Every Monday, faculty and grad students in the Department of Science and Technology Studies gather in a conference room in Morrill Hall. Sometimes they listen to a presentation on information that grad students need to know related to research or other department matters. But most Mondays, they gather to offer suggestions and feedback to each other on their research.
“With the hybrid model going on, the SSRG provides better access to graduate students who want to learn more about their colleagues' work, but are geographically limited (some of them are doing field work in another country or out of state) or physically restricted due to health concerns. For the presenters, they can get feedback from a bigger audience, some of which are located in another institution,” added Yue Zhao, the graduate student coordinator for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Recently Lissette Lorenz, a graduate student in S&TS, who is not currently in Ithaca was able to present “virtually”. “I've been off campus since before the pandemic, so I hadn't been able to present or participate in an SSRG until the meetings moved to Zoom. Being "Zoomed" into Morrill Hall for my SSRG presentation, watching from my computer screen as people gathered around the familiar table, it felt a bit surreal. But I really appreciated the opportunity to be virtually in that room, reconnecting with students and faculty in this hybrid fashion. It would have been impossible for me to do so otherwise.”
