Visit the official Congress website
Watch the Congress 2019 video
Welcome to Congress 2019!
The 88th annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is taking place at UBC June 1-7. With an anticipated 10,000 attendees converging on UBC’s Vancouver campus during this time, buildings and restaurants around campus will be busier than usual this time of year. Remember to give yourself some extra time when grabbing lunch or a coffee, and to be mindful of the increased number of visitors within your building. Your sense of hospitality towards our campus guests will go a long way in ensuring Congress is a success!
This is also an opportune time to remind you of some simple safety precautions, since large events on campus can unfortunately see an increase in the theft of wallets, purses, phones, laptops and bikes. Campus Security has compiled some useful reminders for the campus community on their website.
There will be an abundance of free Congress programming taking place across campus throughout the day; you can find a brief summary of the talks, panels and performances taking place here, while more detailed information can be found on the Congress website. Whether it’s watching engaging theatre like Michel Tremblay’s Canadian classic Hosanna or Unload: Theatre with Veterans, participating in the interdisciplinary Pedagogy Hub, or just making new connections in the Social Zone, there will be tons to see and do during Congress!
Jointly organized by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the host institution, the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is the largest interdisciplinary conference in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. The annual event brings together over 70 academic associations that represent a rich spectrum of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
Hosting Congress 2019 provides an opportunity to engage and inspire the UBC community, while also providing a platform for us to showcase our excellent learning and research activities to a diverse delegation from across Canada and around the world.
Further information about Congress 2019 at UBC is available via the official Congress2019.ca website.
Theme
With the theme “Circles of Conversation,” Congress 2019 in Vancouver will emphasize the deep, two-way relationships between the university and the communities it serves: local, provincial, national, and global. Particular attention will be focused on productive scholarly relations with Indigenous communities. The University of British Columbia sits on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory and houses the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.
“Circles of Conversation” will open up space for dialogue, debate, and dissent, and will showcase creative critical engagements — in literature, visual arts, and music — with topics as diverse as sustainability, accessibility, global mobility, health, culture, and, of course, education. Congress 2019 will foster and encourage circles of conversation among scholars, educators, students, political leaders, and activists, so that people can speak with one another, listen, and learn together.
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