From April 6 to 8, five English students and their professor, Laurie Dashnau, will take part in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Memphis, Tennessee.
Established in 1987, NCUR “is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students,” according to their official website. They welcome undergraduate students “from all institutions of higher learning and from all corners of the academic curriculum.” The conference was founded at the University of North Carolina Asheville, but it is hosted by different institutions every year. This year it is taking place at the University of Memphis. Their official statement says, “We look forward to showcasing the best in undergraduate research and the creative and performing arts during the conference.”
In 2011, the NCUR was hosted by nearby Ithaca College, and several Houghton students learned about the event and attended. Last year, five Houghton students majoring in English and writing attended the conference when it was hosted by the University of North Carolina Asheville.
This year, five Houghton students, including Bethany Kuiken ‘18, Emma Carpenter ‘18, Emily Friesen ‘17, Alyssa Rogan ‘18, and Grace MacKay ‘17, will join over 4,000 students from across the country to share their work in the form of 15 to 20 minute presentations. Dashnau, who has overseen their research projects all semester, will accompany them.
“Their presentations are culminations of proposals they submitted last fall and independent studies done with me this spring,” she said.
Kuiken, who is presenting an analysis of the work of two modern American poets, said that she wanted to participate in order to challenge herself and learn from other students around the country. “I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and engage in this conference that I knew would stretch me in many ways,” said Kuiken. At the conference, she and the other students will have the opportunity to learn about research from several different disciplines. When asked about what she is most looking forward to, she said, “I am most looking forward to supporting my peers from Houghton who will be presenting and interacting with other students who share the same passions.”
Carpenter, another English student going on the trip to Memphis, also decided to attend to stretch herself. In response to why she wanted to attend the conference, she said, “I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain experience presenting my work in a formal academic context.” Carpenter is presenting on the elegy and eulogy poems of W.H. Auden, a twentieth-century writer, and will also share some poems she wrote herself in Auden’s style. Carpenter is most looking forward to learning and absorbing knowledge from other presenters. She added, “It will be a great opportunity to represent Houghton College, and to take what I’ve learned here and share it with other conference attendees.”
Friesen is also going to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. She was invited by the English department, and plans to share her paper, “Joseph Beuys and the Performance of Jacques Derrida’s Writing Difference.” The paper compares the writings of Derrida, a seminal literary critic, with Beuys, a late twentieth-century German performance artist. Friesen is most looking forward to hearing from other undergraduates, and going to Memphis for the first time.
While it is her third time attending the conference, Dashnau remains excited at the prospect of attending. She thoroughly enjoys the opportunity to see her students share their work with others at the conference, and have the opportunity to present research as students in the humanities. “They now have the privilege and joy of sharing these papers with students invested in undergraduate research,” she said. “Students who are especially interested in cultivating the life of the mind beyond the traditional classroom setting.”