The first Wednesday of the month is nearly upon us and it’s almost time for the latest edition of ‘The Salon’. Our presenter this month is Conny Bailey, who is still deliberating over her topic, but it will either be a reprise of her recent conference paper (although she has promised to deliver it in English for us!) or some more general thoughts on how, and how not, to prepare for conferences. Whichever it is, I’m sure it will be as interesting and informative as always.
Moving forwards, we have now booked dates/venues for the Salon for the rest of the calendar year. This means we can all make a note in our diaries in advance and it will help us to plan future sessions. The dates (and presenters) so far are as follows. All sessions are booked for 1pm until 3pm:
Wednesday 6th April 2011 ATT 203 (Attenborough Second Floor SR 203) Conny Bailey
Wednesday 4th May 2011 ATT 203 (Attenborough Second Floor SR 203) Victoria Byard
Wednesday 1st June 2011 ATT 202 (Attenborough Second Floor SR 202) Julie Ives
Wednesday 7th September 2011 To follow TBC
Wednesday 5th October 2011 To follow TBC
Wednesday 2nd November 2011 To follow TBC
Wednesday 7th December 2011 To follow TBC
If anyone would like to volunteer for an upcoming session (September onwards) or has a suggestion for a guest speaker or discussion topic, then do get in touch. We’ve already had a couple of suggestions – a session on post-doctoral careers and a session on how to get published – but I’m sure there are lots of other things people want to hear about. This is your group, so please let us know what you think is important!
You may have noticed that there are no regular sessions scheduled for July or August, as so many of us seem to be away over the summer. There’s been a suggestion that we arrange some kind of trip to one of the local towns in July (as most of us don’t venture too far out of Leicester). Front runners at the moment are Market Harborough, Loughborough and Northampton, all of which are easily accessible from Leicester by public transport. The idea would be for each person who is coming along to do some research on a local landmark/point of interest or historical event. On the day we’ll do a walking tour of the town (nothing too strenuous) and each person can do a short presentation on their topic of choice (about 5 minutes). It can be as formal or as informal as you like, so don’t be shy! More information on the three towns can be found at the links below. Other suggestions are equally welcome.
The provisional date proposed for the trip is Friday 8th July 2011, partly because we thought it would be a nice way to start the weekend, but also because I shall still be on my honeymoon on Wednesday 6th! We may be able to vary the date slightly, so if you can’t make the Friday, but can make another day that week or the week after, drop me a line.
Also, if people feel it would be helpful to get together some time in August for an informal coffee and chat, then let me know.
Hope to see as many of you as possible next Wednesday.
