WILLIAMSBURG — The Charles Center for Academic Excellence is celebrating the summer research of nearly 200 William & Mary students in its Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, Sept. 30.
This showcase will show the hundreds of research projects completed over the summer by students who are receiving Charles Center summer research grants and other students under the guidance of William & Mary faculty. The students conduct research of consequence on an exciting range of topics that span the humanities, social sciences, STEM, and interdisciplinary studies.
“Research requires students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to create new knowledge. Applied learning experiences like the faculty-mentored research showcased in the symposium are a signature strength of W&M,” said Elizabeth J. Harbron, Director of the Charles Center.
This is the first year William & Mary will be having a large-scale symposium since the pandemic, when William & Mary hosted it online or with smaller groups in person. The university said it is happy to be able to display its students’ efforts in full again.
In addition, Swem Library’s Read & Relax Room will feature two back-to-back sessions of poster presentations and five-minute digital slideshow presentations on monitors. Later in the afternoon, five students will showcase creative presentations, including a print-making demonstration and a screenplay reading in Botetourt Theatre. Guests are welcome to drop in during any of the sessions to browse the projects, ask students questions about their research, and enjoy free catered refreshments.
The 200 projects, spanning over 35 majors, show the true breadth of student research happening at W&M, it said. Students’ research took place on campus, in Virginia, and around the world in locations from Spain to Mongolia to North Macedonia.
Some of the project titles include:
- MothMyth: Examining the Cultural Significance of the Mothman Narrative
- Marketing Musical Sound: Racialized Perceptions of Musical Sound in American Music Media and Possibilities of Music Radio in Social Change
- Charting Diverse Pathways: The First Three Asian Ancestry Women at W&M
- A Natural Connection: College Students’ Relationship With Nature and Academic Greenspaces During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- The Personality of Otherness: The Effect of Immigrant Status on Personality and Psychological Ownership
- Procedural Justice in the Richmond, VA Eviction Court
- Making Movies on Location: An Introduction to the Geological Wonders of the Blue Ridge Tunnel
- Computerizing Your Closet: A 21st Century Approach to Closet Organization
- Nuclear Localization of HDAC4 in Alzheimer’s Disease and Anorexia Nervosa
The Research Symposium will be from 10:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Swem Library. Free refreshments will be provided during poster sessions. For more on projects that will be featured during the event, check out William & Mary’s official schedule for the event.
