Northwestern’s annual Celebration of Research is taking place on Thursday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Rowenhorst Student Center.
Each presentation has a faculty mentor and either a single student or a group of researchers who have come together to present their research and poster. Community members, members of the Board of Trustees, members of the NW family and students’ friends and families are invited to this showcase to view the posters and interact with the presenters.
Countless hours of hard work and research go into assorted projects throughout an undergrad career, and many of those projects are only seen by the class and professors. Northwestern’s Celebration of Research gives undergraduates, from any discipline, the opportunity to participate in a poster and presentation event showcasing various research projects. Past projects have included Coagulation Studies, Media Design Research, Poetry as a Spiritual Experience and Limited Atonement.
Each research project is required to submit an abstract and poster presentation for the event, which go through numerous drafts and editing before the event. Senior Liz Ellis will be presenting her results from the ethnographic research study she conducted on the NW varsity baseball team. Prof. Chris Hausmann is advising.
When asked what she hopes to gain from this experience, Ellis said, “This experience has given me the chance to work on my research again and not only see how hard I worked on it during the process but also give me new ideas for further research. The research means a lot to me. I put a lot of time and effort into my findings and having the chance to do something with the results is rewarding. I hope to gain experience from presenting. As a sociologist, gathering data/results is a big part of what we do.”
For students majoring in research-heavy topics, this event provides an arena to present research before graduation. For students in other majors, this event provides them with the research presentation experience they might not have a need or reason to engage in after undergrad.
Mark Husbands, vice president of academic affairs, said that the goal of this event is to provide a setting in which faculty, staff, students, members of our community and the Board of Trustees can mingle with, learn from and encourage students in their academic research.
“It’s an important milestone in many students’ careers at Northwestern,” he said.
However, this event can be seen as a spiritual act of worship and not only an academic affair.
Husbands went on to say, “James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above. For Christian professors and students alike, this means that intellectual and creative ability comes with a responsibility to glorify God in the faithful exercise of these gifts. The Celebration of Research is a wonderful example of this act of faithfulness. In effect, by offering the results of their scholarship to the greater Northwestern community, these students and their faculty mentors endeavor to serve Christ by helping us gain a stronger understanding of the beauty and truth of God in the midst of a world in need of redemption.”
