If you had no idea why your typical classes were not held yesterday, you missed out on an incredible event of research, scholarship, and overall passion for learning.
On Wednesday, over 100 students presented posters on various projects related to their field of study. Many others took part in a lightning talk (ten minutes plus 5 minute Q&A), standard talk (20 minutes plus 5 minutes Q&A), or a panel of minimum four students (45 minute talk plus 10 minute Q&A).
Students submitted a 200-word abstract about their project event while registering, and each project had at least one faculty advisor (all poster presentations are listed on this pdf).
First Year Experience: Assessing Library Use and Library Behaviors
The Instruction Interns at Rebecca Crown Library, of which I am one, devised a survey of first-year CRWS (Critical Reading, Writing and Speaking) students to assess students' self-reported knowledge and confidence about library usage. Completed by 49 students, the survey contained one quantitative, three Likert-scale, and two open-ended questions. Rewardingly, we found 73% of students reported feeling confident using the library's resources.
Personally, this was an incredibly rewarding experience. Receiving honest responses from students, which ranged from “the librarians are always helpful" to “I'm too scared to ask for help,” was a powerful connection to the experiences I have had teaching about library resources during my time as an Instruction intern. While many students can find group projects daunting, there is joy in accomplishing something meaningful using a team effort. Overall, discovering one's strengths and weaknesses in a team setting is an invaluable professional skill.
A Wide Range of Research at the SI Expo
Following our hour of poster presentation, I spent the next hour perusing posters in Parmer Hall's first floor. Knowing how much passion went into my group's project, I felt uniquely tied to a community of scholarship amidst these young professionals.
The first poster I observed was at table 11, Luis Nieves' “Exploration of Music Therapy Effectiveness for Chronic Pain in Hospitalized Children.” Having thought a lot about the emotional power of healing in my personal journey, hearing Nieves speak about the importance of honoring young patients' humanity was inspiring. I next walked to table 6 where Rose Kennet spoke eloquently about "Politics, Religion, and Fandom: a Study of Overlapping Online Fan Communities." Having recently attended a seminar at the International Children's Book Fair in Bologna, Italy about fandom in children's literature, I was intrigued about this topic.
At Table 7, Katarzyna Zawislak's poster was titled “Beyond Just Fun and Games: An Overview of Sexualization in Play.” I had many questions for Zawislak about the way some toys for children are marketed using adult-like sexualized techniques. Last, I spoke with Liliana Matias and Brianna Perez on their impactful topic, “Building Bridges: Mentors’ Attunement to Mentees’ Experiences with Racism.” As a white person who has considered entering the field of children's librarianship, opportunities to become more racial sensitivity are incredibly valuable to me.
There were many more fascinating projects I simply did not have time to explore. One was Nafia Khan and Kyle Jennette's “The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Neighborhood Resource Deprivation, and Learning and Memory Performance in Older Adults" at table 8, while another was Mo Malinowski's "Changing Notions of 'Family' and Estrangement."
So many incredible topics and presenters – day of glory, indeed!
Standard Talks: Using Adaptive Technologies in the 21st Century
My last stop was Parmer 113 to hear two 25-minute standard talks followed by Q&A.
First, Honors Management Studies student Aldo Cervantez spoke about “Empowering Small Business: a Social Media Consulting Journey." Leveraging his passion for consulting, Cervantez built a Wix website to help a small business in Berwyn, IL grow their marketing outreach. The new site promotes the restaurant's eye-popping dishes and more effectively caters to a newly targeted customer demographic. Cervantez also helped overhaul the digital presence of an auto mechanic small business in Berwyn by utilizing an effective brand palette and highlighting the business's fascinating history of milk distribution.
Last, multidisciplinary artist and archival student TJ Moaton led an emotionally impactful talk about the ethics of “death technology” in “The Tech Afterlife: the Ethics of End-of-Life Technology.”
“How do you want to be alive? How do you want other people to be remembered when they die?” the presenter asked.
Moaton discussed resources such as deathcare management software Plotbox, the cremation diamonds of EverDear, and memory preserving app Lalo. Afterward the audience offered several insightful comments and questions, as well as personal anecdotes regarding what the grieving process looks like in the 21st-century.
The Scholarships & Ideas Expo is a wonderful event for inspiration, networking, and creative sharing among young professionals in the DU community. Check out information about the SI Expo and consider taking advantage of this amazing opportunity next spring.
Featured photo by Megan Hoppe
This post was authored by undergraduate student Nafia Khan for Professor Christine Wilson's ENG 335 assignment, Writing as Social Action. It is part of a “Student Speaks” series on the RCL blog.
When I get caught up in life's responsibilities, hobbies that are important to me like painting fall by the wayside. That's why it was refreshing to have a class solely focused on creating art and reconnecting with aspects of my “inner child.” That class was PSYC 247: Intro to Art Therapy.
Intro to Art Therapy was one of my favorite classes taken at Dominican. Taught by Professor Joan Cantwell (MA DePaul University), it was a unique take on a college course. Not only did I experience art therapy firsthand and get a better understanding of what patients go through, the class became a safe place for me to become vulnerable and learn about myself.
One class session particularly stands out in my mind. The topic was exploring our “inner child.” It was an unexpectedly difficult topic for me, and I remember avoiding my work that week. Just as therapy is most needed on the days you don't feel like going, I later recognized the importance of that session's material. Having never explored the concept before myself, I hadn't realized how difficult “inner child” work could be for a patient. Overall, the immersive approach of the class was challenging but insightful.
Additionally, PSYC 247 provided space to discover things about myself beyond what I could get from everyday experiences. Every session we were assigned writing or discussions based on the art we had created. The week we discussed the “Inner Child” I created my favorite piece of the course (featured photo).
The class helped me realize I struggle to find safe spaces for myself, and now that is a topic I discuss with my therapist. Where do I truly feel safe? In class, I reflected on my love for nature, and specifically water. Water in all forms – rain; oceans; lakes. So I painted a jellyfish and starfish. Instead of representing a specific place, these water creatures embody a state of mind: my safe place. That week I wrote in the journal:
To be a jellyfish and float;
To be a starfish and glide…
In a sense, PSYC 247 became a safe place for me, too. It provided a break from my regular coursework in that, while it didn't feel like typical class, I was learning so much! I have even more respect for therapy clients than I did before, because therapy (of any kind) is not easy work.
The experiential learning and supportive attitude of my professor helped change the way I think about learning in general. I had found previous art classes difficult because of how critical teachers were of my art. So I told myself, “I love art too much to take a class for it. Taking a class will make me hate it." Nonetheless, Professor Cantwell's approach was different from my previous art teachers. She always encouraged my work, even when the output was different than our expectations.
To this day, Art Therapy is one of my favorite classes I've taken. I went into it not expecting to feel as many emotions as I did. While I think everyone can benefit from art therapy, I understand the things that work for me might not work for everyone. However, if you enjoy creating art, learning about psychology, or could use a safe place to explore your inner world, PSYC 247 might be the place for you.
It was for me.
Cover photo by the author