In April, two Hope College seniors, Kelly Arnold and Karey Frink, traveled with Dr. Lauren Hearit to present their paper at the annual DePauw Undergraduate Honors Conference. Kelly and Karey had developed a project in Dr. Hearit’s Research Methods course that examined how organizational identification is impacted by different types of on-campus student groups. Their paper was competitively selected for presentation. Kelly said:
The DePauw Undergraduate Conference was useful in that it allowed me to talk about my research with other undergraduate researchers from a variety of backgrounds and interests. We were able to talk about what worked, what didn’t work, and ways to improve all of our projects.
As the conference was a working conference, after Kelly and Karey presented their research project, they received feedback from scholars at Auburn University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan. Karey said:
DePauw’s Undergrad Conference paired me with a fantastic peer group and mentor who provided constructive criticism that will help me with future research papers.
Kelly and Karey had the opportunity to hear research presentations from students at other Liberal Arts institutions, as well as keynotes from scholars in the fields of film and media studies, and practitioners. A highlight for both students was a keynote address from Anne Helen Peterson of BuzzFeed News. Dr. Hearit said:
It was very rewarding for me professionally to bring Kelly and Karey to DePauw University, and we greatly appreciated the monetary support from both DePauw University and the Communication Department at Hope College to make this conference possible at little cost to our students. Presenting their work at DePauw’s Undergraduate Honors Conference was an excellent opportunity for Kelly and Karey after a semester of hard work in Research Methods. I am eager to see what is next for both these bright, hardworking students.
