Conference Review

At 10:00am to 4:15pm on the 6th of April 2023 the the MA students of UCC’s Department of English hosted a conference in which we presented on an extensive range of topics of research, spanning a wide range of texts throughout history from medieval to futuristic texts! The topic I chose to present on was that of the film adaptations of the medieval text Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which discussed the challenges that directors have faced in adapting the old poem into a film which led to a broader discussion as to what these films had to say about their source through their deviations and developments on the ideas and themes presented in the text.

This is a picture of myself presenting which I took from the conference’s twitter feed. I was the first to present on the day, which was certainly nerve wracking. My nerves, however, quickly settled once I got into the swing of presenting, though I was relieved to finally be finished when my twentieth slide had ended. The format of our presentations was that of “Pecha Kucha” which involves presenting a set of twenty slides for twenty seconds each. This was sure to be a challenge, and I quickly realised this when I gave a practice presentation in class a week earlier. I was surprised to find how quickly twenty seconds went by, realising that I had been rather ambitious as to how many points one could truly develop over the course of twenty seconds. I realised that my slides would require refining, allowing my points to be more focused, leading to a stronger presentation of my argument.

Being first up came with its perks, as I could truly relax afterward and enjoy to the full each presentation that proceeded my own. I was able to enjoy presentations on a wide range of texts from a variety of critical approaches. I personally found it of interest to witness a few presentations from eco-critical approaches, as this would be an area I enjoy reading into. I also particularly enjoyed the presentation’s of my fellow medievalist students, who presented on medieval ghost stories and gender identity and agency in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde respectively. But aside from the topics I had some prior interest in, I had the pleasure on witnessing a plethora of fascinating presentations, stepping outside the bubble of medieval studies and opening my eyes to the wider world of literature academia. Everyone involved made the day truly a pleasure to partake in and witness. I certainly look forward to attending similar conferences in the future!

I thoroughly enjoyed the day, from start to finish. The presentations were brilliantly given, and the feedback offered by our professors will certainly be of great use. I certainly look forward to attending similar conferences in the future!