University of Tennessee Undergraduate Classics Conference Announcement.
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in research as an undergrad. Also, if you’re reading this blog, you may not know where to begin. In this post, I hope to demystify the process some by outlining how I prepared my first paper for presentation at a research conference, beginning with a paper I wrote for a class. This post will not be an explanation of how I got the chance to present at this conference (but that might be a later post!). Instead, I want to discuss the revision process and how I got to a “final product” ready for presentation. But, before I begin, I just want to say that the following is simply a process that worked for me, and I know that everyone’s method and timeline could look different.
With all that said, let’s begin with my first step: the paper I wrote for a course. In the fall of my junior year, I took a class on what is known as the Second Sophistic. In other words, we read the works of Greek authors who wrote in Imperial Rome. I really enjoyed reading the work of Lucian of Samosata, a 2nd Century satirist, so I decided to write my final paper for the course on one of his texts. As I was working on this paper, I saw that the Classics department of the University of Tennessee was accepting abstracts for their upcoming undergraduate conference. I was passionate about my research project, so I decided to apply.
Luckily, once I was invited to present, I knew exactly where to begin. When I was first writing my paper for the course, I could tell there were gaps in my research. Or, if not gaps, areas that definitely warranted further exploration. There were more books that I wanted to read and more questions that I wanted to explore, but I was limited by practical considerations. First and foremost were worries about time. As the end of the semester draws near, there are always a million things to do. With all of the exams that I had to take and all the other papers that I had to write, I simply couldn’t give this one specific paper all of my time. Also, there were certain secondary sources that I wanted to consult, but I wasn’t able to access them by the end of the semester (we were, after all, in a global pandemic). However, once the semester was over and I knew that I had the time, energy, and resources, I was thankfully able to access those materials and fill in those gaps.
Once the first stage of revision was done, I realized that I needed an outside perspective. The natural choice was the professor of the original course, so I sent him an email to get back in touch. He agreed to meet with me again, so I sent him the newest version of my paper and prepared a list of questions. When we met, he was able to give general guidance about the direction of my research project, but also more specific feedback. For instance, there were a few passages with some very complicated Greek, and we worked together to decode the various potential shades of meaning. Also, he shared about his experience presenting at conferences, which was very informative and definitely helped my nerves. In my years at Columbia, my professors have been such great resources, and I’m so glad for all of the times that I reached out to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to shoot them an email or show up at office hours! After working through these two stages of revisions, I felt comfortable presenting my work to an audience. However, while I did arrive at a “final product,” I still hope to return to the project someday and further explore some of the more complicated questions!