Nick Jackson: Britain's History Lab Network Seeks To Enliven Postgraduate Study
Serious academic study can be a lonely business. Many postgraduate students spend so much time buried in archives and libraries that they see little of colleagues in their own department, let alone at other universities. The History Lab, the first ever national postgraduate history network, set up in October, is hoping to change all that.
The history of social networks, or at least the pub, is long and august in academia. One raucous drawing by Engels of a meeting of fellow Left Hegelians is alive with drunken philosophers, upturned bottles, and a faint, querulous question mark over Marx's head which seems to say, 'what's he on about now?' Of course, Marx didn't write Das Kapital Hunter S Thompson- style in a hotel bathtub, but for hundreds of years parties, pubs, and salons have given thinkers an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other, and see which fly.
The History Lab is looking to bring back a bit of that party spirit and extend it beyond the age-old, informal groups of friends and colleagues, with a national network based at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
It comes with a 21st century twist " 'speed networking' events alongside seminars, workshops, and panel discussions " to get postgrads out of the library and talking to each other.
'There are now more PhD students than ever before,' says Liza Filby, founder of the History Lab and a PhD student at the IHR. 'And there is a need for a network to bring together this new generation of historians and decide what we are going to do with our subject.'
Filby came up with the idea while studying the 18th century " the enlightenment salons are an inspiration.
...
To find out more visit the History Lab's website at www.history.ac.uk/histlab. Membership is free to any postgraduate student enrolled on an MA, MRes, MPhil, or PhD.
[Editor's Note: This is a short excerpt from a much longer article. Please see The Independent for more.]
The history of social networks, or at least the pub, is long and august in academia. One raucous drawing by Engels of a meeting of fellow Left Hegelians is alive with drunken philosophers, upturned bottles, and a faint, querulous question mark over Marx's head which seems to say, 'what's he on about now?' Of course, Marx didn't write Das Kapital Hunter S Thompson- style in a hotel bathtub, but for hundreds of years parties, pubs, and salons have given thinkers an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other, and see which fly.
The History Lab is looking to bring back a bit of that party spirit and extend it beyond the age-old, informal groups of friends and colleagues, with a national network based at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
It comes with a 21st century twist " 'speed networking' events alongside seminars, workshops, and panel discussions " to get postgrads out of the library and talking to each other.
'There are now more PhD students than ever before,' says Liza Filby, founder of the History Lab and a PhD student at the IHR. 'And there is a need for a network to bring together this new generation of historians and decide what we are going to do with our subject.'
Filby came up with the idea while studying the 18th century " the enlightenment salons are an inspiration.
...
To find out more visit the History Lab's website at www.history.ac.uk/histlab. Membership is free to any postgraduate student enrolled on an MA, MRes, MPhil, or PhD.
[Editor's Note: This is a short excerpt from a much longer article. Please see The Independent for more.]