Yap about your research A graduate research exchange | GRTC404

Research can sometimes feel isolating, especially when you have limited opportunities to talk about your work outside your department or discipline. Research conversations give you a friendly and supportive space to talk about what you are working on, exchange ideas, and get more comfortable discussing your research with others.

In this 90-minute interdisciplinary session, you will have five minutes to “yap” about your research, ideas, challenges, or work in progress, followed by ten minutes of conversation and peer feedback. You can use slides, talk through a research challenge, practice a conference or thesis presentation, or simply share an idea you would like to discuss.

Offered in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP), these sessions bring together graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from different disciplines to exchange experiences and perspectives. Along the way, you will also have opportunities to discuss practical tips for talking about and presenting your research.

After participating in this session, you will be able to:

- Communicate your research, ideas or academic work to an interdisciplinary audience

- Practice talking about your research in an informal and supportive setting;

- Exchange constructive questions, perspectives, and feedback with researchers from different disciplines;

- Reflect on how different audiences respond to and understand your research;

- Build connections with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows beyond your discipline

The session is cofacilitated by Althea Thompson and Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal

 Althea Thompson (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Department of History; an Academic Skills Workshop Facilitator for GradProSkills; and the Team Lead for Concordia’s Writing Centre. Her doctoral research investigates the “teaching” and learning of history on social media, using Russian history as a case study.

Neslihan Sriram-Uzundal (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education at Concordia University. She is a student affiliate of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance (CSLP) and a student member of the Centre for Sensory Studies. She is also a Public Scholar of Concordia University, carrying her research from academia to the public. Her research focuses on the damage-, pain-, and deficit-centered depiction of minorities in the German education context. As a multimigrant, she is interested in how education can foster more holistic understandings of the lived experiences of minority groups that move beyond migration histories alone.