2018 Student Scholars Symposium set for April 12
Kasie Corley |
Lipscomb University’s Student Scholars Symposium is an annual celebration of the creative and scholarly works of Lipscomb students. The 2018 symposium on Thursday, April 12 is the seventh iteration of the interdisciplinary event.
“The Student Scholars Symposium is an academic conference that is open to all Lipscomb students giving them a unique opportunity to showcase their creative works and research results in a professional setting,” explained Florah Mhlanga, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
The symposium provides students a forum to present their scholarly work via oral presentations, poster presentations, musical performance, theater performances, poetry readings and readings of other creative writing. The event allows students from all departments and majors to participate.
“It is truly an interdisciplinary event,” said Mhlanga of the wide array of topics presented each year. “One of the reasons we designed the Student Scholars Symposium was to facilitate further expansion of research at the undergraduate level.”
“We know that research is expected at the graduate level and that sometimes it is easier to find presentation venues for graduate students,” she said. “It is not very easy to find presentation venues for undergraduate students. We can only send so many students to national, regional, and even international conferences.”
The symposium provides the conference experience for Lipscomb students without the need to travel or restrict the number of participants. “We were really serious about finding a way to represent the scholarship that exists on campus,” said Shanna Ray, chair of the psychology program.
“We wanted this to be an interdisciplinary group where we had an opportunity to showcase all of the different forms of scholarship that exist at Lipscomb in both undergraduate and graduate disciplines.”
The conference structure is comparable to what students experience at professional conferences. “They get an opportunity to see what that’s like and to present in a really supportive environment. It’s a bit more supportive than what you would get at a national conference, so they get to see what it’s like but without it being so scary,” Ray explained.
Former participant Bria Harris encourages students who are unsure of participation to do it. “Students should participate because it’s good to put yourself out there. It seems weird, but the more experience you have, the better off you’ll be. You just have to get over that discomfort because I feel like people grow when they are uncomfortable,” she said.
Harris’ submission was a continuation of research she conducted focused on ischemic strokes. “It’s really complicated, but when someone has a stroke, their neuronal cells are killed and you can’t replenish those cells. There is not an actual treatment or something to prevent that from happening in existence today. The lines of my work are finding things that are getting there to treatment of strokes,” she explained.
Harris’ impressive work is one example of many innovative projects presented at the symposium. Jericho Locke presented his work on “Advanced Nuclear Licensure and Engineering Public Policy” leading to further work on advanced nuclear reactor licensure by the American Nuclear Society in Washington, D.C.
“It’s a great way to get your work out there,” he said. “It’s a good chance to get recognition for what you might be already doing and to put it on your resume. You’re going to get asked a lot of questions and people may poke holes in your research and argue with you a little bit. But, that type of academic discourse is really valuable. It gets you prepared for grad school and your career.”
Evidenced by the caliber of projects presented at the symposium, community members, professionals and recruiters are encouraged to attend. “The symposium really highlights the fruits of our labors as academics,” said Mhlanga. “They get a glimpse into what we do and into the results of our work. It’s a selling point for Lipscomb and a recruiting event for our students.”
In light of the recent designation as an R3 doctoral university by the Carnegie Foundation, the symposium supports Lipscomb’s trajectory to join the world’s great academic institutions. “The Student Scholars Symposium is a tremendous event which demonstrates the foundation of our recent designation as an R3 doctoral university,” said W. Craig Bledsoe, university provost.
“Students grapple with theoretical questions across all disciplines to produce the work displayed each year. I am always impressed with the quality and professionalism of their presentations.”
“We are an R3 university because of research,” echoed Mhlanga. “The student scholar symposium promotes student research both at the undergraduate and graduate level. An R3 is really a student research designation.”
To learn more about Lipscomb University, visit www.lipscomb.edu.