Collaboration in the Human Sciences
Moving from Theory to Practice in Local and Global Contexts
A Virtual Conference for Graduate Students
Come together in person to share and collaborate, or login from where you are!
Thursday, May 31 & Friday, June 1, 2018
Advancements in technology and communication have ushered in a new era of globalization forcing siloed academic environments to adapt and change with the times. Twenty-first century academics are expected to be T-shaped professionals who not only possess a depth of knowledge or expertise in a singular discipline but also a breadth of social competencies that allow them to successfully collaborate with others across disciplines. Major funding initiatives (NIH, NSF, Private Foundations) are seeking collaborative projects and interdisciplinary research, yet most doctoral programs do not prioritize the development of these skills.
This conference is unique in that it will:
- Offer both in-person and virtual access;
- Emphasize international collaboration and peer networking before, during, and after the event through social media and the conference website;
- Provide process-oriented perspectives from collaborative leaders across a variety of fields including Business, Education, Health, and Social Policy;
- Provide attendees with applied skills for cultivating collaborative partnerships; and
- Focus exclusively on graduate students, their education and professional development in the 21st century
The main sessions of the conference will be hosted in-person by the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware in the U.S. and telecast to in-person gatherings at partnering universities in Greece hosted by the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education at the University of Patras, and Germany hosted by the Department of Sociology at the University of Tübingen.
Participants are encouraged to attend in person to take advantage of the small work group sessions. Those who cannot attend in person can register to attend the conference virtually and participate in most sessions from their own computers. Students who register for the conference, but for some reason are unable to attend the conference in real time may be able to access videos of most sessions online after registering for the event.
Graduate students who attend this conference will leave with:
- Improved self-awareness of collaborative strengths and weaknesses;
- Knowledge about collaboration processes through multidisciplinary panels of professionals;
- Proficiencies in online platforms through workshops with specialists to improve your internet presence and impact; and
- Experience in sharing research through online poster presentations targeted action plans for future collaboration efforts for partnering departments and universities
We hope that this virtual conference model will increase the number of students who can access valuable information that can help advance their careers. Additionally, having an online forum for poster presentations allows us to utilize in-person conference time for skill building and networking, and enables a wider audience to provide feedback.
Conference registration will open on April 16th. Poster submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis until 11:59 EST on May 25th. At least one team member for each poster submitted must register to attend the conference in-person, or online if not local to one of the three sponsoring universities.
To get conference updates as they occur, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook @Gradscollab.