The College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences at Gannon University will be hosting the NWPA Humanities and Social Sciences Conference throughout the day on Friday, March 22 on the Erie Campus.
This event serves as a one-day point of connection for all learners who value the sharing and discourse of ideas. This year, the theme of the conference reflects the theme of the College’s yearlong speaker series, Find Your Voice, aimed to hear diverse perspectives, engage in new experiences, and encourage advocacy, action and self-expression.
“We want to promote collaboration across universities,” said Lori Lindley, dean of Gannon’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “We hope to welcome them to Gannon and show them what our faculty and students are working on.”
Originally developed as a chance for students to present their research, the conference has grown to include many presenters across the disciplines and has evolved to include faculty, practitioners, and community members. It is now a respected regional peer-reviewed opportunity for students and faculty to share and develop their scholarship and attract professionals from other universities.
Lindley added that the variety of presentation formats should attract a wide array of proposals, depending on what the presenter is most confident with – or what they’d like more experience in – as well as the nature of their scholarship.
“We’re promoting three different formats for proposals, including paper, roundtable and workshop proposals, which provides a lot of opportunity for what people can get out of the conference,” she said.
The conference’s keynote speaker will be Gannon alumnus Annette Franklin, Ph.D., faculty emeritus of the State University of New York Fredonia. Franklin will present “A Quest for Education and Social Good,” during which she will discuss an oral history she completed on five paraprofessional teachers’ aides and how they found their voices throughout their experience in their preparation programs.
