Dissertation Archives

20/12/202026/02/2021

My Thesis and Candidature Review Milestone (TCRM)

This week I am delivering my final in-progress PhD milestone before submission – the Thesis and Candidature Review Milestone (TCRM).

The timing is perfect/necessary/awkward being right at the end of the year and just before holidays! Righto!

What is a TCRM?

The aim of the TCRM is a ‘final check-in’ to see how the candidate and thesis are tracking and to provide a forum for a formative review of work completed so far. Part of the TCMR is to also outline what work is still left to do and progress towards submission.

Like other milestones such as the Early Candidature Milestone Report (ECMR) and Confirmation, the TCRM requires a written report and a 30-mins presentation. The report is reviewed by external assessors who also attend the presentation (with your supervisors and anyone else who is interested and invited).

The TCRM is set up to:

review and confirm I am making ‘satisfactory progress’
check my timeline for completion
review that my work is fulfilling the University research output requirements (like publications)
identify any difficulties I am having that might negatively affect the quality of my research or completion (ie COVID – like everyone else!)
give me an opportunity to share preliminary findings
demonstrate I have been developing capabilities that progress my research goals and career objectives

Preparing for my TCRM

Like any milestone, preparation is a little nerve-racking, but also very helpful.

I kept telling myself: I don’t have to have all the answers; this is a moment-in-time ‘catch-up’; my data analysis is still unfolding, so I can only share as much as I have.

It was really beneficial to take stock and audit my work done so far – it feels good!

For my TCRM, I ditched the ‘template’ format the Uni recommended and opted instead to ‘tell the story’ of the project’s evolution in my own way. It was more ethical, genuine and satisfying to do so.

Unlike my previous milestones, I felt much more relaxed and confident because now I have some prelim ‘findings’ after doing my fieldwork in Sierra Leone earlier this year.

I was tired by the time the presentation came about, so I was conscious not to overinvest. I knew I ‘had this’ and that the project is on track.

Dr Sherilyn Lennon (my principal supervisor and kick-ass educator, writer, philosopher and New Materialist) made the brilliant suggestion that I perform some of my data as the clincher at the end. This way I could give a sense of what I was working on for data analysis. It was a unique and engaging way to finish – and was very much in keeping with New Materialisms and my personality…and the audience LOVE it!!

My TCRM went really well

The external assessors were very supportive and gave me awesome feedback and ideas to consider.

My mum and dad came along for moral support (and because they are genuinely interested) and it was awesome having them there. After the presentation, people were invited for questions and comments and both my parents contributed some very thoughtful on-point comments (as well as being very proud – which was a given). My other supervisor Prof. Parlo Singh said it was lovely they came and gave them a special mention.

I’m not sharing the details of my work here (still top secret) but below are a few slides from TCRM slides as an indicator for some of the content covered.

Hazah! It was good to do and a relief now it’s now done.

For the next wee while, I’m taking some time to rest and recuperate.

Then the real hard work starts: data analysis and write up.

For anyone else doing a TCRM – best of luck!

05/12/202024/08/2021

My Newest Publication just released! ‘The Return’

Bicycles Create Change.com. 5th December 2020. — Image: Vox.Athena (IG)

Woohoo!

Great news!

I am extremely happy to announce my latest article has just been released!

This is not your traditional academic article: no big words, no theory no-one understands and no in-text references.

This piece is perceptive, personal and poignant.

It is only 2.5 pages and is an embodied exploration of what is seen, said, felt, performed and experienced during international travel.

It centres on my return trip home (to Brisbane, AUS) after doing bike PhD Fieldwork in Sierra Leone.

In it, I share some moments of ‘Encountering the Return’ trip that any traveller would instantly recognise.

Anyone who has ever been overseas or in an airport will relate to this article.

I wanted to capture how time, space, place, bodies, objects, movement and feelings are all co-implicated in re(co)creating the fleeting moments that make up our lives.

Grab a copy of it below.

Ginsberg (2020) Encountering the Return Download

I got home 1 week before COVID-19 lockdown, so that was also a major dynamic to contend with.

I’ve included the first page below.

Enjoy reading it over the holidays!

Reference:

Ginsberg, N. (2020). Encountering the return. Journal of Narrative Politics, 7(1), 42-44. Retrieved from https://jnp.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/default.

