Rock my Worlds of English

Excuse the silly pun in the title... but we just had so much fun recording today's episode with Abu Huraira, who tells us all ab(o)u(t) his academic career starting in Pakistan, continuing in Germany (Leipzig), and most recently in Lake-town (mandatory LotR reference). After applying for an Erasmus+ traineeship , Abu make his second trip to Lake-town for a stint as an Erasmus+ trainee at the D...

Football or soccer? The never-ending debate on whether British English or American English should have primacy---in actuality, it won't matter because Austria is going to win the World Cup! That being said, happy summer everyone! Oh wait, we're supposed to type something else here. Hmmm, we also talk about some of the fun things that have gone on recently in the department and some great a...

Today's episode finds us paranoid, hopeful, and delusional (our newest definition for PhD!) with Sarah Faber, who joined the department for the summer term as a senior lecturer. We talk about how Sarah got started in academia and how game studies have expanded her academic profile along with the study of the fantastic (fantastic, absolutely fantastic!). We close out the episode with some great...

We're not playing games today--this podcast means business! Well, actually we do play games...we have clearly leveled up at the University of Klagenfurt ever since the Game Studies and Engineering (GSE) Master programme was introduced. In today's episode we talk a little bit with two colleagues, René Schallegger from the Department of English (who has respawned yet again) and Felix Schnitz...

A long, long time ago...an idea of a student acting group was born--René Schallegger's vision has come true and has been on the stage for two productions already. The current troupe of actors joins us today on the podcast along with their indefatigable instructor Elena (who also organizes the play) to share their experiences about putting on a production of Nick Payne's "Constellation...

... (insert funny pun that does not violate copyright infringement and to support our new premium channel). ♫♪♬ It's getting hot in here, so take off ... work to study for your exams! Today's episode catches you up on all the fune events you can go to in June while you're muddling through exam prep (which we also give you a few tips for). Uhmmmmm... other than the obligatory Lord of th...

"Look to the podcast at first light on the 27th day." ... and you might just be in luck to hear how our colleague René traversed hill and dale on his quest to publish. Tamara was still looking to the East at 8 am and was having second breakfast - which is probably why she forgot to hit the record button initially. This is the most recent in our series highlighting department members, in...

Today's episode is a follow up to episode #041 about study and research opportunities overseas. Alena and Chiara, two students in the teacher training programme (both studying English and ethics) travelled to London to improve their English and have joined us to tell us about their experience at the Kaplan International Languages English School . Tune in to find out how the two-week course wen...

Joining us on the podcast today is Nina De Bettin Padolin, a scholar in the field of aging (age) studies from the University of Graz, along with our colleague Eva-Maria Trinkaus, who also specializes in this field. Our discussion today primarily focuses on aging, care, and disability in literature (in particular, indigenous storytelling) and other media and the way they can inform (non-Western) un...

These shoes are made for ... playing basketball! Certainly, for walking too--but today's podcast revolves around our guest's three passions: English, shoes, & basketball. Lukas Simoner, a former student of English at our department, moved on from his dream of becoming an English teacher to follow a different career path, for which he has been able to use English as a working language. His care...

Happy belated Star Wars Day and happy belated Cinco de Mayo ... and happy belated Beltane! Sorry, we didn't mean to be late. To make it up to you, here's a new podcast episode in which we talk a little bit more about Celtic-inspired traditions and more! Tune in to find out how and why to auf- and abtrieb cattle at the beginning of 'Wonnemonat Mai' and in Herbst (from harvest) and h...

The guest of today’s episode, Christopher Cvetko, is in the Spitzensport & Studium programme at the University of Klagenfurt , which supports professional athletes in balancing their sport careers and university studies in the teacher training programme. Christopher is a professional football player and studies English and history; this requires good time management since he spends several hou...

Bonjour et bienvenue en Normandie! Victoria, a student of our programme Worlds of English, sat down with Gert today to talk about her experience on one of the many excursions the English department has organised throughout the past couple of years. Her trip took her and her colleagues to Normandy in France (from Paris via Caen to Rouen to be precise) in 2023 and left a lasting impression on her. S...

