It has as usual been a busy month here on the SGSAH blog! To bring June to a close I have brought together various links that may be of interest, as well as recapping our posts of the last month.

We started the month with a post from Lois Burke and the Postgraduate Gender Research Network for Scotland (PGRNS), reflecting on their work in progress workshop last month. PGRNS were also the co-organisers of the Feminist Research Methods workshop I attended at the SGSAH Summer School last week, and blogged about here. Andrea Blendl wrote a post about what it is like to do a PhD somewhere very remote, in this case Orkney, and Diljeet Bhachu shared her experiences of what it means to be a woman of colour in academia. Finally, Maxine Branagh-Miscampbell reflected on the last 8 months of PhD-ing while pregnant, and shared some advice on what to expect if you decide to have a baby during the PhD.

Earlier in the month we celebrated our 100th blog post here in the SGSAH blog, and I sought help from the wonderful Twitter community to write this post which covers the ten best things about doing a PhD, and the top ten pieces of advice for PhD students. I very much enjoyed writing a little bit about my interest in material culture following the SGSAH ‘Stuff of Research’ Material Culture symposium which took place at Kelvinhall earlier in the month.

Embroidery workshop at the Stuff of Research symposium 

Blogs & Podcasts

• This is a very interesting read from Duncan Green of the London School of Economics on why academics should take blogging and social media seriously.
• I really like this post on the Pubs & Publications blog from Sharon Conwell. The content will be of particular interest to PhD students with dyslexia, but her handy tips could be very useful to anyone working on writing projects.
• A lot of conferences could benefit from more prepared chairs and presenters. Take a quick look over these tips from Drew Thomas if you are chairing anytime soon!
• Sometimes our research overlaps with pop culture or current affairs in unexpected ways. In this blogpost Laura Harrison explores the relationship between her PhD and film adaptations of Scottish History. 
• If you enjoyed the ‘feminist research’ blog post I wrote this month, you may also be interested in these two blogposts which both touch on similar themes. The History Girls wrote a review of the SGSAH feminism workshop, and Rachel Davis wrote this on how her feminism relates to her research. 

Call for Papers, Articles & Speakers

There are so many great conferences and publications coming up at the moment, I just couldn’t fit them all in here! Some that grabbed my attention:

• The Holocaust and Motherhood – A One-Day Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of London (Friday 23rd March 2018, CFP deadline July 1st)
• Researching Digital Cultural Heritage – International Conference at the University of Manchester, (30 November – 1 December 2017, CFP deadline July 21st)

• Conscription and its Malcontents in the First World War – St Peter’s College, Oxford (November 2017, CFP deadline August 15th)

• The Iranian World in Late Antiquity, – The University of Chicago Center and the EPHE, Paris, France (18-19 September 2017, CFP deadline July 15th)

• Call for speakers: RAF Museum Research Programme 2018 (CFP deadline September 1st)

• Building the Scottish Diaspora symposium, Edinburgh College of Art (17-18 November 2017, CFP deadline July 24th)

• Women in Military History 5×15 event at the National Army Museum (October 14 2017, CFP deadline July 28th)
• Women’s Negotiations of Space, 1500-1900 conference, University of Hull (January 18^th 2018, CFP deadline September 30th)
• Call for articles: War Through Other Stuff, a themed special issue of the British Journal for Military History. (Deadline for abstracts, September 1st)

Events & Projects 

• I was excited to hear about the arrival of this new, open access journal dedicated to feminism and visual culture. I believe MAI are looking for contributors from all backgrounds (not only academic).
• This new exhibition on Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites just opened at the National Museum of Scotland. I can’t wait to go and see it!
• If you want a little more Scottish History, this smaller but no less fascinating exhibition on the history of the Edinburgh Town Guard just opened at the Museum of Edinburgh.
• There are still a few days left of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs until Sunday with a great mix of film, documentaries and events on the programme. (And if you follow along on Twitter there are daily deals for half price tickets!)

Town Guard Re-enactors at the opening of Musket, Axe & Drum at the Museum of Edinburgh last week.

Articles, News Stories & Other Stuff 

• The annual SGSAH Summer School took place in Glasgow last week. The team have kindly storified tweets from the three days of events, catch up here! 
• For any other PhDs or ECRs working on the First World War this workshop organised by the First World War Network sounds like a great way to learn new practical skills and meet other researchers.
• There are a bunch of new podcasts I can’t wait to listen to: Ear Hustle is made by artist Nigel Poor and two inmates of the San Quentin State Prison, Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, and brings stories of life inside prison. I’m a huge fan of Roman Mars’ podcast 99% Invisible, and love the concept for his new and very topical podcast ‘What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law’ ( made in collaboration with law professor Elizabeth Joh). And finally, my favourite Harry Potter podcast Witch Please is back with a new season of episodes!
• I am not ashamed to admit my undying love for costume dramas. Imagine my delight when I found this video from the National Trust taking us into the wardrobe of Poldark?

I have just one more month of posts to go before the new blogger takes over at the start of August! If you are interested in writing something for us please do get in touch. You can always catch me on twitter @luciewhitmore, and of course follow SGSAH @SGSAH_ to stay up to date with all the latest news and opportunities.