The Integrated Network for Social Sustainability is excited to host our second graduate student pre-conference symposium. We launched this symposium in 2017, with resounding success. Last year’s participants came from multiple disciplines and from countries around the world to share their perspectives on social sustainability with each other and the broader INSS conference.
The symposium in an intensive opportunity for graduate students to work with other graduate students and several UNC Charlotte faculty members on refining research questions related to sustainability. This year’s conference theme is “Localizing Sustainability: Local Challenges, Local Champions.” While student work need not cohere to this theme, we encourage students to consider how their research either involves issues and/or responses that are unique to a particular place.
*Activities*
– 5 minute mini-presentations, to be prepared in advance of symposium, by each attendee on how their discipline and/or how their own research addresses sustainability; students will refine these presentations with new perspectives gained from discussions & present a revised version at conference on 6/9
– Discussion of pre-assigned multi-disciplinary readings on sustainability, including those proposed by students
– Discussion of own research with peers and faculty; opportunity to get feedback
– Lectures from the conference keynote speaker and sustainability advocates in Charlotte
– Student poster competition. Participants are encouraged to submit a poster, to be presented with other student posters on day three of the conference. Posters will be judged.
*Who is eligible?*
We welcome graduate students (either advanced Masters or Doctoral students) of any discipline. Participants should be able to articulate how their academic discipline understands and applies the concept of sustainability. Activities at the workshop are meant to help students develop or refine a sustainability-themed research question for their thesis.
Symposium Date: June 7, 2018. Students will be expected to attend conference through June 9.
Location: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Deadline for application: April 15, 2017
Registration is free. Travel funding for students outside the Charlotte area is available upon request. The conference also provides breakfast and lunch the day of the symposium, and meals throughout the conference.
*Registration requirements*
-Please complete the registration form found here.
-We are asking each student to submit an article they find foundational to their research. These will be compiled into an multi-disciplinary literature review.
After the workshop, we plan to collaboratively co-author with interested participants an analysis of this effort to bridge disciplinary divides to submit to a pedagogically-oriented journal.
*Contact*
Please send questions about the symposium to Dr. Robert Boyer at rboyer1@uncc.edu.
Please send questions about travel logistics and lodging to socialsustainabilitynetwork@gmail.com.
INSS Interdisciplinary Student Symposium Application here
