Dear CUFA community,
I am excited to share with you the official CUFA 2020 program. There is still some conference programming in the works - we are trying to provide CUFA members with as much interaction in the virtual format as possible - so the timing of sessions might change slightly. However, the formation of individual sessions is set, so those of you who had individual papers accepted and/or were selected to serve as discussants or chairs can now see with who you will be presenting. The program can be viewed at https://cufa2020.socialstudies.org/ All times are in EST.
Because of the virtual format, this year’s annual meeting will be unlike any other in CUFA’s history and may require you to think a bit differently about how you prepare for your presentation. The National Council for the Social Studies has chosen VConferenceOnline as the platform through which the conference will be held (more details to follow). All CUFA and NCSS sessions will occur on the VConferenceOnline platform. Because this format is novel to CUFA, we are asking chairs to communicate with the discussant and authors of papers in their sessions and consider a format for delivering their session. We will publish the type of presentation for each session in the program so that attendees know the levels of interaction when deciding how to spend their time during CUFA 2020.
Types of presentations are:
· Pre-recorded webinar sessions: Presenters and discussants will upload videos of their presentations to the conference platform. As the videos play in the conference platform during the conference session, questions can be asked and answered in the chat feature of the conference platform. Pre-recorded videos will need to be emailed to me by November 1st so they can be uploaded to the conference platform.
· Hybrid flipped sessions: In advance of the conference presenters and discussants will upload prerecorded presentations on a third-party platform like YouTube; distribute PowerPoints; or provide links to Google Docs that offer most salient points from the papers. This will allow for more interaction over Zoom during the date and time in the conference program.
· Live interactive sessions: Presenters and discussants present live over Zoom. Following these presentations, participants ask questions either in Zoom’s chat feature or by raising their hand in Zoom. This format follows most closely the traditional type of conference interaction. Presenters can choose whether to take questions as they go or wait until the end of their presentation. Unless indicated otherwise, this will be the default session type.
· Other session types: There is a wealth of creativity in CUFA. Perhaps there is a format we haven’t thought of! This is the time for experimentation, so do not feel constrained by the choices offered here.
Regardless of the format you choose, please have your papers to discussants by October 30th.
We are also seeking to cultivate interaction among CUFA members through the following opportunities:
JAVA Network sessions: While there will be a facilitator, these sessions are driven by participants sharing and learning around a topic. There is no presenter or presentation. All participants should bring their wisdom, questions, and resources to the session. These sessions include Teaching JAVA sessions and Research JAVA sessions. See the list of potential topics below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WtrcWqpdlMj_IxA9LKbo0r5DRBz24QFC/view?usp=sharing
If you are interested in facilitating a JAVA session, please indicate your interest by emailing me direct at cufa20conference@gmail.com We have included a list of potential topics; feel free to propose topics not included on this list!
Conversations with Colleagues sessions: "Conversations with Colleagues" are informal sessions sponsored by the CUFA Graduate Forum. These sessions aim to provide spaces for graduate students to dialogue with faculty members and other graduate students about areas of common interest. Some of the most important aspects of conferences involve being introduced to new people and talking informally in hallways between sessions. While we are unable to have hallway conversations this year, we hope Conversations with Colleagues sessions provide some informal connections amongst our community. We hope those who have attended CUFA in the past will participate in these sessions and ensure CUFA is a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable space. In each session, there will be a facilitator who will kick off the sessions by asking the Discussants a few questions; however, we plan to open the floor for questions and dialogue early in the sessions and hope that natural, meaningful conversation ensues.
We realize this year’s conference will require more preparation than in the past. However, we feel there are also opportunities for CUFA members to make deeper connections across institutions in planning their sessions together in advance of the conference. As always, please reach out to me at cufa20conference@gmail.com with any questions. We hope that you will embrace the online format and help us make CUFA 2020 the best conference it can be!
With gratitude,
Tim Patterson
2020 Program Chair