24/11/202006/04/2021

New Materialisms SIG: Feeling success in project teams

New Materialism SIG: Feeling success in project teams. Bicycles Create Change.com 24th November 2020. — Image: Matador Network

Regular readers of this blog know I am a co-convener (with the amazing Dr Sherilyn Lennon) of Griffith Uni’s New Materialisms (NM) Special Interest Group (SIG). Each month we meet to discuss NM theory, methodology, practice and application. Each month we do readings, share ideas and invite an NM researcher to present an aspect of their work.

This month we were delighted to host Patricia Ni Ivor from RMIT, Melbourne. Patricia is working in Project Management and is looking at what NM might bring to her PhD research.

It was not only great about her workplace and research but also her current experience of being new to NM approaches. Patricia also shared some diagrams she had made about her thinking (OMG – they were incredibly detailed and thorough!). Visually representing the complexity, range and scope of her thinking really showed the evolution of her understanding and the connections she’s made between scholars, theories and key themes in her study. Super impressive!

As part of her presentation, Patricia also ran the group through a self-inquiry activity which was a unique and thought-provoking experience.

This session was our last NM SIG for the year and Patricia’s session was a wonderful way to come together, share NM ideas, but also experience a shared mindfulness activity in a way that was productive, unique and meaningful. We had much to discuss and take away to think about.

A wonderful way to finish off this year’s NM SIG program!

Title

Feeling success in project teams: Travelling from the domain ruled by the supreme God-of-Things to the fresh air of Sensation and the Ineffable.

Presenter

Patricia’s extended career spans teaching, journalism, media education, public & industrial policy reform and project management. From time to time she has lectured in Film & Media Studies and in Project Management. Her doctoral studies are applied research in the development of soft-skills in project teams in the technology and construction industries, especially emotional capabilities, empathy and resilience.

Abstract

My doctoral research is investigating whether an ancient yogic practice of Self-inquiry, repurposed for the 21^st century and focused on feelings, would work in project teams and, if so, under what conditions? Unlike mindfulness or other meditative tools, Self-inquiry can be practiced in teams, is swift in producing results and builds emotional capabilities, empathy and resilience. As a process tool, it has the capacity to be embedded in organisational systems and procedures – just what the project management industry wants and needs but is unsure how to develop.

Seeking a theoretical underpinning that did not skew the research has been difficult: organisational development and psychology, emotional intelligence and other emotional development/regulation theories, neuro-science, meditation and eastern philosophy, social science, knowledge and sense-making etc. each have value, but none really fits the research purpose.

Earlier this year, Janis Hanley introduced me to New Materialism and the concept of affect as used by Deleuze and Guattari, drawn from Spinoza’s Ethics and the work of Henry Bergson. Not only did this seem to fit the theoretical paradigm of Self-inquiry (Spinoza’s synergy with eastern spiritual traditions and Bergson’s notions of consciousness) but their emphasis on embodiment or somatic inquiry reflects the yogic basis of Self-inquiry and more recent theory in social science, psychology and physical movement studies in art and wellbeing.

I am still new to the area and the literature, so this SIG session will trace my journey from hard-nosed Project Management through softer social and emotional skills to non-dual ideas of matter and consciousness. The attached readings are ones I have found useful so far. I’m looking forward to our discussion of ‘applied’ research in New Materialism.

Readings

Rice, J. (2008). The New “New”: Making a Case for Critical Affect Studies. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 94(2), 200-212. doi:10.1080/00335630801975434

Rice (2008) The New “New”Download

Stanley, K. (2017). Affect and Emotion: James, Dewey, Tomkins, Damasio, Massumi, Spinoza. In D. R. Wehrs & T. Blake (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of affect studies and texutal criticism (pp. 97-112): International Publishing, Cham.

Stanley (2017) Affect and Emotion Download

04/11/202015/01/2021

Worlding: Scrabbling for meaning

Not many people know (or understand) what it is I actually do when I ‘work on’ my bicycle research project. It is private, complex and challenging work. Usually, my academic skills are concentrated on producing research/writing as a way of communicating my expertise. But every so often…..there are delightful moments when being a researcher intersects with the every day in fun and surprising ways. Here one such situation that happened recently in 100 words.

