The Art of Not Doing Conference – call for papers


In a culture that valorises busyness, productivity, pace and “progress”, stillness can be radical. Refusing, ignoring, omitting, not doing; sometimes the most political actions look like doing nothing at all. But who gets to not do? When and how is not doing a politicised, racialised, privileged, resistant or utopian act?

Through conversation, provocation, installation and self-care, we look at unproductivity as an activist practice and the ways in which caring, resting, suspending, pausing and breaking can be re/claimed as political acts by and for everyone, particularly those marginalised by the racial and gender inequalities of neo-liberal capitalism.

As part of this one-day conference, we are inviting paper proposals/provocations and interdisciplinary submissions from Birkbeck graduate students, early career researchers and individuals from wider academic, creative and activist communities. Alongside paper proposals, we welcome submissions of artworks, shorts films, and proposals for performances and acts of care. Please read the about section before submitting.

Deadline for submissions: 10th of June

Send submissions to: theartofnotdoingconf@gmail.com

Conference website

Janette Leaf on the 2019 Three Minute Thesis Competition

Professor Julian Swann, Director of the BGRS presents Janette Leaf (Department of English and Humanities) with the runner up prize for her 3MT talk ‘Locating the Sympathetic Insect’.

Why did I go in for it?

I guess what prompted me to go in for the Three Minute Thesis was the sheer challenge of whether I would be able to sum up my research in a short time and in a way that would appeal to a broad audience.  Whenever anyone outside my area of specialism asks me what my PhD is all about, I tend to say, ‘insect imagery’ and then try to gauge how much more detail to go into.  My hope for this competition was that it would give me a boost to expand upon my two-word ‘insect imagery’ answer without the equivalent of giving a full-blown paper, and I’m pleased that condensing the thesis into a maximum of 180 seconds really did help me concentrate on what’s attention grabbing and interesting in my work.  It also revealed a clear trajectory from horror to ecology.  I wondered if my supervisor might think I was crazy to compete, but he was happy for me to go for it and that was a nice endorsement in itself.

Supportive environment

Anyone who puts themselves forward for the Three Minute Thesis is given a short training session in presentation skills, and I went along to the workshop feeling slightly uncertain whether I would have the confidence to enter the competition.  There was absolutely no pressure to take it all the way.  A few chose not to, but most of us did follow through and we really enjoyed the experience.  During the training as well as on the evening itself everything took place in an incredibly supportive environment.  Even though students were competing against each other the overriding feeling was that we were all in the same boat sharing the same nervousness and the same excitement, and so there was lots of mutual help and encouragement. 

Presenting a paper free paper

I took my first degree in the 1980s and my return to academia (part time) is a comparatively recent phenomenon.  My business career has so far spanned marketing, transport logistics and property legislation, but never involved presenting to a large group of people against the clock.  I felt quite exposed talking about a research project designed by me, supported by only one slide and without the benefit of any written prompts.  Outside of university I perform with two choirs, so if I’m on a stage I’m fairly used to singing somebody else’s words.  Speaking my own words about my own special interest to an audience and panel of judges is a different matter entirely.  My thesis is on ‘Locating the Sympathetic Insect’, and I like to think of it as wonderful and weird.  The primary focus is on prose literature, whilst also incorporating art and film and entomological science, and I’m absolutely thrilled it was so well received.  Before the Three Minute Thesis competition I’d presented at a small number of conferences and had positive feedback, but I’d never done it without holding onto my notes.  I now feel I have the unhampered ability to put aside those pieces of paper so I can talk in a more spontaneous and engaging way at future events.  And that’s important to me as I am keen for my research to have the best possible impact. 

I’ve got the competition to thank for that leap and would encourage any fellow PhD to participate. 

Birkbeck PhD Awards April 2019

Birkbeck Research Degrees awarded in April 2019

Birkbeck awards over 100 PhDs each year. In April 2019, 11 Birkbeck Doctoral Researchers were awarded a PhD for their work in the following areas:

School of Arts

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF ART

School of Business, Economics and Informatics

DEpartment of Computer Science and Information Systems

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

School of Law

Department of Law

School of Science

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES

School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy

DEPARTMENT OF History, Classics and Archaeology

  • 1 PhD in Medieval and Modern History
  • 1 PhD in Ancient History, Classics and Archaeology

Birkbeck 3MT Winner Gabriella McGrogan talks about the 2019 competition

Gabriella McGrogan (Department of Criminology) was overall winner of the 2019 Birkbeck 3MT competition for her entry, “Against our Community Standards’- “Outsider” Witnessing of Atrocity and Social Media Censorship”.

