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Knowledge Beyond Boundaries

LSE's interdisciplinary student research conference

Originated by LSE100 Co-Directors Dr Chris Blunt and Dr Jillian Terry in 2021, Knowledge Beyond Boundaries is LSE’s annual interdisciplinary student research conference. The conference is a welcoming and inclusive space for LSE students, recent alumni, and students from CIVICA partner institutions, to showcase their research and engage in interdisciplinary dialogue. The conference is a valuable opportunity for participants to be empowered in their academic, personal and professional growth while sharing their research with the LSE community and beyond.

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Projects presented at Knowledge Beyond Boundaries range from first-year undergraduate student research and in-progress MSc dissertations to collaborative research reports and work from recently graduated LSE alumni. We are proud to provide a platform to student and early career researchers, many of whom may not have presented their work before, and to showcase a diverse and fascinating range of research. 

All Knowledge Beyond Boundaries presenters are offered the opportunity to be mentored by an LSE academic in the run-up to the conference day. Meetings and correspondence with their mentors help presenters to develop skills in sharing academic research to a wider audience.

Knowledge Beyond Boundaries encourages presenters and audience members alike to reflect upon the significance of interdisciplinarity in understanding the most pressing challenges of our contemporary world, and their possible solutions. As such, the conference ethos is underpinned by an openness to thoughtful debate, and it is a space where participants can deepen their knowledge, question previously held assumptions, and learn from each other.

Find out more about our most recent Knowledge Beyond Boundaries conferences below:

Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2024: Power and Politics

Our fourth annual conference took place on campus and online on 10 June 2024, as part of LSE Festival, and we welcomed over 100 presenters and 200 audience members to the day. 18 LSE Departments were represented throughout the day, and conference presenters included 16 recent LSE alumni and 11 students from CIVICA institutions. Online presenters joined us from destinations across the world, including Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, France, Greece, Hong Kong and the United States.

Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2024 featured presentations, ranging from papers and posters to creative show-and-tell projects and performances, which examined the theme of power and politics from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. Similar to Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023, our 2024 conference thematic focus aligned with the LSE Festival theme, and offered students and alumni a unique opportunity to contribute their research to wider Festival discussion.

When inviting abstract submissions for Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2024, we encouraged participants to reflect on how their research interacts with the following questions: where does the power lie to face key global challenges? Have we lost faith in politics and democracy more broadly? Following our call for submissions, this year’s conference featured panels with intersecting themes, including:

  • (de)colonial histories 

  • relationships between policies and political legacies 

  • local and global narratives of climate change 

  • the social and philosophical implications of AI 

  • the future of free speech 

Each panel throughout the day demonstrated the importance of interdisciplinary conversation and research into understanding how power and politics shape the world.

The day began with breakfast and a welcome from the organising team in the Shaw Library, and participants were invited to attend as many panels as they wished throughout the conference. The panels were chaired by LSE staff, including colleagues from LSE100 and LSE LIFE, and encouraged thoughtful audience engagement through Q&A sessions with presenters. While panels took place across campus and online, the Shaw Library was kept open as a quiet networking space throughout the day where presenters and audience alike could chat over a hot drink. At the end of the conference, all on-campus attendees were invited to a celebratory evening reception where drinks and other refreshments were served in the Shaw Library with views over LSE campus. 

You can view photos from Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2024 here, and check out the recorded conference panels here.

Conference organising team: Dr Chris Blunt, Dr Jillian Terry, Dr Maximillian Afnan, Dr Nina Vindum Rasmussen and Dr Danielle Cameron

 

Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023: People and Change

On 17 June 2023, the third annual Knowledge Beyond Boundaries conference featured over 80 research presentations and welcomed 19 participants from CIVICA partner institutions across Europe. The conference took place online and on campus as part of the LSE Festival programme and showcased original research engaging with the wider Festival theme of people and change. Akin to the 2021 and 2022 conferences, Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023 was generously supported by LSE’s Student Futures initiative.

When inviting abstract submissions, we encouraged participants to demonstrate how their research presents an interdisciplinary perspective on the ways in which people effect change, and how change affects people. As a result of our call for submissions, Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023 hosted panels with a cross-cutting set of themes, including:

  • the future of education 

  • the impacts of displacement and war 

  • changing global business and economic landscapes 

  • the effects of living in a digital age 

Featuring papers, posters, creative show-and-tell projects and performances, each panel offered participants to share their research with the LSE community and beyond and displayed the value of interdisciplinary thought in tackling today’s most pressing global challenges. 

Beginning with breakfast and welcome remarks from the conference organisers, Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023 featured 14 panels and attendees were invited to attend as many as they wished throughout the day. The conference concluded with an insightful closing plenary discussion with Professor Emma McCoy, Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education), who then joined all on-campus attendees for the evening reception on the 8th floor of Marshall. 

You can view photos from Knowledge Beyond Boundaries 2023 here, and check out the recorded conference panels here. 

Conference organising team: Dr Chris Blunt and Dr Jillian Terry 

 

 

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