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Key Objective: 30. Research Seminar

Develop an interdisciplinary 2-semester research seminar for grad students.

Associated Metric

No metric specified for this objective

Explanation

"During the next year, the campus hopes to build on this Plan as a focal point activity—to create a community of scholarship around the Plan. The aim is to 44 iCAP A CLIMATE ACTION PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN develop an interdisciplinary research seminar for graduate students, who will be exposed to the entire breadth of this Plan—and by extension the physical realities of the campus—empowering them to contribute to an evolving plan through their own scholarship and research. Graduate students will be required to enroll in a two-semester research seminar. During the first semester, campus will host seven biweekly sessions that invite on- and off-campus speakers to discuss specific topics related to the Plan. These will be lectures open to the University community. Between these sessions, specific readings and student-led discussions will facilitate an interdisciplinary engagement on the topic presented in the previous week. These seminar discussions will provide the necessary resources to help students identify a basis from which to build a research topic, and to improve the Plan. Over the course of the year, students will find a relevant topic, conduct research on it, provide literature for participant discussions, and present intermediate products to the group. The intention is that this process helps students identify future dissertation or thesis topics and funding proposal concepts, and ultimately develop publishable work, while helping to improve and evolve the campus climate plan"