Past Conferences
February 11 and 12, 2023 | Taylor Institute and Online
Keynote Speaker: Joshua Whitehead (he/him)
Joshua Whitehead (he/him) is a Two-Spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary where he is housed in the departments of English and International Indigenous Studies (Treaty 7).
He is the author of full-metal indigiqueer (Talonbooks 2017) which was shortlisted for the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award and the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. He is also the author of Jonny Appleseed (Arsenal Pulp Press 2018) which was long listed for the Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Award, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction, the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and Canada Reads 2021.
Whitehead is the editor of Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, which won the Lambda Award in 2021.
Whitehead’s latest book Making Love with the Land was published in 2022 with Knopf Canada, exploring the intersections of Indigeneity, queerness, and, most prominently, mental health through a nêhiyaw lens. The book was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Award for Nonfiction.
You can also find his work published widely in such venues as Prairie Fire, CV2, EVENT, Arc Poetry Magazine, The Fiddlehead, Grain, CNQ, Write, and Red Rising Magazine.
Congratulations to the Graphic Contest Winner: Megan Ciochetto
The GSA is happy to announce the winner of the Design Contest for Peer Beyond 2023: Megan Ciocchetto, a Master's student in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape.
"The drawing overall aims to represent the concept of being 'beyond the screen' seeing as digital means are the foundation of the work of graduate and doctorate students, seemingly regardless of discipline. Therefore, the graphic represents a commonality between fields of study, with 'Peer Beyond' serving as the connection, allowing for an interdisciplinary celebration of graduate work."
Megan Ciocchetto is an M1 student in the Master of Landscape Architecture degree at the University of Calgary. Prior to this, she completed her Bachelor degree of Science in Conservation Biology with a Certificate in Sustainability from the University of Alberta. Megan now continues to blend science and architecture through her work, with an emphasis on storytelling through design.
Hear From Our Past Presenters
Lisa Zhao
Harrison Campbell
"Honestly, the greatest help is getting feedback from your peers and faculty members in attendance. I attended Peer Beyond during my MA and received a ton of feedback on my project - much of which went into enriching my proposal. Now, in my PhD, I am excited to attend again as it will be close to my candidacy exam, so the opportunity to practice speaking about my work will be very helpful! "
Brittany Lindsay
"I had the privilege of attending and presenting at the 2021 Peer Beyond Virtual Conference. The conference itself was well organized, and the additional support for presenters was very helpful. At Peer Beyond, you get the opportunity to hear about what other students at UCalgary are working on, and it was really interesting to learn about research that is so different from mine! Peer Beyond also has many different award opportunities, and that encouraged me to present to the best of my ability - I was even fortunate to win a Best Talk Award! This conference is also a great way to practice your research presentation skills if it is something new to you - I definitely wish I had attended in my previous Master's degree!"
Award Winner for 2022 Peer Beyond Conference
- 1st place: Laura Sosa Ponce - Science
- 2nd place: Amber Dukart - Social Work
- Tie 2nd place: Julie Deleemans - Cumming School of Medicine
- 3rd place: Lisa Yamaura - Cumming School of Medicine
- 1st place: Laura Sosa Ponce - Science
- 2nd place: Amber Dukart - Social Work
- Tie 2nd place: Julie Deleemans - Cumming School of Medicine
- 3rd place: Lisa Yamaura - Cumming School of Medicine
- 1st year, Master’s: Aurelia Mir-Orefice
- 2nd Year, Master's: Andrew Pires
- 3rd Year, Master's: Danielle Fuchko
- 1st Year, PhD: Elaine Atay and Chelsie Hart + Jenelle Morgan
- 2nd Year, PhD: Brittany Lindsay
- 3rd Year, PhD: Mario Cordova
- 4th Year, PhD: Luke Brown
- 5th Year +, PhD: Rachel Kratofil
- Architecture, Planning & Landscape: Alima Pal
- Arts: Chelsea Rozanski. & Michael Gavin, Elaine Atay & Chelsie Hart, Jenelle Morgan
- Law: Joe Byram
- Education: Sonia Johnston, Harrison Campbell & Andrea Madsen
- Kinesiology: Shrushti Shah
- Engineering: Mohammadali Ahmadi, Ali Mohammadi, Atul Koshy John
- Medicine: Hina Qureshi, Emily Wachoski-Dark, Nabilah Gulamhusein
- Nursing: Jasmine Hwang
- Science: Amy Du, Milanpreet Kaur
- Social Work: Brooke Alleman, Kaltrina Kusari
- Veterinary Medicine: Filip Rakic
- John Gabriel Cabayao
- Tinuke Ghineme
- Amber Dukart
- Feyi Adebayo
- Janine McCalder - Science
- Owen Brierley - Science
- $100 Amazon Gift Card Winner - Milanpreet Kaur
- $100 Owls' Nest Books Gift Card Winner- Elaine Atay and Chelsie Hart
- $100 Best Buy Gift Card Winner- Angela Pochakom
- $100 Walmart Gift Card Winner- Lauren Bowron
- $100 Loblaws Gift Card Winner- Kasha Talaga
- $300 E-reader Winner- Tori Green-Harrison
- $700 Nintendo Switch with Gift Card Winner- Amy Du
