You have been receiving regular invitations to our Friday afternoon KRYPTON seminars. I have held this seminar series for many years as an opportunity for students to present their work to a friendly but critical audience, receive constructive criticism, and connect with other students. We hold the seminars on Friday afternoons because by popular consensus this is a time students tend not to have class, and many working students can get off early to attend. In recent years they have been hybrid, both in person and online. Last year they were entirely virtual. We are now moving back to the hybrid model.

Students use the seminar to do dry runs for conference presentations, dissertation proposals, and dissertation defenses. They also use the seminar to present their research at various stages of development to get feedback from their peers and help to refine their ideas. According to participants, the experience has been extremely helpful. Some graduates have told me they don’t know how they would have made it without KRYPTON.

Although seminar is open to any interested students, and my mailing list includes many non-SEOR students, I send the announcements to the entire SEOR PhD student list. I hope you will participate in this opportunity.  Even if you are early in your research, please tell us about your area and what you are thinking about as a topic.  Many students have found the seminar helpful in formulating their dissertation research topic and plan.  If you are further along, it’s a great opportunity for feedback on your progress. And of course if you have a presentation coming up, please use this as an opportunity to do a dry run!

It’s the beginning of the semester, and we still have lots of openings. I hope you will sign up for a slot to present your research ideas. Please let me know when you will be able to present. Pick any Friday and I’ll let you know whether it’s still open.

Best regards,

Kathy Laskey