Navigating the Academic Terrain for Early Career Scholars: Thoughts and Ref

In light of the issues raised above, the Department of Historical Studies at the National University of Lesotho proposes a two-day workshop that seeks to provide a platform on which post-graduate students (both M.A. and Ph.D.) in the Humanities can be empowered with the necessary skills to successfully navigate the rugged academic terrain. The workshop seeks to allow students to interact with more experienced and accomplished scholars on a number of important themes. Experts will be invited to share their knowledge on a broad range of issues, ranging from navigating the dissertation writing process to writing articles for publication and acquiring grant application skills. We intend to invite a senior scholar with experience in supervising M.A. and Ph.D. students, an expert in the administration of scholarships and fellowships to assist in training young scholars on applying for scholarships and grants, and a couple of editors from good journals on mentorship on writing for publication purposes.

Students will also be given an opportunity to work with the guests in a mentor/mentee arrangement regarding their work (from dissertation and research topics to actual research findings) depending on the student’s level of progress. We hope that the mentorship arrangement can go beyond the actual workshop days. Through such an interaction, future academic collaborations, and an expanded network among scholars in Lesotho and South Africa could be established. The target for this workshop will be 30 young scholars, 20 of whom will be fully funded by the YSI. Participants will be selected from eligible applicants who would have responded to the workshop call. In order to avoid stretching the budget, only applicants from within Lesotho and the Free State Province of South Africa will be considered.

The objectives of this workshop neatly dovetail with the vision and mission of the Young Scholars Initiative in networking for the purpose of answering economic questions and inculcating skills in young scholars. The YSI Africa Group seeks to create a vibrant platform that contributes to debates on the development of Africa, within the broader context of its history and social space, using various approaches. This workshop will thus increase the visibility of the YSI in southern Africa to include Lesotho, which itself has not had an opportunity to be integrated into YSI activities.