An Introduction to the Faculty of Social Sciences

1. Postgraduate Induction Event Dr Ruth Blakeley, Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences An Introduction to the Faculty of Social Sciences

2. The Faculty of Social Sciences and You • Community and Diversity in the Faculty of Social Sciences • Broadening your horizons • Your contribution • Life beyond the Masters degree Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction September 2012

3. Community and diversity • Faculty of Social Sciences is the largest in the University, with more postgraduate students than the other two faculties combined • Comprises 9 Schools/Centres: Anthropology & Conservation; Economics; KBS; KLS; Politics & IR; Psychology; SSPSSR; Centre for Journalism; Centre for Professional Practice • Incredibly diverse; at first sight you might wonder what these divergent Schools could possibly have in common • But what unites this community is the shared interest of its members in social relations Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction September 2012

4. Community and diversity • That could be social relations in the animal kingdom, e.g. Anthropology project on male-female aggression & sexual coercion in chimpanzees • Or human relations in all their complexity: • violence & war • collective bargaining & social networking • child development • management of drug offenders • corruption in financial institutions • community based micro-finance arrangements • the psychology of the highest performing athletes • the impacts of obesity on the local and global economy • Often research on these themes is conducted collectively by colleagues from different Schools in the Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction September 2012

5. Community and diversity • Projects currently underway in the Faculty include: • Gender management strategies adopted by female entrepreneurs • The impact of cannabis use on career, relationships & health • Water pollution protection regimes in Ethiopia • The economic psychology of giving, public goods & leadership • Polygraph testing for sex offenders • The social psychology of conspiracy theories • Equipping athletes with the correct mindset to recover from injury • The impact of gender imbalances on peace & democratisation in China and India Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction September 2012

6. Community and Diversity • Just as the projects are diverse, so are the methods • Scholars work at high levels of abstraction in developing theories of the social world • They will encourage you to consider metaphysical and philosophical matters, such as what it is that we can know, and how we can know it • Others are engaged in more practical & applied studies involving repeated experiments or mass data collection • But even they must consider questions of philosophy - ethics • What they all have in common, though, is a commitment to better understanding social relations Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction September 2012

7. Broadening your horizons • On your courses you will be introduced to a broad range of research & and the diversity of methods, as well as competing perspectives on how we should study the social world • But we would encourage you to seek out more • Why? • Employers recognise the depth and breadth that a Masters degree gives, not only in terms of skills & knowledge, but also in terms of the wide appreciation that it can give you of the world around you and the challenges that world is confronted with Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

8. Broadening your horizons • At the Masters level, you have already acquired many of the skills needed to engage in a serious way with cutting edge research • The privilege of undertaking a Masters is the time it affords to engage with a rich research community right on your doorstep • Go along to the research seminars and guest lectures hosted by your Schools • Look out for Inaugural and open lectures offered within the Faculty and across the University • Take advantage of the conferences, workshops & reading groups run across the Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

9. Broadening your horizons • Reading groups, often run by postgraduate students, are one of the most exciting forums for testing out your ideas and developing your skills of critique and argumentation, outside of the more formal settings of lectures and seminars, e.g. interdisciplinary Latin American Research Cluster, or the Conflict Analysis reading group • Unless you stay in academia, you are unlikely to ever have such a rich and diverse pool of knowledge in which you can immerse yourself, nor the time to do it Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

10. How can you contribute to this community? • One of the most important contributions you can make is by actively participating and reporting back to us • There are two main ways that we seek your involvement in your learning: • First, and most important, is that you tell us if things go wrong • In your Schools, if you are unhappy about a module, your first port of call should be the module convenor • The next port of call is the convenor of your programme Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

11. How can you contribute to this community? • Academics spend their lives receiving critical feedback, from editors, reviewers, grant givers and students. They are used to it and welcome it, so do not be afraid of offending them • If your grievance is genuine and you are constructive in raising it, you will be listened to • In the unlikely event that an issue cannot be resolved by your module convenors or course directors, you should consult with your School’s Director of Graduate Studies • If problems can still not be solved, any formal complaints will be referred to the Faculty Dean Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

12. How can you contribute to this community? • Speak up sooner rather than later: if you have an issue with a module, tell the module convenor early on, they can often resolve it so that the remainder of the module remains enjoyable and fruitful for you • If you have personal issues, don’t delay in getting support; you are investing too much to suffer in silence • Seek help from Student Support Officers, the counselling service or your course convenor or director of graduate studies Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

13. How can you contribute to this community? • The second way you can contribute is by formally standing as a representative for your peers, either on your School Staff Student Liaison Committee or Graduate Studies Committee, or as a Faculty representative • This is a fantastic career development opportunity which will show you have experience of leadership, negotiation and communication skills, and will give you insights into the running of a large organisation • And the chances are if you stand, you will be elected! Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

14. Life beyond the Masters degree • The Masters degree is intended to equip you with advanced research & analytical skills as well as a range of transferable skills which are very attractive to employers beyond academia • But you may be thinking of continuing in an academic career • If you are thinking of undertaking a PhD in Social Sciences, you should not delay in thinking and preparing • It is ALL about the MONEY! • Two main sources of funding at Kent for SS PhDs, both highly competitive, & deadlines very soon Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

15. Life beyond the Masters degree • ESRC • 50th Anniversary Scholarships and School Scholarships • Deadlines for applications is in February • Highly competitive • To stand any chance you should begin work on a proposal and application in the Autumn term • Identify prospective original research question and prospective PhD supervisor, and work closely with them as soon as you can. This far increases your chances Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012

16. Finally • Make the most of your time here • If you are fulltime, treat your studies like a fulltime job, 40 hours per week: read, read & read some more, but also engage with live researchers in the Faculty to bring those words on the page/screen to life • All colleagues share a commitment to enthusing you and exciting you about analysing the cutting edge research that we are undertaking in the Faculty to better understand the social world • So keep talking to us, telling us what we are doing well and letting us know what we can do better • Good luck! Faculty of Social Sciences: Postgraduate Induction, Sept 2012