CATTW
&
CFHSS
Special Interdisciplinary Conference

[Version française]

Welcome to the Website of the Special Interdisciplinary Conference on knowledge communication in the Social and Human Sciences, organized by the Canadian Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (CATTW) in partnership with the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) .

Join us on June 1, 2005, at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences to share, discuss, and reflect on ways of engaging the public in social and human science research. While research in the social and human sciences is vital to building a civil society in Canada and beyond, its stakeholders--citizens, policymakers, community organizations, and others--are often unaware of the results and benefits of this research. This special conference, therefore, is designed to bring researchers, representatives of community and government organizations, and practitioners from diverse disciplines and social sectors together to share their approaches to engaging stakeholders in social and human science research.

Conference Objectives
The overall goal of the conference is to facilitate communication between social and human science researchers and the stakeholders of their research in order to maximize the benefits of social and human science research for society. With this goal in mind, the conference presents two keynote presentations and four sessions showcasing the roles of media, collaboration, partnerships, networks, and civic engagement in knowledge making and sharing in the social and human sciences.

Conference Themes
Within these sessions, presenters address these and other themes to facilitate communication between researchers and stakeholders:

• How has the impact of research in the social and human sciences been communicated to stakeholders so far?
• What particular practices of communication, collaboration, and interactive engagement characterize processes of research communication in the social and human sciences?
• How do these practices vary across different social and human sciences?
• How can these practices be facilitated? What are the main challenges?
• How can the impact of research in the social and human sciences be demonstrated to the public?
• How can information be effectively communicated to heterogeneous audiences?
• How can emerging technologies and in particular open and interactive spaces such as Weblogs and Wikis be used to facilitate public engagement in the social and human sciences?
• How do professional communicators and researchers in professional communication best participate in and add value to the knowledge-making cycle in a knowledge society?
• What opportunities for civic engagement in the knowledge society do professional communication researchers need to pursue?