The BSA is committed to providing a range of services for its membership including the really important constituency of postgraduate students. Funding has been agreed for five Postgraduate Day School Events to take place this year in Belfast, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Warwick and York.
22 January 2010
The Politics of Sociology: Negotiating Politics as a Social Researcher
University of Warwick - Download a poster or the Programme
This is a workshop day for postgraduate students interested in the connection between social research and political expression.
How do/should social researchers approach the issue of personal politics and activist space? How are the personal politics of social researchers communicated? Can/should social research be a political forum? What can sociologists contribute to political studies? These are just a few of the issues we hope to explore during the day.
This event is sponsored by the British Sociological Association as part of a series of regional events for sociology postgraduates. Attendance is free.
Workshops and talks from:
- Professor Les Back, Goldsmiths
- Dr Joyce Canaan, Birmingham City University
- Dr Therese O’Toole, University of Bristol
- Professor Peter Ratcliffe, University of Warwick
- Dr Gurnam Singh, Coventry University
- Dr Rebecca Leach, Keele University
Costs: BSA members - free; Non-members - £10
If you are interested in attending this event or would like more information please contact: l.mayblin@warwick.ac.uk. Places are limited to 30 so be quick if you don’t want to miss out!
24 March 2010
Whose knowledge is it anyway?
University of Edinburgh
Plenary Speaker: Professor Liz Stanley.
Knowledge has a twofold relevance to postgraduate sociology students. On the one hand it is a central theme running through all aspects of the discipline, from classical theory and philosophy of social science to feminism and cultural studies. On the other hand postgraduate students themselves are going through an initiation of intellectual scholarship. They are personally undertaking training in academia where knowledge is both a resource and is produced.
Rather then simply facilitating a debate on knowledge and society, this conference is about the academic practice of scholarship. Whose knowledge is it anyway? is designed around focus groups led by challenging questions that encourage delegates to discuss and debate their own practical experience and understanding of what it means to be learning to be learned. If knowledge is about justification then is good scholarship ethical or just about skills of persuasion? If we accept that belief is part of knowledge then what are the principles that shape what we do? Why and for whom do we produce knowledge?
The key aim of this conference is that, through sharing their own understanding of what they do, delegates develop their capacity to debate and reason about their own position and activities of knowledge production.
This BSA regional postgraduate day school event is opened to all postgraduate students pursuing a sociology-related research degree in the UK. Places are free for BSA Members, but travel costs are not provided. Allocation of places will be on a first come first served basis.
Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. To book a place or for further inquiry, contact Eric Chen.
30–31 March 2010
Bourdieu and Education: A Postgraduate Conference and Three Masterclasses on Post-Primary, Higher and Professional Education
Queens University Belfast
This two day event will focus on the philosophy and theories of Pierre Bourdieu in the fields of sociology and anthropology with a substantive focus education. Sponsored by The BSA and Queen’s University Belfast it is styled a masterclass and is open to postgraduate researchers. The event is structured around:
- Three plenaries from Professor Diane Reay, Professor Beverley Skeggs and Dr Caragh Brosnan whose work centres on Bourdieu in this area of higher education and/ or professional reproduction.
- Three tutorial style classes which will include short (5min) presentations by the postgraduate participants.
- Nine 20 min paper presentations by postgraduate research students.
We are seeking 18 postgraduates currently registered at HEIs in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland whose research is directly involved with the sociology/ anthropology of Pierre Bourdieu to participate in this event. Participation is open to any UK or RoI postgraduate with a substantial theoretical interest in Bourdieu although preference may be given to those who have a particular interest in the fields of post-primary, higher and professional education as these will be the themes of the masterclasses. We also seek abstracts from 9 of the participating postgraduates to give 20 minute papers in the usual conference style.
We intend the conference theme to be interpreted widely, with the following offering some (non-limiting) guidelines for those who are intending to submit an abstract for consideration:
- Social class in post-primary education.
- Bourdieu and the education of medical, nursing, dentistry, allied healthcare and social work professionals.
- Gendered Learners, Teachers and Pedagogies.
- Interprofessional Education and Continuing Professional Development.
- Ethnicity in the Classroom.
- Cultural Capital, Higher Education and the Humanities.
- Post Higher Education Career ‘Choices’ and Trajectories.
- Methodological Issues: Reflexivity, Habitus, Field and Capitals.
- Disciplinary Fields and Interdisciplinary Practice.
- Bourdieu and Legal Education/ Training.
Please note that this event is free for all participants but a refundable deposit will be required. All participants are expected to be present for the full two days.
The full call for papers which gives further details is available from www.bourdieuinbelfast.org.uk and we can be contacted at bourdieuinbelfast@gmail.com if you have any further queries.
The participant application form is available also available from www.bourdieuinbelfast.org.uk. The deadline for the receipt of applications is Friday, 29 January 2010.
3 June 2010
‘Bridging the Gap’: Translating Knowledge into Action in Health and Social Research
Newcastle University - Download a booking form
This proposed one-day event builds on the Qualitative Theory Group currently organised by postgraduate research students at Newcastle University. This event will comprise a mix of oral presentations and interactive workshops, led by both postgraduate students and guest speakers from academic institutions across the North East.
Discussions between members of the existing Qualitative Theory Group have highlighted a need for an event that enables postgraduate students and early career researchers to explore issues such as: the different types of knowledge (theoretical and practical); how these are applied within the various qualitative research paradigms; the links between philosophy, theory and methodology; and how research findings can be translated into policy, practice and decision-making beyond the academic setting. Hence, the provisional title for this conference is ‘Bridging the Gap’ – Translating Knowledge into Action in Health and Social Research. Knowledge translation is generally understood to be a two-way process, involving learning by academics about the challenges and needs of practitioners and policy makers in accessing and using evidence, as well as learning by policy makers and practitioners about the technical challenges of producing and synthesising robust research evidence. However, postgraduate students also have a particular interest in understanding the way that theoretical, sometimes abstract knowledge is translated into tangible research practice and evidence, and vice versa.
If you are interested in attending this event or would like more information please contact: stephanie.oneil@ncl.ac.uk or shelina.visram@northumbria.ac.uk.
4 June 2010
Subcultures Past and Present: Space, Technologies and Social Control
University of York
The Department of Sociology, University of York, will be hosting a 1-day conference around the theme of culture and subculture. Organised for postgraduates by postgraduates at the universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds, the conference will examine classical sociological analyses of subculture and the transformations in the meaning of subculture brought about by the local/global shift, the advent of transformative technologies and the implications both of these have for our understanding of (sub) culture in place and space. A call for papers will be issued shortly.
This event is sponsored by the British Sociological Association as part of a series of regional events for sociology postgraduates. Attendance is free.
Draft Outline Programme
09.15–09.50 Registration and refreshments
09.50–10.00 Welcome address, (TBC)
10.00–11.00 Key Note Speaker (TBC)
11.00–11.15 Refreshments
11.15–12.15 Professional panel: 3 Speakers
12.15–13.15 LUNCH
13.15–14.00 Postgraduate panel on ‘Contemporary Subcultures’
14.00–14.45 Postgraduate panel on ‘Belonging and Identity’
14.45–15.00 Refreshments
15.00–15.45 Postgraduate panel on ‘Discipline and Control’
15.45–16.00 Closing note, Professor Andrew Webster, University of York
16.00–18.00 Wine reception
Visit the event blog. Further details and booking form to follow soon.
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