Category Archives: GSCS life

Thanks to all of you who attended the GSCS meeting this week – it was a fantastic meeting and I’m excited for the year ahead! We are planning on having a welcome back pub night and elections on the second week of class, so look out for announcements about both events very soon.

You should have all already received the email, but it’s nice to keep track of what’s happening in the department here, so I am reposting the agenda for this Tuesday – the first day back to school. (Can you believe it? I can’t.)

12:00-2:00 Networking Lunch (with faculty, staff, students) (Faculty/Grad Lounge)
2:00-3:30 Guest Speaker Mitchell Stevens from Stanford University “Preserving Knowledge” (207)
3:30-5:00 Sociological Jeopardy (207)
5:00-7:00 Department BBQ! (Lower level courtyard)

Looking forward to see you there!

The summer is a time where we all like to scatter all over the world, which means the GSCS hasn’t had a chance to get together in a few months! This is about to change, however, as we’re going to meet next week.

The meeting is going to be on Thursday, September 1 at 11am in room 2107 (the defense room).

This is an informal meeting to start off the year, so we’ll be talking about the direction that the GSCS should take this year, what events we want to prioritize, how we can welcoming new students, what executive positions need to be filled, etc. This is not a meeting to elect the new executive. Elections will be held on the second week of school, once all new students have had a chance to be introduced to the GSCS and we have had a chance to post full descriptions of all the positions.

If you cannot attend but have ideas for next year and are interested in being involved with the Council, just let Hélène know in an email (helenefd [at] gmail).

Join us this Thursday for Springboards – Rachael Sullivan is presenting on “Remaking the University campus: Queer Politics of ‘safe’ and ‘positive’ spaces”.

See you at noon in ANSO 139!

If you are facebook-inclined, here is a small reminder that you can find us there. I’m trying to remember to update more often!

At this Thursday’s Springboards session, Natasia Wright will be presenting her original research, entitled “We Lynched a Guy: Violence and Discourse in Stanley Park”. Springboards is a student-run seminar that provides us the opportunity to share works-in-progress in a supportive, collegial environment.

Please join us from 11:00-12:30 in ANSO 139 for what promises to be a really exciting discussion!

Tomorrow is our next, long-awaited (I’m sure)  Springboards.

We will be focusing on finding a healthy work/life balance while going through grad school. So please come with questions and tips on what you do to survive the end of term, how you organize your time so your friends don’t forget you exist, or how you manage to do class readings, mark dozens of exams, and still get some sleep in-between!

Tomorrow is also the workshop for the mentoring program – mentors and mentees will have a chance to meet face-to-face, and we will discuss as a group what are the expectations of a mentor relationship.

Comprehensive exams are the first real monsters to slay on the PhD quest, and too often it feels like we have to confront them on our own, armed with little but vague assumptions about what these exams are supposed to look like.

Well, fear not, Springboards is coming to the rescue! (Am I overdoing the extended metaphor yet?) Thursday’s Springboards will be a workshop on comps where you can ask all you’ve ever wanted to know about comps. It is aimed primarily at PhD students who are preparing their comps and 1st-year PhDs, but all are welcome, including senior PhD students who are willing to pass on a piece of advice or two to the newbies!

The workshop will be composed of a 20min talk + 10 mins Q&A from a faculty member, followed by 1 hour of conversation with senior PhD students who will be sharing their experience + tips about comps.

As many of you are aware, the deadlines for award competitions are coming up fast… and the application process is not exactly the most pleasant exercise!

We’ve decided to try and make this process a little less scary and lonely by dedicating our first Springboards meeting to it.  To give people some time after Springboards to revise their proposal, we moved our first Springboards meeting from Oct 7 to Sept 30, in room 141, from 12:30 to 2:30pm (next Thursday, right after the paper workshop organized by the department which will be moved to 11-12:30).

At this first Springboards, students who have gotten funding before will talk about their experience with the different award competitions and share tips. Afterwards, we will have a workshop for those who are applying this year and want to get some feedback on their proposal.

This is a great opportunity for grad students to support each other through the process of applying for funding, and to benefit from the experience of those who have been through it before. So if you’ve been successful at award competitions before, please come share your story and advice! And if you’re applying, come to hear advice and get some feedback on your proposal in a friendly environment.