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In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, S writes:
I am thinking of running a reading group with a few early graduate students, some of which [are] working with myself. But I don't have much experience with this. I can imagine different options for the structure, content, etc. I would be grateful if you could share you advice and experience.
This is a great query. Anyone have any helpful tips on what works well (and what doesn't)?
From a graduate student perspective, I have found it helpful to collect discussion points/questions at the start of the meeting and writing them on a board. Each of them can then be discussed in turn, which gives the meeting structure but also makes sure everybody’s interests are addressed.
Take turns picking the reading. I was involved in a pragmatist reading group in grad school. It was quite enjoyable, and we learned from each other.
For content the diversity reading list can be helpful
https://diversityreadinglist.org/
I’ve been in an online reading group for about 10 months now and we’ve been using Perusall to collectively annotate the texts we’re discussing. If you can upload PDFs of your readings it gives a terrific way to start discussion threads that can be taken up during your meetings. It’s also free for now (fingers crossed they can keep it that way):
https://www.perusall.com/
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