Share your knowledge — en français
Concordia faculty and graduate students will have an unprecedented opportunity to present their research to the francophone world from May 12 to 16, 2014, when the university welcomes the 82nd Congrès de l’Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas).
The Acfas meeting is the largest multidisciplinary gathering of knowledge and research in the Francophonie. More than 5,000 delegates from across Quebec and some 30 countries are expected to attend — a chance for all participants to greatly expand their knowledge and opportunities for research collaboration.
“The conference is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the dynamic, transformative work of the university’s researchers, professors and students,” says Alan Shepard, president of Concordia. “I encourage faculty and graduate students to attend the event and use it a platform to collaborate, discuss and share knowledge across disciplines.”
Acfas’s decision to hold the conference at Concordia reflects the reality of the university’s important contribution to scholarship in Quebec and around the world, according to Graham Carr, vice-president of Research and Graduate Studies.
“Many of our students are francophone, and numerous faculty members and students are comfortable in French,” he says.
The 2014 conference theme, La recherche : zones de convergence et de créativité, is a perfect fit for Concordia, where researchers and students from different academic fields are encouraged to collaborate within and across programs.
Though the language of the conference is in French, all members of the Concordia community are encouraged to participate.
“This is not only about representing our francophone strengths but conveying our willingness to reach out and engage fully with the communities which we are part of,” Carr explains. “I’m confident that doing so will lead to new opportunities for our researchers and graduate students at the same time as it makes Concordia better known to French-speaking people everywhere.”
Acfas is now accepting proposals for colloquia and general session papers. Proposals can be submitted through an online form available at the Acfas website, where there is also information about the conference policy on language. The deadline for submitting proposals for all the individual presentations is November 25, 2013. Proposals for conference sessions will be accepted for consideration until November 4.
“Those deadlines may seem a way off, but there’s less than a two-month window for individual proposals,” Carr notes. “It’s important to get a proposal ready as soon as possible, especially if someone needs a bit of help with his or her French.”
