Published Monday, February 21, 2005
Students Take to the Podium for Annual Research Extravaganza
By Michael Lisman
APPIAN STAFF WRITER

With topics ranging from elementary school bullying to the effect of college athletics conferences on higher education, students and faculty alike are gearing up for the biggest HGSE event of the year, the annual Student Research Conference and International Forum (SRC/IF).

The conference, which takes place this Friday in the various buildings on Appian Way, is organized by and entirely comprised of graduate students.

“As far as we know, this is the biggest student-run conference on education in the country,” said Rosalind Michahelles, staff advisor to the student committee.

Showcasing over 100 student presenters, the SRC/IF draws guests from Columbia, the University of Illinois, the University of Pennsylvania, several Canadian institutions, as well as Harvard.

Ivelina Borisova, the conference co-chair and a second-year doctoral student in Human Development and Psychology, relayed to The Appian some of the innovations made to this year’s event.

“For one, there are many more roundtable discussions set up for this year –seventeen in all -  and they are planned throughout the day instead of conflicting with the poster presentation session,” which is held over lunch, she said.

Borisova also highlighted a new format for this year's event, the “Please Touch Museum.” This feature, distinct from the roundtables and poster presentations, will allow participants to engage with objects such as computer programs and multimedia displays.  

Members of the HGSE faculty participate in the day's festivities by both attending the conference and serving as panel discussants.

While audience turnout is unpredictable -- “every year it’s a little bit different,” Michahelles said -- student presenters consistently indicate that they enjoy their chance at the lectern.

"It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to get involved with peers and the faculty,” Michahelles added, noting the chance to network with peers from across the globe and have their presentations seen and reviewed.

The International Forum, a panel presentation held after the student conference, has been running for over two decades at HGSE, and is traditionally composed of field practitioners and well-known professionals. It has also tended to focus on issues of reform. 

Past years’ forums have included progressive speakers such as Noam Chomsky and an education minister from Cuba. Last year’s forum, which focused on female activists who use various media to effect change, invited some controversy when the Office of Student Affairs asked conference organizers to move the event off-campus.  The panel included a gorilla-masked member of the "Guerilla Girls," a group popularly known for making provocative statements about gender inequity in the art world.

This year, the International Forum is titled “Abominable Acts and Courageous Conversations,” and will highlight the theme of human rights education. Panelists will include human rights educators from around the world. According to the forum steering committee, the central question of the day will be “whether educating young people about human rights, both here in the USA and around the world, can increase awareness of abuses of human rights.”

Michael Lisman is an Ed.M. candidate in the International Education Policy program, and a member of the Appian Board of Editors.