Having not seen my PhD Supervisor Prof. Umut Erel for awhile (in a face to face interaction, we've been interacting plenty digitally through supervision meetings and emails), I jumped at the invitation to attend and take part when she invited me to the Sociology Department's 'Sociology Away Day' at the NCVO London for July 13, 2023. Having just recently taken part as a keynote speaker for the Summer PGR Conference at the Open University Campus in Milton Keynes, the benefit of interacting, meeting and sharing ideas with fellow Open University PhD students, staff and academics was fresh on my mind.
To listen to other perspectives and views, sometimes new, sometimes familiar but framed in an unexpected manner brings about pathways of taught that inspire my own writing, which I find to be valuable especially at this point in my PhD (I am now writing, completed a few of my heavier chapters). And then there is the idea of meeting the 'heavyweights' in our discipline whose names and work I have interacted with foundationally in my Master's in Social Sciences study with the Open University - there was Prof. Sophie Watson, the Department Chair, Prof. Marie Gillespie and Dr. Peter Redman whose work in social research methods in the post-grad modules formed bulk of a few of my TMAs in my MA studies. I would never forget the hours I spent with 'that book', sometimes puzzled, sometimes enlightened but always looking quite funny as I spoke at the book being that it was my most comprehensive introduction to social research methods (my BA is in history and historiography is a little removed from most of the methods used in social research I have come to know with the exception, perhaps, of genealogy).
Yet, as with all the post-grad modules I took for my MA, they have become the foundation from which I moved forward with the ambition to study for a PhD, without the experience of which my PhD studies with the Open University would have been impossible. In the Sociology away day, aside from sharing our research (it was a privilege) my fellow PhD student Elena and I also heard about the current research engagements of some of our department academics while they gave insight, asked questions and prompted us to think further about ours. That experience and opportunity was extremely valuable, for me, at least.
I respect the years of experience and the expertise of our Department's established minds for I am proof (my studies, at least) that the work that they do are impactful not just to students but to individuals and society. There is a variety of work, concerns and concepts that came about including talks in relation to AI and the digital (my 'baby', in a way) as well as insight into research related to the depowering of women via politics in Turkey (Dr. Ece Kocabicak), Dr. Peter Redman’s interest in the shared unconscious of a group in social settings and another fomenting research on the sociology of breathing (Dr. Kevin McSorley). Then there was my fellow PhD student Elena Bokouvala whose work on citizenship and belonging explored the application of art, expression and borders as experienced by migrant refugee youths in Greece, presenting profound descriptions and voices of an otherwise ‘hidden’ human experience. What was obvious was the variety and diversity of research and the promise they held. Additionally, listening to subject matter experts in their field asking questions, expressing opinions, breaking down concepts was a privilege.
It almost felt like a mini-viva for me when I was answering questions about my research and hearing feedback from Prof. Marie Gillespie, from Prof. Ece Kocabicak, from Dr. Peter Redman, Dr. Ole Jensen, Dr. Chris Cotter and Dr. Kevin McSorley and Prof. Sophie Watson. With Prof. Umut Erel, my PhD Supervisor looking on, I felt supported and emboldened to carry on with the task of presenting and answering, representing elements of my work to a room full of the bedrock of the Open University’s Sociology Department. I am very glad I took part.
Image: Below (myself with Elena), On Top (myself with Prof. Umut Erel, Dr. Ece Kocabicak, Prof. Sophie Watson & P{rof. Marie Gillespie)
