Graduate Seminar 2023-2024
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 2022-2023 run by Steve Rushton, Natasha Soobramanien, Marloes de Valk and Lidia Pereira. The seminar will comprise individual tuition with Steve, Natasha, Lidia or 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 second year media students: Y2LB and Y2XPub. 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, Natasha, Lidia & Steve.
Achievable aims will be set ahead of the next session.
Key Dates and Deadlines
These are the key dates for 2022-23
- 18 November - Graduate Proposal Deadline This is a link to Graduate_Proposals_2021-2022
A previous year's Graduate Proposals Graduate Proposals 2020-2021
- 18 November - Thesis Outline Deadline
A previous year's Thesis Outlines Thesis Outlines 2020-2021
- 2 Dec - Deadline First Chapter
- 17 Feb - Deadline First Draft Thesis
- 17 March - Deadline Second Draft thesis (texts to 2nd readers)
- 31 March - Deadlines Second readers' comments
- 14 April - DEADLINE THESIS
Grading procedure (Thesis):
Early May: Steve, Marloes, Lidia and Natasha draft feedback on the thesis texts they supervised
Mid-May: Steve, Marloes, Lidia and Natasha review each other’s feedback and grades
End of May: Finalize feedback and grades.
Early June: Finalized feedback and grades communicated to students.
Guides and Guidelines
A Guide to Essay Writing (including guide to Harvard method).
Criteria for evaluation (Thesis)
Lens Based 2022 Text on Practice
Texts on Practice 2022 (a good basis for your project proposal)
Session One
Hosted by Steve, Natasha, Lidia and Marloes
Outcome session one: introductions of all students and writing tutors, outline of basic GRS plan for the year.
https://pad.xpub.nl/p/GRS1-2022-3
Pad for note taking and reference during the session.
Preparation for session one
What have you been making?
What do you want to do next?
Be prepared to give an account of where you are at with your self-directed research and talk about what you want to achieve this year and what you want to do. Lens-based students will give brief demos of current work flow. How have you been using the 2 week cycle between tutorials with Steve to make work?. Xpub students will talk about the work they have been doing on the Special Issues (individually and collectively). All students will be asked to consider what possibilities they wish to explore in the coming year.
Think concretely about what you want to make this year, how you are going to make it and why you are going to make it. Consider: What possibilities are open to you? (It is understood that making a final project is a process and things will change as you work on it). What material have you written (for previous presentations, descriptions of work , assignments for last year's methods class, the methods of annotation you developed &c) which you can use? Review the written feedback from tutors you got from previous assessments and have it available for reference during the first session.
Timetable for session one
11:00 – 11:15 Intro Grad Seminar Steve, Natasha, Lidia and Marloes.
Who is who & what’s the plan for the year.
11:15 - 12:15 Introductions part I (past work) 5 minutes per person.
Students talk briefly about current projects. Discuss the writing and research practices you have already developed (for example, the Text on Practice (Lens-based) and various annotation projects and work generated on Special Issues (Xpub)).
12:00 - 13:00 Introductions part II (past work) 5 minutes per person.
13:00 - 14:00 LUNCH
14:00 - 14:30 What is a thesis, what is a project proposal and WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE! :)
14:30 - 16:15 A short writing game in groups of 3 (xpub & Lens-based mixed): note taker, interviewer, talker/presenter (can also show past work).
16:15 - 17:00 Review exercise; discuss hackpact; questions
Homework assignment: hackpact.
https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Hackpact
2023/2024
XPUB
LB
Té 
Session Two
Outcome session two: Draft Project Proposal
Timetable for session two
11:00 - 11:30 Introduction to Project Proposal and guidelines. [relate back to text on practice and reflexive work done in XPUB]
https://pad.xpub.nl/p/GRS29-09-2022
11:30 - 12:15 3 groups of 8: review hackpact and questions about process. (45 mins)
12:15 - 13:15 groups of 3/4 - 1 writer of the proposal [who doesn't speak but may take notes], 2 reader/respondents who discuss - in 20 min cycles.
Methods: outline on pad - discussion on draft proposal - hackpact show and tell
Students talk about what they want to do this year, following the guidelines:
(https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Graduate_proposal_guidelines):
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
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch
14.00 - 15:00 Writing a draft based on the previous exercise.
15:00 - 16:15 In groups of 3/4 review each others drafts, where one person 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, etc.
16.15 - 17.00 review & homework next session: hackpact and annotated bibliography: synopsis of 3 key works (literature, film, art) related to practice/research.
Upload your draft proposal below:
Last year's proposals
XPUB:
- Al's XPUB2 proposal draft
- Miri's XPUB2 proposal draft
- Emm's XPUB2 proposal draft
- Kamo proposal graft
- grgr's draftss
- pad of mitsa's draft
- Kimberley's draft
- Jian´s proposal draft
- Supi's proposal draft
- chae's graduate proposal
LB:
Pelle's Project Proposal Draft
Session three
Outcome session three: Draft Project Proposal
Timetable session three
11:00 - 11:30 Reiteration of purpose of proposal - working document for the purpose of assessments Q+A
11:30 - 13:00 Writing individually
LUNCH
14:00 - 15:00 In groups of 3 review drafts; discuss hackpacts and how it connects to your proposal; tutors check in on groups.
15:00 - 16:30 writing individually.
16:30 - 17:00 deadline for draft project proposal, review of day. Homework: hackpact, draft and annotated bibliography on wiki.
Session four
Outcome session four: Thesis Outline
Timetable session four
Presentations on past thesis, thesis outline and thesis research + thesis writing session
11:00 - 17:00 OUTCOME: THESIS OUTLINE (1500 words)
11:00-13:00 Morning: presentations and exercise in groups
Welcome Lidia! Overview of the day
Presentations (1 hour):
- Steve: What is a thesis; how to go about writing an outline, + examples of different thesis types (15-20 mins & Q&A)
- Natasha: Thesis research: sources and referencing (10 mins & Q&A)
Discussion
Exercise in groups of 3 (1 hour):
- Take 20 mins each to discuss what you want to write, what mode of address
What do you WANT to write?
What mode of address do you want to assume? How do you want your text to speak to the reader?
(this dictates the form: essayistic, academic, narrative, non-linier, script; diary; field report)
Be clear about HOW you want to tell your story.
Key issues you want to explore (what research questions do these lead to?)
Please think of only 3 key issues.
Once you identify these you can begin a chapter outline.
13:00 - 14:00 Break
14:00 - 15:30 Writing
Draft your thesis outline (1500 words max).
15:30 - 16:30 Reviewing drafts in your groups of 3
Take 20 mins each to review each person's draft
16:30 - 17:00 Wrap-up
https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Graduate_Proposals_2021-2022
Next session is individual tutorial with your supervisor (thesis supervisors will be confirmed by email next week) - see calendar for tutorial slots
Homework for next session:
1) Hackpakt! 2) Continue to work on thesis outline and proposal
Optional homework: Explore JSTOR and source a relevant journal article for your thesis research!
Shadow libraries: https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Interfacing_the_law#Resources
Link to last year's GRS wiki page:
Graduate Seminar 2022-2023
Graduate Seminar 2021-2022