Kick-off event for the AGHI Johns Hopkins University/GSIS University of St Andrews Interdisciplinary Humanities Doctoral Network 2023-2024

The first meeting of the newly established AGHI Johns Hopkins University/GSIS University of St Andrews Interdisciplinary Humanities Doctoral Network (AGHI/GSIS) took place on Thursday 16 November 2023.

Fourteen postgraduate research students from both the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies at St Andrews recently convened for their inaugural meeting, marking the initial phase of a cross-institutional collaboration. This collaborative effort seeks to connect researchers with diverse disciplinary backgrounds within St Andrews and across institutions, fostering an exchange of experiences in interdisciplinary research.

The project’s objectives were evident during the hybrid ‘lunch/afternoon tea’ meeting, held at noon in Baltimore and 5:00 pm locally, where students introduced their PhD research and discussed the network’s future directions. Long-term plans include exploring opportunities for establishing a visiting scholars exchange, while the group collectively envisioned the network’s purpose. The cohort deliberated on potential collaborations, such as organising a cross-institutional conference on interdisciplinarity, hosting online workshops on methodology and terminology, and implementing a buddy peer-review system for students’ work. According to Dr Walter Pedriali, the deputy director of the Graduate School, the students of the AGHI/GSIS network are “trailblazers” poised to play a pivotal role in embedding interdisciplinary research and collaboration at the doctoral level within the University of St Andrews and Johns Hopkins University. While the next official meeting is scheduled for late January, students unanimously expressed a keen interest in initiating collaborative efforts at the earliest opportunity.