Other TLC workshops for PhD students

As well as the core Authoring a PhD and Developing as a Researcher programme, TLC organises a number of other workshops and events for PhD students. The sessions already arranged for 2008-09 are listed below. You need to book to attend and can do this by clicking on the appropriate date link.

The PhD experience: the insiders' perspective - Are you new to PhD life? Would you like to learn lessons from those who have been there before? Then come to this interactive session, where you will meet other first-year PhD students and hear from more 'seasoned' doctoral students about their experiences when starting out. This session is suitable for first-year PhD students.
12 November 2008, 2pm - 5pm- click for more details and to book

Relax ... about writing - This interactive workshop is suitable for all PhD students. It focuses on getting you writing, without dwelling on issues of academic style and structure. If you spend hours staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper, this could be for you. By writing again and again throughout the session, we will explore techniques borrowed from creative writing to support both your writing and your thinking about your PhD. Please note that academic styles, structuring of chapters or paragraphs, and other forms of polishing and organising text will not be covered in this session.
14 November 2008, 3pm - 5pm and
23 February 2009, 10am - 1pm - click for more details and to book

Returning from fieldwork - This interdisciplinary workshop is suitable for all PhD students. It offers you a platform to look back on your fieldwork and address questions such as: What unexpected complexities did I encounter? Did my notion of what constitutes the field change while I was working there? Did I start asking new questions? The workshop encourages you to move on to the next stage of your research: writing about your fieldwork and/or getting started with the data analysis and thus stimulates your thinking about what might constitute first findings, topics or patterns. You will discuss and reflect upon your recent field work experiences by working in small inter-disciplinary groups with other PhD students in the same situation.
18 November 2008, 3pm - 6pm- click for more details and to book

Using on-line sources for literature reviews - This session will show you how you can use the various on-line databases to which the School subscribes to find useful, and obscure, references as you conduct a literature review.
26 November 2008, 2pm - 5pm - click for more details and to book

Creativity and craft for your PhD - These two one-day workshops will demonstrate both creative and craft skills that you can use and/or adapt to plan, structure, focus your research, and manage every stage of your PhD, and then produce a clear and effective draft for upgrade, journal article, or thesis. The two days are separated by 3 weeks so that you can practice the skills taught in Day 1 in your own research.  On Day 2 there will be an opportunity for feedback and questions arising from this real-life practice. Participants are expected to attend both sessions of the course.
Tuesday 20 January 2009, 10am - 5pm and Tuesday 10 February 2009, 10am - 5pm - click for more details and to book

Preparing for fieldwork - This workshop is suitable for all PhD students whose fieldwork will begin in the next year. The workshop addresses the practicalities and difficulties of doing fieldwork. It highlights ethical issues of fieldwork, how you can manage relationships in the field and the difficulties of keeping in touch with your supervisors and peers while working away for an extended period. It will help you to start preparing your own project through hearing the experiences of PhD students who have just returned from the field.
24 February 2009, 2pm – 5pm - click for more details and to book

PhD 'motivation' session - This workshop will address some of the frequently occurring pressures and struggles of PhD life (such as perfectionism and procrastination) and will consider the possible underlying psychological causes of such issues. Adam Sandelson from  the Student Counselling Service will contribute to this session.
25 February 2009, 2pm - 5pm - click for more details and to book

Writing for the media - A series of 4 classes that will take you through the skills and ideas necessary to pitch your work to and write for a wide audience, focusing especially on the media. The course is led by freelance journalist and LSE alum Karla Adam. There will also be a number of speakers from media and other publishing organisations participating in some of the classes. The classes will take place weekly for four weeks from 6 - 8pm on Tuesday evenings during the Lent term (dates to be confirmed). To request a place on the course please email g.subrahmanyam@lse.ac.uk.

Setting up departmental projects - Roberts Researcher Development Fund money is available to support you and your peers in the development of your skills in one of the following areas: research management; communication; networking & team-working; career management & -development. This event introduces you to the necessary conditions for funding and focuses on the wide array of possibilities for using such funding. It features talks from PhD students who have successfully completed such projects and includes a mini-brainstorming so that you can start to develop your own ideas. Come and be inspired!
Date to be confirmed - click for more details and to book
 

^