Background and rationaleIn the introduction to her study of graduate school colloquia, Tracy (1997) notes the considerable number of texts that have been published on talk in different institutional settings but comments that: "we know little about intellectual discussion in the academy, however." This remark could be made with even more force with respect to teaching and learning encounters within higher education. Research on teaching and learning in higher education has predominantly taken the form of interviews or surveys of staff and students; and there have been very few ethnographic studies of day- to-day practice or fine-grained analysis of the talk that is employed.SummaryAnalysis of talk in supervision sessions and its relationship to a wider projectThe study reported in this presentation seeks to explore this relatively uncharted territory by analysing in depth transcriptions of audio-recordings of one-to-one meetings between students and the lecturers supervising their Masters dissertations. Specifically, the current analysis was conducted on meetings between three supervisors, one in Criminology and two in Education, with six students. (Advantages associated with the particular sample of sessions that were the focus of close analysis, as well as possible limitations, are detailed in the presentation.)These audio recordings were collected as part of a wider project investigating a variety of aspects of student and staff experience and representations of dissertation research and writing in Masters degrees that were linked to professional practice, (i.e., in Education, Nursing, Criminology, Community Health Science and Business Studies). The wider project involved a student survey, interviews with students, interviews with academic staff who acted as dissertation supervisors for these cohorts of students, in addition to the recording and analysis of dissertation supervision sessions. Choosing to focus on masters degrees connected with professional practice provided a site that was well-placed to allow the exploration of issues concerning lecturer authority and student agency, given that dissertation supervisors on these degrees have to manage the delicate interactional tasks of:· assisting experienced practitioners meet the challenges of being novice researchers,· working to enhance professional practice in addition to academic expertise,· helping to progress the dissertation amidst students' competing commitments.Principal content areas of the presentationThe presentation will situate the fine- grained examination of these supervision sessions within the wider project that has been described above and explain how the interview findings were helpful in framing the analysis of talk. Principal methodological issues and challenges will be considered and the need to exercise caution in conducting such an analysis highlighted. Attention then turns to outlining the discursive / conceptual formulation of dissertation purposes and tasks and the particular type of interactional order that appeared to be established within these sessions. In other words, the ways in which lecturers acted within these supervision sessions to assist students to formulate and progress their dissertation work in academically appropriate ways are delineated and close attention is given to how this work of shaping students' efforts was embedded within a participant structure and forms of interaction that were supportive and enabling. The concluding discussion demonstrates how the study's findings point up the need for a more nuanced, differentiated account of the exercise of power in supervisory relationships than has been provided in the past.ReferenceTracy, K. 1997. Colloquium: Dilemmas of Academic Discourse. Advances in Discourse Processes, vol. 60. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.