Lisa Hammershaimb and I co-created and presented a mini-series of presentations for the Doctoral Seminar EDDE 801 at Athabasca University. Since our initials were “LP” we visually branded our presentations as a vinyl release.
The doctoral student journey is a long and winding road where well-laid plans and serendipitous encounters each play vital roles. The successful student is one who learns both to engage the existing body of academic knowledge and to make connections creatively across disciplines to build a vibrant personal learning network.
Each LP session consisted of a ten-minute creative challenge meant to be a “refreshing sorbet” opening up new pathways and perspectives to the research-weary mind.
The central thesis of this presentation is that if doctoral students learn to develop mindfulness in tandem with academic agility they will be less likely to burn out during the arduous research process. Practices that, on the outset, may seem frivolous may in fact represent the ideal gymnasium for learning to make connections creatively and thus helps students endure all facets of the doctoral journey.
Linked below are the slides for one of the tracks:
We re-released the B-Side track “Finding Your Purpose” into extended single presented at the Athabasca University Graduate Research Conference: Research Without Borders, in Edmonton, Canada, September 16-18, 2016.
This conference session outlined the benefits of taking creative breaks, led participants in a shortened interlude activity, and then concluded with reflective time when all participants could process their experience and reflect together on how to integrate research interludes into their workflow.
Peggy Lynn MacIsaac 