Sunday, March 22, 2009

"Faculty speed dating"


What a weirdly wonderful idea!

Later this month, about 60 Southern California faculty will assemble at a long rectangular table, pitching research ideas to other faculty they may have never even met before. In the style of speed dating, faculty will move across the table in a round-robin fashion, taking just a few minutes to chat before moving on to talk to other faculty. After these brief sessions, organizers hope a special chemistry will develop between some of the participants, prompting the beginnings of a new research relationship. [snip]

The event admittedly has a “game show feel,” but it might begin to address some important questions, Goodman says. Universities are spending plenty of time and money building new buildings and restructuring colleges to stimulate interdisciplinary work, but the event will begin to explore whether one of the key obstacles is as simple as shyness.

“Are these really social barriers? We’ll find out,” Goodman says.

1 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    Have tried this out many times and even organized a few at corporate events..almost never works, and leaves people embarrassed. Good as ice-breaker, but for anything more, it's quite a waste of time, IMHO.