Postgraduate Futures


Both the Literary Dynamics of Place and the Geographical Futures conferences were organised by and for postgraduate researchers.


Geographical Futures was the annual postgraduate conference of the Royal Geographical Society and Institute of British Geographers. IAS sponsorship enabled this forum to come to Durham, so that its postgraduates could network with other researchers in their discipline from across the country.


Human beings do not only live through time, but through space also. As people move and migrate about the world, their sense of identity also shifts and changes.


The theme of ‘place’ thus offered the opportunity for collaboration between English Studies and Geography as early-career researchers from both disciplines organised a postgraduate conference on Literary Dynamics of Place: Crossing, Setting, Circulation. Human geography examines perceptions of time and place at a collective level. The analysis of literary texts can provide access to the hidden meanings and responses to a society as perceived by an individual author. This conference showed that Geography and Literature can learn from each other as they approach the common ground of time and place studies. It was complemented by a second conference on Geographical Futures which provided a number of seminars and workshops to postgraduate students, not only on current themes such as ‘Urban Futures’ and ‘Climate Change’ but also on issues relating to geographical practice, and the ways in which key skills and new thought can be fostered within future academic researchers in this discipline.


Literary Dynamics of Place was organised by three postgraduates, two from English Studies and one from Geography. Some 60 early-career researchers attended, whilst the conclusion of the conference – a performance by four professional North East artists and poets – attracted members of the public as well.


By funding postgraduates to organise such events, the IAS enhances the career development of postgraduate students and enables them to meet with a wider variety of people, including IAS Fellows, students from other universities and members of the local community.


18 | 19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64