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Congress 2021: University of Alberta to host largest academic gathering in Canada

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The University of Alberta will be hosting Canada’s largest academic conference next year.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and U of A president David Turpin announced the school was selected to host the 2021 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences on campus Friday morning. The annual conference is expected to draw around 8,000 visitors, something Tourism Edmonton estimates could bring in about $16 million to the city.

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Iveson says the influx of guests will be a boost to the local economy.

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“The hotel rooms, and the chance for people to see one of the nation’s best food scenes and get out into our river valley and form a positive impression of our city, and leave a few of their dollars behind, is going to be great for the city too,” Iveson told reporters at the school’s Timms Centre for the Arts.

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He said it will be a good opportunity to showcase the city to visitors.

“Particularly, to have people from across the country who may not be familiar with our city, they may have formed certain impressions from elsewhere in the country about who we are, and how we operate in Edmonton. I think they’ll find a vibrant, inclusive and fun city with lots to do,” Iveson said.

The theme of the multi-disciplinary conference for 2021 is “Northern Relations.” It promises to look at some of the “most pressing issues in the north: reconciliation, governance, social justice, climate change, reciprocity, education, and much more,” according to a press release.

At the announcement, Turpin said the theme is a good fit as it falls in line with topics already being explored by scholars at the university.

“The beautiful thing about congress is it involves people from all academic disciplines, from within the social sciences and humanities, and they will be talking about this theme, and will learn everything from issues around environment issues, around climate issues, around economic development, things about housing and social structure, and governance in rural and remote communities,” he said.

The conference runs from May 29 to June 4, 2021, hosted by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and it includes Canada’s largest trade show, Expo. More than 70 scholarly associations and groups representing more than 8,000 researchers, graduate students and policy makers are expected to attend. It will include a series of public lectures, workshops, panels and cultural events.

The University of Alberta last hosted the event in 2000.

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lboothby@postmedia.com

@laurby

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