Under Construction @ Keele 2016 Volume 1 Issue 1 | Page 9

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rests, the scale of its parts […] Hence it is that his education is called
"Liberal."1
By exploring academic work within a broader sense of interconnectivity, we facilitate
a richer understanding of research in general as well as a more diverse context for
individual works. How might a student from the political sciences interpret a
philosophical essay on the Cold War? Are historians and students of literature
destined to perpetually disagree with each other, or can the opposite be true? If the
social sciences are combined with the humanities, is Newman’s “pure and clear
atmosphere of thought” a reality within the university?
It is our hope that Under Construction will do precisely that: allowing PhD and
Masters students from both schools to test-drive their theses, or to perhaps explore
dissident themes that may not necessarily make the final draft. Topics centred on a
round table discussion equally allow postgraduates to explore their own work in a
manner that relates to a central theme. With the help of a panel of dedicated editors,
these ideas can be analysed and developed through a broader lens not confined by
any single discipline. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but creating something with the
potential for real longevity; an undertaking that can be beneficial for both students
seeking further academic study and for those preparing to enter the workplace, we
believe, is worth a little discomfort.
That discomfort has been a shared emotion. To that end I must acknowledge
those people who have made Under Construction possible.

Special recognition

must first be given to the journal’s contributors (from both humanities and the social
sciences) and to every member of the journal’s editorial board: Hannah Bayley,
Mustafa Cakmak, Amy Coquaz, Gemma Scott, and Wallis Seaton. Their tireless help
has been invaluable, whether it has been developing new ideas the rest of us had
not considered, promoting awareness throughout the postgraduate community, or
simply dedicating their time alongside all their other commitments, even when many
of them were out of the country. It is not an exaggeration to say that without all of
them, Under Construction would have fizzled before it was even created. We are
also indebted to a cadre of lecturers and staff: Dr Tim Lustig, Dr Kate Cushing, Dr
Ben Anderson (for our title), Dr Siobhan Talbott, Tracy Di-Piazza, and Craig Doughty
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