An unexpected pleasure: a dear friend comes for a visit. Hours of poignant conversations, cheeky reminiscences, a casual bike ride for coffee around the bayside, good food and late night laughter. I keep to my work schedule, hard as it is. Researching, teaching, writing. After one workshop that goes particularly well, our house has a friendly game of scrabble before dinner. Two games in a row, my opening move is a 8-letter word: bipedals (126) and capsized (138). Surprise all round. I am embarrassed. I joke that my brain is still ‘on’ from work. Maybe this PhD thing is working.

26/10/202007/06/2021

New Materialisms SIG: October Writing Party!

As many readers know, October is my birthday month. It is also a busy time for most universities. So for this month’s New Materialisms Special Intrest Group (SIG), I floated the idea of having a writing party. Instead of adding pressure to read and discuss, I thought it’d be a good time to pause, take stock, and to put into playful practice some of the NM ideas and approaches we’ve been discussing thoughout the year in our SIG.

It might seem a little weird to have a Writing Party for your birthday and not a bike-themed party but seeing as though my PhD research is on bikes – it was a win-win for me!

Woohoo! Writing Party!!!

New Materialisms SIG: October Writing Party! Bicycles Create Change.com 26th October 2020.

Writing Party Invite

Here is the NM SIG Writing Party invite I sent out to NM SIG members:

Are you feeling overworked and lonely? Has your enthusiasm for writing taken a hit lately?

Are you struggling to get those paragraphs perfect and on the page?

Then it’s time to PARTY!

At our next NM SIG, we shift the focus from reading to writing and you are invited to join our 2-hour Writing Party (details and link included here – it was a closed event, so no details here on the blog – sorry!).

With a continuing focus on the feminist New Materialists, we welcome your ideas/musings/partially formed paragraphs and feedback for others in our group.

Bring along a partially formed paragraph for sharing and feedback.

This Writing Party will also include guided writing warm-ups and research-focused timed writings as well as some time to chat, reflect and share as much or as little as you want.

The aim is to help you get over the writing hump and back into the flow…

No matter what your current research project is, this session will help reinvigorate your writing passion!

We look forward to seeing you there!

So what did we do?

We had a great time!…..And we wrote heaps!

It was a small, but dedicated crowd who were up for writing and sharing NM ideas and practices.

We had 2 hours and I wanted to make sure we had time to write some new material, share some writing we had already done and have time to discuss and process writing styles and production.

I opened with each person saying why there were here for the sessions and what they hoped to achieve,

Then we did a 10 min writing warm-up activity I call Embodied writers in the here and now. I developed this as a warm up task for my own working days a while back and have been using it with others, colleagues, study groups and writing retreats since. It is a generative and useful warm up that gets the juices flowing and there is always something interesting to talk about that comes out of it.

We then shared a piece of our own writing that we were proud of. this is a great activity to do to boost confidence and be exposed to different types of writing and processing. I enjoyed hearing other people’s ideas on why it was meaningful to them and what they learnt from/while writing it.

Then, we did a word sprint activity looking at Research Tentacles to get thinking about vocab, fluency, collocations and expression.

A 15 mins Rolling Research Activity followed the vocab discussion up nicely. Here we wrote down our answer to the question; What is a current research-writing-tension for you? We then took time to read other people’s answers and add some suggestions and ideas on how to shift or move forward with these. This was a great way to pool our experiences and resources and get some great ideas we would not have thought of by ourselves.

We then did a Matter Matters sprint. Using a piece of our own writing, we discussed , provoked, challenged and layered how matter matters in our research. We then did a quiet 10 mins written reflection to excavate if anything had shifted or moved as a result of dong the activity-discussion-writing.

For our last activity, we opened the floor to a Partial Writing discussion. This is where you share piece of unfinished writing you are currently working (selection or except) for those who want to get some feedback or ideas on what and how to move forward.

I had a ball! It was so great to have designated time to write, share, discuss, laugh and learn -we so rarely create opportunities like this – where there is no pressure or expectation, yet you can still experiment with writing ideas and prose.

I think it is very important to celebrate ALL types of writing and to keep writing fun. After all, sitting at a desk for years writing up formal academic research would be a challenge for any one – so it was nice to stop for a breather and to play and have some fun with writing.

06/10/202024/11/2020

Worlding: Everything with(in) a twist

Doing a PhD is usually seen as a good thing. But sometimes it can cause perceived or actual tension for yourself or others. Recently, this happened to me and it served as a great reminder that often (as with most things in life), things are not always what they seem and that everything is always-already with(in) a twist. Here’s what happened in 100 words. Enjoy, NG.

