The society would like to celebrate our first in-person Post-Graduate Study Day since the pandemic. The annual postgraduate study day is one we always look forward to and due to the generous funding of the SSFH and ASMCF societies, we were able to return to an in-person study day. This allowed post-graduate students from across the country to gain that experience of public presenting, and meeting new people.
In the backdrop of the picturesque fens and tall gothic architecture of Cambridge University; students from across Britain and Ireland came together to present a series of papers on the theme of Rupture. The day opened with only minor technical difficulties swiftly launched us into our first panel on early modern correspondence, with later contributions on post-colonial memory featuring several exciting projects, considerations of internal subjectivity and voices in literature, and a wonderful exploration of ruptures in all sorts of visual media. Alongside all this, thanks to Dr David Lees, Dr Emily Hook, and Dr Sarah Mechkarini, we had an enlightening development panel on future career paths, that all of us need given the state of future prospects in Higher Education, and an interesting and equally concerning exposé of Far Fright French literature courtesy of Dr Fraser McQueen.
But this is just the content. Beyond these overall topics and subjects that personally I found absolutely fascinating – If I may single out the discussion of La Dissidence, a subject about which I knew absolutely nothing – making friends is the main reason we held this study day in person. The opportunity to talk and share ideas is always one that we as students relish, and this study day was no exception. It revived the atmosphere that we were exactly hoping for, somewhere between a full conference, and an informal meeting, so that the ideas could flow freely and the contact details even freer. We have all made valuable academic connections.
The study day also presented an opportunity to connect with some successful PhDs and get their advice and opinions on a wide range of topics, from the completion of the PhD to future careers. I had some wonderful conversations with David Lees on how exactly academic job interviews work and how to thrive in the environments of an academic faculty. I talked about transatlantic slavery and Algerian resistance fighters and art of all types. I have made academic connections that I will carry with me throughout my career. The event was also a glorious success for outreaching to masters level students with several applicants and attendees, who could gain a better insight into where they wanted their career to go thanks to this event.
So for a theme of rupture(s) we at the committee feel that this study day was a great success towards bridging some gaps opened up by the pandemic with our post-graduate community, and it was truly wonderful to see so many people attend, and help forge that new sense of solidarity and community spirit. To see productive relationships emerge from this study day, to see new scholarly relationships and contributions being born shows how Francophone studies and History have bright futures ahead of them in their postgraduates!
