Graduate Seminar 2024-2025

Intro to GRS:

Outcome: Project Proposal (trim 4)

Outcome: Thesis Outline (trim 4)

Outcome: Thesis (trim 4 & 5)

This is the page for the Graduate Research Seminar 2024-2025 run by Steve Rushton and Marloes de Valk. The seminar will comprise individual tuition with Steve and Marloes and group sessions on specific methods (including peer to peer commentary, editing, line-editing and proofing). The days set aside for the seminar will be devoted to achieving specific outcomes which further the research and completion of the proposal and thesis. This page will be used to upload information on your Project Proposal and Thesis and to serve as an ongoing record of research.

How The Sessions Are Structured

The sessions will be for all Y2Xpub students. These will take the form of all-day workshops which will take place every other Thursday.

The outcome of each session will be published on the wiki (or Pad) and reviewed by the group. Sessions will include group work, individual work and individual tutorials with Marloes & Steve.

Achievable aims will be set ahead of the next session.

Key Dates and Deadlines

These are the key dates for 2024-2025

• 22 November Graduate Proposal Deadline (0:00 hrs)

• 22 November Thesis Outline Deadline (0:00 hrs)

• 13 Dec Deadline First Chapter

• 14 Feb Deadline First Draft Thesis

• 14 March Deadline Second Draft thesis (texts to 2nd readers)

• 28 March Deadlines Second readers' comments

• 18 April DEADLINE THESIS (0:00 hrs)

Grading procedure (Thesis):

Early May: Steve & Marloes draft feedback on the thesis texts they supervised

Mid-May: Steve & Marloes [+ other tutors] review each other’s feedback and grades

Early June: Finalize feedback and grades.

June: Finalized feedback and grades communicated to students.

Guides and Guidelines

Graduate_proposal_guidelines

Second Readers Guidelines

A Guide to Essay Writing (including guide to Harvard method).

Thesis Guidelines

Criteria for evaluation (Thesis)

Resources from Methods Sessions

From last year: including Projects that may or may not..; Rapid Prototypes; Interviews

Methods xpub#2023/2024

Link to last year's GRS wiki page:

Graduate Seminar 2023-2024
Graduate Seminar 2022-2023
Graduate Seminar 2021-2022

Session 1 19-09-2024

Outcome of today's workshop: Project that May Or May not be Made -> Draft Project Proposal

11:00 - 11:30 - Outline of GRS

11:30 - 13:00 Introductions of Projects that May or May not be Made (PMoMM) (5 mins each)

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 - 15:30 - Individually: write a new PMoMM (or build on existing PMoMM)

Use the format we are familiar with to make a start:

What? (two sentences)
Why? (two sentences) [old version: How? but very similar to workflow]
Workflow (two or three sentences)
Timetable (Sept*)
Relation to previous practice (two sentences, draw on Text on Practice)
Choices made (two sentences)

NOTE: When writing this, please consider where you are at with your self-directed research and what you want to achieve this year. Think concretely about what you want to make, how you are going to make it and why you are going to make it. Consider: The choices you made that led you to this proposal and the possibilities open to you. Consider the material you have written (for previous presentations, descriptions of work , assignments for last year's methods class, Text on Practice and the methods of annotation you developed &c) which you can use for this draft proposal.

15:30 - 16:00 - Review texts in groups of three (10 mins p.p.)

16:00 - 16:30 - Make two new Rapid Prototypes (30 mins)

16:30 - 16:45 - Upload PMoMMs and Rapid Prototypes to your wiki

Please add a link so Steve and Marloes can find them :) PMoMMs, Rapid Prototypes and Draft Project Proposals 2024-2025

16:45 - 17:00 - Group round up and outline of next session.

HOMEWORK: 3 rapid prototypes related to the PMoMM(s) you wrote today. Discuss your PMoMM(s) with your Prototyping tutors and peers.

Session 2 03-10-2024

Outcome of today's workshop: draft project proposal

11:00 - 11:30 - Introduction to today's workshop.

11:15 - 13:00 - Continue working on PMoMMs

If you are ready, add the following criteria to your outline:

1 What do you want to make?
2 How do you plan to make it?
3 What is your timetable?
4 Why do you want to make it?
5 Who can help you and how?
6 Relation to previous practice
7 Relation to a larger context
8 References/bibliography

For more information on how to answer these questions, see: Graduate_proposal_guidelines

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00- 15:30 Peer feedback on Rapid Prototypes and PMoMMs

In groups of three, review each other's 1) rapid prototypes and 2) draft texts. Annotate this session. Rotate roles every 30 minutes. One person (the writer of the draft) takes notes, 2 people discuss that person's draft, what is clear, what is unclear, which questions it raises, what works of art or theory relate to it, suggest interesting links etc.