Today's podcast is pretty close to a live recording - the University of Klagenfurt is hosting the ÖGSD Nachwuchstagung , so we are very happy to talk with Astrid Mairitsch from the PH Kärnten , one of the keynote speakers. She shares with us her research on how teachers were framed linguistically in the Kronen Zeitung during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research sheds light on the transition fro...

Our guest, Kurt Wagner, a native of Illinois, can look back at a long connection to Austria. He first worked as a diplomat at the American embassy in Vienna in the 80's and later returned to Austria to work as a lawyer. Today, he is the president of the Austro-American Society in Carinthia, which started as an organisation founded with the goal of relieving famine in post-war Austria and which has...

Oars at the ready, dear listeners--today we hear from Alexandra Truppe, the Managing Director of the Carinthian International Center (CIC), based in Villach. The CIC offers a treasure trove of information and bounteous assistance to professionals moving to Austria. Navigating the (at-times treacherous) bureaucratic waters requires a steady hand, and with Alexandra and her great international team...

Ever thought of gaining some exprience abroad during your studies? The international office has several options to offer, and Barbara Bračić joins us to give you all the key details regarding the programmes, grants, and applications. From internships spanning a few weeks up to several months, summer schools, language courses, to research placements, the International Office has the perfect option...

Klagenfurt grey has finally departed and been replaced by Celovec blue, which means... SPRING HAS SPRUNG! Silliness aside, this episode is pretty silly so--buckle up! We run through the history of April Fools' Day and the many possible origins of Easter, which supposedly goes back to the Germanic goddess of fertility and spring: Ēostre (also Ostara in Old High German). Thanks for sticking with us...

We travel virtually to the islands of New Zealand today with our two guests, Marta and Alexander, who both research Māori and New Zealand Englishes (that's right--English can be plural!). Delving straight into the research project they're working on, we cover lots of ground relating to how these different Englishes work linguistically speaking (in terms of pragmatics, semantics, etc.). Of...

In this episode, our colleague Alex is talking about the impact music has had on his life. While (autodidactically) learning both the keyboard and the guitar early on in his life, he has since switched to producing his own rap music under his alter ego LX Dro. Growing up with music like Linkin Park, System of a Down, and Billy Talent made him appreciate the art and magic of music from a young age...

Look who the wind blew in again! Julian Mullen is back on the mic, ready to dive headfirst into a conversation about Saint Patrick and all things Irish with us--all while rocking a Guinness hoodie (sans harp!)! As February rolls into March, Ireland seems to move through its very own season of celebrations: Not only does Saint Patrick draw people into warm and cosy pubs on March 17, but ever since...

Mind your P's and F's, polks! In our new series, Saturday Morning Linguistics (not to be confused with Saturday morning cartoons), we talk about linguistics in everyday life. In this first episode we start with something historical, namely Grimm's Law. What does this have to do with everyday lingustics, you ask? Well, we've got an answer - tune it to us chatting about how English and German are re...

Welcome back, Kotter (if you get this reference, you might have been born before 1980)! ... And happy halfiversary to our podcast! Today we fill you in on all the great things to come in the summer term (and mention some of the great podcasts from last term). Be sure to add the Media Club and the World Poetry Day celebration to your social calendar. We've changed things up a bit with how we publis...

Some call it the study-bible, some call it difficult to read--either way, the curriculum is an important document to understand as a university student. To be precise, we are talking about two different curricula for programmes the Department of English offers. Today's podcast features two guests that are curriculum-experts in their respective programmes. While Samuel is here to guide us through t...

On February 23, 2026, the Klagenfurt Centre for Canadian Studies (KCCS) | Centre d'Études Canadiennes de Klagenfurt (CECK) was officially inaugurated. For that very special reason, today's (bonus) podcast episode features a record number of guests that have come to Klagenfurt for the festivities, namely Dominique Kirchner Reill from the University of Alberta (Wirth Institute for Austrian and Centr...