Behind the headlines after declining numbers sitting the exam triggered media attention this summer, and what ‘decolonizing the discipline’ might mean for English studies. At our Business meeting we will update you on the activities of University English and our partner organisations: we will bring you up to date on recent meetings between the Common English Forum and the Department for Education; and hear about the Choose English campaign being run by the English Association; consider possible drivers and causes of the decline and – we hope — hear from delegates about the impact on enrolments for their own department or programme. You will also be able to hear the latest news on English: Shared Futures 2020, in Manchester and Salford. It has never been a more critical time for English to work together, across national borders, between secondary and higher education, and with other organisations in the sector representing English. Please see below for descriptions of the two panels: we will keep you updated with more information on speakers as we confirm them.
Working with Europe
In the wake of Brexit, and its likely effects on European collaboration both for students and researchers in English, what networks and partnerships have worked well in the past, and what can we do as a discipline to nurture them in the future? How can we promote the vitality of the subject throughout Europe if there are fewer opportunities for funding and placements? This panel will include contributions from Andreas Juncker, Chair of ESSE, the European Society for the Study of English, Gale Burns, former Chair of the European Association of Creative Writing, Alexandra Büchler, Director of Literature Across Frontiers, and examples of good practice from in and outside the sector.
English A-level: Behind the headlines
The continuing decline in the number of students sitting English A-level hit the headlines this summer. This panel will aim to look past the headline figures and review the state of research into the causes and drivers of the decline; discussing new survey data conducted by the English and Media Centre and the National Association for Teachers of English, and looking at the disproportionate impact on the English Language, and English Language and Literature A-levels. Speakers will be Barbara Bleiman (English and Media Centre), Rachel Roberts (University of Reading, National Association for Teachers of English) and Marcello Giovanelli (Aston University).
Decolonizing the Discipline
This panel will ask what it means to ‘decolonize the discipline’: a phrase which names both an urgent task that stretches beyond issues of curricula inclusion to highlight structural racial inequalities within English in Higher Education, and a space for possible action. We will present the first stages of a larger project being undertaken by a working group formed by University English, the Institute of English Studies, the English Association and the University of East Anglia. We will hear from departments who have begun addressing this task, and we hope to have a representative from the Royal Historical Society to talk about the impact of their 2018 report, ‘Race, Ethnicity and Equality’.
