Widening Histories Academic Development Programme

When: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - Friday, May 10, 2024, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Where:

QMUL’s School of History has one of the most diverse undergraduate populations in the UK. We want our postgraduate students and lecturers to reflect that too.

 

This programme is designed to nurture and support undergraduate students who are under-represented in postgraduate study and in the profession of History. It works, in particular, with those who are part of the first generation in their family to attend university. It seeks to encourage them to continue their studies at the postgraduate level.

Research shows that the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study is particularly difficult for students from underrepresented groups. Students might face socio-economic challenges like the inability to fund study or the need to support family members. They also face the challenge of a culture that has not typically represented them, leading to unfamiliarity with terms, rules, or expectations in the academic world.

 

Through this programme, students with intellectual potential will be equipped with knowledge and skills to map their own path to an academic future. They will be ready to become serious researchers, amazing postgraduate students or, someday, inspirational professors and mentors.

 

About the programme

 

Together, we will build a cohort of students who work to support and challenge each other in their final year. The programme begins at the end of second year and continues through the final year. Students receive a bursary to participate in a week of full-time activities at the end of second year. This prepares them to fully realise their intellectual potential in their final year. Next, they will continue to gather for specialised training sessions, talks and activities. Talks will include, for example, work in progress from researchers that demonstrate how people build their research projects. 

 

Activities include:

• A one-day archival visit to Cambridge University
• Writing Sessions with writing tutors
• Research sessions: moving from idea to project, using primary sources
• Talks with UK Professors and our QM Global Professors of BAME background 
• Practical sessions on postgraduate study in the UK and internationally: how programmes work, what expectations are, how they can be funded. 

 

Overall, the programme is based on shared mentoring and building community. While not removing all the barriers to academic study, the programme will openly discuss these barriers and share ideas for challenging them.

 

Eligibility criteria and further information

 

To be eligible for the programme, students must:

• Be preparing to enter their final year of study at QMUL in 2024-25
• Be fully enrolled for the 2024/25 academic year 

 

Participation in the Summer School in May 2024 covers:

• A daily bursary of £80/day
• Lunch and coffee each day
• Travel to/from Cambridge for archival visits
• Closing reception for family

 

Q&A

 

Am I obliged to apply for postgraduate study afterwards?

• This programme will nurture your intellectual interests, academic skills, and practical knowledge. At the end of the day, you will then be equipped to navigate the right path for you.

 

Application

 

Applications are due by 18 March 2024. To apply please email the following to the Director of Education, leslie.james@qmul.ac.uk:

• Contact info for one of your teachers or academic advisors.
• Two statements of 500 words per statement.
• Statement One: Discuss your own research interests and how you came to develop these interests. Was there a particular course or project that developed these interests? Or something from the community or your own reading?
• Statement Two: Discuss a diversity issue and why it is significant to you.