Courage Festival

Event Program

11 September 2019, University of East Anglia, Norwich

#couragefestival19

11 September 2019Courage Festival

Time COURAGE FESTIVAL PROGRAM

08:30 – 09:00 Registration(The Hive, Students’ Union Building)

09:00 – 09:15Welcome from: Dr John Turnpenny, Courage Project Lead

Introduction to the day: Bryony Porter, Courage Festival Chair(The Hive, Students’ Union Building)

Bookable Room 1, Union

Bookable Room 6, Union

Exhibition Space, Union Outside UEA SportsPark

09:00– 10:00 PGRunners(Zoe Jones)

09:20 – 10:30

Self-Compassion - The science and the art of

being kind to ourselves(Alison Taylor)

Yoga for the Mind(Pema Clark)

Psychological Responses to Perceived Failure(Dr Ben Marshall)

Mindful Walk and Talk(Dr Sarah Hanson)

10:30 – 10:50 Coffee Break(The Hive, Union)

10:50 – 12:30

#IamRemarkable: Empowering You to

Celebrate Achievements in Academia and Beyond

(Laura Haag)

Mental Health in Black Minority Ethnic Communities

(Jumara Begum)

Bullet Journaling: An Analogue Response in

the Digital Age(Liane Ward)

What Next After a PhD? Careers Walk and Talk with Careers Central

(Dr Rebecca Wyand, Dr Suzanne Walker)

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break(The Hive, Union)

#couragefestival19

11 September 2019Courage Festival

Time COURAGE FESTIVAL PROGRAM

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break(Exhibition Space, Union)

Bookable Room 6, Union Exhibition Space, Union

13:30 – 14:30 Giving Voice to PGRs: Acting Experiences Based on

Courage Research(Natasha Senior, UEA Drama School Acting team)

What stops universities supporting PGR mental health and wellbeing effectively?

A workshop to help overcome barriers(Dr John Turnpenny, Linda Horsnell)

14:30 – 15:30

To Conference or To Publish? Career Development while PhD-ing

(Maria Tsimpiri, James Craske)OPEN TO PGRS ONLY

Want to make healthier university policies? Try out our impact assessment method!

(Dr John Turnpenny)

15:30 – 15:50 Coffee Break(The Hive, Union)

15:50 – 16:50

Bringing us back together and going onwards: reflections and what happens next(Dr John Turnpenny)

(The Hive, Union)ALL ATTENDEES

17:00 onwards Final drinks(Scholars Bar, Union)

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11 September 2019Courage Festival

Morning Sessions Details

PGRunnersZoe Jones

PGRunners is UEA’s running group for PGRs. We meet on Wednesdays @ 9:00 am just inside the SportsParkand run around our lovely campus together. It’s time to be outside, be active and connect with otherresearchers. As part of the Courage Festival, we would like to invite you to join us for a run. You will be able touse the facilities in the SportsPark and perhaps find out what running can bring to your research. Email ZoeJones (z.jones@uea.ac.uk) to reserve a spot if you’d like to give it a try. Zoe will also be available during thefestival to answer any questions you might have PGRunners or running on campus in general. Zoe is a memberof the Learning Enhancement Team and can also tell you about how they can support you and the writers’retreats and groups that they organise for PGRs.

Self-Compassion - The science and the art of being kind to ourselves

Alison Taylor

The talk will look at what recent research can tell us about what it means to be self-compassionate and howto develop it in ourselves. It will be a practical talk with take away tools.

Yoga for the MindPema Clark

Yoga for the Mind is a 6 week course for PGRs that we have been running as part of Courage. This is a blend ofyoga and mindfulness tools for dealing with the specific areas of stress pertaining to work on a PhD in anysubject. Common factors include stress and anxiety as deadlines approach, low mood and loss of motivation.While these can be 'normal' responses to the research process, this course offers simple and effectivepractices geared specially towards the PhD experience. This is a taster session for you to experience some ofthe techniques that are used and is suitable for all levels from beginners to advanced students of yoga andmindfulness meditation.

It is run by qualified yoga instructor Dr Pema Clark, who completed her PhD at UEA in 2016 and has beenlecturing as an associate for the past 4 years. Well versed in the process of undergoing a PhD, she has alsobeen involved in pastoral care for students of all ages for the past 14 years and uses mindfulness-basedapproaches to working with stress, anxiety and low mood. Please wear loose comfortable clothing that youcan move in. Yoga mats will be provided.

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11 September 2019Courage Festival

Morning Sessions Details

Psychological Responses to Perceived FailureBen Marshall

(Courage Project Manager: Student Support Services PGR Adviser)

This session will look at psychological responses to a perceived failure, we will reflect on the hit to identitythat can occur and cognitive biases like overgeneralisation. We will also look at ways of reframing andadapting to such setbacks.

Mindful Walk and TalkDr Sarah Hanson

The walk will be led by Sarah Hanson. During the walk Sarah will briefly talk about her research on healthwalks and how she is currently using them in a health literacy project for cancer prevention amongstmarginalised women. We will also discuss what the courage project means to you and explore your ideas forother ways that ‘Walk and Talks’ could be used in your work setting. We will also have a period of time formindful walking when you will fully explore your senses during a lovely walk on the UEA campus.

#IamRemarkable: Empowering You to Celebrate Achievements in Academia and Beyond

Laura HaagCelebrating our achievements can be difficult and is often something we neglect. This session will help you toimprove your self-promotion and motivation skills and challenge the social perception around self-promotion.

