This January 25th and 26th, Acadia is hosting the 6th Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium. The event, organized by the Acadia Graduate Students’ Association, welcomes Acadia students from all disciples and years of study to present their research to fellow students, faculty members and the general public.

Research is an essential part of Acadia and the symposium’s goal is to showcase the variety of research that happens across faculties including Arts, Sciences, Professional Studies and the Divinity College.

Sarah Dunn, president of the Acadia Graduate Students’ committee says the goal every year is to encourage students to share their research with an audience beyond their area of expertise and comfort zone as this serves as preparation for their career as researchers in the future.

“This is about building students’ confidence and their ability to present to a common audience,” she says. “One of the biggest problems that occurs in all faculties is that researchers can get lost in their field’s jargon. But when it comes to sharing this research for professional purposes such as asking for funding, you need to communicate what you’re doing and make your audiences care.”

Dunn, who is currently completing her Master’s degree in Geology, says this year, the organizers focused on a more inclusive approach hoping to keep the event as diverse as possible.

“You don’t have to be doing an Honours degree. If you worked on an independent study, or an original piece of art, you are invited to present. We want to keep all doors open and encourage representation from all faculties in the future.”

From a faculty perspective, Dunn says the symposium is also a great opportunity to bring faculty members together.

“It’s nice for faculty to see what goes on in other departments,” she says. “It’s a way for them to see what other members are doing and see how they could possibly benefit from one another and collaborate.”

The symposium is open to everyone in the Acadia community as well as the general public, and Dunn says this is a great opportunity for the community to become aware of just how important research is at Acadia.

“This is an opportunity to say, yes, we might be a small school, but look at the huge variety of things we do and how we actually impact global research across all these different fields. We have a lot of globally renown researchers here.”

The symposium will be held at the Huestis Innovation Pavilion.

For the full schedule and list of presenters, please visit the Facebook Event.