2020 FCAT Undergraduate Conference

The FCAT Undergraduate Conference (UGC) is a celebration and exploration of the diverse range of student work produced within our faculty. Students from each of our schools and programs have the opportunity to showcase performances, papers, installations, and displays. Students can submit their projects from their chosen topic of interest. The conference is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and industry members to come together, share knowledge and build meaningful connections.

We invite all students to submit their projects! For further details on how to submit, scroll down below.

How It Works

Step #1

Before you start on a proposal, seek advice from your course professor, instructor or TA. Projects may be submitted individually or as a group. We will consider new projects currently underway in this Fall semester, and even a project from the past that you would like to present. 

Once you're ready, fill out our submission form by clicking on the red submission box.

After submitting the form, please submit your final project* via the approach you chose in the form.

If you chose:

  • Email link: please email fcatcomm@sfu.cawith an attached link or the file of your final project.
  • Vault: please upload your final project to Vault and email fcatcomm@sfu.cawith a shareable link of your project from Vault.
  • Dropbox: please upload your final project to Dropbox and email fcatcomm@sfu.cawith a shareable link of your project from Dropbox.

Please submit your final project by January 10th, 2020. (Note: If you are submitting as a group, please make sure only one of the group members submit the final project and please include your project title.)

*Final projects can be submitted in the form of links, words, PDFs, pictures etc. Please feel free to attach any supplementary documents that help explain your project for School Ambassadors to review during the adjudication. 

Step #2

Once submissions are closed, our three faculty ambassadors will go through all the submissions and curate a selection of works to be shared/presented/performed/exhibited in the conference. They will assign the presenters to panels that will be able to discuss a particular topic from multiple perspectives.

Step #3

If your submission is selected, you will need to prepare a ten to fifteen minute presentation, performance, or an exhibition of your work. A workshop is hosted by the faculty ambassadors to help you through this process. 

Step #4

As a presenter at the FCAT Undergraduate Conference, you will be eligible to receive recognition on your Co-Curricular Record. The CCR is an official university document referencing your co-curricular involvement at SFU, listing your activities outside of classes.

Step #5

Everyone is invited to the FCAT Undergraduate Conference. Presenters are expected to come early to set up and practice. Official events will begin in the afternoon. Invite friends, family, and co-workers who would be interested in work being produced in the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology.


2020 conference submissions now open.
 

  • Date: Friday, March 20th, 2020
  • Time: 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm
  • Location: SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
  • RSVP: Eventbrite

What 2019 presenters had to say...

Nicholas Lui

Interactive Arts and Technology student

Describe the work that you presented at the UGC

The Night Pearl is a wall sconce design worked in a team in the course Materials In Design. However, I brought this wall light further by joining the FCAT Undergraduate Conference 2019, and created the final iterated prototype. This light inherits the Chinese culture into the contemporary light design, aiming to embrace the regional culture to a broader public.

What was the process like to prepare for your presentation?

To prepare for the presentation, I actually re-iterated my prototype by exploring more possibilities to enhance the cultural elements and the light pattern created with the wall sconce. Besides the product itself, I organized my presentation in a way that can be easily understood by the general public. Therefore, I would describe this experience as a product pitch too.

Describe your experience of presenting at the UGC

This was actually my second time joining the FCAT Undergraduate Conference. Internally, I think the conference allows me to connect with other presenters, exchanging our thoughts and ideas on what we have produced our project. Externally, I think the conference me to demonstrate my project to a larger group of public audiences.

Therefore, the projects we have done in classes are never just for academic, but actual projects or campaigns which may make a change to our community. In conclusion, I would say the conference empowers students to do something more, and definitely recommended you to be part of it.

Jenika Ebing

Communication student

Describe the work that you presented at the UGC

My presentation was on medicine and modernity, and the development of modern healthcare administration. Importantly it was highlighting the ways in which modern healthcare administration and architecture was influenced by modernism during the 1860s and 1930s, especially by scientific management, specialization, and rapid development in clinical science. It then analyzed these changes within a narrative of the development of Royal Columbian Hospital based in New Westminster, using primary archival sources.

What was the process like to prepare for your presentation?

Working with the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation and building the historical narrative with them, I was very comfortable with the content - I think the trickiest part was narrowing down my paper (which was 40 pages) into a 10 minute presentation that still broke down some of the heavy medical jargon and historical concepts.  I found I had to go through my content often to try and trim things out yet still keep a flow, I wanted to keep my audience interested and remind them of the importance of establishing a political economy narrative for the development of modern medicine.

Describe your experience of presenting at the UGC

Overall, I learned a lot presenting to an audience that may not be as well versed in your area of interest as you are when creating.  Another huge thing, the time goes by fast! I appreciated the supportive faculty, and I loved doing the panel, that's where I felt I could give more detail about the history.

Would you recommend that students participate in the UGC?

I would recommend that students participate in the UGC if they wish to do graduate studies, it is great to help you connect with the faculty and have the experience of a more intimate conference before going on to do other ones that may have larger audiences - I was able to take what I learned and apply it to my presentation on the same subject for the UGRS taking place a few weeks after.

Jasleen Bains

Communication student

Describe the work that you presented at the UGC

My research project was an exploration of the 2018 municipal election election in Surrey and the coverage undertaken by Punjabi media. Through media analysis, structured interviews, and research compilation, my project uncovered the diverse content produced by Punjabi media during an election period, and how it not only informed individuals through issue examination but acted as a space for citizenship building.

What was the process like to prepare for your presentation?

In preparation for my presentation I sought out advice from my professor, Dr. Daniel Ahadi, who oversaw my research. I thought about the meaning behind my project and why I chose to study Punjabi media. Through this process I really wanted to tell the unique story of the civic elections in Surrey and the coverage undertaken my Punjabi media.

Describe your experience of presenting at the UGC

The FCAT conference was an amazing experience. Not only was I able to showcase my work to my peers, but I was able to listen to others explain the dedication it took to prepare such interesting projects. It was truly a safe space, where students were able to share ideas and collaborate on ways to expand and scale up our projects.

Would you recommend that students participate in the UGC?

I would definitely recommend that others participate in the FCAT Undergraduate Conference. Often, when students put in their time and effort into their work, it is forgotten about as soon as it gets submitted. Here, students are able to explain the importance of their work to others and gain recognition for all that they have accomplished.

Rachel Wong

Communication student

Describe the work that you presented at the UGC

My presentation was entitled “Voices in the Park: Decolonizing the History of Stanley Park”. It compares Vancouver’s Stanley Park through constructed narratives by our society and compares that to the lesser known narratives about First Nations relations to the park. The goal is to challenge our perceptions of and what we know about popular places.

What was the process like to prepare for your presentation?

I started working on this project through the FCAT Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Fall 2018 with Dr. Alison Beale. The process included a lot of primary and secondary document research, talking to people about Stanley Park, and actually walking through the park to get a sense of how the park is portrayed to the public.

Describe your experience of presenting at the UGC

It was an amazing experience to present at the conference because it provided another opportunity to present in front of people and prepare a presentation based on the research that I worked on. It was great to see the research that I did on paper come to life through the presentation and have conversations with people about these topics afterwards.

Would you recommend that students participate in the UGC?

I think all students should participate at least once in their degree! It can strengthen presentation skills which we will all need at some point in our career. It also is the coolest feeling to share your work and have conversations about it with people at the conference after!