The BSOS Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Council (DGSAC) is currently seeking proposals from BSOS graduate students to present their research in its new BSOS Research Interaction Day for Graduate Students (BRIDGES) initiative, an event series aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and professional development.

Each BRIDGES event revolves around a central topic, and features 3 to 4 ten-minute research presentations from graduate student panelists from different departments across BSOS, followed by open-ended discussions of the topic and the presented work. The goals of the event are to engage graduate students in meaningful cross-disciplinary discussions and to provide graduate students with additional opportunities and resources to develop as independent researchers.

Our Spring 2017 event, scheduled for March 15th, 2017 from 4-6pm, will have a central theme of Diversity, with the focus on race. Our ultimate goal is to engage students in meaningful discussions with students from other disciplines who may be studying similar topics from different theoretical perspectives. Therefore, we will select 3-4 panelists who explore issues or topics related to decision making within their respective fields. For instance:

• Do police officers stop, question, and frisk individuals differentially based upon race?
• How has our conception of “race” evolved cross-culturally?
• Does migration pattern depend on race in developing countries?
• Do the negotiation strategies people use differ by race? Do these differences influence individuals’ effectiveness in negotiations?
• How can the influence of stereotype threat on test performance be mitigated or eliminated?
• What are the cognitive and neural processes underlying implicit racial bias?
• How does race affect educational attainment and economic outcomes?

Proposals will be accepted for work at any stage of completion-- ranging from a literature review to a peer-reviewed manuscript. Proposals for a 10-minute research presentation at the upcoming event on March 15th should address issues pertaining to racial diversity. 

Abstract up to 500 words should be submitted via go.umd.edu/BRIDGES_Spring17 before 12:00PM on Monday, February 20th.

Selection announcements will be released on Friday, February 24th by 11:59PM.  Each selected panelist will receive a $200 fund for future research-related expenses. All submissions not selected will be kept in consideration for future BRIDGES events. Only one submission will be selected for the March 15th event from each department to ensure a multidisciplinary panel.

For students who have submitted abstracts for BRIDGES in previous years, we invite you to resubmit the same abstract through the submission system if you would like it to be reconsidered for our Spring 2017 event.

Additional questions may be directed to Yuhan Rao, BRIDGES Coordinator: yrao [at] umd [dot] edu.