Our very own Adriana Diaz has secured a place in the 2017 U21 Early Career Researcher Workshop in Chile, one out of only four UQ researchers this year. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with other researchers from around the world from different fields on a common theme. This year, the theme is “Interculturality and Multiculturalism: the challenges for changing societies” and is something Diaz is very passionate about.
Preparing the application with Associate Professor Helen Creese, Adriana says “[Helen] really got me thinking about the impact of my research. There’s all this talk about what impact your research is having, and there’s really no real way to have impact without putting yourself out there and talk to people, especially when they think differently to you.”
The 2017 Workshop, this year held at the Pontificia Universidad de Católica de Chile, brings together researchers from fields including Philosophy, Social Psychology, Economics, History and Anthropology. The workshop sees itself as more than just a conference, giving participants time to present poster and “Pecha Kucha” sessions, as well as hear from keynote speakers and develop their own methodology. “You have the opportunity to talk to people who are at the same level in their careers, interest in the same topics, but coming from completely different angles and parts of the world” says Adriana, who's own research in intercultural language pedagogy is steeped in using a diverse range of stimulus to teach. “When it comes to the classroom, because we’re so focussed on what is to be assessed, culture can become somewhat relegated” she says. “We can’t do it with just grammar, we really need to bring other things to the class… figuring out how to do that, helping other teachers to do that, that’s what I’m interested in”.
The School looks forward to hearing from Adriana upon her return regarding what she gained from this unique experience. The workshop runs from the 4th to the 6th of October.
