GSAS Celebrates Students Through 2024 Graduate Appreciation Week
Students participate in the Navigating Difficult Conversations workshop during Graduate Appreciation Week 2024.
Photo Credit: Becky Prigge
April 17, 2024
Abigail Arnold | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
From April 1 through 5, 2024, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Brandeis University held its second annual celebration of National Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week. This event, started in 1993, is dedicated to celebrating graduate students across fields.
Becky Prigge, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for GSAS, brought the celebration to Brandeis last year. She was inspired to start this programming so that graduate students could have the chance to be the focus of a major event. “So much programming across campuses centers around the undergraduate student experience. GPSA Week allows us to focus on graduate students and celebrate their unique contributions to teaching, research, and the community,” said Prigge.
In addition to participating in programming for all graduate students, organized by the Graduate Engagement Team and the Office of Graduate Affairs, GSAS students had the opportunity to participate in several GSAS events and activities. GSAS hosted a daily e-card giveaway, in which the winning students had the opportunity to select from gift cards to several local and national businesses. Prigge also set up an Appreciation Wall on GSAS social media; she encouraged faculty and staff to send in messages of appreciation for the particular graduate students they work with, which she then posted with accompanying graphics on the GSAS Instagram, Facebook, and X. Students were able to read messages celebrating them. “When planning for the first GPSA Week last year, I polled the Graduate Department Representatives about what would make them feel appreciated. While free food was a popular vote, students said that a note of genuine thanks or praise from a faculty member would be very meaningful,” said Prigge. “It’s easy to get absorbed in the day-to-day routine, especially in academia, and we often forget to acknowledge the efforts of those around us who help to keep the train on the tracks. A simple ‘thank you’ can do wonders for one’s well-being and sense of worth. The virtual Appreciation Wall reminds faculty and staff that it’s important to be more explicit with our gratitude.”
One of the highlights of GSAS’s Graduate Appreciation Week programming was the Navigating Difficult Conversations Lunch and Learn, co-sponsored by the Office of Graduate Affairs, which took place on April 2. For the event, GSAS brought in Michele Gravelle, a challenging conversations coach; Gravelle formerly worked at the Harvard Negotiation Project and drew on their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. Along with Julia Coleman of the Brandeis Counseling Center and Don Greenstein, Kylie Milbern, and Esther Lin of the Brandeis Ombuds Office, she led students in a workshop aimed at building skills in handling challenging conversations, particularly in a graduate school setting. The workshop also helped introduce students to resources they can use for self-care and for mediation of difficult situations. A highlight of the workshop, for Prigge, was that it brought together students from three Brandeis graduate schools: GSAS, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and the Brandeis International Business School.
Of course, celebrating graduate students would not be complete without giving them a chance to shine in the annual Three Minute Thesis Competition! The final round of this competition, in which students were challenged to present their research in just three minutes, using a single slide, took place on the afternoon of April 5 in the Spingold Theater, with over 100 people in attendance. Five finalists from the Division of Science and five from the Divisions of Creative Arts, Humanities, and Social Science competed. “The Three Minute Thesis is the largest GSAS event of the year featuring students across the social sciences, humanities, creative arts and sciences. This is one of the only opportunities GSAS students at Brandeis have to share their research with the overall Brandeis community, outside of their departments,” said Marika McCann, Associate Director of Professional Development and Employer Outreach for GSAS. “This year our team was very impressed with how hard our students worked and the overall enthusiasm they brought to their talks. The audience learned so much from our students in this short time, including the possibility of early detection of Parkinson’s Disease and the importance of examining circadian rhythms, patterns in Honduras artifacts and Tamil transfeminine performance in post-war Sri Lanka.” An article featuring more about the competition will be coming soon!
We are very proud of our incredible community of GSAS students. With Graduate Appreciation Week, we aim to celebrate them and thank them for all their hard work.