Before the Conference

Before we start, take a few minutes to watch our short welcome video from Dr Peter Bonfield (Vice-Chancellor, University of Westminster).

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12.30 to 13.45

Researching Languages and Cultures in the City - Terry Lamb, Cangbai Wang and Saskia Huc-Hepher

Cities are characterised by “a kaleidoscopic and constantly shifting pattern of diverse social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups” (Lamb and Vodicka 2018), who “individually and collectively make the city” (Harvey 2003) through their voices and daily actions. This panel will focus on diverse and innovative research methodologies that enable us to address the challenges of gaining deep insights into the complex ways in which cultures and languages are negotiated in such contexts. The panellists will illustrate these through aspects of their research into the French and Chinese communities in London as well as into linguistic and cultural diversity more broadly.

Click here to register for this session.

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12.30 to 13.45

Social Media and Your PhD - Séagh Kehoe

Should PhD students be using social media, and if so, which social media should they be using? Is the use of social media a distraction from doing ‘real’ research, or can the adoption of social media benefit PhD students in any ways? What are the benefits of using social media and what are some of the potential problems? Tackling some of these questions based on both personal experience and research findings, this lecture explores the value, challenges and risks of using different forms of social media as a PhD student.

Click here to register for this session.

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12.30 to 13.45

Hone Your Writing Skills: Job Applications and Funding Proposals - Liz Wilkinson

Successful job hunting starts with presenting yourself well in writing, whether it is showcasing yourself in an online professional or research profile, crafting a personal statement for an application form or putting together a funding proposal. How can you best analyse the expectations of the context, target your writing accordingly and engage the reader so that you are invited to the next stage of the selection process?

Click here to register for this session.

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14.15 to 15.30

Qualitative Research: It’s Not What They Say, It’s What You Hear - Neil Griffiths and Luke Meddings

There’s an art to being a good interviewer. People don’t always say what they mean. Perception and behaviour are often at odds. There is an inclination on both sides to find a coherent story even if it isn’t really there. In this session, we’ll provide all you need to know to run a qualitative research group: understand your personality as an interviewer, recognise and manage group behaviour, detect cognitive bias, use projective techniques and analyse qualitative data. You’ll learn when to question, where to listen, and how to make sense of it all.

Click here to register for this session.

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14.15 to 15.30

How To Set Up A New Academic Journal: Two Perspectives - Andrew Lockett, Matthias Kispert and Iram Ghufran

Setting up a new journal is a process with several aspects but potentially significant long-term benefits for those involved, especially in an emerging field of study. These aspects involve practical or technical matters, presentational, communication and networking tasks as well as absorbing and considering the general protocols of journals publishing and applying them to specific sub-fields of research and practice. One publisher and two researchers reflect on their experiences and their respective learning curves with open access journal publishing, offering advice and insights into getting involved in journal ventures, including drawbacks, pitfalls and the art of working with close and distant colleagues. 

Click here to register for this session.

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14.15 to 15.30

Inkpath Q&A - John Miles and Chris Corr

Come along to this session with the CEO and the Client Success Manager from Inkpath. Inkpath is the lifelong skills and career development platform – a handy mobile app which allows you to discover and record all your training and experience, building a rich portfolio free to take with you and continue using, for life. This session will introduce you to all the features of the Inkpath app, explaining how these can be used to simplify your life and maximise your potential. This will be followed by an opportunity for questions and a discussion session where you will be welcome to contribute ideas for future development of the app. Visit the Inkpath website and watch the introductory videos. Inkpath is free for all students within techne and can be downloaded now from the app store.

Click here to register for this session.

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16.00 to 17.00

Keynote Lecture: 'City of Hope': Researching an Exhibition on the 1968 Poor People's Campaign - Aaron Bryant

The exhibition 'City of Hope: Resurrection City & the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign' ran at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in the winter of 2018-19. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s final human rights crusade, the 'Poor People’s Campaign', a multicultural coalition that began in 1968 to end poverty, the exhibition featured rare archival film and new oral histories with people who helped organize the movement, including Marian Wright Edelman and Andrew Young. In this lecture, its curator, Aaron Bryant, will discuss organizing the exhibit and what we can learn from it about researching hidden and marginalised histories. Dr. Aaron Bryant is Curator of Photography, Visual Culture, and Contemporary History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Click here to register for this session.

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17.00 to 18.00

Virtual Drinks Reception

Bring along a glass of wine or cup or tea and join us for some conference mingling. We hope this will be a space where you can meet and talk to other attendees as you would normally at a Congress.

Click here to register for the drinks reception.