Three-D Issue 20: MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference 2013
Conference Committee
University of East Anglia (UEA)
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is delighted to be hosting the forthcoming 2013 MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference on 2nd – 3rd July 2013. The event is organised by the school of Film, Television and Media Studies (FTM) in collaboration with other schools across UEA’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, media@uea and the East Anglian Film Archive.
Future career prospects are a real concern for many postgraduate researchers today and this year’s conference is designed to explore the ways in which postgraduates can proactively and positively address this issue. The conference is themed around innovation and development with a strong focus on training and methods of boosting employability. Since the conference coincides with the 50th Anniversary of UEA, we also want to embrace the university’s founding principle of ‘Do Different’. The training workshops and plenaries are therefore designed to introduce new and alternative ways of undertaking and presenting academic research. The aim is to help develop core skills postgraduate students can employ for their careers beyond the PhD.
The conference will open with a roundtable discussion on personal development and academic careers. The panel of academics for this session, Martin Barker (UEA), Iain Robert Smith (Roehampton) and Sanna Inthorn (UEA), are all at different stages in their careers and will discuss their own experiences of working within the sector. The evening plenary lecture by the BFI’s Nathalie Morris will take place at The Forum, Norwich’s landmark millennium library and media centre in collaboration with the East Anglian Film Archive. The theme of this talk focuses on archival collections and access for researchers. The conference closes with a plenary session from Natalie Fenton (Goldsmiths). Additional information on keynote talks and skills training sessions will be forthcoming shortly.
Delegate panels will be structured to incorporate a mix of both traditional and new formats such as short ‘lightning talk’ presentations, alongside more discursive and interactive ‘work in progress’ sessions. The opportunity to present academic work in these non-traditional formats provides an excellent way to develop ideas, presentation skills and to build potential networks. We encourage anyone who is interested in getting involved with these alternative presentation formats – but is unsure about how to do so – to get in touch with the conference committee. We also welcome any further suggestions or requests from the postgraduate community to help make this annual gathering a real success. We are committed to ensuring that the conference helps fulfill postgraduate training needs and aim to make the event useful and relevant for delegates. Learning from each other will be a key focus and there will be ample opportunity for attendees to get together and discuss their work. Social events including the conference dinner and pub quiz will enable friendships and potential academic networks and partnerships to form and grow.
We look forward to welcoming you to the conference in July and introducing you to the sights and sounds of UEA and Norwich!
Email: meccsapg2013@uea.ac.uk
Twitter: @MeCCSAPGN2013
Facebook: MeCCSA Postgrad Network Conference 2013