MediaCentre creates a webtalks series with the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men
How did the Webtalk project came to life?
"My PhD thesis project is on gender stereotypes and is funded by the Luxembourgish Ministry of Equality between Women and Men, as part of a collaborative project on this topic. We also regularly work together with them on events such as conferences or workshops. As part of this collaboration, we had initially planned to hold a conference at the Maison de Savoir, with experts from the greater region. This was originally planned to include a number of talks, workshops and networking opportunities. As we all know, 2020 has faced us with a number of challenges, one being that large gatherings, such as conferences, are no longer safe and thus not permitted. This meant we had to find a suitable virtual alternative that was still feasible this year. We knew that we had the Media Centre from of the Faculty regularly produced videos. This is how the idea was born"
Did you need to adapt the content ?
"In order to speak to a broader public audience, the original idea then turned into a series of ca. 20-minute webtalks by experts from different fields on the topic of gender stereotypes, combining science communication, an interview with minister Taina Bofferding for a political perspective and updates about projects from fields of practical application. In late summer and early fall we coordinated with the ministry for equality between women and men and mapped out the idea for the project more elaborately, finding experts and interesting topics for all videos."
How did you collaborate with the MediaCentre?
In early fall, we contacted the MediaCentre about the project. We coordinated with all the experts and checked their availabilities and then we scheduled the recordings. We recorded the first four videos in one week, and the fifth one shortly after. The interview with Minister Taina Bofferding and journalist Wencke Fiedler was produced in the recording studio at the Maison des Sciences Humaines. The expert talks were recorded in front of a green screen in the Media Centre. The team did an amazing job guiding us through the recording process and editing all the videos, with great results. The finished webtalks are currently being released one a week until Christmas, both on the University of Luxembourg and the ministry for equality's YouTube channels.
What would you recommend to a Faculty member who would like to create something similar?
Definitely do it! The Media Centre is an excellent resource! The collaboration with them was a great experience! If you are not sure, what the possibilities are, or if your project would work in this format, I would suggest to just contact them and ask. They are very open, friendly and helpful.