Ash reflects on their internship with the Institute of Advanced Study (IASH) last summer!
Employ.Ed on Campus is a summer internship programme for second, third and penultimate year undergraduate students, offering opportunities to gain valuable work experience at the University of Edinburgh. Ash undertook an internship at IASH through the Employ.Ed programme last summer – read all about their experience in this blog!
You can find out more about IASH here, and further information on internship opportunities through the Employ.Ed on Campus programme on the Careers Service website.
Blog by Ash
“What even is an Institute of Advanced Study?” – This is probably the question I got asked most when I told my friends and family about my internship last summer. Between June and August, I took part in the university’s Employ.Ed programme, and my workplace was the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH), located in a wonderful 19th century townhouse next to the Meadows. I had the opportunity to help the Institute with the current “Project on Decoloniality”, which aims to decentre Whiteness in academia and mitigate the disproportionate favouring of White, English-speaking scholars, and supports a group of academics researching the University of Edinburgh’s ties to slavery and colonialism.
Settling In
But now, what is an Institute of Advanced Study? The short answer is that it’s a (semi)-independent Institute promoting interdisciplinary research, in this case in the Humanities. The long answer is that IASH, in particular, gives out fellowships (funding) to academics in different stages of their career to be able to conduct research in their field. They come from all over the world to Edinburgh, have an office at the Institute, and can make use of the University’s resources, like the Centre for Research Collections, or colleagues in different departments. There are up to 30 researchers in residence, and you can imagine what the lunch conversations sound like – discussing the smallest detail in their most recent research, or springing into philosophical conversations.
When I first started, I felt a bit out of my depth. Besides my fellow intern, most people had completed a PhD, some with years of experience working in their field, and I also met a visiting professor from Harvard. Before applying, I didn’t even know that Institutes like this existed, and the idea of maybe wanting to do a PhD seemed like a faraway dream, since neither of my parents had gone to university. I worried that the things I said during our Tuesday networking lunches weren’t eloquent enough, or that I was seen as “inferior” because I was an undergraduate student and “just the intern”. But my worries were very short-lived. After a few weeks, I felt much more comfortable, made connections with the academics at the Institute, and also settled a bit more into my role.
So, what did I actually do?
Decoloniality is such a thought-provoking, yet broad topic, with over 100 fellows at the Institute alone conducting research on the subject over the course of the project, that I didn’t really know what to expect at first! But I had so many highlights over the summer, that I thought I’d share a few:
– I helped edit a book! Together with a small team, I was able to gain insights into the academic book editing process, as we worked on the second edition of “Essays on Decoloniality”, which will be published this year. Not a lot of undergraduates get this opportunity and I’m very grateful for the trust that was put into me!
– I organised a conference! IASH’s Decoloniality Conference, which will also take place this year, is fully centred around Decoloniality and the academics working on such topics at the university and beyond! It’s great to have contributed a small part to this!
– I was able to deepen my knowledge of Decoloniality! During my time at the Institute, I got to talk to so many amazing decolonial scholars and even record a podcast episode with Dr Simon Buck about his research into the University of Edinburgh’s ties to slavery and colonialism. You can listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/eubgQEeB
– I tested and learned about accessible web design! Over the course of my internship, I attended training on accessible web and social media content and was able to put this immediately into practice on our website and the Institute’s social media platforms. It was amazing to see how much of a difference this can make, even if they are just “small” tweaks.
– I went to some cool events! IASH also supports playwrights and authors, and so during the Festivals in August, I was able to attend a wide variety of events, like a practised playreading of a feminist eco-thriller (a work-in-progress by a fellow at the Institute), or, my personal highlight, the “Beautiful Rebellion” Panel event with Dr. Jill Burke, Moshtari Hilal, and Emma Dabiri, which was supported by Gender.ED.
Settling out?
It was actually kind of weird walking to campus for the first time in the new academic year, not going into the office, but back into the Chrystal Macmillan Building. The internship allowed me to learn so much about Decoloniality, the academic book-editing process, and so many other things I would not have thought I could do as “just the intern”. I was able to talk to people working in the field that I wrote my dissertation in, and their experience helped me a lot in directing in my research. I’m immensely grateful for my team at IASH, Lauren, Ben, Lesley, Pauline, and Mouna, for all the support over those three months! If you are interested in gaining insights into different fields, such as Marketing and Communications, Student Experience, or like me, a mixture of them all in an Institute with a fancy name, I highly recommend checking out the Employ.Ed Scheme, or to speak to the Careers Service!
