2022 Social Sciences and Humanities Student Research Forum

At the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year, UNM COMMGrads came together to plan a student-oriented conference that could be inclusive of all types of research from any academic discipline. The 2022 Social Sciences and Humanities Student Research Forum is a chance for undergraduate and graduate students from any academic institution or professional organization to present their research in a number of different formats. Our vision of “Transformative Practices” stemmed from our passion to create a scholarly space that is inclusive of all students, showcases multiple styles of research, and cedes conversation-based learning. We have worked to construct a research forum where students can submit scholarship—including work in progress and even ideas for potential research—in the format of academic writing, podcasts, and short films.

The panel structure for this year’s research forum will also go against the norm for academic conferences. Each student will be given an opportunity to present their work to their fellow panelists and respondents. Following the presentations, panelists and respondents will engage in critical discussion about the unique research perspectives present on their respective panel. By pursuing this structure, it is our hope that we participate in a scholarly “shift from an individualist, competitive, and product-oriented model of scholarship (implicitly grounded in the ‘ownership’ of knowledge) towards a collaborative, open, and transformative vision of knowledge as a cocreative process that refigures the ‘collection, curation, and distribution of vernacular data [as] an active, rather than passive, exercise’” (Cotera, 2015, p. 793).

Cotera, M. (2015). "Invisibility is an unnatural disaster": Feminist archival praxis after the digital turn. South Atlantic Quarterly, 114(4), 781-801. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-3157133