In light of current calls from politics and universities to rethink and engage more in interdisciplinary research, this panel sets out to explore what interdisciplinary research in accounting means. Based on the panellists’ expertise, participants will be able to join a discussion on current challenges and opportunities of doing interdisciplinary accounting research, and its future prospects.
Panellists are:
Dr. Charles Cho is Professor of Accounting and the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business & Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business, York University. His research interests include Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Social and Environmental Accounting and Accounting for the Public Interest, and has published papers in prestigious academic journals such as Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, the European Accounting Review, and the Journal of Business Ethics, and was an invited author of chapters in several books. He currently serves as Co-Editor of Accounting Forum, the Accounting and Business Ethics Section Co-Editor of the Journal of Business Ethics as well as an Associate Editor of Accounting and the Public Interest. In addition, he is an Editorial Board member of 14 other academic journals. He is regularly invited as plenary keynote speaker at international conferences and is actively involved in the academic community as council member of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (University of St. Andrews) and Chair of the International Associates Committee.
Dr. Sebastian Hoffmann is a Co-Director of the Centre for Accounting and Society at the University of Edinburgh Business School (UK) and a Research Professor of Accounting at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (Germany). He currently serves as Vice President Communications on the Executive Committee of the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER). Sebastian maintains an interdisciplinary research agenda in financial accounting with particular emphases on lobbying and accounting standard setting, IFRS accounting regulation and its implementation. His research ties in with the political sciences, history, and sociology and is published in leading international journals, such as Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Business History Review and Critical Perspectives on Accounting.
Dr. Giovanna Michelon is Professor of Accounting at the University of Bristol. She is Co-Editor of Accounting Forum, a member of the European Accounting Association Management Committee, a council member of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (University of St. Andrews) and Chair of the ACCA Global Forum for Governance, Risk and Performance. Giovanna’s research focuses at the cross over of three interdisciplinary themes: corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate governance. She has published widely in leading academic journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, European Accounting Review, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, Journal of Business Ethics and the British Journal of Management.
The panel is intended to discuss the manifold implications of the current challenges impacting the educational processes around the world. Curricula may have to be eventually adjusted, the stakeholders of the educational process may be impacted in various ways, and the very act of educating may change significantly because of recent developments.
Panellists are:
Dr. Christopher Cook brings nearly 20 years of accounting and consulting experience to Kelley School of Business. A Senior Lecturer of Accounting, Chris has won multiple awards teaching financial and managerial accounting at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and leads the Field Consulting Course for Kelley’s Graduate Accounting Program. Following his interest in establishing experiential learning programs in developing economies, Chris served as Principle Investigator for the Youth Entrepreneurship Livelihood Program (YELP) which involved the design and implementation of a business consulting and incubation program in Bethlehem. YELP provides significant education and consulting support to high-potential entrepreneurs and was undertaken in conjunction with the US State Department and Bethlehem University. Additionally, Chris has taught courses in Australia, Romania, Myanmar, New Zealand, Palestine, and South Africa.
Dr. Octavian Ionescu is Lecturer in Accounting at Norwich Business School and an alumnus of University of East Anglia. Octavian is particularly interested in the behavioral aspects of accounting and audit. Professional judgement and the decision-making process in an accounting context are at the center of his research activities. The exercise of sound professional judgement is paramount in undertaking any accounting or audit assignment. Therefore, the issues needed to be considered for the development of judgement skills are essential for accountants and auditors. Octavian has published several articles mainly on the issue of professional judgement in accounting and has attended conferences on accounting, management and economics issues.
Dr. Caren Schelleman is an assistant professor at the Department of Accounting and Information Management at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, where she also completed both her MA (Economics and Business Administration, 1997) and Ph.D (Auditing, 2003). She received part of her research training at the Fisher School of Accounting at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. From June 2003-January 2004, Caren was a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Caren coordinates and teaches courses on internal control and auditing at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Her work has been published in The Accounting Review, Auditing, the European Accounting Review, Accounting and Business Research, Accounting & Finance, and the International Journal of Auditing. Her research interests include auditing, assurance services, internal control, and corporate governance, both from an economic and a behavioral point of view.