60th Annual CAGS Conference - The Future of Graduate Education: Toward Local and Global Relevance

The title of this year’s conference highlights both the opportunities and immense challenges of our times. Now, perhaps more than ever, the world needs wisdom, critical thinking, adaptability, and commitment to the public good in our most highly educated citizens. At the same time, we recognize that the pressures and demands placed on researchers, scholars, and professionals in graduate studies have grown in recent years and that new understandings about work, education, and life are fundamentally disrupting how our society is ordered. As we begin to build this post-normal world, graduate studies will have a profound role to play.

For 60 years, deans, associate deans, graduate administrators, faculty members, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and many others have gathered at our annual conference to learn and share ideas about the future of graduate education in Canada. Despite the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, CAGS is committed to continuing this longstanding tradition for our members. At the same time, we acknowledge the challenges and uncertainties that inter-provincial travel still poses to many in our community. Thus, the 60th Annual CAGS Conference will also feature a wide range of virtual content and events optimized for remote participation.

The 60th Annual CAGS Conference will include all of the elements traditionally featured at our in-person conference, as well as some new opportunities to share, learn, and connect with colleagues and friends. In-person participants will have the chance to listen to thought-provoking keynotes and plenaries and to interact with a variety of panels, roundtables, and lightning talks dedicated to all aspects of graduate education. For our remote participants, we are excited to leverage a sophisticated virtual platform to offer a wide range of synchronous and pre-recorded content, including panels and roundtables, workshops, and special guest speakers. Opportunities for networking and reconnecting with colleagues will be a feature of both the in-person and virtual conference experience.

The conference will be conducted in both French and English, and each event will feature integrated remote simultaneous interpretation. The conference hotel and event spaces are fully accessible, and CAGS staff will be on-site to assist with any accessibility requests.

Information about special events, the keynote address, and the conference agenda will be released in the coming weeks.

For more information about the CAGS Annual Conference, please write to Info@cags.ca or to CAGS Executive Director Ian Wereley.