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Student-directed Journal Club gets started at MPRC

Tyler Myroniuk and Kriti Vikram are leading an initiative to help young scholars get a leg-up on research
Student-directed Journal Club gets started at MPRC

Tyler Myroniuk

According to the student leaders, who are working with MPRC Associate Director Sangeetha Madhavan, the Journal Club serves several functions :

  • Firstly, to evaluate current research in major population journals (Demography, Population and Development Review, Demographic Research, Population Studies and American Journal of Public Health).
  • Secondly, to bring graduate students and faculty from all departments affiliated with the MPRC to promote cross-disciplinary criticism of current population research.
  • Thirdly, by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of current research, to offer an opportunity for graduate students and faculty to come up with innovative ideas for developing their own paper / research plans.

The benefits of participating in the Journal Club are evident, say Vikram and Myroniuk. "As graduate students, we need to be up to date with the current literature and to have e a platform to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of published work in order to deepen one’s understanding of the field. Additionally, we will get to tap into the knowledge of senior, and very successful, population scholars at the university. Many other top population centers around the country have such clubs, and this is another way in which we, as graduate students, can improve our craft. This exercise may help us to generate ideas for new papers, which would help us compete for spots in sessions at PAA and lead to publications of our own.

"We have organized three Friday sessions from 11am to 1pm: September 19, October 17, and November 14.  These sessions will take place in the MPRC's new small meeting space in Morrill Hall. Additional details regarding the specifics of each session will be made public as we get closer to each Journal Club session. We will also be asking for faculty volunteers to serve as mentors for each session. There will be refreshments - which are always necessary to remain productive on Friday afternoons."

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