The LAS Graduate Student Council presents:

The LAS Graduate Student Symposium

Saturday, May 16, 2026
1:00pm-5:00pm
Student Center, Room 314 A&B, DePaul University
Sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Submission Deadline is TBD in April.

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is excited to celebrate the scholarly and creative work of our graduate students at our annual LAS Graduate Student Symposium! This year's conference theme is The Question of Power: Problems and Possibilities for the Curious and Engaged. We invite graduate students to explore the meaning of power—how power shapes social dynamics and the many forms of resistance to disrupt those power structures—whether through individual, collective, or institutional efforts. This theme encourages students to critically examine various forms of power and explore the strategies of resistance across different contexts. This could include analyzing theory, movements for social justice, decolonization, gender and racial equality, or even examining power dynamics in specific institutions or systems like education, media, or healthcare.

Invitation for Submission

Participation offers you an opportunity to deepen your skills, build your resume or CV and network. The conference is a friendly and professional environment for students, faculty, alumni, and friends to engage with the relevant issues facing our society today. Students will be assigned to a presentation slot based on the committee's groupings. The conference provides space for LAS graduate students to share their work through paper presentations, roundtable discussions or innovative showcases. All participants who present their work will receive a Certificate of Completion as well as recognition from the LAS Dean in the conference program, and a chance to win small prizes.

Submission Guidelines

We invite submissions from ALL disciplines! We invite submissions of completed or in progress works from a course, independent study, final project (e.g. thesis proposal), practicum or internship from ALL disciplines in our LAS college.

We invite scholarship: academic papers, literature research, original data collection, secondary data analysis, case studies, policy analysis, theory, pedagogy, and more...

We invite the arts: creative work, original writing (e.g. poetry, chapters), visual arts, displays/installation, photography exhibit, and more...

For detailed information, please see Submission Guidelines.