This Saturday marks the 14th annual Goshen College Student Research Symposium, a day in which both students and staff come together to engage in a range of speeches on various topics.
The day will consist of two sessions, one from 12:45 to 3 p.m. and the other from 3:25 to 4:45 p.m. The first session will feature 16 students who represent a wide range of academic departments and class years.
Topics such as sex trafficking, reading fluency, the cultural obsession with zombies, osmotic hemolysis (water transport across cell membranes) and the relationship between celebrities and advertising will be covered. Each presenter will be allotted 15 to 20 minutes to speak.
The event will be held in the Church-Chapel in rooms 112 and 113, with two groups of students presenting in both rooms simultaneously for the first session.
The second session will feature five student presenters in room 112.
Jo-Ann Brant, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy, has been the program’s coordinator since 2004. The assistant program coordinator for this year is Caleb Paul Mechem.
“The Symposium provides a showcase that makes evident the quality and range of research in which Goshen College students engage,” said Brant.
“Besides giving the student on the program added experience in presenting his or her work in a more formal setting than the classroom, the Symposium provides a window into a broader range of disciplines than the ones individual students have chosen to focus.”
Brant believes that it is important for students to share their work with a broader audience; work that is high quality is often read only by a professor. The symposium is a way to share student work with the campus and the community.
“Students tend to come to the symposium only if they are presenting,” said Brant. “I would like to encourage students to come to be part of the audience. Over the years, I have heard back from students who presented at the Symposium and have been called upon to present as a graduate student or a young professional, and they have expressed appreciation for the experience.”
For more information, contact Brant.
