There are plenty of opportunities for members of the MCR to bond socially over drinks or at Grad Hall. The McMenemy Seminars, dedicated to the memory of Chris McMenemy, a Trinity Hall graduate student lost at sea in the summer of 2000, are designed to allow us to mix in a more academic way by providing us with a forum in which we can present our work to one another. It can be fascinating to hear your drinking buddy suddenly start speaking knowledgably about quantum dynamics, for example. Or you might decide to better get to know another MCR member after hearing her give a brilliant talk about the use of wartime propaganda in ancient Sumeria, a topic perhaps closely related to your own. One of the primary functions of a College for graduate students is to bring together students from different departments, and the McMenemy Seminars are an important part of how Trinity Hall makes this happen.
For the speakers, the talks are a great opportunity to present your work in a supportive environment, and, unlike departmental talks, they challenge your own understanding of your material by forcing you to distill it into a form understandable to a lay audience. Drinks (sherry, juice, water) are served, and after the talk, the speaker and a guest are invited by the College to dinner at Grad Hall, complete with a bottle of wine.
For further information or to give a seminar, please contact the co-ordinators on their @trinhall.cam.ac.uk address (mcmenemy). The McMenemy Seminars are run according to the McMenemy Guidelines. The seminar organizers are currently Libby Caygill (eec33), Maria Jimenez (mjs237), and Asa McKercher (am941).
Please note that all people presently or once affiliated with Trinity Hall are welcome to attend these seminars: this includes undergraduates, post-docs, fellows, staff, alumni, and others!
Please note that we are now using both the Leslie Stephen Room and the Bridgetower Room. Please note the location of each talk below. The talks will take place from 6.15 to 7.15pm.