Each year, MAPH hosts a Works in Progress Conference where a select number of students present on their ongoing thesis work and get the opportunity to answer questions and obtain feedback from their peers. The How to Give a Talk Talk works well as a precursor to the Works in Progress Conference and also provides some insight into how exactly academics come to share their work with a larger audience. These annual and well-beloved MAPH event celebrates the Image may be NSFW.
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collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of the MAPH thesis. Past presenters have presented on topics ranging from Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison to the American funeral industry to the logic of choice to the ideas of courtly love present in the poems of Edmund Spenser. You can read about last year’s presenters here.
This year’s conference will begin at 12pm on Friday, February 26th in Harper 140. There will be two panels of four presenters each, with a short break in-between. Presenters will have 8-10 minutes to talk about their topics, with a Q&A after each panel. Afterwards we’ll all head over to the Smart Museum and have some drinks to celebrate the spirit of MAPH intellectualism and collegiality, and to keep the conversation going.
If you’re interested in presenting, please email a very brief description of your thesis topic to maph.mentors@gmail.com by 12pm on Friday, February 12th. The mentors, in concert with the rest of the MAPH faculty and staff, will choose 8 presenters from the submitted materials. Here are some guidelines for your submissions:
Don’t labor too hard over the description. It should be a short paragraph, probably 5 sentences max. We aren’t expecting your thesis work to be super specific or developed at this point. Just give us a topic and an interesting question or two, and we’ll go from there.
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How to Give a Talk Talk
The How to Give a Talk Talk is the event to attend to both prepare for the WIP conference and to get a sense of what it’s like to present at a conference. Several preceptors will share their tips, experiences and general know-how about presenting and attending conferences. This year’s talk will be held on Friday February 19th at 1:00pm. I had a class last year in which we had to present 20 minute conference papers and found this talk very helpful. Plus, Hauske has a special presentation not to be missed!
If you have any questions about WIP or the Talk Talk, feel free to reach out!
All the best,
The Mentors
