GSAS Students Engage Across Disciplines at 2025 PhD Retreat
Students chat at the social following the 2025 PhD Retreat.
Photo Credit: Becky Prigge
January 29, 2025
Abigail Arnold | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
On Friday, January 17, 2025, thirteen Brandeis University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) PhD students in the Humanities and Social Sciences attended the third annual PhD retreat. Aimed at building connections among first- and second-year students in different programs and giving them the skills to succeed in graduate school, the event was co-sponsored by GSAS and the Mandel Center for the Humanities.
The retreat included informational panels with Brandeis faculty and staff, as well as opportunities for socializing. The four panels were “Reading and Critical Engagement,” “How We Write,” “Professional Development and Job Prep in Graduate School,” and “Self-Care in Graduate School,” while the social portions included a lunch on campus and a closing social hour at Brewer’s Tap and Table on nearby Moody Street. PhD students from the Anthropology, English, History, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and Sociology programs attended and participated.
GSAS Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Becky Prigge, who co-organized the retreat with GSAS Faculty Director of Professional Development Jon Anjaria, spoke of her goals for the event. “The retreat was designed to address the ‘hidden curriculum’ or the often-unspoken assumption that PhD students enter already equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive,” she said. “Another goal was to help students build community. Graduate school can be isolating, especially for students in the smaller cohorts often found in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts divisions. Sometimes, it’s simply about creating opportunities for people to connect with someone they might never have met otherwise.”
Prigge also spoke to the planning behind the programming and how the organizers built on previous years. “We knew we definitely wanted to keep the sessions on reading and writing as a graduate student because those are a core piece of the retreat,” she said. “However, this year we added a session on self-care to the lineup, which I co-presented with Alyssa Canelli, GSAS Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, and Ndia Olivier, Staff and Community Therapist from the Brandeis Counseling Center. Stress and imposter syndrome are inevitable in graduate school, and we wanted to help students start developing coping mechanisms and practicing self-care before they reach a point where they feel completely overwhelmed. Our goal was to normalize these feelings and encourage students to think about practical strategies for working through them.”
Students who attended the retreat were excited by the opportunity to connect with fellow PhD students and find common ground. Ishan Mukhopadhyay, a first-year PhD student in English, said, “I think it is a rare occasion when grad students from different disciplines get to come together and talk to each other. It is helpful to build a sense of community, especially considering we discussed challenges, anxieties, and aspirations that are fairly common to everyone, albeit in unique ways.” He found the panels helpful and instructive, saying, “I really appreciate that this grad school takes the trouble to orient students early on about the job market and how they can plan their CV. I cannot commend this enough.”
Sevinc Dogan, a first-year PhD student in Sociology, praised the retreat as a supportive experience. “The GSAS staff truly cares about our academic journey and well-being. They are communicative and collaborative,” she said. “The talks were also highly beneficial, especially on topics like the approach to reading and writing. These may seem like things we take for granted, but discussing and sharing experiences about the reading and writing process is actually very important.” Like Mukhopahdyay, she appreciated the opportunity to connect across fields, saying, “It was wonderful to meet other graduate students from different disciplines and recognize common anxieties, excitements and experiences. Interacting with people from various fields made the conversations richer and helped us see the bigger picture.”
Dogan closed by recommending the event to other students. “Pedagogically and academically, it’s just as important as our courses and requirements,” she said. “All it takes is time: please attend and collaborate, and do not hesitate!” Words to live by for next year’s retreat!