AAA Lecture Series

Doing research can be a challenging, and often intimidating, enterprise. But learning from those who have already undertaken this path will surely make the journey more intellectually stimulating and rewarding. The MA in Advanced English Studies has invited recent Phd graduates to reflect on their experiences in a series of lectures to be held both online and onsite (Covid permitting) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona throughout the academic year 2020-2021.

The lectures aim to shed light on the experience of writing a PhD thesis both in the fields of Linguistics and Literature, focusing specifically on the development of a good research question and hypothesis, the type of preliminary study conducted to identify the research gap, the evaluation of primary and secondary sources, the location of materials, and, in some cases, the vicissitudes of having a job outside university while pursuing a research career. The lectures will be given by:

  • Dr Lola Serraf (Literature) “Completing a PhD programme: Joining the Academic Conversation” (30 Oct, 10am) ONLINE
  • Dr Celia Gorba Masip (Linguistics) “Doing a Ph.D. on L2 speech: Tips for a smoother entry into academia” (10 Nov, 10 am) ONLINE
  • Dr Chris Howes (Literature) “Why I did a PhD and how I survived” (26 Nov 10.30 am) ONLINE
  • Dakota Thomas-Wilhelm (Linguistics) “The Acquisition of PhD Features: Pre-Academic Student to Independent Researcher” (10 Dec, 13:00) ONLINE
  • Dr Anna Casablancas (Literature) “PhD corpus development in real time. Researching a living author” (5 March, 11 am) ONLINE
  • Dr Andrea Sunyol i GarcĂ­a-Moreno (Linguistics): “‘Make the familiar strange’: Doing ethnography to research language in education” (19 March, 10am) UAB

Presentation materials will be accessible within the presenter’s sub-page, linked to in the above programme.

MA students will be required to attend three lectures (minimum)—those who have chosen the non-track option can select lectures either from the Linguistics or the Literature track—and to write a response essay (500 words) for each of the lectures they have attended. Sessions will be announced with a week’s notice on the MA blog and on the coordination Moodle.