Congress kicked off with a crepe cooking demonstration May 22 ( Photo: Adam Dietrich )
With classes cancelled at the end of May and a beer garden set up in the quad, it appeared as if students finally took over the university.
However, it was in fact academics who filled the typically quiet campus from May 23 – 31 with discussions, debates and friendly banter.
Carleton played host to the “academic Olympics,” as the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences has been referred to.
The nine-day event brought about 8,000 professors, phD students and researchers from around North America and abroad to campus for debates on everything from medieval manuscript decoration to blogging to all aspects of Canadian society.
The Congress is an opportunity for academics to “present their research and have fun,” said John Osborne, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It’s also a chance to meet old colleagues and researchers who share a common interest, he said.
“There’s a lot of great discussion, some of it over beer in the beer garden,” Osborne said.
Aruna Srivastava, a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary, said the Congress allows her the opportunity it “connect with a community that I normally wouldn’t . . . on certain ideas.”
She was a presenter in the equity issues panel series at the Congress. She also added that the discussion and sessions are “usually quite rejuvenating.”
This is Carleton’s fourth time hosting the Congress and Ed Kane, assistant vice-president (university services), has promised it will be greener than past times hosting.
He said the goal for the Congress is for all materials used to be recyclable or reusable, and that if any waste must be produced, he will plant a tree on campus for every ton of waste produced.
Although the Congress is not cheap to host, Osborne said the Carleton community will see many benefits. “We are spending money, but a lot is used to improve campus and some to hire students.”
He also said the Congress will help put Carleton on the academic map. “[Hosting the Congress] is part of good academic university citizenship,” he said, as most universities take a turn hosting. He said it will put Carleton’s reputation out there so that professors will think of the university when advising their students on graduate schools or places to work.
The Congress has also allowed one Carleton student to get his own reputation out. Matt Edwards, a Carleton architecture and music student who will begin his master’s in architecture in the fall,
presented a soundscapes installation at the MacOdrum Library for the duration of the Congress.
The piece featured nine black boxes, each of which “offers an avenue into the experience of a sonic environment – a soundscape,” Edwards said.
“The piece deals with the concepts of microcosm and macrocosm, and strives to give the listener a better understanding of his/her place within a space from an acoustic perspective,” he said.
This is Edwards’ first attempt at marrying his two interests of architecture and music.
The Congress wrapped up May 31, with students returning and classes resuming June 1 – leaving Concordia University to prepare for next year’s event.