This workshop is open to all PhD history students, and we particularly encourage 1st and 2nd year students from any universities in London and across the UK to attend. The event provides an invaluable opportunity to develop both academic and practical PhD skills, and to interact with a community that will prove an important support network throughout your PhD.

The objective of the Workshop is to boost the development of advanced students in the discipline of International History. It intends to:
-offer professional and social networking opportunities with both students and staff;
-give personal insight into academic life, from the first days of pursuing a PhD to landing that first job in academia;
-stimulate intellectual debate in an informal environment that will foster a sense of collaboration between PhD students at different institutions;
-allow an opportunity for students to share a range of positive and challenging aspects of studying for a PhD, as well as to encourage mutual support;
-provide the possibility for students to present papers for around 15 minutes tied to the theme of the workshop;
-showcase the diverse professional opportunities that exist for history PhDs after graduation.

On the academic side, the Workshop will hold two sessions in which students can give papers on their work in a supportive environment among staff and fellow researchers. The theme of the conference “Why and To What End Do We Study History?” intends to provoke debate on the essence of what we as historians do, why we do it, and how we place ourselves in broader historiographical and academic context.

The main questions debated will include is it enough to study history for history’s sake? How do we justify our specialised research to non-historians? How do we maintain fidelity to the historical narrative while also ensuring our work has relevance to the world outside academia? In short, why do you think your research is worth conducting? Through paper presentations by both PhD students and LSE staff, attendees will have the opportunity to present their perspectives and research.

Academic and practical sessions will include the start-to-finish aspects of doing a history PhD, tips to help organize and synthesize research, the teaching experience, aspects of the PhD beyond the library, finding positions both inside and outside academia, and more.

In further sessions, International History staff will address various techniques and approaches to historical research, and deconstruct pieces of their own historical research.

To register, please email Maria Chen and Daniel Strieff at m.x.chen@lse.ac.uk, preferably by September 20th, 2010.