Yesterday we had our BAAL colloquium in Bristol:<\/p>\n
The Colloquium\u00a0went really well. We did not have a large audience but those who came seemed interested in the work as reflected in the questions asked. Ros Mitchell, for example asked a question about the kinds of challenges that PhD students doing research multilingually face, while another member of the audience raised an interesting point about the relationship between researcher identity and DRM. Such issues suggested new avenues for exploration which I continued to think about after the event was over. The colloquium also helped me identify some gaps in our approach. For example, I felt that the individual case studies could be supported by more literature.<\/p>\n
Adrian Holliday was also in the audience. I had quoted him in my thesis, but only met in person yesterday. It is interesting to see how such encounters add a human element to research as you discover the unique person behind this statement or that reference.<\/p>\n
Group dynamics were great, the general atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed, and there was a smooth transition from one presentation to the other. Well, perhaps the only disadvantage was that in the program there was a thirty-minute break between paper 3 and paper 4 which meant that we had some new people for the last presentation only, who seemed a bit hesitant to contribute to the general discussion in the end for they did not attend the whole thing from the beginning.<\/p>\n
I think having a lengthy meeting the evening before the colloquium contributed to its success, for we discussed all the papers identifying major themes, discovering new points of interest, and sharpening the scope of the colloquium. It was also a good idea to book in the same accommodation, for we sat till late without worrying about when and how to get home.<\/p>\n