From Maxwell Perspective...

Showing Off 

An annual poster fair celebrates undergraduate scholarship.

Dressed in business casual attire and nervously hovering near a large poster filled with text and diagrams, students waited. Visitors meandered from poster to poster, with an occasional stop at the buffet table, until approaching an individual station. Despite nerves, each student, when engaged, confidently began chattering away, pointing at the relevant parts of his or her poster, speaking loudly to overcome the din of the room as the visitor leaned in.

In all, 33 students displayed research-project posters on April 30 at Maxwell’s second annual Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship, held in the Joseph Strasser Commons. This event stresses the importance of undergraduate research at the School, explains Mary Lovely, professor of economics and chair of the undergraduate IR program, who spearheads the celebration. “We want to have new ways for [students’] research to be recognized and we want to build a sense of community,” she says.

The event also highlights Maxwell’s aim of teaching modern research methods. Meghan Schneider, for example, a senior in international relations and political science, started off broadly and then narrowed her research to fit her interests. She ultimately settled on  a case study about modern slavery in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, with a focus on the evolving role of NGOs. She even traveled to Haiti, where she interviewed both government and NGO staff.

“What you’ve accomplished is really your own.”
— Mary Lovely

Darcy Cherlin, a senior anthropology major, said she learned through her project how research adds to knowledge she’d received in the classroom. “Having that notion — applying your skills to real-world problems — has really prepared me,” she said at the event. It also left her hungry for more, explaining that she has only “scratched the surface” with her research. She studied the challenges female Karen refugees from Burma face with healthcare in their countries of resettlement and now hopes to improve healthcare for refugees in the future.

All students who participated were required to work with a faculty advisor, who guides a student’s research but maintains enough room to allow students to work independently. Schneider said she greatly benefited from multiple advisors. “They’ve all been enthusiastic and helpful,” she said. “That really means a lot with something so extensive and time-consuming. It’s good motivation.”

Kenneth Arbuckle, a senior economics major, found the development of his project a great challenge. “It’s just a big test of patience,” he says. “. . . It was up to me to find something that I’m interested in, find data, find a topic, and find something that works.” He studied the impact being arrested can have on expectations of educational attainment and criminal punishment.

More than 250 people showed up for the celebration, most voting for their favorite poster. Prizes were given for outstanding poster (on arms sanctions against North Korea, by IR major Holly Yoo) and outstanding paper (Schneider’s slavery project); an honorable mention was given for Ethan Poskanzer’s (IR/economics) research on Soviet emigration to Israel.

The prizes undergird Lovely’s other hope for the event: pride. “What you’ve accomplished is really your own,” she says. “It’s really a visible sign of what you’ve been doing at Syracuse University and how far you’ve come.”