2023 Undergraduate Research & 

Creative Activity Symposium (URCA)

2023 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Symposium Deadline for Submission - February 10, 2023

 

The Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium Committee is pleased to announce the Call for Abstracts for the Fourteenth Annual College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium. This event will highlight the research, scholarly, and creative activities of students throughout the College of Arts and Sciences, and will be held with on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.  Please consider submitting your work for this event. The URCA Symposium Committee will hold an abstract preparation workshop on Tuesday, February 7^th from 7:00pm to 8:00 p.m. via Zoom in order to assist students in polishing their abstracts.

All students who have declared majors in a program within the College of Arts and Sciences are invited to participate in this year’s Symposium.  Group projects in which some members are majoring outside of the College of Arts and Sciences will be considered by the URCA Symposium Committee.   Current students, as well as December 2022 graduates, are welcome to present their work.  Presenters may choose a preference to give an oral presentation, poster presentation, exhibition, or performance.  All presentations should have a significant research or creative component; examples of such include, but are not limited to, summer research conducted at Ashland University or elsewhere, results of independent study projects, thesis work, literary readings or analysis, musical or theatrical performances, and exhibitions of artwork.

Students wishing to present at the Symposium should prepare an abstract in Microsoft Word and email that Word document to the URCA Symposium Committee at au.urca@gmail.com. Faculty sponsors must be copied on the email that contains the submission. The deadline for submitting abstracts is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2023. This deadline is firm.

A complete submission must include ALL of the following in the Microsoft Word document:

A. Name of Student Presenter(s)

B. Home Address of Student Presenter(s)

C. Class Year (e.g. junior, senior) and Major(s) of Student Presenter(s)

D. Name of Faculty Sponsor

E. College of Arts and Sciences program in which the work is focused (e.g. Biology, Psychology, Music)

F. Title of the Presentation

G. Preferred Format of Presentation (Poster Presentation, 12 Minute Performance, 12 Minute Oral Presentation, or Art Exhibition)

H. Special Equipment Required (if no other equipment is needed, please indicate “No special equipment needed”)

I. Body of the Abstract (250 words or fewer)

J. Anticipated Scheduling Conflicts for Symposium on 4/18/2023 (e.g. COBE/COE/CON class meetings, athletic events, or other commitments that cannot be moved on this date; if none, please indicate “No scheduling conflicts anticipated”)

Examples of acceptable abstracts from the prior years’ events are posted on the URCA blog (http://ashlandurca.blogspot.com).  If you have any questions about presenting at the Symposium or the abstract submission process, please contact Chris Swanson, Director of the URCA Symposium, at cswanson@ashland.edu.

Questions may also be directed to members of the URCA Symposium Committee:

Mohsine Bensaid, Writing and Communication Center

Clayton Chiarelott, Writing and Communication Center

Dr. Scott Garlock, Music

Dr. Nicholas Johnson, Chemistry

Dr. Mitchell Metzger, Psychology

Dr. Wendy Schaller, Art

Dr. Kelly Sundberg, English

Dr. Robert Wyllie, Political Science

2022 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Symposium Deadline for Submission - January 28, 2022

The Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium Committee is pleased to announce the Call for Abstracts for the Thirteenth Annual College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium. This event will highlight the research, scholarly, and creative activities of students throughout the College of Arts and Sciences, and will be held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022.  (Please note: All CAS classes beginning before 4:30 p.m. on April 6, 2022 will be cancelled that day for the Symposium.)  The URCA committee will hold an abstract writing workshop on Tuesday, January 25^th from 7:00pm to 8:00 p.m. via Zoom in order to assist students in polishing their abstracts.

All students who are declared majors in a program within the College of Arts and Sciences are invited to participate in this year’s Symposium.  Group projects in which some members are majoring outside of the College of Arts and Sciences will be considered by the URCA Symposium Committee.   Current students, as well as December 2021 graduates, are welcome to present their work.  Presenters may choose a preference to give an oral presentation, poster presentation, exhibition, or performance.  All presentations should have a significant research or creative component; examples of such include, but are not limited to, summer research conducted at Ashland University or elsewhere, results of independent study projects, thesis work, literary readings or analysis, musical or theatrical performances, and exhibitions of artwork.

Students wishing to present at the Symposium should prepare an abstract in Microsoft Word and email that Word document to the URCA Symposium Committee at au.urca@gmail.com. Faculty sponsors must be copied on the email that contains the submission. The deadline for submitting abstracts is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 28, 2022. This deadline is firm.

A complete submission must include ALL of the following:

A. Name of Student Presenter(s)

B. Campus Box Number of Student Presenter(s)

C. Home Address of Student Presenter(s)

D. Class Year (e.g. junior, senior) and Major(s) of Student Presenter(s)

E. Name of Faculty Sponsor

F. College of Arts and Sciences program in which the work is focused (e.g. Biology, Psychology, Music)

G. Title of the Presentation

H. Preferred Format of Presentation (Poster Presentation, 12 Minute Performance, 12 Minute Oral Presentation, or Art Exhibition)

I. Special Equipment Required (if no other equipment is needed, please indicate “No special equipment needed”)

J. Body of the Abstract (250 words or fewer)

K. Anticipated Scheduling Conflicts for Symposium on 4/6/2022 (e.g. COBE/COE/CON class meetings, athletic events, or other commitments that cannot be moved on this date; if none, please indicate “No scheduling conflicts anticipated”)

Thanks, and we look forward to reading students’ submissions again this year!