Well-meaning advice for my first-time BBQ: ‘Maybe don’t mention your PhD’. Gloomy backyard introductions and I only remember Mouse and Skipper. I stand awkwardly. Drinking. Tattoos pour down legs and arms, scraggly beer strained beards and black heavy metal T-shirts. Smoking. My trendy hat feels too tight. Disappearings. A huge brown mastiff watches half-naked kids fight. Reappearings. I make a joke that falls flat. Eating. Jonno tells me his secret fishing spots. Teasing. Raucous stories of youthful antics. Laughing. On departure: sweaty hugs and a take-home food pack. Over the balcony, Big Dan yells ‘Best of luck with ya research!’

30/07/202027/08/2020

New Materialisms SIG: PlayTank Collective

For this session, we were delighted to have incredible minds behind the Melbourne-based PlayTank Collective – Alicia Flynn, Sarah Healy and Allie Edwards present a session entitled: Lessons from the Play Tank: Adventures in playful scholarship.

New Materialism SIG: The PlayTank Collective. Bicycles Create Change.com 30th July 2020.

Abstract

In this session, we will discuss a workshop that was created to enact NM theories and provide a playful and collaborative space to re-think, re-imagine, re-( ) research for participants at the AARE 2019 conference. Working between the disciplines of art education and design, we embraced the opportunity to create this workshop in a way that attended to the joys and curiosities that we experienced while working/playing together in a material way. This collaboration was intentionally responsive and response-able, allowing us to experience a different way of being academics together, and enabling us to create a workshop that offered the same opportunity for those joining us in our session.

We will share some of the insights from our process of creating the workshop, some highlights and images from the workshop, and pose the question we now have:

What does this workshop make possible, both for us as researchers and for the people who participated in it?

Is this a method that allows people to practice more affirmative and ethical ways of working/playing/being together?

Twitter: @PlayTankCo

Alicia Flynn @LeishFly

Sarah Healy- @eduTH1NK

Alli Edwards – @allinote

Session highlights

Sarah and Alli (and Alicia) not only presented, but also took us on an engaging 2-hour journey through their ideas, inspirations, readings, discussions and no less than two 100s (Stewart, 2010) writing activities (see image) and left us with the enticing thought:

What does this experience make possible, both for us as researchers and for the people who participated in it?

Part of the framing for this session was this incredible piece that Alicia read out:

“Imagine a pattern. This pattern is stable, but not fixed. Think of it in as many dimensions as you like – but it has more than three. This pattern has many threads of many colours, and every thread is connected to, and has a relationship with, all the others. The individual threads are every shape of life. Some – like human, kangaroo, paperbark – are known to Western science as “alive”; others, like rock, would be called “non-living”, but rock is there, just the same. Human is there, too, though it is neither the most nor the least important thread – it is one among many, equal with the others. The pattern made the whole is in each thread, and all the threads together make the whole. Stand close to the pattern and you can focus on a single thread ; stand a little further back and you can see how that thread connects to others; stand further back still and you can see it all – and it is only once you see it all that you recognise the pattern of the whole in every individual thread. The whole is more than the sum of its parts, and the whole is in all its parts. This is the pattern that the Ancestors made. It is life, creation, spirit, and it exists in Country” (Kwaymullina, 2005, p. 12).

*Kwaymullina, A. (2005). Seeing the light: Aboriginal law, learning and sustainable living in country. Indigenous Law Bulletin, 6(11), 12-15

For this meeting we had 2 readings:

Braidotti, R. (2009). On putting the active back into activism. New Formations, (68), 42. doi:10.3898/NEWF.68.03.200

Stewart, K. (2010). Worlding refrains. In M. Gregg & G. J. Seigworth (Eds.), The affect theory reader (pp. 337 -353). Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press.

Stewart (2010) Worlding refrains Download

Minor Design Activism(un highlighted)Download

Session note: A great question from last meeting that emerged out of the readings was: What is ‘the second corporeal turn in social theory’ referred to in Taylor and Ivinson (2013, p 666)? This question stemmed from this quote here: “Such moves reinforce earlier feminist theories (Butler 1990; Grosz 1994), and speak back to the second corporeal turn in social theory (e.g. Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992; Foucault 1979; Merleau-Ponty 1962, 1968; Shilling 2008) and within education (Evans, Rich, and Davies 2009; James 2000; Prout 2000; Walkerdine 2009). We indend to discuss this further!

