Grad research, Jorge Cham of PhD Comics featured

2:26 p.m., April 21, 2011--The first Graduate Student Forum, a celebration of the academic work by graduate students at the University of Delaware, is set for Friday, May 6, from 3 to 7 p.m., at Clayton Hall Conference Center. All UD graduate students are invited to attend the free event. Register by April 29 at this website.

The forum will feature nearly 80 short interdisciplinary oral presentations and interactive poster sessions by UD graduate students, and lots of opportunities for grad students to connect with other grad students outside their discipline. Raffles for door prizes will be held throughout the forum, and a buffet dinner will be served.

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June 5: Blue Hen 5K

University of Delaware graduates planning to attend Alumni Weekend are encouraged to register for the annual Blue Hen 5K walk and run, which will be held Sunday morning, June 5.

June 6-9: Food and culture series

The 20th annual June Lecture Series at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UD in Wilmington will be held June 6-9. Titled 'June a la Carte,' this year's program focuses on great political documents, feminism, world politics and a Newark cuisine sampler.

• June 6-9: Food and culture series
• Through June 30: 'Saving White Clay Creek'
• July 22: WWE Heatwave Tour
• Through Sept. 16: Women of color in academia

Highlighting the forum will be the special presentation “The Power of Procrastination” by Jorge Cham of PhD Comics.com. The Panamanian cartoonist started drawing the popular comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics) as a graduate student at Stanford University, where he earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering, specializing in robotics. The comic strip has since been syndicated in several university newspapers and in four published book collections.

According to Tara Falcone, president of the Graduate Student Senate (GSS), the GSS and the Office of Graduate and Professional Education decided to hold the Graduate Student Forum to start a new tradition at UD for graduate students and to foster an even greater sense of graduate student community. She said she is hoping for a great turn-out.

“We want students to come out of their departments to mix and mingle, see what kind of work other grad students are doing, support each other, and enjoy the company of each other over food and a fun presentation by Jorge Cham,” said Falcone, who is a doctoral student in education. “We’d like this event to be something that UD graduate students look forward to every year.” 

For more information, visit the event page on Facebook. Contact gss.events.udel@gmail.com with any questions.