January 5, 2015 Message from IDC5 Organizing Chair Stefanie Ruel
Welcome to IDC 2015!
On behalf of the International Doctoral Consortium (IDC) 2015 organizing committee, I
welcome you all to the official website for the Consortium. On a bi-weekly basis, I will be
providing you updates on what the organizing committee has accomplished so far to
make this a successful and enriching experience for you, and what exciting activities lay
ahead for participants.
Since the close of IDC 2014, the organizing committee from 2014 has handed over their
knowledge and experience to the 2015 organizing committee. The 2015 committee,
made up of student representatives from the IDC sponsor schools, have been hard at
work getting the Consortium ready for June 2015. These volunteers have formed four
sub-committees for IDC 2015:
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Program Schedule – Faculty – Mariana Paludi, SMU; Isabelle Krysa, SMU
Program Schedule – Students – Elina Riivari, JSBE; Maarit Lammassaari,
UEF; Vick Virtu, Nijmegen (RUN); Tuomas Kokko, JSBE.
Special Outing – Chris Whynacht, U Mass; Adri Van Hilten, AU; Connie
Graham, University of the Free State; Abhijeet Lele, BIMTECh
Communications and Publicity – Annika Voltan, SMU; Adri Van Hilten, AU;
Lucas Casagrande, UFRGS – Porto Alegre- Brazil
The Program Schedule – Faculty sub-committee have exciting news to share: they
have actively been working to build the workshop schedules with faculty who have
agreed to support the Consortium. They also have secured the participation of our 2015
keynote speakers! Dr. Pushkala Prasad, Skidmore University, and Dr. Anshuman
Prasad, University of New Haven, have graciously agreed to give the Keynote on
Monday June 10th, 2015. They are internationally known for their separate and
collective work in areas such as workplace diversity and multiculturalism, and
postcolonialism (to name just a couple areas!).
More updates to come in the ensuing weeks… so stay tuned!
Stefanie (Ruel), Athabasca University Doctoral Student
2015 IDC Chair
January 21 Update from IDC5 Organizing Chair Stefanie Ruel
Following on with these bi-weekly updates, the Program Schedule – Students
subcommittee has worked hard to put together a ‘user-friendly’ doctoral student
approach to the IDC 2015. They have built in an early initial abstract submission and a
final abstract submission format. This format allows students who need Visas to attend
the Consortium in Canada to hear early on whether they have been accepted to present
at their work at the Consortium – thereby helping to ensure the international experience
of this Consortium.
This unique format also allows first year doctoral students time to refine and acquire
more knowledge through their course work, and then to apply it to their abstract
submission. We are the only doctoral Consortium to allow knowledge to continue to
grow and to be reflected in work accomplished so far! While this is challenging from an
organizing perspective, we felt strongly that we needed to embrace the building of
‘emerging scholars’, including in the preparatory activities to this Consortium.
The first deadline for initial abstracts – January 31st, 2015 – is fast approaching! So
don’t hesitate to get your abstracts and registration forms handed in as soon as you
can.
Stefanie (Ruel), Athabasca University Doctoral Student
2015 IDC Chair
February 13, 2015
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
We have extended the deadline for submissions of abstracts and registration forms to
March 31, 2015! So there is still time to think about attending and getting the paperwork
in. If you have already submitted your registration forms, we are working hard to review
those applications and get acceptance letters out.
Now... onto the possible activities that we are currently working on:
The Special Outing subcommittee has been hard at work since August 2014… yes,
that’s right since mid-summer 2014… to come up with exciting Halifax activities for the
IDC 2015 participants. Their mandate was clear, following inputs from the 2014 survey
of participants: organize activities that don’t cost too much, that will introduce first-time
visitors to Halifax, and that will help to forge lasting collaborative relationships among
the participants.
Halifax is a city with a lot of nature, which allows us to plan lots of fun hikes or walking
tours of the city - strong possibilities to get us all moving and energized without draining
anyone’s wallet. We hope to organize a short walk each evening of the conference for
those interested, ideally with each walking tour ending at a fun/casual place for dinner
or drinks. The walks and dinners are optional; but we encourage people to attend, get
to know the city, and meet other attendees! For example, one night we are planning a
ferry ride to Dartmouth and back to view Halifax at sunset. That night we suggest that a
quick refreshing beverage break near the wharf on one side or the other will be a must!
We will have a series of sign-up sheets (for walks, dinners, or both) so that we can plan
an appropriate reservation each night, and though we may not always get everyone at
the same table at least we can all meet in the same place!
Additionally, we will also be arranging a more formal opportunity to meet and socialize
during our end of conference dinner held at a more upscale local restaurant which
specializes in the fresh seafood that Halifax is known for; though other menu options will
be available. We are also planning to hold morning coffee sessions/breakfasts on
campus as a way of getting the early risers together! Anyone who feels they need their
morning coffee is welcome to attend these on campus breakfasts.
The Special Outing subcommittee is also looking for sponsors for these events! More to
come as plans firm up.
Stefanie (Ruel), Athabasca University Doctoral Student
2015 IDC Chair