Free and Online?: A Roundtable on the Opportunities, Costs, and Accessibility of Online and In-Person Networking in REEES and Beyond

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Searching online for the phrase “liberated by Zoom,” one finds countless pandemic-era commentaries, variously critical and uncritical of how meeting online might free participants of in-person gatherings’ temporal, spatial, economic, ecological, and health constraints and costs. Their opposing stances spotlight two disparities: in participants’ access to virtual and physical networking spaces; and in how comfortable, conducive, and safe the space from which one joins online is, vis-à-vis conditions at a potential physical meeting point. How have wars, disease, ecological imperatives, and affirmative action’s imperilment affected these disparities? In networking to support vulnerable and underrepresented populations in higher education, which prioritizations do our disciplines and institutions seemingly require, and what can we learn from others? We first discuss online mentorship and conference-based networking for students served by diversity initiatives of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Scholarship in REEES Think Tank, and modalities of network-based, cross-border support for early-career scholars in diverse economic and political contexts. Our next two speakers evaluate REEES Northeast’s and affiliated Latin American Studies networks’ projects to connect students and staff at diversely resourced neighboring institutions, comparing disciplinary and geopolitical perspectives on outreach to two regions where world events have hindered mobility and access. Our final speaker examines transborder networking and new realities of meeting in exile, opening a broad roundtable deliberation, inclusive of input from diverse network perspectives among speakers and audience, of how we at an in-person conference can strengthen support systems, and what, if anything, is liberatory about creating new physical or online spaces.

Sub Unit

• Professional Development, Non-language Pedagogy, State-of-Field

Chair

• Ian MacMillen, Yale U

Roundtable Members

• Ivan Grek, George Washington U

• Kelly Knickmeier Cummings, Howard U

• Maria Lvova, U.S. Russia Foundation

• Ian MacMillen, Yale U