10/07/202010/08/2020

Worlding: Coffee Break (Away)

Why is gender a focus for my bike research? As a female-body working, being and living in the world, how could it not be integral to how I experience the world? It is the only point of reference I have – and even when I am okay with it, others are/might not be okay with it. Here a recent example in 100 words.

While studying with coffee and a muffin, a passing, feeble man tells me to watch what I eat If I want to keep my figure. Aged care fragility meets learned compassion rising. Humanity blooms as I tell him to fuck off – in my thoughts – I think – I hope. The weight of intellect is my principal concern: criticism, expectations, conferral. Momentarily, I invest in frustration and fabrication and feel slightly better. Later, on my bike, I ride even faster. Burning the kms. Burning the candle. Burning the books. Burning the calories. Take that thesis. Take that old man. I ride on.

04/05/202013/11/2020

Worlding: Research Da(y)ze

People keep asking how my PhD is going. It’s a legitimate and infuriating inquiry. How to explain the research da(y)ze? Here’s one in 100 words.

It was never going to be easy: this spinning hyper-real simulacra imaginarium. Breathe in. Passionate tears during compost therapy. Breathe out. A research assistant job comes through. Vegetarian dumplings. Whispers of theoretical (in)security. Omissions, occlusions, occasions. Frangipani’s first buds. A maelstrom of attunement as I grip my red pen. Personifying landscapes, fast-forwarding childhoods, (re)working images, terraforming heartbreaks. Screaming all the while. Riding wild horses. An unoriginal miscellany. Embolden by Kathleen Stewart and my broadcasting sister’s birthday, I take solace in Manu’s grey bicycle T-shirt. Cheers all round. When all else fails, winter dog walks and melted cheese toasties.

01/04/202023/12/2021

New Materialism SIG: My bicycles-for-education PhD fieldwork presentation

Note: the first 2020 NM SIG gathering was held before COVID-19 social distancing and workplace lockdown came into effect – hence us meeting in person.

As many of you know, I am the co-convenor of a New Materialism Special Interest Group (SIG) at Griffith’s Institute for Educational Research (GIER). Each month a group of HDR candidates, Early Career Researchers and Academics meet to explore, discuss, experiment and share complex and emerging post-qualitative ideas, methods and approaches.

New Materialism is the framing I am using for my African girls’ bicycles-for-education PhD Project. To kick off the first SIG for 2020, I presented my African fieldwork.

I’ve had a few people contact me asking how the trip went. Below is a snapshot of my bicycle PhD project, the context and what I did during my PhD fieldwork in Lunsar, Sierra Leone.

Here’s some highlights of my fieldwork presentation (more details in slides below).

Opening: An Acknowledgement of Country, Diversity and Inclusion and that Matter Matters and thanks to the local Lunsar chiefs and the amazing people who have been instrumental in helping make this project happen.
Researcher positionality: Who am I and how did I come to this project
Research context background : 5 intersections of Girls unfreedoms
Girls Ed Lit Review: Current directions in NGO Literature on the topic
Establish Space: Key Project that opens up my research space – completed in 2010
Confirm & Extend: Follow up – a specific project on girls bicycle projects in Lunsar – completed 2016
Established gap leads into my research questions (no slide for this = top secret!)
My Study Design: Aims, Methodology and theoretical framing (NM)
Fieldwork details: Tech Matters and other research developments/considerations
Country context: Background to Sierra Leone (very general history & context)
Site Location: Background and context about Lunsar (my fieldwork location)
Research partnership case study: Intro to Village Bicycle Project (organization) Stylish (host/research participant/all-round incredible man!)
Fieldwork ‘Data’: list of all the research data/activities achieved (so busy!) and other events, opportunities and visits – so busy!
Present some ‘Data‘: I showed some fieldwork bike ride footage for discussion (no slide – top secret)
The return: Now I have returned, I outlined my next steps and questioned how/what to do to start ‘data analysis’
Q&A: Open discussion and suggestions on entry points for data analysis using NM approaches.

Aside from being able to share my fieldwork experiences with others, it was also great to get stuck into some rigorous academic discussions and come away with a number of productive and tangible ideas to apply for data analysis.

Most satisfying of all though, was seeing how interested people are in Sierra Leone and having the opportunity to promote and celebrate the beautiful people, places and experiences I had there.