15:30 - 16:30 - Individually edit your PMoMMs/draft project proposal with peer feedback in mind

NOTE: Add images, videos, rapid prototypes (make your practical research visible!) and please upload to wiki: PMoMMs, Rapid Prototypes and Draft Project Proposals 2024-2025

16:30 - 17:00 Group round up and outline of next session.

HOMEWORK: update your draft proposal, upload it to the wiki and create 3 new rapid prototypes.

Example Project Proposals:

• Al's_XPUB2_proposal_draft
• User:FLEM/Graduationprojectproposaldraft
• User:Ada/Projectproposal
• User:Kendal/Project_Proposal
• User:Camilo/Project_Proposal
• User:Artemis_gryllaki/Project_Proposal

Session 3 10-10-2024

Outcome of today's workshop: Thesis Outline (1500 words max)

11:00 - 11:15 Overview of the day.

11:15 - 12:00 What is a thesis? (20 mins) & how to approach thesis research: sources and referencing (20 mins) + Q&A.

12:00 - 12:30 Exercise in teams of 2 (30 minutes): Take 15 mins each to discuss what you want to write, what mode of address and how practice and research connect.

12:30 – 13:00 How to go about writing a thesis outline.

13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 – 15:30 Writing: draft your thesis outline (1500 words max). See below for more details.

15:30 - 16:30 Reviewing drafts in groups of 3 Take 20 mins each to review each person's draft.

16:30 - 17:00 Group round up and outline of next session.

HOMEWORK:

* Make 3 new Rapid Prototypes discuss these + discuss progress of proposal with Prototyping tutor and peers.

* Update your thesis outline and project proposal based on peer feedback, so you can discuss it during the next GRS in a (small) group.

* Make a VERY SHORT bibliography NO MORE THAN THREE KEY TEXTS. Write a very brief (two sentence) outline of the key texts in your bibliography and discuss how they will relate to your thesis). This will be the start of an annotated bibliography.''

Resources for research

• Where to find books, papers, etc: Links_to_resources

• Information about essay writing and Harvard referencing: A_Guide_to_Essay_Writing

How to start writing an outline

1. Take the first 30 mins to write a sketch outline of no more than 300 words. Use this as a starting point:

 a. What do you WANT to write? [What will the text be about? (thesis). What do you want to explore? 
 Be clear about HOW you want to tell your story.]
 b. Outline three key issues you want to explore. (Please think of only 3 key issues):
...
...
...

2. Once you identify these you can begin your chapter outline (build on the 3 key issues by asking what research questions these lead to? Why is this key point important to you?). You will now have a frame for your text:

Introduction (what is this text about)
key issue 1 = chapter 1
key issue 2 = chapter 2
key issue 3 = chapter 3
Conclusion

This may change, but it is a start, and it provides material for discussion

Session 4 24-10-2024

Outcome of today's session: Draft project proposal and thesis outline.

11:00 – 11:30 outline of the day

11:30 – 13:0 In 4 groups (3 ppl per group +-) Give each other feedback on Proposal, thesis, 3 key texts and rapid prototypes based on questions listed below.

13:00 – 14:00 LUNCH

14:00 – 16:30 Individual writing session and individual 10 min. speed tutorials with Marloes, SIGN UP HERE

16:30 – 17:00 Group round up of the day and preview of next session.

Peer feedback review each others thesis outline, project proposal and rapid prototypes. Take 30 minutes per person. 10 minutes to present your current progress and 20 minutes to discuss it with your peers.

Project proposal

1 What do you want to make? Is it clear what is being proposed? If not, what could be done to improve this?
2 How do you plan to make it? Do the steps proposed sound feasible? Are there any steps omitted? 
3 What is your timetable? Does the timing of the project’s realisation sound feasible?
4 Why do you want to make it? Is the motivation for undertaking the project clear? If not, how can this be improved?
5 Who can help you and how? Are there people in your network that might be of help in developing this project? 
6 Relation to previous practice: Is it clear how this project builds upon work done before
7 Relation to a larger context: Is it clear how the work is embedded in a broader context of art works, theory, etc.? 
8 References/bibliography: Are there any references or sources you feel are connected to this project?

Thesis

1 Intro aka WHAT do you want to research: Is it clear what this text is about, what is its central research question?
2 For each proposed chapter: Is it clear what this chapter will look into and is it clear how it relates and works towards answering the central research question?
3 Method aka HOW will you go about answering your research question: Is there a choice of research method and if so, is it a good fit with the central research question?
4 Mode of address aka HOW you want to tell your story.: Is there a choice for a mode of address and if so, does it fit the topic and method of the thesis?

3 Key Texts

* Any recommendations of related works of art, publications, games, literature, theory, etc. are most welcome :)

Rapid Prototypes

Do you see the connection between the gestures towards the project, the proposed project and the thesis outline? Any feedback here is welcome, from spontaneous and intuitive associations, to feedback on strengths in the sketches and potential synthesis between the three (prototype, thesis, proposal).

Previous seminars

Graduate Seminar 2023-2024