Symposium highlights undergraduate research

Each year, more than 3,000 UW–Madison undergraduate students – mostly juniors and seniors – participate in research and service learning projects. On Thursday, April 18, some of these students will showcase their work at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Showing that undergraduates, just like faculty and graduate students, engage in meaningful research and other scholarly projects, the symposium will highlight projects from across all academic disciplines.

Among the nearly 100 projects on display will be posters describing the oral histories of women during World War II, the anticarcinogenic activity in green beans and the efforts of a local service-learning group to develop workshops that promote positive body image among middle-school aged girls. One student will give a dramatic reading from his fictional work addressing issues of race and identity.

The free public event begins at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 18, in the Memorial Union’s Great Hall (fourth floor), where students will share and explain their projects through poster displays and oral presentations.

At noon, a faculty panel, including professors from psychology, engineering, physics and music, will discuss “Creativity in the Discipline.” A reception, 4-5 p.m., Tripp Commons, features Martin Cadwallader, interim dean of the Graduate School and vice chancellor for research, who will present participants with certificates.

“Doing research provides a crucial dimension for students whose intellectual journey must include a practical as well as theoretical basis,” says Robert Skloot, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of theatre and drama, and Jewish studies. “It creates an environment of collaboration, often in partnership with faculty and staff; it enhances critical thinking; and it allows expression of the creative spirit that all of us possess.”

Skloot adds that the annual symposium acknowledges all these opportunities of research and establishes a public forum for the discussion and celebration of undergraduate work.

The symposium is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School and the Morgridge Center for Public Service.