How the longstanding Laurier Brantford student led justice, crime and deviance conference is breaking records this year.
Laurier Brantford’s master of criminology students have spent the semester planning a Justice, Crime and Deviance conference. The annual graduate conference that has been running since 2013 is focused on bringing together students, faculty and industry professionals to celebrate academic research and innovation. The event, scheduled for April 4 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. will take place at the SC Johnson building on the mezzanine level and will feature a variety of presentations and networking opportunities.
The conference provides graduate students with a platform to present their research findings, engage in critical discussions and gain valuable feedback from peers and experts in their respective fields. “It’s a cool experience for graduate students, because especially at the master’s level, you may not have completed any of your research yet. But this is almost like a less stressful opportunity to get used to presenting research in front of your peers,” said Kelsi Smirlies, a first year master of criminology coursework stream student, and co-chair of the conference.
With topics spanning across multiple disciplines, this year’s conference aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and showcase the diverse range of research being conducted by graduate students at Laurier Brantford and beyond. Despite having a late start on planning this year’s conference, the seven-person planning committee has worked hard to put together this experience.
“We either will be or will be the teachers of the future generations doing the research, informing policy or writing the policy that is going be in the next couple of elections. So I think having student led conferences is really interesting, because it’s like we’re collectively helping each other uncover these unspoken rules of academia,” said Emily Bertolo, first year master’s criminology student in the thesis stream and co-chair of the justice, crime and deviance conference.
One of the highlights of the event will be keynote address from a distinguished scholars and professional in the criminology field, who has a connection to the Brantford campus. “I’ve done research projects with her, so that’s really great to have someone who’s been at Laurier Brantford and has done. Significant work for the Brantford community and for the Hamilton community to have her come back out here. We are excited to shine a light on the fact that you can do academics after your masters, but you can do policy and you can do practice. I think that’s a really unique experience we have in our keynote speaker this year,” said Bertolo.
The conference this year is unique with many connections to the Brantford campus. The conference will be catered by From Scratch Cafe and Bistro, a beloved staple in the Downtown Brantford and Laurier Campus community. Bertolo says this year has a record-breaking amount of faculty members attending and the Dean has agreed to come — which has never happened before.
Beyond research presentations, says Smirlies, the conference serves as a crucial networking opportunity for graduate students. “It’s a unique experience for grad students. You’re not going in and talking to someone who’s been on a police force for 35 years. We’re all on the same level. We’re all coming together and what it gives us is the opportunity to figure out what we can do from our level in order to make change and prepare to be the next generation of criminologists and sociologists and policy makers.”
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