Social Science Research Council

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT FELLOWSHIP

VISUAL CULTURE
FALL 2007 WORKSHOP AGENDA

Research Director: Anne Higonnet
Research Director: Vanessa Schwartz

Crowne Plaza St. Louis Downtown, Saint Louis, MO
Thursday, September 6 – Sunday, September 9

This is the second of two annual DPDF workshops designed to help graduate student fellows prepare cogent and fundable dissertation proposals in their chosen field.  The two goals of the second workshop are 1) to help fellows synthesize their summer research; and 2) to draft proposals for dissertation funding. The fall workshop focuses on the mechanics and the philosophy of proposal writing. The workshop also aims to challenge fellows to reflect on their summer research in ways that link meaningfully to their research field. In this, the goals of the fall workshop are closely related to the project of mapping a research field that was started during the Spring workshop in Denver, Co.

Fellows will come out of the second workshop with supportive networks, consisting of both mentors and cohorts of new scholars carrying out research in their fields, as well as intellectually mature dissertation proposals.

Workshop Readings and Resources:
Research Field resources have been placed on the secure DPDF web portal. 

Workshop Assignments

Arrive with thee pre-circulated items: research report, new proposal based on summer work and a CV. Each student should read all 11 other proposals by the Seminar meeting time.

VISUAL CULTURE: WORKSHOP SCHEDULE 

Session 1: Panel – The Dissertation Proposal: Strategies and Funding Sources
(Thursday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

- Welcome and Introductions (DPDF Program Director Peter Sahlins)
- Dissertation Funder Presentations

Dr. Leslie C. Aiello, President, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
Mr. Tony Claudino, Director, Fulbright IIE
Mr. William Hahn, Program Director, Division of Graduate Education National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dr. Nicole Stahlmann, Associate Director, SSRC International Dissertation Research Fellowships (IDRF)

Session 2: 
(Thursday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM) 

a) Checking In: What was your most challenging and most positive summer experience? Discussion will ask each student to share something about research methods that they think are applicable to all students. What were problems that remain unresolved and are they dead ends or can the group propose solutions? (1.5 hours)

b) CV Workshop: using pre-circulated submitted materials, go over the do’s and don’ts of CV’s. (1.5 hours) 

Mandatory Evening Event, 9pm: Screening of “Meet Me in St. Louis” followed by a discussion.

Session 3: Discussing the Proposal: Writing to Please the Greatest Number of Readers
(Friday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

What is a research problem? What is the difference between a “topic” and a problem? Review of several grant-winning proposals to discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

Hypothesis, methods, literature review and research plan.

We will review each of these components of a proposal by using the proposals the students submitted. We will concentrate on the notion of developing a coherent idea of method for students enrolled in doctoral programs in a particular discipline but who have interdisciplinary aims because of the research field.

Session 4: Visit: “Bud Museum” What is the visual logic of the corporate museum? What is the connection of exhibition, branding and display to tourism and museums?
(Friday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM)

“Anheuser-Busch, one of the world's largest beer brewers, was established at this site in the 1860s, and many architectural gems from that time period remain. Tours of the brewing process take in the 1885 Clydesdale stable, the historic 1892 Brew House, and the packaging plant, ending with free drinks.”

Return to hotel and continue discussion of tour.

Session 5: 
(Saturday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

This morning will be spent re-writing at least the first two paragraphs of the proposals and CVs based on discussion on Friday.  Students may meet with faculty at this time as well. All re-written proposals must be submitted by 11:30 to the Sharepoint. Critics read new proposals and be ready to discuss on Saturday pm.  Professors will be unavailable form 11:30-2pm while they read all the new and revised proposals.

Session 6:
(Saturday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM)

Discussion of each proposal for 15 minutes, led by the critic. This session will not only help each individual student leave with the strongest proposal possible but it will serve as a workshop for teaching students how to give proposal criticism and feed-back and not just receive it.

Session 7:  Plenary Session – Student Mini-Conference: Mapping Research Fields
(Sunday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM) 

The last session of the second DPDF workshop is devoted to student presentations of their research field.  Students in each field are responsible for organizing their group presentations in the mode of a mini-conference.   Each field will be given a total of 25 minutes, and projects should be presented in an order and grouping that gives the field coherence.  Students are invited to use images and other media as appropriate, but should structure their very short presentations around the following:  1) a research question; 2) a working hypothesis; 3) the research site(s) and sources; 4) the methodological approach; and 5) contributions to the field.   These interventions, in short, represent the “cocktail party” version of the answer to the question, “what are you working on?”  The exercise is intended to give fellows the opportunity to develop a summary version of their research project while locating their work in a collectively-defined research field.