Conferences & Institutes
Each year, the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning invites scholars from around the world to explore a timely topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. Based on using an interdisciplinary approach for nearly fifty years at the College of General Studies, we know that exploring one topic from multiple perspectives generates a more comprehensive and deeper understanding, as it introduces both new information and modes of thinking. We encourage attendees across different academic disciplines to join us to share insights from their area of expertise and ensure a rich and productive discussion.
Upcoming Conferences
The 30th Annual Dickens Society Symposium
Theme: “Dirty Dickens”
Draft program available here
July 14-17, 2025
Host: The Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning (CITL), The College of General Studies (CGS), Boston University (BU)
CITL/CGS will be happy to welcome you (or welcome you back) to BU and Boston!
The “Dirty Dickens” theme of the 2025 Dickens Society Symposium has inspired intriguing proposals, from dirty secrets and dirty puns, to Dickens’s evocation of mud and the muddy Thames, to dirty business and murky laws. There will also be presentations on themes such as global Dickens, Dickensian afterlives, Dickens in conversation with other authors, teaching Dickens, and more. The presentations and conversations promise to be excellent!
Boston University is in the heart of the city of Boston, one of the most historic and attractive cities in the US. Dickens visited Boston, a city of which he was particularly fond, on both of his US tours (1842, 1867-8) and befriended many of its celebrated intellectuals. There are many sites to visit in the area related to his trips here, including the Omni Parker House, where Dickens stayed during his 1867-68 tour and where we will be holding the annual Dickens Dinner (for the third time!). The Parker House has numerous items on display from Dickens’s rooms, along with a mini-museum of other historic artifacts related to the long list of famous (or soon to be famous) folks who have walked its halls.
Registration (including dorm housing and hotel options) is here: https://2025DickensSocietySymposium.eventbrite.com
The conference program will be posted on the Dickens Society webpage along with membership information: dickenssociety.org. All presenters must be members of the Dickens Society by the time of the Symposium. Membership costs $35.00/year and includes a subscription to Dickens Quarterly.
Conferences
2018 Annual Conference
Writing, the State, and the Rise of Neo-Nationalism: Historical Contexts and Contemporary Concerns
2017 Annual Conference
22nd Annual Dickens Symposium on Interdisciplinary Dickens
2015 Annual Conference
Poles Apart, Melting Together: Science & the Humanities Confront the Anthropocene
2014 Annual Conference
THATCamp New England: Humanities, Technology and Pedagogy
2013 Annual Conference
Teaching Globalization: Crossing Borders, Crossing Disciplines
Conference Sponsorships
- 11th International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology & Management in 2017
- New England Summer Conference on College Composition & Communication in 2017
- Association for Authentic, Experimental and Evidence-Based Learning Northeast Regional Conference in 2015
- Northeast Victorian Studies Association in 2013
Institutes
Our summer institutes extend the unique CGS learning experience to alumni, parents, and the general public. Exploring a new topic each year, the summer institute draws on the expertise of CGS faculty, while also taking advantage of the rich history and culture of Boston. Participants learn through a series of interdisciplinary lectures, which are complemented by an experiential learning component—two hallmarks of the CGS teaching model.
2014 Summer Institute: Victorian Boston