When I first found out that I had the opportunity to shadow Tim Kirk, Head of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, I presumed that his time would probably be split equally between teaching and meetings with other lecturers. What I hadn’t realised was how many additional things would be thrown into the mix!
In late April, I shadowed Tim over two half days so that I could experience an ‘average’ day at the university for him. The Tuesday began with an hour in which we got to know each other a bit more, and he asked me why I had decided on taking part in the shadowing program, what I hoped to learn from it and also what sort of things he did as part of his job. This was really helpful for me, as it meant that he was later better able to explain why certain meetings were taking place with certain people, and what sort of things I could expect.
The first meeting which we went to was school strategy meeting with two members of the office staff. It was really interesting for me to see how the different departments of the school interacted in this meeting and the sort of things which came up, and I was amazed at the amount of topics which were discussed over a single hour! Topics discussed which particularly interested me were the results of Stage 2 students’ module selections, which I had done that morning, and the process of deciding how presentations for the position of the new lecturer in British history should be organised. I even had the opportunity to give my own opinion on the matter! It was really interesting for me to see the amount of logistical work and preparation that goes into the task of opening up and dealing with the aftermath of module selection, particularly since as a student this aspect had never really crossed my mind before. It was also very informative to see how the popularity of module choices fluctuates from year to year, depending on the students in each year group, and how this can inform the process for next year.
I also had the opportunity on Tuesday evening to sit in on one of Tim’s teaching sessions, which he conducted with Felix Schulz, a lecturer in German history and native German speaker. Despite not speaking German, the lesson was particularly interesting, since it highlighted many of the issues of translating foreign language sources, such as the difficulties of deciding the extent to which you should directly translate the source, at the risk of making it less readable for an English speaker, or if you should make it more easy to read a translation at the risk of losing some of the original meaning of the source’s content. Having never dealt with foreign language translations in History before, this was something which I had never considered, but I think it will definitely come in useful when I am thinking about future dissertation topics and how much I will be able to trust English language translations. The group who were translating the sources was a mixture of MA and PhD students, and it was nice to see the way that the interaction between the group was informal, and yet still very structured, although there were certainly some moments of confusion when it came to translating compounded German words! Since the individuals in the group were all working at different levels of German comprehension, it was nice to see the way that Tim and Felix worked around this so that everyone had the opportunity to translate part of the sources.
Wednesday was another busy, but very interesting day for me, which began with a meeting of the Executive Board. This board included the heads of History, Classics and Archaeology, the Director of Postgraduate studies and undergraduate lecturer, and some other staff that I had met earlier in my shadowing experience. The meeting began with a small buffet lunch provided by the university (which I particularly enjoyed) and then we got down to business. As with the day before, there were many different topics discussed at this meeting, some of which were similar to those from the School strategy meeting, such as module selection, this time for Stage 1 students. At the beginning, the minutes from the previous meeting were discussed and any corrections were made. The topic which I found particularly interesting was the discussion of the possible industrial action (which, due to a ballot held the day after this meeting, will no longer take place) and what the expected impact of that would be. As Tim explained, even though this was being discussed, the situation could have changed by the 1st of May, which it seems to have done. There was also the discussion of a reading room which is currently under construction at the top of the Armstrong Building, and what kind of materials and books would be available for students. As a student who pretty much counts the library as their second home (as many History students do), and sometimes has difficulties accessing particular books due to high demand, it is nice to see that this is something which lecturers and school staff are addressing. Hopefully the Reading Room will be ready before I graduate, as it sounds like it will be a great addition to the Armstrong building!
The next meeting which we went to was the History subject meeting, with the different lecturers in the History department, and involved a short presentation on the non-academic impact of research. This was a fascinating topic for me to hear about, and has inspired me with a potential topic for one of the modules which I will be doing in semester 2 of my third year, which is about the way that History is relevant to the wider world. Again, in this meeting, module selections were discussed, as well as the findings from pre-selection polls and the changes that would be made as a result of these. The day was rounded off with tea and cake, and the chance for me to speak to some of the new, prospective students who were visiting the university for an open day. It was lovely to see that they seemed so positive about it, and I think this really reflects on the hard work of all the staff, which I feel like I have a much better understanding of thanks to shadowing Tim.
I would like to thank Tim and everyone in the meetings and lessons which I attended for accommodating me, and the organisers of the Staff Student Shadowing Program for providing me with this opportunity. It has opened my eyes not only to what it takes to work in an academic profession, but also to the possibility of other careers within a university environment. This is something which I would never have been able to experience had it not been for this program, and I would recommend any student considering it to dive in!
Rachel Finn.