The TRIP Artological Explorers’ Club

The TRIP Artological Explorers’ Club

Prof. Alison Kearney

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Developing A Supportive Research Commons

The TRIP Artological Explorers Club was launched in March 2025, as a means to create an academic- commons where post-graduate students could meet regularly, to share knowledge, present work in progress and support each other through the research degree journey.

Members include Honours, Masters and PhD students from several African universities. While predominantly arts focused, the club is open to all postgraduate students. It is a supportive space, where students can feel safe to test new ideas. Most postgraduate fora expect students to present complete, coherent work. The Artological Explorers club is unique in holding space for the as-yet unfinished, thinking, work in process. There are monthly, online seminars, wherein students present their work in progress, and supervisors share their expertise on different aspects of doing research. The big dream is that the students start their own communities of practice around shared topics, after meeting in this forum.