Blog
Oct
2
New Congress hashtag
The 2013 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences was a huge success in terms of online engagement between attendees, the Federation, and our hosts at the University of Victoria. One of our key social media platforms was Twitter, and the #congress2013 hashtag became a valuable place to connect, share information, and discuss the ideas so abundant during the week. From June 1-8 we measured 7,600 tweets using #congress2013, and about 1,600 of those took place in just one day!
To visit #congress2013 now, however, is a different story. Currently, and even during Congress, the feed is also occupied by tweets about different events that use the same hashtag, as well as angry rants about US politics. The same applies for #congress2012, and every future Congress if we were to continue using this format. All these other...
Jul
10
Looking Back: Congress 2013
Text and Photos by Andrew Brough unless otherwise credited.
Photo by Peter E. Cumming
The University of Victoria is a lush, green campus. More often than not, the local deer would join you on your morning walk to a session.
But it wasn’t just the deer that were up and about in the morning, especially during Congress. There were plenty of people arriving via bus and...
Jul
6
What Congress 2013 Meant to Me: The Final Edition
Team Media passing those long, long hours. I assure you it was a lot more work than it looks.
Its been a month since Congress ended and I don't know where to begin this long overdue post. Initially, I confess, I was at a loss for words when it came to this particular blog entry, but now, as the energy has died down and I've had some time to think, I can better summarize my experience. At a glance, Congress 2013 was Canada's largest gathering of academics, scholars, and researchers in the humanities and social sciences with 68 academic associations and some seven-thousand odd delegates. Over eight days the University of Victoria hosted, in most cases simultaneously, keynote lectures, panel presentations, meetings with policymakers, SSHRC funding...
Jun
26
Pushing boundaries at Congress 2014
Christine McKenna Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
A popular description of the creative mind is the ability to “think outside the box”, to consider what options are available beyond the cardboard walls of tradition and the Styrofoam peanuts of habit. Sometimes, what comes in one box isn’t sufficient, and solutions may be found in the contents of another; innovation requires the understanding that “the box” is not “the only box” – there are many different boxes, each package a unique configuration of ideas – and they aren’t necessarily sealed. At Congress 2013, Daniel Weinstock’s Big Thinking lecture explored how divisive social issues may be addressed by integrating various ideologies to create a workable compromise (kind of like this, but with ideas instead of IKEAs). Socially valuable...
Jun
24
Congress 2013 feedback
It’s been just over two weeks since Congress 2013 wrapped up, and we’re still receiving some really valuable feedback; our annual post-Congress survey has brought in hundreds of responses already, and we’ve had a great collection of blog posts shared with us by attendees reflecting on their experience.
Here at the Federation, we strive to ensure that the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is well-organized, productive, and enjoyable for all. We send out a survey at the end of every Congress and work to incorporate the feedback we receive into the following year’s planning. By completing our survey, you can help us to develop in both logistics and programming, and provide us with your thoughts on any areas with room for improvement. Your comments are truly valuable to us, so we encourage you to let us know how you feel, even just by sending us an email or a tweet. Our...
