In episode 11 of our podcast, Dr Birgit Hawelka talks to Prof. Dr Angela Ganter, Elena Maria Eusebi and Mario Sommer about the Master’s seminar “Constitutional Debates: Contexts and Media”. During the seminar, the students took on historical roles, held debates and developed their own podcasts – from the radio play “Breaking News” to the Socrates trial and interviews with Roman emperors.
Prof. Dr. Angela Ganter holds the Chair of Ancient History at the University of Regensburg. In May 2025, she received the Teaching Award for Innovative Teaching in the “Course” category for the design of her Master’s seminar “Constitutional Debates: Contexts and Media”.
Elena Maria Eusebi received both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Classical Philology from the University of Siena. She has been studying for a doctorate in Ancient History at the University of Regensburg since October 2024. Her dissertation project deals with the topic “Fears of the Romans in their living space and their avoidance rituals”.
Mario Sommer is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Ancient History – Classical Studies in his fourth semester, building on a Bachelor’s degree in History, Comparative Cultural Studies and Political Science. His primary areas of interest are myths, political history and ancient history in digital games.
Time Stamps
| 01:42 | What are constitutional debates and why is the topic relevant to students? (question for A. Ganter) |
| 03:48 | What were the considerations behind your decision to approach this topic in a way that was completely different from just reading texts on the subject? (question for A. Ganter) |
| 08:08 | How can we picture a prototypical session of the seminar from the students’ perspective? (question for E. Eusebi) |
| 09:56 | What were the particular challenges and difficulties you faced when you had to improvise a role in a constitutional debate? (question for M. Sommer) |
| 11:00 | Ms Ganter, did the debates go well or did you have to intervene to make corrections? |
| 12:34 | How did you prepare the students for the podcast format? (question for A. Ganter) |
| 13:53 | Mr Sommer, what specifically took place in your group? How did you prepare for it and what type of podcast did you end up choosing? |
| 15:22 | Ms Eusebi, did you take a different approach or did you do something similar, transferring your experience from podcasting? |
| 17:33 | Ms Ganter, what was the biggest challenge in this seminar overall? On the one hand, you had the courage to hand over the reins, of course, but at the same time you were responsible for the learning outcome. |
| 19:58 | And to ask the students directly: what were your main reasons for doing it, for saying that it really was an exceptional seminar that deserved the Teaching Innovation Award? (question for M. Sommer) |
| 21:07 | Ms Eusebi, what was the most important thing you learned from the seminar, aside from the fact that all that work could be fun? |
Suggestion for citation of this blog post
Hawelka, B. (2025, September 18). In conversation with Plato, Polybius and Cassius Dio – Constitutional debates as role plays and podcasts. Lehrblick – ZHW Uni Regensburg. https://doi.org/10.5283/ZHW.20250918.EN
Birgit Hawelka
Dr. Birgit Hawelka is a research associate at the center for University and Academic Teaching at the University of Regensburg. Her research and teaching focuses on the topics of teaching quality and evaluation. She is also curious about all developments and findings in the field of university teaching.
