The Arts and Forced Migration: An English Literature PhD student at the Refugee Studies Centre International Summer School

This guest blog comes to us from Sarah Stewart, an AHRC funded researcher in recipient of the SGSAH Student Development Fund to attend the Oxford Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) Summer School.  Can art and its study meaningfully and significantly intervene in massive human suffering? The UNHCR reports 68.5 million people are now forcibly displaced worldwide, the highest … Continue reading The Arts and Forced Migration: An English Literature PhD student at the Refugee Studies Centre International Summer School

Rethinking Remote: PhD communities in the Highlands & Islands

Research in the Highlands & Islands What do you think of when (if?) you hear about PhD research in the Highlands & Islands? Perhaps you think of the University of the Highlands & Islands (UHI), with its 13 campuses across the region. It’s possible that images of desolate, unpeopled and beautiful landscapes spring to mind: … Continue reading Rethinking Remote: PhD communities in the Highlands & Islands

Like a Band-Aid: pulling off your first conference paper

This post comes from Brittnee Leysen, a first-year self-funded international PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow in Celtic and Gaelic. Having completed her undergraduate degree in Anthropology, and MLitt in Celtic Studies, she now explores the Scottish diaspora through place-names in the Otago region of New Zealand. You can connect with her on Twitter … Continue reading Like a Band-Aid: pulling off your first conference paper

What does my PhD on Scottish heritage and tourism have to do with Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe has been all over the media recently, as a sudden intervention by the army resulted in the resignation of Robert Mugabe after three decades in charge. The southern African state has seen years of economic & political instability and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world (at an estimated 95%![1]). News … Continue reading What does my PhD on Scottish heritage and tourism have to do with Zimbabwe?

How long distance running has changed how I approach my PhD

I have somehow found myself signed up to the 'Great Scottish Run' Half-Marathon in Glasgow on Sunday. I’m not sure how this happened, but I blame 'PhD brain'. You know that feeling: you’ve been locked away writing for weeks, your social life is a distant memory and doing literally anything else seems like a more … Continue reading How long distance running has changed how I approach my PhD

SGSAH & opportunities for PhD students in Scotland

Last week I wrote about my experience as a ‘remote’ PhD student. I suggested that people often have assumptions about what ‘the PhD experience’ looks like, but we can all feel 'remote-ness' in different ways even if we seem to be following a ‘conventional’ PhD route. Rather than focusing on how our PhD experiences differ … Continue reading SGSAH & opportunities for PhD students in Scotland