Recap - English in World 1: From The Outside
On 18 January 2018, English in the World 1: From the Outside brought together 35 colleagues to look at what we do and how we do it from different perspectives outside the field. During a series of panel discussions, we explored common ground and identified some challenges of working together. We learned from existing partnerships and explored collaborative opportunities for the future.
We are delighted to present a series of blogs which have been generously written by a selection of the speakers.
Join the conversation by tweeting us with #engintheworld.
Working Together: The Digital World and English Studies
Barbara McGillivray, The Alan Turing Institute/Cambridge
Tiago Sousa Garcia, Newcastle
Alan Blackwell, Cambridge
“When I changed my degree from engineering to literature and quit my job, I thought I had left that life behind me and would never use it, need it, or even refer to it again: like Shakespeare, I had my own lost years…”
Tiago’s blog available here
Overlapping Methodologies? English Studies and the Social World
Vicky Lebeau, Sussex
Alan Finlayson, UEA
Nicky Marsh, Southampton
“I am sure I am not the only academic who experiences discomfort when asked - at University functions, social events and even conferences - ‘So, what’s your field? What do you do?’. At best the question invites answers which feel inadequate to all concerned; at worst it requires us to tie our thinking to a discipline, a method or an object of study in a way we’d prefer to resist…”
Alan’s blog available here:
Outside Higher Education: Business and English
David Docherty, CEO National Centre for Universities and Business
Rick Rylance, CEO and Dean, SAS
“The Myth of the Great Unemployed and the Myth It Has Nothing to Do with Us: I want to call attention to two myths which concern the employment of English graduates. The first concerns their supposedly forlorn chances in the job market, the second concerns how we imagine our relations with wider society and the economy. The idea that English graduates are derelicts in employment is annoyingly persistent. It’s also – like the benefits of Brexit – evidence-free…”
Rick’s blog available here
“Magic can happen when the humanities meets science and technology…”
David’s blog available here
English Studies, from the Outside is organised by the Institute for English Studies with the English Association and University English. This series is one of a number of events promoting English Studies co-sponsored by the English Association, the Institute for English Studies and University English, following the shared organisation of English: Shared Futures (Newcastle 2017) – the first major conference across the discipline in the UK. Other events include Thinking Big (January 2018), Action on Recruitment for University English (November 2018), Early Career English (2019), and English Studies: Shared Futures 2 (2020).
