We hold a symposium every term, where postgraduates and staff gather to hear papers written and presented by MA students. This offers students a familiar and friendly environment in which to gain valuable experience of delivering an academic paper, and it gives the whole subject group a chance to debate current issues in English studies. Here are some photographs of our most recent symposia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first symposium of the 17-18 academic year took place this December, and included a variety of papers from 20 different students, including those from MA Nineteenth Century Studies who undertook English MA Options. The event, hosted in the MHT building on the university campus, saw students discuss their research for their upcoming projects. The panels included: ‘Contemporary American Fiction’, ‘Romantic Legacies’, ‘Romantic Nature’, ‘Contemporary Nature’, ‘Gender and Sexuality’, and ‘Women Writing in the 21st Century: Outsiders and Belonging’.

Papers such as Jeni Medcalf’s ‘Find Oikos’ and Jamie Watt’s ‘The Romantic Wanderer’ were listened to by a number of staff and students, with each student having the chance to expand on their presentations in the Q&A sessions after each panel.

Students said they felt the day had a great atmosphere, and was the perfect opportunity to explore their research ideas in a supportive, academic environment. Many of our students took to The Swan on campus afterwards to celebrate their hard work before heading for a well-deserved Christmas meal at Ask Italian.

Last year’s spring symposium was a huge success, with staff and students gathering to listen to a variety of papers given in the Wren Library at Lincoln cathedral. The Wren library is a fantastic venue constructed in the seventeenth century containing a collection from fifteenth century with other manuscripts and books dating back as early as the tenth century. More information on the Wren Library can be found here.