MAC Forum

Earlier this week I presented a paper at one of the monthly meetings held by the Modern and Contemporary (MAC) Forum, a group run by postgraduate students from the University of Birmingham. This particular event focused on themes of migration, so I presented a condensed version of my pilot thesis summarising the background information and broad theories behind my research project.

Being the first academic paper I have delivered, this served as a great opportunity to practise my presentation skills and required me to summarise a broad, complex topic in fewer words than I am usually afforded. I was grateful for the Q&A session, which allowed me to clarify information and highlighted points of interest found by both the audience and forum members.

Other papers were delivered by Gemma Jennings and Hannah Briscoe, both History PhD candidates at the University of Birmingham. The first, ‘Oil Fields and Desert Cities: Migratory Labour in the Algerian Sahara’ from Gemma, shared several surprising themes with my own research, including an interest in mixed cultures and complex identities. During the discussion at the end it was reassuring to hear that Gemma shares some of my concerns with regards to fieldwork, including language barriers and difficulty accessing restricted locations.

The final presentation, ‘Migrating Across Literatures: The Excitement and Challenge of Researching Childhood and Religious Migration’, focused more on Hannah’s personal experience of the first year of her PhD, sharing some of her concerns for her future research and the challenges she has faced so far. Hannah spoke about her difficulty coming to terms with a new project which was not fully her own creation and the uncertainties this led to. I particularly identified with those thoughts, as my project has changed considerably since the start of the year and much of my time has been spent finding a focus from such a broad topic.

From a personal perspective, this forum provided the chance for me to overcome my nerves with public presentation as well as preparing me to discuss my project, faults and all, in an academic setting and I will certainly look for more opportunities like this in the future.