CFP: East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference

A message from the organizers of the East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference (ISGC):

We are excited to send out our third call for abstracts for the East-West Center’s student-led 20th annual International Graduate Student Conference, to be held in February 2021! The conference theme is Lei of Knowledge: Communicating Knowledge across Communities and Disciplines, and the geographic focus is the Asia-Pacific region. The deadline to submit an abstract and a non-technical summary for your paper presentation, poster talk, or any other format of presentation is October 9, 2020.

We look forward to connecting our many communities, in academia and beyond, through this year’s conference. Please circulate our call for abstracts to your contacts in as many offices and fields as possible!

Conference Information:

  • Venue: Hawai‘i Imin International Conference Center
  • Location: Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA
  • Dates: Thursday, February 11, through Saturday, February 13, 2021
  • Abstract Submission Deadline: October 9, 2020, 11:59 PM Hawai‘i Standard Time
  • Abstract Criteria: 350-word abstract (for review) and a non-technical summary (to be printed in the booklet) submitted to Submittable
  • Website: International Graduate Student Conference / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
  • Contact Email: igscewc@gmail.com

Conference Theme:

Lei of Knowledge: Communicating Knowledge across Communities and Disciplines

When a lei, a Hawaiian garland or wreath, is created it must be shared with others. This relationship between the creator, the lei, and the receiver is similar to how we view research and its connections to the community. The relationship between researchers and the community should be reciprocal and symbiotic. This conference will provide opportunities for researchers to disseminate their knowledge and promote accessible research, co-learning, and co-development of methods, strategies, goals/objectives, and outputs at different scales from local to global. Read our full statement on our website.

We are looking for submissions on work–in every field of study, from hard science to the arts & humanities–that meets the following criteria:

  • Inclusion of communities in the identification of the research question(s) and their continued involvement in the research
  • Co-identification of challenges and informational needs for a community
  • Innovative communication and partnership between research and community
  • Exchanging of knowledge, experiences, and goals with community stakeholders
  • Utilization of multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary methods with respect for diverse knowledge systems and ethics in the research process
  • Research that connects to the local community as well as research that scales up to the global community (with community defined broadly as any group of people)
  • Effective sharing (communication) of research outcomes so that their utility in decision-making, community empowerment, and policy is optimized
  • Focus on the Asia-Pacific region or applicable to communities in this region

Who should attend?

The conference is for graduate students pursuing either masters or doctorate degrees.  Researchers from all disciplines, especially researchers utilizing interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary methods, are invited to present on how the research they are conducting connects to the broader community.

This year we are also inviting limited participation from recently graduated early-career professionals, in recognition of the unique perspectives they may bring to our theme of communicating across communities as engaged, community-based professionals. Early-career professionals must have earned a graduate degree within the past three years. Those working on community projects or representing community viewpoints are especially encouraged to submit.

The deadline to submit your 350 word-abstract and non-technical summary is October 9, 2020, 11:59 PM Hawai‘i Standard Time (HST).

Me ka mahalo piha (with a fullness of gratitude),

The 20th IGSC Organizers

Bonnie Fox, Cheng-Cheng Li, Chiao-Wen Chiang & Jenny Ung

The East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference (ISGC), now in its 20th year, is one of the largest international graduate student conferences focused on the Asia Pacific region.

Established in 1960 in Honolulu, the East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.