Wednesday, April 20, 2016

8 a.m. | Registration, Presentation Loading, & Poster Setup – Mabee 406

8:45 a.m. | Group Picture of Presenters – West Entrance to Mabee Hall

9 a.m. | Concurrent Sessions & Roundtable with Megan Rosa and Aaron Caldwell – Mabee Hall

10 a.m. | Concurrent Sessions, Roundtable with Megan Rosa and Aaron Caldwell, & Roundtable with David Greer – Mabee Hall

11:15 a.m. | Keynote Address – Mabee 400

11:45 a.m. | Lunch Break

1 p.m. | Poster Session & Roundtable with David Greer – Mabee Hall

2:30 p.m. | Scholars Reception – Lobby of Rice Auditorium

2:45 p.m. | Awards Ceremony & Closing – Rice Auditorium

The annual Dialogos Conference will be held from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. No classes during that time will be held in order to allow all students the opportunity to attend or present.

Chair of the Dialogos Committee Chris Todden said that by having Dialogos, also known as the Scholars Symposium, on a Wednesday, students will have an easier opportunity to see what their peers have been working on.

“The challenge is with everyone’s schedule it becomes difficult, so we see this as an opportunity to present a lot of individual work,” Todden said.

The conference is open to all majors on the Baldwin City campus and will represent a variety of interests. Some projects are presented in place of a final project in a class, while others are for no official academic credit.

Freshman Rhianna Becker and a group of her classmates will be presenting a poster as their final for Human Nutrition.

“Doing an evidence-based project is something that will be a point of interest to future employers,” Becker said. “This opportunity presents to students the ability to put an awesome activity on their resume and sell themselves to future employers.”

Todden said the real value, however, does not come from credit or a good grade but the pride students have in learning.

“When you meet people that are so passionate about what they’re doing, it’s hard not to be passionate about it yourself,” Todden said.

The presentations will begin at 9 a.m. in Mabee Hall. The morning will consist of 15-minute platform presentations until 11 a.m. There will also be a short period for questions after each presentation.

The keynote speech will be at 11:15 a.m. This year will feature Baker alumnus David Greer from the class of 1992.

Greer is the African Great Apes program coordinator for the WWF International Global Species Program. He has worked with great ape conservation and research in Africa since 1994.

Todden said the Dialogos committee moves the selection of the keynote speaker from department to department. This year the Department of Behavioral Health Sciences was responsible for selecting the speaker.

Along with a short lecture, Greer will be included in two roundtables for discussions at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“The roundtables are designed to be more intimate and less formal, so students who are in his discipline can sit in and chat with him,” Todden said.

Todden said there will also be two other roundtables during the morning session with exercise science alumni who are now doing research at the University of Arkansas.

After the morning lectures and roundtables, the afternoon session will begin at 1 p.m. in Mabee 406.

This time will be dedicated to posters and artistic work and will be based on an interactive environment.

“The lead authors will be there, so it gives observers the chance to ask questions and the creators to talk about it,” Todden said.

At 2:30 p.m., there will be a relatively small reception for anyone who has received academic scholarships. Shortly after that, the reception awards and closing remarks will take place.

Todden said Dialogos gives campus a time to come together, honor and be presented by great things being done by so many students.

“I hope people will come to support their peers and see what it’s all about, and my guess is they will get hooked,” Todden said.