Student Research and Creative Projects

2008-2009

DePauw students complete many scholarly and creative projects. Recent examples of these projects are featured on this web site. Research by students is often done in collaboration with faculty mentors, and it is frequently presented at scholarly and professional meetings and published in refereed professional journals.

Research programs during the academic year include the Science Research Fellows (SRF) Program and research and senior thesis projects in many different departments and interdisciplinary programs. Summer research support is available from the SRF Program and from grants from the Faculty Development Committee for student-faculty summer collaborative research. In recent years as many as 80 students have completed summer research projects. Many projects are funded by external research grants to faculty members.

DePauw sponsors an undergraduate research poster session each fall, these are open to all students who have completed research projects recently.

For over thirty years DePauw has annually hosted the National Communication Honors Conference, which features research from DePauw students and other students doing research in Communication from across the country.

DePauw hosted the Eleventh National Conference of the Council on Undergraduate Research on June 24-27, 2006.

DePauw University News announced in August 2006 that for the seventh consecutive year, DePauw University is ranked in the top tier of national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report, and its undergraduate research opportunities are also listed among the nation's best. The announcement also said that the University's opportunities for undergraduate research and creative projects warrant a mention in U.S. News' “Programs to Look For” section.

Student research at DePauw has a long history. In 1932-35 dozens of chemistry majors worked with Percy Lavon Julian on the laboratory synthesis of the anti-glaucoma drug physostigmine. Eleven of those students were co-authors with Julian on one or more of eleven different scientific articles published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In 1930-1961, dozens of students did research with Winona Welch, Professor of Botany and a world expert on water mosses fontinalaceae.

Listed below are some examples of research and creative projects by DePauw students organized by department and program.

Archaeology

CGMA (The Collaboratory for GIS and Mediterranean Archaeology) is a partnership between American liberal-arts colleges to develop a GIS (Geographic Information System) for regional survey projects in the greater Mediterranean. It has been established through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Undergraduate Education involves students in CGMA in a number of ways. Each fall semester, a seminar on GIS and Mediterranean Survey Archaeology is held. Students are then eligible for research opportunities in the spring and summer. Most of the data in MAGIS has been collected and entered by student interns.

Professor Pedar Foss founded ROMARCH, the original discussion list for early Italian and Roman art and archaeology. Its mission still remains -- to foster communication between professionals, students, and laypersons.
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Art

Both the Studio Art and Art History programs vigorously recommend a semester off-campus, either in an academic program or an internship, so that students may see contemporary and historical works of art in their original settings and in the midst of a live audience. There are terrific studio programs in Italy and New York, and excellent art history programs in Italy, France, England, and New York.
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Biology

The Biology Department offers numerous opportunities for collaborative work with faculty, as well as an extensive program of internships and research opportunities both on and off campus.

Numerous students have participated in Professor Henning Schneider's research including a project "Receptors and Locomotion in Zebrafish" which is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
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Chemistry and Biochemistry

The chemistry faculty encourages students to participate in collaborative research during the school year, Winter Term and summers. Such research is an important facet of a student's education. See the Department's research expectations. Also view the events, research and job opportunities in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Professor Bridget Gourley and her students are most active during the summer and regularly present posters/papers at local, regional and national meetings. Professor Bryan Hanson's website provides links to student-faculty collaborative work.
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Communication

For over thirty years, the DePauw National Undergraduate Honors Conference for Communication Arts and Sciences has gathered top undergraduate students and exemplary scholars in communication studies together for an intensive weekend of scholarly dialogue. The various goals of the conference include networking and the chance to share ideas with leading scholars, but all other goals are subordinate to the primary goal of supporting undergraduate research. Click here for past conference papers and visiting scholars. D3TV - Students of all majors and backgrounds produce, direct, and provide the on-air talent to several news programs, talk shows, game shows, and comedy programs.
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Computer Science

DePauw's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is designed to provide talented undergraduates who are enrolled at primarily undergraduate institutions (schools that do not have their own graduate programs in computer science) with the opportunity to collaborate on a research project in Computer Science and to experience, first-hand, several of the most rewarding activities that characterize most graduate programs and research careers. Click here for short video clips of former REU students commenting on their experiences.

Computer Science majors complete senior projects under the sponsorship of a member of the computer science faculty. Students examine ethical issues related to their projects.
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Ethics

Click here for Ethics-Related Student-Faculty Summer Collaborative Research Awards.
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Geosciences

Numerous research opportunities exist for Geoscience majors on diverse topics such as acid mine drainage, evolution of fault-related folds, tectonic history of Asia, contaminant history of lake/river sediments and Precambrian vein development. Students are actively involved in all aspects of research, including project planning, data acquisition & analysis, interpretation, and publication of final results. Please click the links below for more information: Department Home Page, Department News, Student Awards, & Student Research, Department Field Trips, Department Faculty Personal/Research Web Pages.
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History

Annual History Department forums are an opportunity for History majors to present the major findings and methods of their senior research project to the public. Students participating in the undergraduate research forum speak for about 15 minutes and entertain questions from audience members. The discussions are moderated by department faculty members. View student history majors featured in the History Department's website.

