Interventions and Intersections 2019: Postgraduate Conference

School of Humanities and Communication Arts

11th Annual Interventions and Intersections Conference

Making Academic Research Count

27-28 June 2019, Parramatta City Campus

The annual Humanities and Communication Arts Higher Degree Research Students Conference is a critical forum for all postgraduate researchers to present their ideas in light of a timely theme. This year, it’s all about “making academic research count.” The theme’s a perfect complement to the current buzz in the higher education sector about “impact” and “engagement,” making for a great opportunity for all postgraduates to consider their own position in relation to this thing called “academic research.”

Call for Papers: All HDR and MRes Students Welcome!

Join the discussion, meet some people, strengthen existing relationships, benefit from some advice, and get some feedback—all you need to do is present a paper at the conference. And, before you present on the day we’ll help prepare you with valuable advice about presenting your ideas at the conference, and we’ll help you write an engaging abstract too!

Papers are welcome from all students in every year of their candidature (you might present ideas from your CoC). All disciplines in humanities are welcome, for example, languages, linguistics, philosophy, design, music and more. Seize the opportunity to get feedback from colleagues outside your direct area of research.

Share academic research you are working on OR submit a proposal for one of the following streams within the theme:

1) Making creative practice and design “count.” Presenters will share their creative writing, composition, performance, designs, and will discuss the  impact of your creative work on industry, community and culture.

2) Increasing the impact of research through collaboration e.g. How has strategic collaboration increased the impact of your research? What impact has the work of other researchers had on your research? How can we acknowledge research participants as collaborators in our work?

3) Making academic research count - personally. Presenters will discuss that big, important question driving you every day in your research. Or their creative process? Perhaps also how their research journey has impacted their life (employability, self-discovery)? Or, what have you learnt from your research participants, have they inspired you, challenged you or impacted you emotionally?

4) Academic research and the bigger picture. Presenters will discuss their research’s key point of difference, or how does your research contribute to the Western Sydney region, or the world? Also, what’s the ethical impact of your research?

Click here to submit your proposal before the close of  20 May. You can propose a 20 minute paper, a poster or a panel discussion (minimum 3 people). After the proposal deadline, HDR students will be invited to a pre-conference workshop where you can polish-up your original proposal and resubmit it for the conference program - so it’s absolutely perfect! Submit your proposal now!

The Theme: Making Academic Research Count

“Making academic research count” is a theme that covers many areas, and this year’s conference will traverse some of the following. There’s issues of academic research’s impact on society, students and communities; and (in the background), the institution’s impact on the future of academic research, as well as knowledge systems, and importantly, First People’s knowledge. What research does, and how it counts, is an ethical question too. And, there’s also the question of how, and how well, a student’s research inside the academy helps pave the way for their employment (often outside the academy—of course!). Making academic research count is a personal problem too—in other words, each researcher’s own satisfaction, happiness, and (this is crucial) mental health. Related to the personal, of making academic research count for you is making your research count every step of the way. We’re not just talking about the publishing imperative, but a much more everyday problem: taking and incorporating feedback. It’s the problem of listening to another’s opinion, and using it to revise your work, every step of the way. Knowing how to truly take feedback on board—for example, how to really make the most out of your conference presentations—is a craft that, once mastered, is invaluable.

Keynote Speakers and Masterclass Sessions

Guest speakers will address the conference theme through their own research stories. Get inspired when you hear experienced researchers talking about why their research drives them, the obstacles they’ve overcome, the interesting vicissitudes they’ve followed, and how they think their research counts, or should count—or even, shouldn’t. Get advice about how to account for the problem of what “counts” and how to make whatever counts, count. And importantly too, as well as getting inspired, you’ll get reassured, and you’ll feel normal, about the things that you’re finding difficult and challenging and stressful, because you’ll be reminded how we’ve either been there before, or we’re there right with you, right there in the same boat. Full list of speakers to be released soon.

Program (PDF, 2913.83 KB) (opens in a new window)