Q: What made you interested in joining the project?
- What drove me to this project was the combination of learning about history and science communication. Just before applying for this position, I became a board member for an organisation that teaches science communication for researchers and students, and being able to apply the information I’ve learned there straight to my work with WORK-IT felt like a perfect opportunity.
- As a student in the history disciplines myself, the scope of the project really interested me. I had already worked with event organizing with my faculty as well, so I also felt like I could contribute with my already-there skillset.
Q: What have been your main tasks in the team?
- During the spring, I was focusing on transcribing meetings as well as the workshop we held in March. We are also in charge of communications, so revising our strategy with the team and working with them on publications has been big. I've also helped one of our researchers with data annotation.
- The biggest event we have worked on was the FARE-WORK Workshop, held in March at the University of Helsinki. We developed our skills in event planning, including preparing infopackages for incoming speakers and handling logistics on the days of the event. During the workshop, we took notes on the discussions held at the end of each session, and note-taking has also been our main task in the team meetings more generally. We've also taken on communicating science for the project, with a lot of freedom in what we want to do and how we want to do it.
---
Q: What has been the most rewarding in your job?
- Working with the team! A lot of our work is quite independent, but whenever we do get the chance to work with the researchers, we usually have a great time. I've also gotten to familiarize myself with a lot of concepts foreign to me before. Before starting the project, I was already somewhat familiar with economic history and social history, since both disciplines are present in my own study programme (Societal Change), but combining them with the study of the ancient world has opened my eyes to a whole new side of the discipline, as my previous studies have focused more on modern history.
- It was extremely rewarding to understand the actual amount of work it takes to host a successful academic event, especially one with international participants. It was also exciting to see how our expertise grew while working, and later in the spring, when we hosted a new workshop, it was fun to notice how much I'd developed in note-taking — you really get to see your development in real time! It's also been so interesting to lift the curtain on how research is done. We get to hear, almost biweekly, how the team members' research is developing, and as we learn about the practicalities of conducting academic research, we are simultaneously learning about the topic at hand.
Q: Already partially answered, but - have you learned anything new?
- I've learned lots about the ancient history of the Levant, and about the realistic day-to-day of being a researcher. I've found this really valuable, as a career in research is something I'm considering for the future. I've also gotten to hone my data skills; during my BA, I gained an interest in quantitative historical research, and it's been great to explore parts of that during my time here. Learning about science communication has also definitely been rewarding! Most of our work is on our social media platforms, but we've been planning and executing long-form content as well.
- Beforehand, I did not know much about how platforms like Bluesky and LinkedIn differ in terms of what to post there, and now that we have figured out the best posting strategies, it is becoming much clearer to me. We have even been able to plan a social media strategy and a posting schedule together, which are both valuable skills to have going forward.
Q: Is there anything particular you look forward to for the next six months?
- I look forward to working with the researchers on introducing the books we are releasing with Brill!
- We also have some independent tasks helping with research coming up, so I'm excited for that as well!