From Liverpool to Graz: Reflections on an International Conference

Posted on: 19 March 2024 by George Allen in 2024 blogs

PhD student George Allen writes about his experience attending the International Graduate School (IGS)’s Autumn conference in Graz.

In September 2023, I was invited to the International Graduate School (IGS)’s Autumn conference in Graz by my supervisor Dr Georgia Petridou. This was an amazing opportunity, and I was eager to present my work to a new and international audience of PGRs and academics. The International Graduate School is collaboration between the Universities of Graz, Erfurt, and colleagues from the University of Liverpool, in which doctoral candidates get supervised in tandem by all three  institutions. The focus of the conference was to explore Hartmut Rosa’s idea of resonance, a way of understanding the changing relationships between people and their experience of the world, and look at it though the lenses of the spatial turn.

This was my first international conference, so I was nervous to say the least. It was an idea which I had been reading round the edges of already, and as I was working on the methodology of my PhD, it was the perfect time to think about how resonance applied directly to my own work. My own paper in the conference was based on a methodology which I was working on for my own PhD. My main focus had been how Resonance can be used with other theoretical approaches to properly understand the oracular practice of consultation of Trophonius. This was a perfect opportunity to present my own research in a very supportive environment, and the feedback I received has spurred parts of my own research into unexpected directions.

Travelling to Graz was an adventure in itself. The train from Vienna to Graz takes you through the Austrian Alps, with some amazingly dramatic scenery, and views that could easily have been postcards. Arriving the day before the conference, I had the evening to explore a bit of the city, before heading up to the Schloss Sankt Martin the next day. The former monastery did not disappoint. Set at the edge of a forest with amazing views from the grounds, this was the most idyllic place to host a conference. We had a very warm welcome from the conference organisers, and the papers began in earnest that evening.

Our panel the next morning focused on “Healing Sanctuaries as Resonant Spaces”. ‘Resonant Spaces’ is an interesting way of considering how the places we are studying held significance for their local communities long after their initial functions had ceased. The panel itself consisted in my supervisor, Dr Georgia Petridou, Marios Kamenou who is a PhD candidate in Graz, also co-supervised by Georgia, as well as myself. The panel went well and led to a very fruitful discussion during the panel and over lunch.

The papers were fascinating, but surprisingly I thought the best discussion of the papers happened outside of the conference hall, during the coffee breaks and dinners. This conference was an amazing opportunity to connect academics and other students and to talk about our research in a friendly setting. It was especially interesting to be able to network with other doctoral candidates, one of whom, Marios Kamenou, joined us in Liverpool in December to take part in our Work in Progress series. It is one of the key benefits of collaborative teams, like the IGS, that it allows for this kind of inter-institutional networking, which we can carry forward into other research events.