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Honor Scholar Program

Students in the Honor Scholar Program pursue independent work under the direction of one or more faculty members, culminating in an Honors thesis. Here are two links to information about research done by Honor Scholar students. The first focuses on senior thesis produced over the last several years. The second profiles a recent Fulbright recipient and lists titles of senior theses turned in last spring. The latter link has pictures!
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Modern Languages

The design and format of a Spanish electronic literary journal, El adelantado de Indiana is implemented by a student in the Information Technology Associates Program, Jordan Harp.
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Nature Park

There are countless opportunities for research by faculty members and students at the Nature Park. A variety of research sites provide an array of opportunities for research and outdoor activities for coursework in ecology, plant biology, conservation biology, environmental science, geology, and geography. Our initial research has inspired many ideas for future research and coursework at the Nature Park.
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Philosophy

The Philosophy Department provides numerous opportunities for student/faculty collaboration. One notable ongoing program is the annual Ethics Bowl competition. The Ethics Bowl is a national competition in which teams of 3-5 students debate complex and puzzling moral questions that may deal with personal, professional, or social and political ethics. Teams are judged mainly on the clarity and cogency of their arguments and the effectiveness of their responses to the opposing team. Faculty advisers are professors of philosophy, Marcia A. McKelligan and Robert D. Newton, Jr. The competition has to do with analyzing case studies in ethics drawn from real life situations, where the students have to reason out the best possible ethical solutions. Each team's analysis and proposed resolutions are presented orally before a panel of judges, drawn mainly from Business and Community leaders, who question and challenge the students' decisions and rationale. The students have to respond quickly and clearly to answer the questions and objections. Afterwards, the judges decide which team has the best reasoned solutions to the problems inherent in each case.
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Political Science

Assistant Professor of Political Science Brett O'Bannon returned to Senegal in summer 2006 with two students funded by DePauw University's Student-Faculty Collaborative Research program. The trio spent a month in the West African country, much of it in a village near the Senegalese border with Mali and Mauritania. They continued what is now a five-year effort to stabilize and digitize a collection of anthropological records of considerable significance.
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Physics and Astronomy

Many physics majors work on summer research projects or a wide variety of off-campus research opportunities. One way for physics majors to gain experience in a research environment is do an internship. Internships provide students with an opportunity to apply the knowledge learned in courses to real world problems, often at the cutting edge of knowledge.

There are many fantastic programs available (some are summer programs and other are during the school year). Most of these programs include some courses or seminars that help to broaden one's understanding of physics.
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Psychology

The psychology department applies the scientific empirical method to study behavior and mental life. There are several opportunities for students to conduct collaborative research with faculty members in the department during both the summer and the academic year. Faculty members' research interests include psychopathology, evolutionary psychology, infant emotional development, auditory perception, emotion in the workplace, the effects of alcohol on students, and behavioral neuroscience. Many of our faculty members regularly publish scientific papers with students as coauthors. Dr. Hertenstein's Infant Discovery & Emotion Lab is one example of an active research lab in the department.

In addition to research opportunities within the department, students engage in off-campus internships and research opportunities. Recently, students have conducted research at a variety of nationally renown labs including labs at the University of Louisville, the University of Minnesota, and DePaul University. There are also opportunities for field experience in local public service agencies. Students are also encouraged to arrange at least one Winter Term in a professional setting.
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Science Research Fellows Program

The Science Research Fellows program is an innovative and highly selective opportunity for outstanding students interested in pursuing the study of science and gaining significant research experience as an undergraduate. Although the program places an emphasis on science, it maintains a liberal arts focus. There are four components to the program:

Students participate in a two-semester research seminar, which helps to develop the skills necessary for future research experiences. Each semester students work in small groups on a research project which culminates in a group presentation. Click here for recent projects.

During the summer between the first and second years in the program, students spend 10 weeks on campus as paid research assistants working on a collaborative research project with science faculty members. See a list of student-faculty collaborative projects from 2001-2007.

Another component of the Science Research Fellows program is the opportunity to participate in a semester research internship during the junior year or fall semester of the senior year.

SRF students close their DePauw careers by taking a senior-level capstone seminar in their final spring semester. The class provides the opportunity for the Research Fellows to share their research internship experiences.
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Sociology and Anthropology

Women's Studies

Women's Studies Research Methods (WS240) offers hands-on experience and practice with various methods of research in the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies. By applying a variety of methods and strategies themselves in exercises presented and critiqued with a workshop format, and by reading and discussing examples of excellent and innovative women's studies research, students acquaint themselves with both the practical details and the ethical issues involved.
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