Fridays, 9:30-11am, Atkins Room, 1st Floor SIN

Sep 7, 2007: Your Cohort and the Doctoral Student Community
Introductions and overview of the newly redesigned seminar. What it means to be a community of grad students. PhD students only.

Sep 14, 2007: Disciplines @ SI
Overview of different “schools” or disciplines where SI students might end up. Why it is important to be aware of this issue, and how to be a member of different communities and still be interdisciplinary. Guests: Margaret Hedstrom, Mark Newman, Jina Huh, Beth St. Jean. Anyone may attend. Food: Emilee

Sep 21, 2007: Time Management Techniques and Strategies
Life as a doctoral student is demanding, especially on the allocation of time, attention, and energy. This session will include tips on how to get a grip on the varying demands made on your time. Guests: Judy Olson, Steve Jackson. Anyone may attend. Food: Kevin Nam, Morgan Daniels [ Judy Olson's slides | Steve Jackson's slides ]

Sep 28, 2007: Research Questions
Why is it so hard to come up with a good research question, and what does a “good research question” look like anyway? What different disciplines have to say about the characteristics of a good research question. Guests:Soo Young Rieh and Mark Ackerman. Anyone may attend. LOCATION THIS WEEK ONLY: 311 WH. Food: David Lee

Oct 5, 2007: The Pre-candidacy Research Project
Sue Schuon will join us for a discussion ofexpectations regarding the precandidacy research project. More advanced students (Kevin Nam, Eric Cook) will speak about their experiences with their projects. Q&A will follow. PhD students only. Food: Greg Gamette

Oct 12, 2007: Good Research Habits
Everyone has good and bad habits in their daily lives; this session will introduce the idea of “good reseach habits”, or ways to work smarter. What habits do researchers have in common that help them to be successful? Anyone may attend. We will have a guest speaker from the Sweetland Writing Center, Danielle Lavaque-Manty, and also Yan Chen from SI will be offering her advice as well. Food: Ayse Buyuktur [ Emilee Rader's 5 questions for summarizing papers ]

Oct 19, 2007: Dimensions of Diversity
In this session we will speak about diversity issues faced by students, and resources available to them. The session will be facilitated by Nikhil Sharma, and will focus on many dimensions of diversity: age, nationality, gender, culture, disciplinary alignment, etc. -- and the sensemaking practices that can be applied to understand and manage them. Anyone may attend. Food: Xingxing Yao

Oct 26, 2007: Conferences
The conferences attended by faculty and students at SI will be discussed. Ricky, Marianne, and Libby will describe the primary conference(s) they attend, as well as logistics of conference attendance, such as travel funding or sharing accommodations. Anyone may attend. Food: Daniel Zhou
[Conferences students have attended or are planning to attend, thanks Beth for volunteering to be the scribe!]

Nov 2, 2007: Growing, Managing and Activating a Professional Network
Fostering a community of like-minded colleagues is not something that happens spontaneously, and knowing how to optimize your contacts is crucial to success. Jerry Davis, Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Management at the Ross Business School will present his thoughts and experince with building and capitalizing on networks in advancing an academic career. Anyone may attend. Food: Sean Munson

Nov 9, 2007: Course Selection
Doctoral students will discuss courses offered by SI and other schools on campus. First and second year students will have a chance to ask about cognate courses others have taken, as well the research methods and theories courses. PhD students only. Food: Ben Congleton
[LS&A Course Guide, thanks to Eric Cook for providing the link!]

Nov 16, 2007: IRB
An overview of the UM Behavioral Sciences IRB process will be followed by a discussion (with examples) of students’ experiences preparing and applying for IRB approval for different types of projects. Guests: Marianne Ryan and Libby Hemphill. Anyone may attend. Food: Xiaodong Shi, Anthea Josias
[ Behavioral Sciences IRB website | IRB Applications on the SI Wiki | notes from the seminar ]

Nov 30, 2007: Coping with Flailing
How to cope with feeling stuck and procrastinating, also known as flailing. This is NOT time management, it’s ideas for what to do and how to cope when you get stuck (like we all do!). Rick Wash, Emilee Rader, Libby Hemphill will facilitate. Anyone may attend. Food: Max Chen. [ whiteboard photo from the session ]

Dec 7, 2007: The Social Construction of a PhD
The history and mentality of the doctoral tradition, led by Professor John King. This session will be a reflection on what it means to have/be a PhD, how it situates a person in different spheres, and what the role entails. Anyone may attend. Food: Tracy Liu