Mental Health in Black Minority Ethnic Communities Jumara Begum

While it is great that we are talking openly about our mental health and illnesses, this still isn’t the case withsome communities. Especially for those from BAME communities. This workshop is about looking into someof the reasons why this may be and what we can do to break these barriers within our cultural communities

Note: this is a safe space for those from BAME communities and you will have to identify as BAME in order toattend this.

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11 September 2019Courage Festival

Morning Sessions Details

Bullet Journaling: An Analogue Response in the Digital AgeLiane Ward

Bullet Journaling is a system of organising your time and life using such a Journal in a systematic way and it isanalogue and pen and paper rather than digital. The system and the way it is set up is most useful for folk whofeel that they need to organise their lives a bit more, have a way of dealing with stressful deadlines and amore mindful way of living from day to day.In the Bullet Journal introductory session will begin by explaining what the system is, how to use it and set itup. All participants will then be given their own (free) bullet journal to use and keep so that those who wish totake on such a tool can immediately set the system up and start to plan their year/month and tasks. In givingtime (and Bullet journals) to attendees, everyone will be able to set up the system quickly and with immediatehelp and support.The system lends itself particularly well to big long-term projects (like a PhD) enabling users to have asystematic way of breaking down complex projects and tasks and deadlines so that they become manageableand achievable in the short, medium and long term.

What Next After a PhD? Careers Walk and Talk with Careers Central

Dr Rebecca Wyand, Dr Suzanne Walker

Are you starting to wonder what your next steps will be? Do you work with PGRs? Are you or the PGRs youwork with thinking about applying for post-PhD positions? No idea what you want to do after your PhD? Youare not alone! Join us on a gentle walk around UEA campus to walk and talk about all things careers andwellbeing.

In this themed Walk & Talk we will be joined by UEA Careers Central PGR Advisers, Dr Rebecca Wyand and DrSuzanne Walker, as we walk and talk about careers after a PhD.

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11 September 2019Courage Festival

Afternoon Sessions Details

Giving Voice to PGRs: Acting Experiences Based on Courage Research

(Natasha Senior, UEA Drama School Acting team)

The session invites PGRs and staff to hear the raw stories of researchers within the university, stories told byactors, who have based and developed their characters on anonymous testimony. These are fictional accountsbut could apply to anyone within our community. The goal is to highlight and humanise the issues faced byPGRs. A short Q&A fragment will run at the end of the session to understand more about the characters' livesand experiences.

Note: Some of the content and issues raised may be difficult and may trigger emotive or distressing feelings.Two Mental Health First Aiders in the room will support you and those in the room. Should anyone wish toleave the room at all, we will have a quiet space available to go to.

What stops universities supporting PGR mental health and wellbeing effectively?

A workshop to help overcome barriers(Dr John Turnpenny, Linda Horsnell)

HE organisations support PGR mental health and wellbeing in many ways. These include directly working withpeople affected or potentially affected, and also reducing the incidence of problems by addressing possiblecauses. But all these initiatives sometimes experience barriers in their implementation. This is due in part tothe current processes, arrangements and priorities that shape how organisations and individuals carry outtheir work which bound and shape how new initiatives play out in practice. Having ‘sufficient understanding’of wellbeing problems, or examples of 'best practice' from elsewhere, does not necessarily mean that thisknowledge will be used to successfully inform decision making...

In this session we will ask you to tell honest stories and offer opinions: in your experience how are differentinitiatives working, what does not work, why, and what might be done about it.

#couragefestival19

11 September 2019Courage Festival

Afternoon Sessions Details

To Conference or To Publish? Career Development while PhD-ing

(Maria Tsimpiri, James Craske)OPEN TO PGRS ONLY

In this session, PGRs will have the opportunity to openly discuss how early competition affects their mentalhealth and wellbeing during their study. The main focus will lie on publication and conference attendancewhile doing a PhD. The current trend in academia entails action as in ”the earlier the better”. But is this theideal academic setting for PGRs to complete their PhD? How does this trend affect them? What caninstitutions, supervisors, mentors, fellow PGRs do in order to minimise any negative effects? What can they doto maximise any positive effects? PGRs are invited to share their stories and suggest ways of incorporatingprofessional development while studying with minimum effect on PGR mental health and wellbeing.

Note: This session is open to PGRs only.

Want to make healthier university policies? Try out our impact assessment method!

(Dr John Turnpenny)

A Healthy University aims to "infuse health into everyday operations, business practices and academicmandates" (www.healthyuniversities.ac.uk). But how can we make this a reality? In Courage we have designeda tool for assessing – before final decisions are made – the potential impacts of university policies on mentalhealth and wellbeing of PGRs and staff. This session gives you a chance to find out more about the tool, andapply it for yourself. The session is likely to be of particular interest to members of staff, but PGRs are welcometo attend too.

Bringing us back together and going onwards: reflections and what happens next

(Dr John Turnpenny) (The Hive, Union)ALL ATTENDEES

This session will draw together insights from sessions and participants’ experiences, and move towards apublic statement on addressing PGR mental health and wellbeing, with associated actions. The key elementsand actions arising from the day’s gathering will be put into writing and into graphic sketches by a professionalvisual aider.

Courage Festival is part of the 'Courage Project', funded under the Catalyst network by the Office for Students and Research England.

#couragefestival19

11 September 2019Courage Festival #couragefestival19

11 September 2019Courage Festival #couragefestival19