‘Intertext' in a New Context: Lessons Learnt from Collaborating, Contributing, and Connecting Through an Online Interdisciplinary Student-Led Symposium During COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Like so many of our peers who were in the process of completing a Ph.D., we experienced a dislocation from space, routine, and community at the onset of the COVID pandemic. We were no longer meeting in seminars, having incidental chats in the corridors, or engaging in the day-to-day routines that we found supportive as Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) candidates. As student representatives for just over 700 HDRs in our college, we found ourselves wanting to create opportunities to seek out connection during these strange times, but being unsure of how to do this in the context of such a diverse cohort all dealing with different impacts of the pandemic. In September 2020, amidst the second wave of COVID cases in Victoria, we hosted an online student-led interdisciplinary symposium for HDR students in our college (the Intertext Symposium), adapted from its previous face-to-face format. The Symposium surpassed previous years in terms of attendance, engagement, and support from academics. In this chapter we reflect on the lessons learnt from supporting, contributing, and collaborating on the collective goals of the Symposium. We question why people might have sought to engage in the Symposium, the opportunities for further collaborations, and what we will take forward into the future. In addition to reflecting on what we learnt, we also discuss how changes brought about by COVID-related disruptions may have implications for future HDR communities and collaborations. Previous HDR interactions relied heavily on access to physical space, which made it difficult for geographically dispersed candidates to participate. We anticipate models of online conference events and research project management developed during COVID-19 will be used in future events to cater to diverse audiences (such as those who are geographically dispersed, financially disadvantaged, or carers), even in the absence of restrictions and pandemic constraints. In addition, we believe reflexivity and agility will benefit future student representatives and leaders as a means of learning from and responding to complex challenges currently faced by the higher education sector. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.