More than 50 graduate students from a number of universities will gather this weekend at UT Dallas to share their work and discuss the future of the humanities.

RAW Conference 2012

The RAW conference gives students a chance to collect feedback from panel moderators and audience members.

The RAW: Research, Art, Writing symposium, sponsored by the Graduate Student Association(GSA) in the School of Arts and Humanities, offers students a chance to present their scholarly and creative work and receive feedback from panel moderators and audience members. 

The interdisciplinary symposium also features keynote speaker Dr. Benjamin L. Alpers, associate professor in the Honors College at the University of Oklahoma.

Alpers, an intellectual historian, will assess the future of the humanities, speak to the concerns of graduate students pursuing advanced degrees, and reflect on what the academy’s future might look like for them.

Dr. Benjamin L. Alpers

Dr. Benjamin L. Alpers, keynote speaker, will address concerns of students pursuing advanced degrees.

The symposium is Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m to 6 p.m. in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center (JO).

Graduate student presentations will touch on work involving history, literature, aesthetics, and arts and technology.

“Each panel of presentations is made up of scholars from different disciplines, featuring some combination of historians, literary scholars, poets, performance artists, philosophers, digital artists, game theorists or students of new media. It’s a very heady mix, and makes for a very thought-provoking day,” said Lora Burnett, president of the GSA.

Presenters include students from UT Dallas, UT Austin, UT Tyler and other Texas schools. Speakers will be attending from as far away as Weber State University in Utah. 

“Participating and attending RAW is very important for graduate students. Discussing work before a larger audience and making new intellectual associations within an interdisciplinary framework helps students in their professional development.”

Courtney Dombroski,
vice president of GSA

“Participating and attending RAW is very important for graduate students. Discussing work before a larger audience and making new intellectual associations within an interdisciplinary framework helps students in their professional development,” said Courtney Dombroski, vice president of the GSA.

Because UT Dallas faculty members moderate each symposium panel, RAW also provides students with networking opportunities and time to build stronger connections with their professors, Dombroski added.

Doctoral candidate Sara Keeth has presented at the symposium for the last few years.

“For me, RAW was the first conference where I presented a paper. Since UT Dallas is my home campus, I wasn’t worried about missing a flight, being able to afford membership dues, or finding the right building. All of my attention was focused on the presentation and my work,” said Keeth. “When I began presenting at other conferences, I had the confidence of knowing what to expect.”

The symposium is free and open to the public. Registration for the event starts at 8:30 a.m. and opening remarks are at 9 a.m. The event’s full schedule is available online.