By Abigail O'Connor
The podcast currently has 18 episodes available.
As students we’re all too aware of the fractious relationship that can develop with writing when doing a PhD. How difficult it can be to just ‘get writing’ and the fear of the blank page is something we have spoken about with PhD friends near and far. Something which may have become much more difficult in the past year.
So, inspired by Ronnie’s recent Methods North West workshop ‘Writing methods beyond the academy’, this episode is Abi talking to Ronnie about all things related to writing, what he’s learnt in his career as a writer – and how this helps him with his PhD. We talk through trying to make sense of academic writing, walking to get you writing, writing with friends and much more, in the hope that Ronnie’s expertise can help move even more of us move away from the blank page!
We refer to Ronnie’s paper throughout the episode, a version of which can be found here on his blog. And Ronnie’s highly recommended book if you want to read more about writing for pleasure is "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg.
Today Abi and Ronnie are joined by fellow SSPC PGR student Liam Markey. Liam’s PhD is a collaborate project with the British Library, which looks to chronicle the last 100 years of British ‘military victimhood’ following the First World War, through both print and digital cultural artefacts in the British Library collection.
Liam’s research involved monthly visits to the British Library in London to access hard copies of datasets, which inevitably changed as a result of the initial lockdown in March and on-going restrictions since. In this episode we talk through the difficulties this has caused Liam in terms of his academic work and how he’s adapted to these changes.
Later in the episode we open up a discussion around the financial implications of the COVID19 pandemic, first through reference to Liam’s experience before talking about the difficulties currently faced by PhD students more widely, and the ongoing issues around funding.2
Read Liam’s latest writing for the British Library here or you can find out more about his research via his blog. Liam can be contacted via email [email protected] or Twitter: @Liam_Markey94.
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved with the podcast! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1 or [email protected]
*This episode was recorded in early December 2020, before the third national lockdown*
Today Abi & Ronnie talk to Patrick Ballantyne, a PhD student in the Geographic Data Science Lab, based in the Department of Geography & Planning. Pat’s research, centred around Retail Geography, employs methods both quantitative and spatial in nature, which come under the umbrella of 'Geographic Data Science'. The primary aim of his PhD is to gain a deeper understanding of the geography of retail centre space, demonstrating how such an understanding can be used to respond to external pressures in the retail sector, such as changing consumer behaviours and the growth of online shopping.
When lockdown began in March, Pat’s access to the shared laboratory – and therefore his research – became restricted. He discusses how he’s adjusted to these challenges, giving an overview of his experience of working from home, whilst also highlighting the opportunities COVID-19 has presented in terms of consumer data and changing research agendas.
You can get in touch with Pat via email [email protected] or via Twitter @pj_ballantyne
For code and updates on his projects visit: https://github.com/patrickballantyne
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved in upcoming episodes, we’d love to hear from you about life as a PhD student, your research, new projects you’re involved in or changes to your work resulting from COVID19 (this list is not exhaustive!) Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or [email protected]
In Part 2 of our conversation with Adele & Leah, we gave them the opportunity to ask us any questions they have about life as a PhD students, things we wish we’d have known when we started, tips for staying on top of our workloads and combatting loneliness – amongst much more!
You can contact Adele via [email protected] and Leah via [email protected]
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved in upcoming episodes, we’d love to hear from you about life as a PhD student, your research, new projects you’re involved in or changes to your work resulting from COVID19 (this list is not exhaustive!) Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or [email protected]
In this episode Abi and Ronnie are joined by Adele and Leah, two CASE PhD students in the department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology. Adele’s research is a feminist exploration of contraception and reproductive rights, in collaboration with a local clinic in Liverpool. Leah’s work is a ethnographic study of discretion, working with the College of Policing.
Both Adele & Leah started their studentships in October, 2020 – so in this episode we talk to them about how they’ve found their first few months, whether they’ve had to make any methodological changes to their research already, and how they’re adapting to writing and working from home. You can get in touch with them via email [email protected] // [email protected]
Part two of this episode will be released 17th December 2020!
