Graduate Research Workshops 2019-20
In alignment with the Academic Plan 2017, the Office of the Vice-Principal, Academic and Dean, is proud to support Graduate Research Workshops at UTM, which look to foster interdisciplinary approaches to scholarship across the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences.
Graduate Research Workshops are intended to provide graduate students with opportunities for developing professional and academic skills that will enable new research outputs, highlight their research through community outreach, and ultimately enhance their future success in academia and beyond. In addition to opening avenues for networking between faculty and graduate students, we hope that these workshops will create opportunities for collaboration and co-authorship, particulary in disciplinary fields where sole authorship is the norm.
Every workshop is designed to accomplish three priority goals:
Create an opportunity for interdisciplinary research collaboration and intellectual discussion on a research theme of academic and social importance;
Provide an opportunity for graduate students to present research and develop research skills in a workshop environment; and
Bring expert researchers from leading universities around the world to work with graduate students and faculty to enhance research excellence.
A list of planned workshops for the 2019-20 season is provided below. Most are open to all faculty and graduate students, though some workshops may have a limited number of seats. Where an RSVP is required, please contact the faculty member in advance of the event to confirm seat availability.
Luther Obrock, Department of Historical Studies Ajay Rao, Department of Historical Studies The 2nd Annual Indian Epigraphy Workshop for scholars and students of ancient South Asia will take place in Mississauga, Canada, on August 5th, 2019 through August 9th, 2019. The workshop is offered in collaboration with the South Asian Studies Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Participants attending this week-long workshop will learn the basics of Gupta epigraphy, paleography, inscriptional language, and history. The Gupta Age has been seen as the "Golden Age" of Indian civilization. Apart from the literary and scientific literature ascribed to this time, the Guptas and affiliated polities produced a rich material archive of monumental architecture, sculpture, and inscriptions. The Gupta reign left a wide-ranging body of inscriptions, in which kings, nobles, and religious elites commemorated their pious donations and political victories. This workshop will allow attendees access to a rich archive of epigraphic material by giving a basic familiarity with the corpus and the tools to use inscriptional sources in further research. Further, we will analyze inscriptions in the context of the built landscapes in which they were encountered and viewed. We take the inscriptions as material and textual sources functioning within the larger context of sites and polities. |
Emily Impett (Department of Psychology) Relationship science is a theory-rich discipline, but very little training is provided on best practices for theory development and application. The key purpose of this workshop was to provide explicit training on theory development, which a group of scientists interested in relationships could apply to develop their own theories of interpersonal relationships. The workshop provided a forum for explication, explanation, and development of good theoretical practice for relationship and interpersonal scholars. |
Barend Beekhuizen, Department of Language Studies This workshop has three primary goals: 1) highlight and strengthen existing research synergies in language science across departments at UTM, 2) provide graduate students with an opportunity to present their research to and network with an interdisciplinary audience from across the GTA, 3) showcase UTM's multidisciplinary research strengths and build regional synergy with researchers across the GTA. |
October 2, 2019
Teresa Lobalsamo, Department of Language Studies On October 2nd, the Department of Language Studies will host on-site a full-day symposium entitled Italian Pedagogy in an Age of Memes. Invited speakers from across Ontario and the eastern U.S. will gather to discuss new directions in Italian Pedagogy, considering the ever-changing technological climate in which we teach and learn. Workshops will explore topics such as the evolution of language textbooks, social media in the classroom, learning through games, and other new practices in the teaching of Italian language, culture, cinema, and theatre. |
Boris Chrubasik, Department of Historical Studies On October 3rd, Professors Ulrich Gotter (University of Konstanz) and Matt Simonton (Arizona State University) will discuss citizen strife and civil war in the ancient world, a topic that clearly strongly resonates with our contemporary society, and which our speakers will explore with a view to how the lessons to be learned from it might contribute to a better understanding of current world events. The following day, both speakers will hold a graduate workshop on this topic, with an additional focus of historical methodology. |
Shashi Kant, Institute for Management and Innovation This inaugural conference seeks to bring together academics and students across all disciplines, Aboriginal leaders and scholars, business executives, civil society, policymakers, sustainability professionals and other sustainability lovers to explore innovative forms of theory, practice, and action that can help craft a path towards sustainability. Drawing on the expertise and record of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management program at the University of Toronto Mississauga’s Institute for Management & Innovation, the conference aims to nurture a sustainability culture by bringing into dialogue the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. |