FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, 304-696-7153
 

COLA Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference
is April 16-17 at Marshall University

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Approximately 50 students will take part in Marshall University’s College of Liberal Arts 2009 Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference scheduled Thursday and Friday, April 16-17, in the Drinko Library on Marshall’s Huntington campus. 

The conference is designed to showcase the best intellectual work being done in the 13 departments of the college.  The event offers students an opportunity to display the quality work they have produced as part of their coursework, senior capstone projects and other educational experiences.

Presentations will examine varied topics such as “Convenience Store Ethnography,” “Shifting Behaviors in Appalachia,” “American Foreign Policy and the Consequences for Coca Farmers” and “Biodiversity’s Effects on Inhabitants of St. Lucia.”

To qualify to present their work at the conference, students were required to submit their work to a committee of COLA faculty for evaluation after receiving a recommendation from a sponsoring faculty member. 

Dr. Christopher White, assistant professor of history at Marshall, will give the keynote speech from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Friday, April 17 in the Shawkey Dining Room in the Marshall Memorial Student Center.  White’s most recent book, The History of El Salvador, looks at the political, economic and social variables through the eyes of that country’s people. 

Fifteen panel presentations will be given throughout Thursday and on Friday until 12:15 p.m.  Topics on Thursday, April 16 include:

Section A:  Panel 1, Better Off Dead:  Voices Beyond the Grave; Panel 2, Topics in Deviance and Subcultures;

Section B:  Panel 3, Topics in Political Science; Panel 4, The Classical World:  Inspiration, Power, Danger and the Devine;

Section C:  Panel 5, Criminological Theory and Research Approaches; Panel 6, Language, Culture and Diversity in Latin American Societies;

Section D:  Panel 7, Oppressed Groups in Latin America; Panel 8, Roundtable, Beliefs about Economic Opportunities:  Is the “American Dream” Still Alive and Well?;

Section E:  Panel 9, Gender Studies; Panel 10, Culture:  Events and Identity.

Topics on Friday, April 17 include:

Section F:  Panel 11, Psychology Poster Session and Panel 12, Geography Poster Session, both to take place on the third floor of the Drinko Library Atrium; Panel 13, Social Control and Civil Disobedience;

Section G:  Panel 14, Philosophical Inquiries; Panel 15, Eyes on Humanity:  Classical Giants, Convenience Stores, and Hitchhiking.

The conference is open to the public.

For additional information on the conference and its events, contact Dr. Kimberly DeTardo-Bora at 304-696-3084 or via e-mail at detardobora@marshall.edu.

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