The department of Sociology and Public Policy is pleased to host StudentSpeak, a conference dedicated to publicising and advancing new undergraduate thinking and research. The purpose of the conference is to support a ‘scholarship of engagement’ through which university students contribute to defining, analysing and intervening in the pressing social questions and problems of our time. It aims to battle disengagement in undergraduate research, not of students from their work but of student work from real-world concerns, and to provide a forum for young theorists and researchers in the West Midlands to present their work for critical discussion amongst peers and academics.

All undergraduate students with an interest in social science and/or languages are encouraged to participate. The programme will be organised around themes that emerge from submissions; however, we particularly encourage presentations in sociology, public policy and critical governance studies, European politics and international relations, modern languages and translation studies.

A full programme will be available in mid-May. A workshop on conference presentation will be organised closer to the date for students wanting additional support. Selected authors will be invited to publish their work on the School of Languages and Social Sciences website after the conference.

Submitting an abstract

Please submit an abstract of 250 words or less, outlining the work you would like to present, to Dr Sarah Amsler (s dot s dot amsler at aston dot ac dot uk). The deadline for abstract submissions is 7 May 2010. Please keep in mind that all presentations should be 15-20 minutes long when planning your submission.

Abstracts should include:

• your name, university, department/field(s) of study and year of study
• email, phone number and postal address
• the title of your paper or presentation*
• an abstract of your presentation
• any particular requirements (dietary, accessibility, IT/AV, etc.)

^{* If you would like to organise a panel of presentations (2 or 3 presentations dealing with a common theme), please suggest a title for your panel and list the members.}

Submission categories

You may submit an abstract for any work you would like to present; including but not limited to:

• completed research and work-in-progress, including final-year dissertation work
• quality coursework at any level dealing with the main conference themes
• critical reflections on placement work and experience
• critical reviews of books and media relevant for social science and languages research
• papers dealing with pedagogy and student experience
• reflections on the experience and politics of undergraduate social science

You can choose to present work in the following formats:

• a paper
• a poster
• a film or other media
• nothing; just want to attend

Conference volunteers

We are also looking for volunteers to help organise on the day - if you have or want experience with organising events, this is a good opportunity!