Conference Page


 

Conference Home Page

We will spend three weeks of our semester creating and presenting an academic conference. If you do not know what an 'academic conference' is, please do a little research and try to get an idea of the purpose(s) of an academic conference. All of the professors you will be working with during your career at UBC are researchers, UBC is a research institution. And, most of your professors spend some part of their time working on research which they eventually present at academic conferences, and typically their conference papers are then published in scholarly journals. This process is an essential part of academic culture -- indeed, one could consider the academic conference, in anthropological terms, as an integral 'ceremony' of academic culture. Perhaps, as a type of rite of passage -- for research.


 

The theme of our conference will be:

Digital Literacy

 

 Below is how we will 'organize' our conference. Other than this organizational structure, I will provide little input into the design or presentation of the conference. I will advise you and evaluate your work as collaborators each fully responsible for the organization and content of the conference as well as the 'event' itself. See Conference Assignments for details on how I will evaluate your work.

 

 


 

 Conference Organizers:

 

Seven Groups will be presenting their research and 6 people will work as Conference Organizers, and 2 people will be our documentary team.

 

The Nine Conference Organizors will include:

 

Conference Hosts and Liaison Team:

 

Two people who will generally oversee communications between groups and organizers and host the conference by introducing all the presentations and keeping the audience engaged between presentations -- just like an MC. These two people will also assist with creating a thematic and aesthetic concept for our Conference. Our hosts will also assist with proof reading and correcting the Conference Home Page and Program.

 

Required Skills: Our Conference Hosts must be able to think on their feet and collect their thoughts quickly, they should have a good sense of humour, lots of patience and enjoy speaking in front of a audience. Our Conference Hosts must also be good at helping the Research Groups feel welcome and at ease before they present. Our Conference hosts also has the most difficult job of timing -- keeping the Conference on time.


 

Conference WebSpace and Program Design Team:

 

Two people will be responsible for creating and maintaining the Conference Home Page & Conference Program. This team will play a major role in creating a thematic and aesthetic concept for our Conference. Please follow this link to see an example of last semester's WebSpace.

Required Skills: This team needs to have a high level of digital editing skills and a creative flare for design.

Conference Director:


 

Conference & Techinical Director

 

One person will be our both our Conference and our Technical Director. This person will be responsible for all technical requirements and will also act as a Team leader for the Conference Organizers. You will work closely with our Key Note Speaker to organize brainstorming sessions and generally act as the liaison person for the organizing team keeping everyone connected and on scheudal.

 

Required Skills: Our Conference Director needs be technically adept, creative, and extremely well organized -- everyone depends on this person. You will need to have a sense of humour and much patience, as well as be able to trouble shoot technical problems quickly.


Key Note Speaker:

 

One person will be our "Key Note' speaker. A key note speaker introduces the intellectual content and theme of the Conference on the first day and s/he is the last person to speak on the last day of the Conference. Our Key Note Speaker will work closely with our Director helping to keep everyone -- organizers and research groups -- co-ordinated and on shedule. The Key note speaker will also assist with proof reading and correcting the Conference Home Page and Program.

 

Required Skills: This person must be able to think on their feet and collect and organize their thoughts quickly, they should be comfortable with public speaking, intellectually creative and confident. This is a big responsibility. You will work with the Organizing team, read all the research proposals, and develop a strong overview of all the presentations throughout our workshops working one on one with research groups.


 

Documentary Team:

 

Two people will document our conference from the beginning of our research process to the conference presentations. They will edit a 20 - 25 minute digital video which they will then present to the class in DVD format and post on our Conference Home page.

 

Required Skills: These people need to be creative, have an eye for photography and a steady hand with a camera, and some skills with digital editing -- or at the very least be digitally competent in other areas and eager to learn and willing to work after the conference is over -- in my office with me.