Welcome

Many thanks to Rachel Hanna, who is convening our new PG Reading Group. For more info contact Rachel (email below) or irish.studies@qub.ac.uk

I want to invite you to join a new Postgraduate Reading Group in Irish Studies. The idea is simple: we meet together once a month for about an hour in the seminar room at 8 Fitzwilliam Street (hopefully with tea and coffee!) to discuss a key text or reading, chosen by one of us and circulated in advance. It could be a theoretical or methodological piece from any disciplinary background - literature, history, politics, anthropology, language… it’s up to you.

Why should you bother? There are at least a few reasons. Firstly, I find doing postgraduate research extremely lonely at times, so if anything, it is an opportunity to get away from your desk and engage with other postgraduate students you may not meet regularly. Secondly, it is usually incredibly stimulating to expose yourself to writing and ideas from areas outside of your discipline, finding links and commonalities where they exist and perhaps creating new avenues for thought. The last reason is that if you opt to lead a discussion, you will get the opportunity to explain key terms and concepts from the piece, and how it influenced your own research. It could be a great environment to develop new collaborations or simply find critical friends who will walk with you through the rest of your postgraduate studies.

If you are interested in getting involved, I would be grateful if you would complete the Doodle poll that will be emailed to you shortly to find the slot that suits most people. We will try and go for a time that suits the majority. Also, if you have any further suggestions or would like to lead a discussion, please let me know so that we can get the wheels in motion and a programme in place.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Rachel Hanna
PhD Student in English Language
rhanna21@qub.ac.uk