Seminars & Workshops
The word “seminar” comes from the Latin word seminarium, meaning "seed plot." These days you’re as likely to attend a “labinar” (a combination of a laboratory and a seminar) as a seminar, but the idea is still the same — to plant far and wide the seeds of learning.
A tradition of practical education
By bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on a particular subject, the seminars and workshops sponsored by the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies (COGS) carries on an age-old Socratic tradition. Seminar leaders present their research to an informed audience that gives eager students a more extensive understanding of methodology in their chosen field while allowing them to interact with examples of the kind of practical problems that emerge during research.
Often less formal than lectures, seminars and workshops also provide a comfortable place where assigned readings can be discussed, questions can be raised and debates can be conducted.
A wide variety of subjects
The seminars and workshops sponsored by the University of Idaho College of Graduate Studies can range widely in subject matter, from:
A wide range of locations
Seminars and workshops can take place near or far. An Idaho Water Seminar — an interactive, video-linked discussion focusing on water science and issues — was recently held in Boise.
A Department of Geological Sciences seminar was held at nearby Washington State University.
Seminars can also involve more than one location, such as a recent five-day Biodiesel Technology Workshop that took place in two locations separated by half a continent: Ames, Iowa, and Moscow, Idaho.