BiblioBattle! Reading for Academic Success

It is often said that the most successful people in society are readers. As academics, we all know the power of reading, as one cannot stand on the shoulders of giants without knowing what it is those giants have left behind!

We often spend a great deal of time with our noses buried deep in the scientific literature. But it begs the question; are there benefits to reading outside of one's field, even, dare I say, for pleasure (gasp!)? In this block of workshops, we examine the reading habits of our gradaute student body to explore the various ways in which we engage with the written word.

In the first workshop, it became abundantly clear that there exist both similarities and differences in the reading habits of our students, but we hope that by sharing our own experiences others may gain insight into what makes us tick. And how we might adapt our own reading habits for benefits in both life and work. 

In the second workshop, we help a Bibliobattle! Six graduate students presented their choice of book - something that had an influence on them for any reason - with the intention of convincing the rest of us this was the very next book we must read. The idea was borrowed from a trend that has been circulating around Japan, and elsewhere. It was a great opportunity to see how passionate our students are about reading outside of our professional spheres.

And, in the end, a champion was crowned. Well, two, actually: one for presenting the book the majority wanted to read next, the other for the presentation itself. We'll leave the names out of it - you know who you are! - but a big congratulations go out to our winners.

For those with internal access, check out the resources for this workshop block: (1) the slide deck and (2) a pdf of the Padlet we used to share our reading experiences.