University News

Research Week 2010 Promotes Teaching Enriched by Scholarship

March 18, 2010

Bishop’s University will hold its 5th Annual Research Week beginning on Monday, March 22. This year’s edition will highlight the four new research clusters which have been identified and approved as the priority research themes of the University. These are all multidisciplinary areas of research which address questions such as the beginning of the cosmos, psychological health and wellbeing, environmental and climate change, and social and cultural differences.

There will be a number of presentations given by faculty  members and students from different departments. Two guest lectures will be offered: one by Dr.  David Wolfsdorf from Temple University on Plato’s conception of knowledge and  one by Dr. Suzanne Fortier, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering  Research Council of Canada.

The student poster competition is one of the most popular components of  Research Week; it is an excellent opportunity for students to explore issues in  depth and with intellectual rigor. This exercise also prepares Bishop’s  undergraduates for graduate work, provides them with early professionalization,  and allows them to share their findings with their peers and professors.  Posters of research projects will be displayed in the Centennial Lobby all  week. The best posters awards will be announced at a reception on Thursday.

A stellar evening will take place at the Bishop’s Astronomical  Observatory on Tuesday beginning at 8:30 pm. Located on the roof of the Nicolls  Building, the Observatory houses a 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and boasts a  recently added observation deck, is used to enrich the undergraduate students’  learning experience and give the graduate students another tool with which to  broaden their horizons.

The Quebec Universities English Undergraduate Conference will be held at  Bishop’s during Research Week. Over 70  students from Bishop’s, Concordia, McGill, Université Laval, Université de  Sherbrooke, and Université de Montréal will present papers on topics as diverse  as Renaissance drama and the Harlem Renaissance. Everyone is invited; to  register online: www.ubishops.ca/queuc/.

Research Week showcases our community’s many scholarly  and creative endeavours, while demonstrating the close connection between  excellence in research and the opportunities for students to explore their own  intellectual freedom through self-directed and professor-guided research  projects.

The full program is available at: www.ubishops.ca/research/research-events/research-week/.

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