Scholarship Week
Eastern Kentucky University’s faculty and students from across the disciplines joined together from April 14th to April 18th for scholarship week in celebration of the culture of scholarship, research, and creative endeavors on campus. The Noel Studio for Academic Creativity and EKU Libraries hosted various events, from workshops, panels, Honors Thesis presentations, and posters, to dances, a public speaking competition, and the Phi Kappa Phi induction ceremony. Scholarship Week commended the hard work, dedication, and success of students and faculty at EKU.
Gregg Wentzell, Assistant Director of Miami University’s Center for Teaching & Learning and managing editor of the peer-reviewed Learning Communities Journal and Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, kicked-off scholarship week with an interactive Workshop for Prospective Authors of Peer-Reviewed Publications. Discussion focused on standards and methods of scholarship, consistent with the acceptance criteria for major peer-reviewed journals.Participants engaged in small groups, analyzing submissions of manuscripts based on their effectiveness for a peer-reviewed journal. Wentzell was grateful for the opportunity to be a part of EKU’s scholarship week and is passionate about collaborating with both students and faculty. He suggests members of EKU’s faculty to get involved in Faculty Learning Communities and for EKU’s students to seek opportunities to work with instructors. Wentzell stated, “Students working with faculty is the future of academic scholarship.”
EKU Libraries’ Copyright and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Linda Sizemore, moderated a panel of editors of EKU-based peer-reviewed journals. Linda, was “excited to be part of the positively sparked by highlighting the research efforts of EKU students.” Her advice for scholarship at EKU is to “Read, research, write, and repeat. Collaborate, it’s more fun.”
As part of scholarship week, students participated in a public speaking competition. Congratulations to Rachel Winter, an EKU graduate student who presented, “Flipping Out EKU” and Jessica Miller, an undergraduate student who presented, “Memes: Where Do They Come from?” for winning the public speaking competition.
Forty-two Honors Program students, representing all five of EKU’s colleges, presented their honors thesis projects as part of Scholarship Week. According to Dr. David Coleman, Interim Director of EKU’s Honors Program, topics ranged from the evolutionary genetics of wetland frog populations in southern Indiana, to security policies at major U.S. sporting events, to the writing of a libretto and musical score of an original opera composed entirely in Portuguese. Dr. Coleman stated, “For the last three years, the EKU Honors Program thesis seminar has enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Noel Studio, and sharing our final thesis event and space with our colleagues and friends in the EKU Libraries for the first time this semester has been a richly rewarding experience for students and faculty alike.”
Dr. Darrin Smith, coordinator of EKU’s Office of Undergraduate Research, presented workshops that allowed faculty and staff opportunities to discuss how to enhance their current scholarship efforts and develop innovative methods to explore with their students at EKU. Dr. Smith was also responsible for the Undergraduate Presentation Showcase and Graduate Poster Presentation. He stated, “Many students at EKU have produced high quality research or creative works and Scholarship Week events allow them to present and discuss their projects. During these events, students can communicate their work to others as well as attain feedback to critically reflect with their projects.” This year’s showcase, with over 80 posters, was the most highly attended showcase in recent memory.
EKU is creating a digital repository of the posters presented at Scholarship Week’s showcase in Encompass, EKU’s digital archive thatseeks to makes the scholarship, creativity, and history of Eastern Kentucky University globally discoverable and accessible.
Scholarship Week culminated with the induction of new Phi Kappa Phi members. These high- achieving students were inducted into the most selective honor society at EKU. The Noel Studio wants to thank all scholars who participated in Scholarship Week. Your dedication to scholarship, research, and creativity are integral to EKU’s success.
Contact Information
Becky Grandgeorge
rebecca.grandgeorge@eku.edu
859-622-7403
Published on April 23, 2014