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SATE AGM 2025
SATE AGM 2024
On 22nd November 2024, we met in Fribourg / Freiburg in the Collège St-Michel / Kollegium St. Michael for the SATE AGM 2024. The guest lecture was by Kirsty Logan on “Between Shortbread and Heroin!” After the AGM, we had a lovely dinner at Le Belvédère Restaurant - good food, pleasant company and lively conversations!
SATE AGM 2023
On 24th November 2023, we met in Schaffhausen in the Kammgarn West for the SATE AGM 2023. The guest lecture was by Heather Holt on “The Pedagogical Shift: Cultivating Student Agency in a Transforming Educational Landscape”
At the AGM, we said good-bye to Christine Mach, our president, and to Kaspar Kolb, our long-standing VSG delegate. Fortunately, there were successors: Marie-Claude Guerry is our new president, and Craig Brand became our new VSG delegate (joining Maja Ruef, who became a delegate last year). - Membership numbers are stable, but we would very much welcome new members. After the AGM, we had a lovely dinner at Hotel Kronenhof in Schaffhausen - good food, pleasant company and lively conversations!
SATE AGM 2022
The SATE Annual General Meeting took place in Biel/Bienne on 25th November 2022. The statutory agenda points were discussed in a classroom of Gymasium Biel Seeland. Sarah Maria Griffin, tutor of the SATE November course 2022, spoke about “Teaching Science Fiction: Strange Truths”. You can listen to the speech here.
After the AGM, we met at the Hotel Metropole for an aperitif and a lovely dinner. A wonderful opportunity to socialise and meet the SATE people.
Minutes of the 2022 AGM
SATE AGM 2021
The SATE Annual General Meeting took place in Solothurn on 26th November 2021. The statutory agenda points were discussed in a classroom of the Kantonsschule Solothurn.
The AGM guest lecture was delivered by the actor and playwright Michael Patrick from Belfast, who had also taught the SATE November course 2021. His topic was "What I speak is not a dialect of English - Non-standard English and its importance in Art and Literature”. See here for the text of the lecture - well worth reading!
A small band of members and committee members then met for the AGM dinner at the restaurant Roter Turm in Solothurn. A wonderful opportunity to chat and exchange news and views.
SATE AGM 2020
The AGM 2020 was sucessfully held on 23 March 2021 from 19:00-20:00 via Zoom.
Minutes of the 2020 AGM
SATE AGM 2019
The SATE AGM 2019 took place in Wil (SG) on 29 November 2019. We elected and welcomed Christine Mach as a new committee member, and said sad farewells to Patricia Burger (committee), Andrea Kaltenrieder (delegate to VSG), and Hans-Jürg Suter (auditor). Franziska Tobler was made a new auditor, and Roland Lüthi will stay on in that function for a little while.
Apart from the normal AGM business, we enjoyed a lively talk by the actress and director Nicolaia Marston (tutor of the SATE November course 2019) on the many interconnections of life and theatre and of producing theatre plays, starting from this well-known exchange from Shakespeare in Love:
HENSLOWE Mr. Fennyman, let me explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of unsurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. Believe me, to be closed by the plague is a bagatelle in the ups and downs of owning a theatre.
FENNYMAN So what do we do ?
HENSLOWE Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.
FENNYMAN How ?
HENSLOWE I don't know. It's a mystery.
It was really fascinating to learn how an actress and director of our time relates to these lines and gets inspiration from them.
After AGM business and lecture, we enjoyed a lovely apéro and dinner, as we always do. Really worth attending, a SATE AGM!
SATE AGM 2018
The SATE Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2018 took place in Neuchâtel on Friday, 30 November 2018. As usual, there was a guest lecture after the AGM. The Irish author Elaine Feeney talked about "Voices of resistance, recollections and reality. A discussion on Irish writing today." What an inspiring talk it was! And afterwards, as is the custom, SATE members and the committee enjoyed a lovely meal, this time in the impressive Hôtel DuPeyrou.
SATE AGM 2017 - JUBILEE: 80 YEARS of SATE (1937-2017)
The SATE Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2017 took place on Friday, 24 November 2017 in Zug (for members only).
As usual, there was a guest lecture, open to everyone after the AGM, followed by an apéritif and dinner. Irish author Alan McMonagle spoke about Writing for Radio. Alan was the tutor of this year's SATE workshop "Using (Contemporary) Novels and Short Stories in the Classroom.
SATE Museum Visit 1
On 18th May 2019, we invited our members to a guided tour in English of the marvellous exhibition “British painting from Turner to Whistler” at the Fondation de l’Hermitage in Lausanne. The guided tour and entry to the museum were free for SATE members. It was great fun and really rewarding! The guide was excellent and very enthusiastic about the exhibition.
SATE MusEum Visit 2
Because the guided tour in English of the marvellous exhibition “British painting from Turner to Whistler” at the Fondation de l’Hermitage in Lausanne was really rewarding, the committee decided to invite the SATE members to another museum visit. This second time, it was at the Swiss “Landesmuseum” in Zürich and we were taken on a guided tour in English through the exhibition “Indiennes. Material for a thousand stories”. The museum website said about this exhibition:
In the 17th century indiennes – printed and painted cotton fabrics from India – became a popular commodity in Europe. Western manufacturers, including scores of Swiss companies, started producing their own versions of these precious items and very soon indiennes were everywhere. The exhibition at the National Museum tells the story of the production of these textiles, discusses colonial heritage and travels the trade routes between India, Europe and Switzerland. Very worth seeing are the many sumptuous fabrics, including valuable works on loan from Switzerland and abroad.
This museum visit was really interesting and enlightening. It gave us insights into aspects of colonialism in which the Swiss did not have a small share and confronted us with historical facts that often turned out to be rather disturbing. Despite this - the fabrics on display were magnificent!
The committee would like to organise more such events in the future - but due to Covid-19, this is on hold at the moment.