One way to expand your academic interests outside of the classroom is to find and join conferences that connect with your fields of interest. Conferences are a wonderful opportunity to make connections with others, learn more about topics within the field, and explore different places that you may have never been to before. This blog post series will cover different topics like how to apply to conferences, grant writing, and what to expect when attending a conference. In this first post, the focus will be on how to find conferences that connect with your interests.
One great way to find out about conferences in your field is to talk with your professors. Thanks to Dr. P, I will be participating in two upcoming conferences this fall, the English Association of Pennsylvania State Universities and the Mid-Atlantic Pop Culture Convention. So many of the Faculty in the English and World Language Department present at multiple conferences each year and definitely know of conferences in the field, so they are an excellent resource of information.
Another way to find out about conferences is to participate in different clubs and activities. Last semester, Millersville’s chapter of the American Association of University Women attended the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women. The members that attended the event went to multiple panels and were able to speak with panelists after the event. With all the different clubs and organizations on campus, each has their own events and connections that are a great space to find information about conferences.
One way to discover conferences that can be done independently is by searching for them on the internet. This option is a bit trickier than the first two options, as you need to be specific with your search terms. For example, just searching up “English academic conferences” on google provided results that were for the English language and international programs, not writing and literature. When looking for conferences online, make sure to search the field, place, and year of what you are interested in attending. After doing this, I was able to find more specific results like EAPSU and MAPACA. However, while looking for conferences online, a few that I found seemed a little suspicious. This serves as a reminder to research any conference that you are thinking of attending, and to make sure that it is legitimate.