Written by Marco Capicotto, an MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies student.

While many consider joining a Student Society during their time at university might be an option more geared toward undergraduate students, it can be as rewarding for postgraduate students. It should be acknowledged that, at least in my experience, some societies are mostly attended by undergraduate students. Societies are a great opportunity to get to know other students with similar interests, make friends and can help you feel more engaged with the university community and the city of Manchester, which might be a city you have just moved in and are not familiar with.

During my experience as a postgraduate part-time student, I have joined and been involved in two societies: the Feminist Society and the LGBTQ+ Society. I was a member of both; however, I did not hold any position of responsibility within any of those societies due to time constraints. I found out about these societies during the ‘Societies Fair’ that is held every year during Welcome Week, approximately toward the end of September. Information about Societies can also be found on the Student Union’s website. I found out about both the Feminist Society and the LGBTQ+ Society during the fair just before the beginning of the academic year: although the event was quite busy and overwhelming, it was great to see the number of societies that are available for students to join every year, without a doubt any student can find at least one society catered to their interests. I must admit that I found myself gravitating toward several societies in my time as a student at Manchester, although I opted to get involved in only the two mentioned above as feminism and the LGBTQ+ community are two core interests that I believe are central to my identity. My main reason for joining societies was to get to know other like-minded students from different courses and levels of study as well as to keep myself engaged with my interests. While FemSoc operates mainly through a face-to-face weekly assembly-style meeting and occasional panels with talks from experts, the UoM LGBTQ+ Soc has a more flexible approach. The latter society has both remote meetings via Zoom and Discord as well as in-person weekly socials: this allows for more members to engage in different activities.

I think as a student at master’s level it is crucial to manage expectations when joining societies: it is unlikely to be able to commit to multiple societies’ weekly events, therefore I would encourage master’s students to consider what societies they really want to join as well as how much time they are willing to commit. I think joining a society can benefit master’s students in several ways: firstly, it can help making new friends outside of the course and accommodation, secondly, it will be a chance to stay in touch with what they enjoy and care about and lastly, it can help in forging a sense of belonging to the wider university community and to Manchester.

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