MCR Host Virtual Academic Symposium

During 6th week, our MCR hosted a virtual version of the termly Academic Symposium. The symposium allows presenters to share their work with an audience, who then respond with questions and constructive feedback. For the presenters, this is a chance to practice a public engagement talk in a friendly setting. For the audience, this is an opportunity to learn about the research of other graduate students.

This Michaelmas term, three of our doctoral students presented their ongoing work. Melissa Alexander, doctoral student in English, delved into her dissertation research on Virginia Woolf. Melissa argued that in Woolf's work the “shared attention to an object becomes the pivot for intersubjectivity – the object functions as an essential pin, holding subjectivities together in a world that seems constitutionally marked by ‘eternal loneliness’". 

José Nino Barreat, doctoral student in Zoology, talked about one of his side-projects. In his talk titled “What is life?”, he set out to answer whether viruses can be considered to be alive by dissecting conventional definitions. “There are many definitions of life, most of which seem unsatisfactory,” José argued, “however, I believe there is a solution to this problem, and it demonstrates that cells are the fundamental units of life while viruses are non-living entities".

Finally, Hannah McIntyre, doctoral student in Italian and English Literature, presented a chapter of her dissertation. In her work, she compares the English writer and Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington with the Italian writer Goliarda Sapienza, focusing on their exploration of mental health, gender, and embodiment in their autobiographical writings. In her talk, Hannah explored the early career of the Surrealist artist and writer Leonora Carrington, and how she embodies and subverts the image of the Surrealist muse.

The MCR would like to give a big thank you to all three presenters and the audience for helping to run such an informative and interesting event.