Chris Swanson

cswanson@ashland.edu 

Questions may also be directed to members of the URCA Symposium Committee:

Mohsine Bensaid, University Writing Center

Dr. Scott Garlock, Music

Dr. Nicholas Johnson, Chemistry

Dr. Peter Mallik, Psychology

Dr. Wendy Schaller, Art

Dr. Kelly Sundberg, English

Dr. Robert Wyllie, Political Science

URCA Symposium Cancelled for 4/15

Due to the unfortunate and inappropriate Zoombombing that we experienced this morning during Oral Session I, the URCA Symposium has been cancelled for today. We have been informed by Information Technology that there is no way to guarantee that we can prevent this from happening again. The URCA Symposium Committee will be meeting this afternoon to discuss the best way to accomplish this.

I sincerely apologize for not being able to recognize the amazing research and creative activities that our students have done throughout the year in our virtual symposium. I wish to thank them for their willingness to convert their presentations to the virtual format.

Dr. Swanson

Session 1 Lineup for URCA 2020

Along with opening remarks from CAS Dean Dawn Weber, the 2020 URCA Symposium opens at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 15 with a diverse lineup including presentations about music history, poetry, website design and adolescent psychology. Every session through 3:15 p.m. promises to be as intriguing and inspiring. The first session includes the following presentations:

• Emily Ebert's Entartete Musik: Jazz and Survival in Nazi Germany 
• Paul Dyczkowski's Speak to the Rushing Water: I Am – Reflections in Poems 
• Branden Barber, Brennen Nalley, Jacob Garry, Kyle Ackert and Renee Lucas' Interactive Chaos Automata Website 
• Dr. David Werner's The (Not So) Good, Bad, and Ugly: Adolescent Alcohol Exposure

2020 URCA Goes Virtual on Apr. 15

Ashland University’s College of Arts and Sciences is going virtual for the eleventh annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Symposium which will feature 41 presentations and exhibitions given by 75 students and alumni representing 27 programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. The April 15 symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Dr. Dawn Weber, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will provide the welcome and opening remarks. She explains that the symposium follows the format of a professional conference with students presenting original research, reading original creative writing, and exhibiting their artwork. Weber said, "CAS undergraduate students continue to make original intellectual and creative contributions to their disciplines early in their careers. We are delighted to share with the public and campus community highlights of the outstanding work being conducted by our students in departments across the arts, humanities, natural science and social science disciplines."

According to Dr. Christopher Swanson, URCA Symposium Committee Chair, Ashland's 2020 URCA Symposium is being held a week earlier than the national celebration of Undergraduate Research Week by the Council on Undergraduate Research, of which Ashland University is an institutional member. Dr. Swanson adds, "Based on the positive response to alumni presentations in the past couple of years, this year will again offer research presentations by two arts and sciences alumni, Paul Dyczkowski and Dr. David Werner. Their presentations will be featured at the first Oral Session from 9 - 10:15 a.m."

Paul Dyczkowski (2013) was raised by an artist who is also a factory worker which guided him into seeing the art behind the machine, and into sensing a grander architecture and architect behind the daily rumblings of our lives. After studying English, Creative Writing, and philosophy at AU, art and especially reading and writing remain critical to both his day-to-day life and career. Now employed by a technology company that prides itself on problem-solving and for supplying makers, thinkers, and repairers with whatever type of hardware they need, poetry remains integral to who he is. Written and verbal communication is imperative where he works, and quickly identifying what type of problem is at hand and fixing it as smoothly as possible is of paramount importance. Having studied what may get hidden or lost in words helps his career, and also drives his personal life. In his presentation "Speak to the Rushing Water: I Am - Reflections in Poems," Paul will share a few poems that revolve around his thankfulness and awe in looking at this world that we can constantly change with all the tools at our disposal, tools both physical and otherwise.

Dr. David Werner (2001) graduated with a double major in biology and chemistry. Following graduation, he continued onto his graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine specializing in neuropharmacology, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is currently a tenured associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at Binghamton University, State University of New York, where his lab focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic developmental factors related to substance use disorders, primarily alcohol. His presentation "The (Not So) Good, Bad, and Ugly: Adolescent Alcohol Exposure" will give an overview of our current state of understanding of adolescent alcohol use vulnerability, its relationship to alcohol use disorder later in life, and novel translationally relevant preclinical interventional conduits.

A complete abstract listing can be accessed at ashlandurca.blogspot.com.

URCA 2020 Going Virtual

Stay Tuned! Rumor has it that URCA Symposium 2020 is still happening #VirtualResearch #VirtualCreativity #CantStopUs