Opening Plenary: Why You Should Be Communicating Your Research With All Audiences

Bruce Lewenstein, Ph.D.

Professor of science and technology at Cornell University

Many funders require you to demonstrate “broader impacts.” That often gets translated to “give public talks.” And learning to communicate with diverse audiences is often sold as a “soft skill” useful no matter what direction your career goes. But a richer reason is that communication is the essence of scholarship. Your research doesn’t become reliable knowledge until multiple audiences have heard it, played with it, reacted to it, engaged with you about it. In the process, you learn to identify what’s important about your work. You also gather information from multiple sources, get new ideas, new perspectives, new insights. Oh, yeah, and along the way you get some useful professional skills and satisfy your funders.

Career Panel Discussion: Careers Leveraging Your Communication Skills

Ray Jayawardhana, Ph.D.

Moderator, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University

Oné Pagán, Ph.D.

Panelist, professor of biology at West Chester University

Melanie Dreyer-Lude, M.F.A.

Panelist, chair of drama at University of Alberta

Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D.

Panelist, postdoctoral fellow at New York University Langone Medical Center and co-author of “Sleep for Success”

Career Mini-Panel Discussion: Careers in Museums, Non-Profits, and Libraries

Denise DiRienzo, Ed.D.

Moderator, experiential program director for the BEST Program at Cornell University

Anke Wessels

Panelist, executive director, Center for Transformative Action

Susanne Bruyere, Ph.D.

Panelist, professor and director of the Yang-Tan Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University

Christian Miller, M.L.I.S.

Panelist, research and instruction librarian at Catherwood Library and lecturer at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University

Kate Addleman-Frankel

The Gary and Ellen Davis Curator of Photography, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Workshop: The Craft of Revision

Rachael Cayley, Ph.D.

Associate professor at the Graduate Centre for Academic Communication, University of Toronto

In this session, we will discuss strategies for revising academic writing. I will begin by framing revision as the most powerful route to better writing. The ability to revise our own writing improves not just the final writing product, but also the writing process. Having a good handle on revision helps us get started with a writing project and then move through the multiple iterations necessary for strong final drafts. We will consider different types of revision and establish the optimal way to sequence the revision process. Throughout this presentation, there will be opportunities to raise writing questions and to practice relevant strategies. Academic writing is a crucial and challenging aspect of the research process; during our time together, we will explore why it is so hard and how revision can help us become more confident writers.

Workshop: Communicating Professional Boundaries – When and How You Can Say No!

Janna Lamey

Assistant dean for graduate student life at Cornell University

Marika Nell

Ph.D. candidate in civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University

To manage your most valuable resource, time, you have to balance your professional and personal priorities. Since you cannot do everything, you need to learn when and how to say no. Through small-group discussion, we will describe common barriers associated with saying no and develop a list of criteria to help you determine when to say no. Finally, leave the session with strategies that can help you be more confident and effective in the art of saying no to others.