A joint PhD makes the concept of interculturality tangible and concrete.

Testimonial from Mine Krause, PhD in comparative literature

Hello Mine, thanks for accepting to share with us your experience of a joint PhD degree with the University of Bayreuth. Can you introduce yourself?

 My name is Mine Krause. I was born in Bayreuth in 1981, am of German-Turkish origin, and have been living in Paris for 15 years. When I had almost finished my PhD thesis, I got a job as SEO content manager in an international digital company, and have been working in this professional field for 12 years now. In my job I mainly carry out specific keyword analyses, develop individual editorial strategies, optimize web pages and create strategic contents in different languages for our international clients. I also provide them with personalized trainings.

However, being very interested in literature and intercultural communication, I am also still active as an independent researcher. In my free time I like to work on articles and books, also enjoy learning languages and play the violin in chamber music groups.

Can you tell us more about your education?

From early on, my parents made me discover the world of music, dance and literature. While still at school (which already had a musical and literary focus), I got a scholarship as a “guest student” at the Musikhochschule Nürnberg at the age of 16. After my A-Levels in 2000, I did a BA in English Literature and Intercultural German Studies - the BA-programs were very new at the time – and got my MA in 2005 which I did in Intercultural Anglophone Studies, including literature and linguistics. After 5 years of studying at the university of Bayreuth, I decided to write my PhD thesis in comparative literature about the Theatre of the Absurd. Today, my research focus is on intercultural identity and honor-related violence.

You decided to do a PhD and you did it under joint supervision. Can you tell us why?

I wanted to continue doing research after my MA and for personal reasons decided to go to France. My MA supervisor Prof. Dr. Michael Steppat at the university of Bayreuth agreed to also supervise my PhD thesis, and so I searched for a topic that included English and French literature. At the time, I wasn’t sure where I would be looking for a job later, and I thought that a joint PhD with a double PhD diploma valid in both countries would give me more possibilities, not only in academia but maybe also in other professional fields.  

Was your PhD project from the beginning a collaboration between the University of Bayreuth and France? Can you tell us how you successfully implemented it?

My PhD project was a collaboration from the beginning between the University of Bayreuth and the French Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour. It was based on a joint PhD agreement between both universities. It was the first one of its kind, as far as I remember, and therefore needed to be created for this special purpose.

I hadn’t any contacts then in France. A friend of mine recommended a professor specialized in comparative literature with a focus on English and French literature. That’s how I found my second supervisor Prof. Dr. Sylvain Floc’h at this university. He helped me overcome all administrative hurdles on the French side and I am grateful for all his academic and human support. Both professors did their best to make this intense research period as pleasant and insightful for me as possible.

Today, such joint PhD programs probably include a rather precise time schedule, telling the student during which period and for how long to be in one country, before continuing research in the other. Such an organized mobility between the two partner universities did not exist in my case. As I wanted to improve my French as quickly as possible, I spent most of my research time in France.

Doing a PhD is not easy, being jointly supervised can also be difficult to cope with. What is your own experience and what benefits did you get from it?

This considerably depends on the PhD supervisors and on the respective administrative procedures. I finished my PhD thesis in 2009. As already mentioned, within 11 years, many things might have changed concerning the organization of such joint programs. However, at the time, we didn’t have any courses to attend and could spend our whole time in the libraries of our choice. Our supervisors were always there if we had problems or wanted to discuss a chapter we wrote, for instance. One of the major benefits was certainly the access to more libraries during a time where multilingual documents were not yet available online in PDF format. Maybe the biggest challenge at the end of my PhD research period was to write a shortened version of my thesis in French. My findings then had to be presented before the PhD defense committee in both English and French. The committee members from the universities of Pau and Bordeaux had kindly agreed to come to Bayreuth on this occasion. As a last step, my supervisor on the German side proposed the academic publisher Peter Lang to publish my revised thesis, making it possible for me to finally hold it as a book in my hand.

Which benefits do you see in doing a joint PhD, both personally and professionally?

A joint PhD makes the concept of “interculturality” more tangible and concrete. While doing research in another country, you come across many interesting people who have a different cultural background and who have an impact on your own way of thinking, if you exchange with them. You might even discover that you found a second home in your host country. I didn’t speak a word of French when I came to France but had the chance to meet patient and sweet people who helped me learn the language. For my linguistic skills and my research, this inter- and cross-cultural experience was very enriching. Of course, ResearchGate and LinkedIn are two of the many ways to make a career thanks to a professional network. However, until very recently I neither had a LinkedIn nor a ResearchGate account because I believed (and still believe) that “networks” develop naturally if you like to communicate with and are interested in others, and if you are passionate about what you do.

 Meanwhile, my research focus has changed and I have published articles on interculturality. This allowed me to become a member of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue. A few years after my joint PhD, I went to a reading by Turkish writer Elif Shafak. Her thoughts about intercultural identity made me want to know more about this topic and about contemporary Turkish literature. Via Social Media networks I got in touch with a lot of Turkish writers, met them, interviewed them and wrote articles about their works in English, German and Turkish, mostly from a comparative perspective. Another surprising thing happened shortly after this: My former supervisor Prof. Dr. Steppat wrote a book with me and Dr. Sun Yan about Honor and Face Cultures. This was a very inspiring experience for me. We are currently working on our second book.

You work as an independent researcher. What does it mean exactly?

For those like me who don’t have a university contract, being an independent researcher is an ideal way to partly stay in academia and work on topics you are interested in. Regardless of your professional profile, there is always the possibility to send your texts to universities or other institutions that are announcing a “Call for Papers”.  Participating in conferences as a speaker or publishing articles therefore remains a great option.

Which advice can you give to prospective PhD candidates?

Most of us specialize too soon. Don’t limit yourself to one field. Be curious about life in general and don’t stop asking questions. Try things you have never done before and which maybe even need some courage. Everything you can learn “outside” academia will also considerably shape your personality and make you more sociable. Talk to people from different cultures, widen your horizon and mentally cross all the borders of age, religion, gender, political orientation, social class, etc. you might have in your mind. Don’t listen only to those who you agree with. On the contrary, engage in dialogues with those who are different from you to understand their reasons. You’ll get more open-minded in a world that is increasingly about “we versus the others”. Without your noticing it, all these experiences will make you a more original and “daring” researcher who has innovative ideas to share.

Mine, thank you for your time !