Gavin Daly, a PhD student at the Heseltine Institute, joins Abi & Ronnie in today’s episode. Gavin currently works as a Senior Project Expert at the European Spatial Planning Observatory Network. His research explores the role that alternative planning discourses can have in the context of global environmental challenges, seeking to identify the place that grass-roots community movements can play in institutional change.
In the episode we discuss how he came to be involved in this research, the influence that his previous career in planning has on his work, and how the crises of the last decade (including the financial crash of 2008/9, austerity and the COVID19 pandemic) make visible some of the detrimental consequences that capital-led growth projects have on urban spaces and their populations.
You can read some of Gavin’s recent work here https://irelandafternama.wordpress.com/?s=Gavin+Daly and you can contact him via Twitter: @gavinjdaly or via email: [email protected]
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or [email protected]
Emily Kearon-Warrilow, a History & Law PhD student and Graduate Teaching Fellow, joins us today to discuss the changes she’s made to her research as a result of the travel restrictions imposed since March 2020. Emily’s work explores the legal history of colonial India, examining sexual crimes involving children. Initially, her methods involved travelling to Bombay High Court’s extensive yet under-utilised archives, to uncover unpublished records, but COVID19’s impact on global travel meant her research and methods had to change.
In this episode we discuss how Emily has navigated these unforeseen circumstances, including some fundamental shifts she has made to her research questions/aims and some barriers she is facing due to the current political debate regarding academic freedom in India. We go on to chat about the highs and lows of working (and writing!) from home, being isolated from colleagues and the move to online teaching. Before asking Emily what her advice would be to new and current PhD students.
You can get in touch with Emily via email [email protected] or via Twitter @WarrilowEmily
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved with the podcast! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1 or [email protected]
Abi & Ronnie are joined by Cameron Byron, a PhD student in the Geography and Planning Department at the University of Liverpool. Cameron’s research explores the historical and political geographies of Wirral cemeteries. His work is looking to identify how (im)material and volumetric practices of territory are mobilising deathscapes.
Cameron discusses his research in relation to the COVID19 pandemic, both in terms of how COVID19 related deaths may have an influence on the politics of the (dead) body specifically within urban spaces, but also in relation to how lockdown has altered his research methods.
You can get in touch with Cameron via Twitter @ccameronbyron or via email [email protected]
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved with the podcast! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or [email protected]
In this episode Emily McIndoe, PhD student in History, joins Abi and Ronnie to talk about how travel restrictions have impacted her research. Emily’s research explores British aid to El Salvador between 1970-2009, which was originally being conducted through a combination of archival research and oral history interviews in both Britain and El Salvador.
Emily discusses the changes she’s made in recent months, having started fieldwork in October 2019 before everything moved online. Emily tells us about both the benefits and difficulties which have arisen from this, before going on to discuss the uses of snowball sampling in the context of her research and experiences of finding alternative sources of data, from unexpected places.
You can get in touch with Emily via Twitter @mcindoeee or via email [email protected]
The History Work In Progress seminar series (discussed in the episode) meets regularly throughout the semester and is an opportunity to present papers, problems and ideas in a friendly informal environment and receive feedback from fellow PGRs. The next meeting is Wednesday 2nd December (2.30 - 3pm), email [email protected] for information on how to get involved - all welcome!
Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: [email protected] & Ronnie @asenseofplace1 or [email protected]
In this final episode of Series One Ronnie & Abi are joined by Professor Mark Boyle. Mark is the academic lead for the Sustainable and Resilient Cities research theme at the University of Liverpool, which is where the idea for this podcast series originated.
We reflect on the podcast so far, discussing some of the pertinent issues facing PhD students currently and talk about the importance of disseminating research widely, both within and outside the academic community. You can contact Mark via email [email protected]
As series 1 comes to an end, we wanted to thank everyone who’s listened in – we so pleased with the response that we’ve decided to return for a series 2! On 18th November 2o20 we will release the first of our ‘Doing a PhD during a global pandemic’ episodes. As always, please get in touch if you’d like to be involved or have any ideas you’d like us to discuss!
Abi: [email protected] @abioconnor_ Ronnie: [email protected]
@asenseofplace1
The podcast currently has 18 episodes available.