An academic poster examining: Personal Identity

An academic poster examining: Personal Identity

Over our lifetimes, we develop and change in all sorts of ways. Reflect back on your own life, and you will find that there are things about you – your hobbies, interests, aspirations – that are very different now from five or ten years ago: and in five or ten years’ time, they will probably be just as different again.

Given that over the course of a lifetime we can change so much, this has prompted some people to ask, what exactly is it which makes us ‘us’? Alongside your daily challenges, this week we are setting you a bigger project, to investigate ‘personal identity’. You should start by reading the Oxplore page here

Based on what you have read, create an academic poster to submit at the end of this week, via the guidelines below. Your poster title should be: “How [your topic] impact(s) our personal identity.”

Select [your topic] from the options provided below for your stream (select ONE option only). Include both a definition (with justification) of how your chosen topic perspective would define personal identify, and examples of how this topic would lead to different personal identities (or not!). Are there any weaknesses to this view of personal identity?

Science & Technology topics

  • our DNA/genes
  • our brain
  • technology
  • evolution

Arts & Humanities topics

  • our choices/actions
  • our soul
  • growing older
  • social media/other people

Poster guidelines

Your poster should include/follow the guidelines listed below. Advice on all these points is found in the ‘Creating an academic poster’ section.

  • A title (selected from one of the options above)
  • Your first name, and the St John’s Inspire Programme logo (found here)
  • A2 size (portrait or landscape)
  • Digital or hand-drawn
  • Use good quality, peer-reviewed information
  • A reference list of academic sources
  • Use only copyright free images (and include a statement to confirm this)

Be saved as a PDF file

Your poster should include your first name and the St John’s Inspire Programme credits ONLY. DO NOT include any other identifying information, such as your school, other names or any contact details.

Creating an academic poster

You have probably made posters before, so what makes an academic poster different? Mostly, it is to do with the amount of information that is included on an academic poster. There must be enough to let people see how you have come to your conclusions and decide whether they agree with your approach.

Academic posters are used widely at conferences and research meetings, where many people come together to present their research. You may also have to prepare one during your degree studies. Therefore, making a good academic poster is a key skill.

Watch the video below on ‘Creating an academic poster’.

If you want to return to this video for reference, use these times to help you find the information you need: A2 poster size (01:20), Poster content (06:40), Poster sources (08:35), Referencing (13:50), Organising content (16:45), Finding images (18:55), Creating graphs and diagrams (23:30), Layout (26:10), Colour schemes (28:10), Fonts (31:00), Final touches (35:05), Exporting your poster (36:00)

Information on good content and image sources mentioned in the video is included in this booklet. The example poster produced during the video can be viewed here as a PDF. If you would like guidance on how to use your time this week to create your poster, see the ‘Managing your time’ section below.

Managing your time

In order to research and create your academic poster, you have a few different tasks to complete. You should plan how you will complete these tasks, to ensure you are able to submit your poster at the end of the Summer School. A suggested task list for each day is provided here – click each bar to load the suggested task list.

Monday 1st August/Day 1
Tuesday 2nd August/Day 2
  • Research your poster title, using good academic sources
  • Make notes on the information you find, and begin to group this into main points
  • Remember to record your sources, to build your reference list
Wednesday 3rd August/Day 3
  • Organise your information into 2-3 main points you want to make in your poster
  • Select images for your poster
  • Create any graphs, tables and diagrams
Thursday 4th August/Day 4
  • Write your introduction and conclusion for your poster
  • Arrange your content on your poster
  • Select colours, fonts and layout for your poster design
Friday 5th August/Day 5
  • Make final edits (such as including your first name and the St John’s Inspire logo)
  • Check your reference list is complete
  • Export your poster as a PDF, and submit it using the details in the Share With Us section below

Share with us!

We would love to see any examples of work that you do during your Inspire Summer School. This can be a photo of something you have made, a picture you have drawn, some written work (e.g. the start of a speech, or the answer to a question we asked), or some thoughts you have about what you have learnt!

You can submit your work by emailing inspire@sjc.ox.ac.uk, from the email address you have used to register for the Inspire programme.

Your email should include your:

  • Full name
  • School name
  • Year group

All pupils who share their work with us before August 31 2022 will be entered into a prize draw! Winning entries from each year group will be selected randomly, and a £10 Amazon voucher will be awarded to each winning entry. 

Please note, by submitting your work you are consenting to our terms and conditions. You can view our terms and conditions by clicking here.

St John’s Inspire may publish your work on Inspire Digital, our social media platforms, and other Inspire advertising materials. If you do not consent to having your work published, please state clearly in your email ‘I do not give permission for my work to be published by Inspire‘.