‘Doctoral students’ experiences of academic writing as posthuman practice’ [Dr Emma Waight, Research Seminar Series]

Wednesday November 4

How do doctoral students experience writing in time and space? In this talk I will discuss a study conducted earlier this year in which I interviewed PhD students about their everyday experiences of writing. The study aimed to respond to a gap in the literature in which doctoral writing could be viewed as a sociomaterial, posthuman practice. Online ‘photovoice’ interviews were conducted in May 2020. In the study I found that students use material artefacts to curate their writing spaces and that they use technological devices and hand-written notes in different ways to support their writing. Furthermore, the study found that when immersed in the writing process, doctoral students experience time differently; as a kind of suspended time. I conclude with recommendations for policy and practice with the aim of improving doctoral writing support in a way that recognises writing experiences as an assemblage of human and non-human parts.