Birkbeck doctoral researcher Gabriella McGrogan tells us about taking part in the 2019 Birkbeck 3 Minute Thesis Competition

Trying to figure out how to condense something you’ve been passionately thinking about and shaping over many months, into around the same amount of time you spend brushing your teeth before bed, seems beyond tricky. My supervisor suggested that the Three Minute Thesis competition would be a great opportunity to refine the key points of my project and give me a handy synopsis to roll out at conferences, meetings and in the pub. This seemed worthwhile, if only to avoid the baffled looks my poor friends give me when I’m trying to explain what I do now.

Developing skills

Having worked as a TA in secondary schools in London and Paris, I thought I might have had an advantage in the public speaking stakes. What could be more terrifying than getting 35 teenagers to first, be quiet, and second, listen to you? As it transpires, academic conferences are. Put on by famous institutions and renowned journals, full of ‘grown-up’ academics who have earned themselves the blue tick on Twitter, my first attempt earlier this year was nerve-wracking. The competition was such a brilliant opportunity to develop skills and alleviate imposter syndrome!

Speakers and members of the audience at the 3MT reception

Communicating research

Almost exactly three years ago, I submitted an application to study for Birkbeck’s MSc in Global Criminology. Up until then, I had completed two degrees in Literary and Cultural Studies, but realised that I wanted a change. It’s an understatement to say that the existence of Birkbeck has changed my life for the better. I think the competition, and ensuring my research is accessible and comprehensible to as many people as possible, is a great way to embrace and celebrate the ethos of the college. My research will benefit hugely from the interaction and input of those outside of my discipline and academia in general. Most importantly, I got to engage with students from other departments and learned some fascinating things from their presentations!

I’d strongly encourage any students considering taking part in future to do so. The tips I gained from the training alone were well worth the time spent and I’ve definitely noticed I can explain my project with ease in the aftermath!

Speakers and members of the audience at the 3MT reception

You can read more about the 2019 Birkbeck 3MT Competition here.

BIMI-PITT Research Workshop: Displacement in film and visual culture

BIMI-PITT RESEARCH WORKSHOP: “DISPLACEMENT IN FILM AND VISUAL CULTURE”

WEDNESDAY 15 – FRIDAY 17 MAY 2019

The third edition of the biennial research workshop organised by Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image (BIMI) and the University of Pittsburgh Film Programme will take place Wednesday 15 May to Friday 17 May 2019 in Birkbeck Cinema.

The idea of the workshop is to bring together faculty and postgraduate students from Birkbeck and Pittsburgh to share their ongoing research, to get to know each other in person, and to develop collaborative research projects together.

Previous editions – “Cinema and the City” (2015) and “Urban Change” (2017) – have been both productive and enjoyable occasions, generating several joint research initiatives, including journal publications, student and staff exchanges, public lectures, curatorial projects, and study days.

The forthcoming edition is entitled “Displacement”, a theme that for the purposes of the workshop can be interpreted from any angle or approach, as long as there is some connection to film, moving image, or visual culture.

Free to register

The workshop is free and open to all, regardless of affiliation. However, we will be especially pleased to welcome Birkbeck staff and students from Arts, Law, SSHP, and Science, across the range of research areas and disciplines that BIMI is committed to representing as part of its mission at Birkbeck: Applied Linguistics, Cultures & Languages, English & Humanities, Film & Media, Geography, History, History of Art, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Psychological Sciences, and Psychosocial Studies.

If you would like to attend the workshop, please register here, as this will help us to know who is coming:

Alternatively, you can let us know by email (bimi@bbk.ac.uk). We look forward to seeing you there, as it is the quality of discussion and conversation that has made the previous workshops such memorable events.

The Margaret Elise Harkness Prize, application deadline 17 May 2019

Opportunity: The Margaret Elise Harkness Prize, application deadline 17 May 2019

The Margaret Elise Harkness prize is an annual award made by the Birkbeck Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies in recognition of outstanding postgraduate work on a Nineteenth-Century woman associated with the arts, social/political activism, or global travel and writing in long nineteenth century. The prize was established in 2018 to honour the work of the writer and activist Margaret E. Harkness (1854-1923). The amount of the award is £1000.

Eligibility

This prize is open to students currently enrolled in PhD programmes in the School of Arts at Birkbeck.

