From its first incarnation in 2000 as a Law and Social Science mini-conference, and from 2004 to the present day as a College-wide event, Moving Forward has been designed by and for postgraduate students studying in the many disciplines of the Arts and Social Sciences around the UK and abroad.
Moving Forward is a two-day postgraduate conference geared toward students researching in the many disciplines of the Arts and Social Sciences including:
- Business
- Divinity, History and Philosophy
- Education and Music
- Language and Literature
- Law
- Social Sciences
The ninth annual conference will be held at the University of Aberdeen on 22nd-25th June 2012.
The conference aims to bring postgraduate students together in a safe and collaborative environment. This promotes the sharing of knowledge and resources, networking, and the development of practical skills like effective presentation and communication of research.
Summary
Previously running for four years as the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law Postgraduate Conference, the annual College of Arts and Social Sciences Postgraduate Conference, Moving Forward, is now in its ninth year. University of Aberdeen restructuring has led various departments to appear under a new School, as opposed to Faculty, umbrella, and to the formation of three key academic colleges across the university. Hence the College of Arts and Social Sciences now incorporates the Schools of: Business; Divinity, History and Philosophy; Education and Music; Language & Literature; Law; Social Sciences.
Overall Conference Aims
The main aims of Moving Forward are threefold:
- *To bring postgraduate research students together from different departments, schools and universities both to create a collective identity, and to raise, discuss and debate common issues and problems
- *To enable individuals to network and establish lasting friendships and contacts with one another
- *To provide postgraduate students with an ideal opportunity to present past, current and proposed work in a supportive and relaxed atmosphere, facilitating dissemination and discussion of various findings and theories amongst fellow peers
Present Conference
Drawing on the success of previous years’ events, the 2012 conference seeks to attract even greater numbers of delegates and attendees not only from the college itself, but also from universities across the country and internationally. Attendance is £25 and includes registration, refreshments and lunch for both days, as well as a wine reception on the Friday. There will also be a Conference Dinner and Dance on the Saturday of the conference, for which there is an additional fee.
There will be a number of plenary sessions featuring professional speakers from a range of disciplines in addition to the numerous parallel sessions where postgraduate speakers will deliver presentations and performances on their research/postgraduate experience. Finally, there will be a rolling Poster/Installation Session, giving conference participants an opportunity to display their research project pictorially and to encourage informal discussions between delegates/networking.
Acknowledgements
It must be stressed that an event of this magnitude could not exist without the kind support of sponsors: thanks must be extended to The College of Arts and Social Sciences (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/cass) and to the Roberts Fund, who assist with Postgraduate Training (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/aspire/), for their generous help and funding. We are also indebted to the six schools that comprise the College of Arts and Social Sciences.
Enormous gratitude must also be given to the hard work contributed by a dedicated conference committee, each of whom gives substantial effort and significant amounts of their own time in a bid to stage this event. Thank you to all concerned!