ENGAGE 2025: 24th Annual Graduate Student Conference

Call for Abstracts

For over two decades, graduate and upper-year undergraduate students have proudly represented the University of Guelph in its annual ENGAGE student conference. Celebrating the diversity of vitality of student research, the ENGAGE conference offers students a chance to present their research and network with other students and come together and ENGAGE with peers over critical issues and social debates.

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology (SOAN) invites graduate and upper year undergraduate students to the 24th annual ENGAGE Graduate Student Conference, which will be held in-person (April 3rd, 2025) and online (April 4th, 2025). This year, the ENGAGE committee is encouraging abstract submissions with a focus on preservation of various aspects of life, including areas such as the environment, social well-being, and policy impacts.

Land Acknowledgement 

We would like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous Peoples of all the lands that we occupy today. While we meet today on a virtual platform, the University of Guelph resides on the ancestral lands of the Attawandaron people and the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We recognize the significance of the Dish with One Spoon Covenant to this land and offer our respect to our Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Métis neighbours as we reflect on the stolen land in which we call home. We also recognize that this land is home to many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people today.

We also reaffirm our collective responsibility to this place and its peoples’ histories, rights, and presence. As we engage in deep conversations about our future within this space of higher education and voice our respect and responsibility, honouring the ancestral connections that are grounded in kinship with the land can strengthen our relationships and interconnected nature with Indigenous peoples who hold the land, and one another, sacred.

Conference Theme

Our theme for this year’s conference is Preserving People and Place.

This year’s ENGAGE theme acknowledges that the world we live in currently is in flux. It aims to provide space for preservation and conservation of the diversity that social science is known for. We welcome relevant research from any disciplines or sub-disciplines that consider the preservation of cultures, peoples, languages, geographic identities... We acknowledge and encourage research that considers people and places as worthy of protection and care, working towards a more united global community.

Contemporary social science aims to do more than just problematize. It also aims to set action plans for collective advocacy and transformative movements. We welcome relevant research from any discipline or subdiscipline that considers social changes and research being guided by the principles of diversity, inclusion, and sustainability. We acknowledge and encourage research considering the individual as a global citizen, working towards an interconnected harmony amongst identities.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS Friday, February 28th, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST.

Abstract Submissions

In fulfilling our mission to develop a supportive and inclusive environment for students to conduct and present their research, the ENGAGE conference accepts submissions on an array of topics in any areas that are broadly inspired by or related to the conference theme. In addition to sociologically, anthropologically, and criminologically focused topics, we will be accepting undergraduate and graduate student presentations which connect to the theme of Preserving People and Place.

Abstracts for submission must be between 150-300 words in length. Abstract submissions will not be accepted after Friday, February 28th, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Please submit your abstract to soanconf@uoguelph.ca.

Please indicate in the body of your submission email whether you are available to present in-person (April 3rd, 2025), online (April 4th, 2025), or either date.

Presentation Options

Paper sessions: these are sessions organized around a general topic / area of study (~15-minute presentation + discussion).

Abstract submissions will not be accepted after Friday, February 28th, 2025, at 5:00 PM EST. Please submit your abstract to soanconf@uoguelph.ca.

Please indicate in the body of your submission email whether you are available to present in-person (April 3rd, 2025), online (April 4th, 2025), or either date.

Awards

Five monetary awards will be presented at the ENGAGE conference this year:

• ENGAGE Original Outstanding Research Award ($100)
• ENGAGE Best Overall Related Research Award ($100)
• ENGAGE Best Community Engaged Research Award ($100)
• ENGAGE Best Graduate Research Presentation Award ($100)
• ENGAGE Best Undergraduate Research Presentation Award ($100)

Conference Goals

The goals for ENGAGE 2025 are to:

• Provide students with a collegial environment in which to present and receive feedback on both completed works and / or projects in progress;
• Foster communication and engagement between scholars with diverse research interests and perspectives;
• Challenge and critically examine our understanding of the social world, as well as the impact our research has on the individuals and / or communities we partner with and / or study.

Conference Format

This conference will be delivered in-person at the University of Guelph on April 3rd, 2025, and virtually on Zoom on April 4th, 2025. Paper presentations will be presented synchronously throughout the day. Information regarding the theme and time of each session, the location of the in-person conference, as well as the length of each presentation will be provided closer to the date of the conference.

Cost and Accommodation

There is no fee to participate in this conference. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer funding for participants' costs.

Accessibility

There are a variety of accommodation options available. Please email soanconf@uoguelph.ca if you would like to participate and require accommodation.

We look forward to seeing you at ENGAGE 2025!