Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Each year Ambrose University hosts the Ambrose Research Conference – a gathering that aims to spotlight student, faculty, staff, and alumni research and scholarly activity, through a series of conference presentations and poster exhibits. This event is free to attend and open to the general public.

Reimagining Hope in Turbulent Times

We live in an era marked by profound challenges: mental health crises, housing instability, environmental upheaval, political polarization, and armed conflict. In such turbulent times, hope can seem elusive.

Yet hope, as Emily Dickinson observed, is “the thing with feathers that perches in the soul”—something fundamental to human existence, something we are made to seek and find through imagination. This raises critical questions: What does it mean to reimagine hope in a world characterized by disturbance and uncertainty? How might flourishing in our ever-changing reality require us to continuously reimagine hope?

The 2026 Ambrose Research Conference invites students from all disciplines to engage with these questions. We welcome proposals that explore hope through diverse lenses—philosophical, theological, scientific, artistic, social, or personal.

We encourage submissions that examine:

• The nature and function of hope in challenging times

• How different disciplines understand and cultivate hope

• Practical approaches to sustaining hope amid uncertainty

• The relationship between hope, resilience, and human flourishing

The 2026 Ambrose Research Conference invites students of all disciplines to explore these questions together. Let us reimagine hope together.

Author-Meets-Critic

Featuring Dr. Alyssa Michaud, focusing on Automatic Artistry: Negotiating Musical Creativity in a Technological Age.