postgraduate workshop

On Friday the 19th of September, honours, masters and Higher Degree Research students from across the Faculty of Asian Studies gathered in the Hedley-Bull Centre for a Post-Graduate Workshop. The workshop had two aims. The first was to bring students together to discuss strategies for overcoming research and thesis-writing difficulties. The second was to facilitate collegiality between students in the Faculty. The workshop was highly successful on both counts.

Dr John Makeham opened the event and introduced Dr Gail Craswell from the Academic Skills and Learning Centre. Dr Craswell gave an insightful presentation on the difficulties commonly faced by honours and post-graduate students. This formed an excellent foundation for the rest of the workshop; students realised that many of their own dilemmas had also been experienced by their colleagues.

Students then gave five-minute presentations on their thesis-topics, and on the difficulties they faced in pursuing them. Following on from this was a peer-led roundtable discussion in which students discussed the issues raised during these presentations. The conversation was free-flowing and dynamic. Everyone had lots of great ideas on solving problems related to doing research.

In the final session, Dr Ruth Barraclough spoke on making the transition into academic life, and Dr John Monfries spoke on non-academic career options. All speakers on the day were excellent and their contributions were warmly appreciated.

The Hedley-Bull Centre was a superb venue for the workshop. University House provided coffee, tea and cake throughout the afternoon. Afterwards, refreshments were served inside the foyer. The event provided a great opportunity for students to learn about each other's work and to share their experiences. Overall, the workshop was both wholly enjoyable and highly productive. Thank you to all who came along and helped to make it a success!