Application
  • Submission of an A4 page describing your project by 5pm 17thMay 2019 to Dr Ana Parejo Vadillo.
  • Jury: Dr Ana Parejo Vadillo (Chair), Dr Vicky Mills (Co-Director, Centre Nineteenth-Century Studies), Flore Janssen (ISSF Fellow)

BPSN Bulletin

bpsn logo

The following bulletin is provided by the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network (BPSN) of which Birkbeck is a member. Our membership of the BPSN provides Birkbeck PhD students with an expanded range of training and development opportunities.

This Issue:

  • Opportunities – First Mondays: Networking for Entrepreneurs
  • Book now! May courses available
  • June courses

OPPORTUNITIES

First Mondays: Networking for Entrepreneurs
3 June 2019

Everyone is welcome at our monthly networking evenings. Be inspired by successful entrepreneurs and form lasting connections with peers that could help you start or grow your business.Visit UCL Innovation & Enterprise for more information: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise/events/2019/jun/first-mondays-networking-entrepreneurs-june

Places Still Available in May!

8 May 2019: Public Engagement: Developing Your Own Activity KCL
This half-day workshop will allow you to share your public engagement ideas and work with other participants to critique and improve them. Focus will be on the practicalities of public engagement.

8 May 2019: Format your Thesis UCL
Bring your own laptop or Mac to this hands-on session and learn the essential skills to format and edit your content in Word.

9 May 2019: Organising Successful Academic Events SAS
This session runs through the key areas of organising a successful academic event. We will discuss the different event types, public engagement, impact, timing, venues, audiences, speakers and finance.

15 May 2019: Ethical issues: The use of deception in research LSE *NEW*
Deception is a common feature of some social science research approaches yet absent or even forbidden by professional norms in other closely related social sciences. What is deception?

16 May 2019: Translation and Interpreting – IMLR Graduate Forum SAS
Forum members meet once a month during term-time to share and discuss their work in an informal setting, and invites students to present their research and host film screenings, reading groups and workshops.

16 May 2019: Manage Your PhD Research Data (Data series: 2 of 3) LSE *NEW*
In this practical workshop the LSE Research Data Librarian will give you essential tips for collecting and organising your PhD data so you can locate what you need with ease.

18 May 2019: IMLR Saturday Research Training Workshop: Researching Multilingually. Possibilities and Complexities SAS
The workshop aims to support developing researcher awareness with regard to practices of researching multilingually and in this way, work towards a more clearly articulated ‘researching multilingually’ methodology.

20 May 2019: Cross Purposes: Networking with ease UCL
The workshop is designed to be an event that leads a group though ideas, models and conversations resulting in a greater sense of rapport within a group.

28 May 2019: Specific Heat Capacity – Voice training UCL
Specific Heat Capacity is a three-hour voice workshop based on theatrical as well as practical experience, and aimed towards anyone wishing to develop their vocal ability.

30 May 2019: The PhD Viva in the Humanities and Social Sciences SAS
This session will look at a range of practical matters including choosing examiners, and the roles and strategies of the student, the examiners and the supervisor.

June courses

3 Jun 2019: Scientific classification and scientific realism – Key Concepts in Science and Technology Studies UCL
In this session we will take a look at an important and ongoing debate in contemporary philosophy of science: are we justified in accepting the most secure findings of scientists “at face value”?

3 Jun 2019: Publishing and Archiving Research Data (Data series: 3 of 3) LSE
This workshop will give an introduction to the current and quickly developing data publishing and archiving landscape and why it matters to researchers (including funder requirements).

3 Jun 2019: IMLR Saturday Research Training Workshop: Before, during and after the PhD SAS
This session covers publishing in the modern languages; the PhD viva, before, during and after; organising a conference and giving a conference paper; applying for an academic job, writing CVs, interviews.

12 Jun 2019: Critical Thinking and the Researcher: An Exploration UCL
Critical thinking is one of the higher abilities looked for in the research degree candidate. The greater understanding and application of critical thinking, the better the researcher.

13 Jun 2019: Your PhDilemmas: One-to-One Sessions for Research Students UCL
You are the manager of your PhD. If you want to explore ways of re-gaining control, come along and chat to Dr Louise Baron on a private and confidential one-to-one basis.

Aaron Columbus, winner of the London History Essay Prize

L-R: Professor Vanessa Harding, Aaron Columbus and Peter Estlin (Lord Mayor of the City of London)

Congratulations to Aaron Columbus, winner of the 2018 Curriers’ Company London History Essay Prize

Aaron is a second year PhD candidate in Birkbeck’s Department of History, Classics and Archaeology. 

You can read more about Aaron’s winning essay here.