Ohio University’s graduate students will not have to search much longer for a place to showcase their research.
Alden Library and Graduate Student Senate have teamed up to create the Graduate Student Research Series at Alden to provide students with a local platform to display their work to the public.
“This will be a cost-effective way for students to showcase their work,” GSS President Tracy Kelly said.
Those interested in displaying their research projects can submit applications along with a proposal describing the project by March 1 to the GSS office in 302 Baker University Center. A committee comprising representatives from Alden faculty, the GSS body and an OU faculty member will decide which students will get to display their work.
“We want students to be able to articulate the intersection between their research methodology and the final product,” Kelly said. “It is a competitive process.”
In the past, graduate students have utilized Alden not only to conduct their research but also to present it. Last year, Edgar Simpson, a journalism Ph.D. candidate, presented how he used archives and manuscript collections to complete his research paper about the E.W Scripps School of Journalism, titled “ ‘Predatory Interests’ and the ‘Common Man’: Scripps, Pinchot, and the Nascent Environmental Movement, 1908 to 1910.”
GSS plans to have one or two more presentations this year and at least two more during the upcoming Fall Semester.
“Any grad student of any discipline can apply,” Journalism Subject Librarian Diana Nichols said.
Kelly Ferguson, a creative writing Ph.D. candidate, will be the first to present in the series from 1-2 p.m. Feb. 17 in 319 Alden Library. She will present her book, My Life as Laura, a non-fiction work outlining Ferguson’s journey to chronicle the life of pioneer Laura Ingalls Wilder through interviews and research. She will also discuss how she came across her findings.
“I hope to create a curiosity to investigate the research process and figure out the answers to questions,” Ferguson said.
The staff at Alden encourages all graduate students to apply to present their projects and research methods.
“We think by doing this series, we will bring the research process to light,” Nichols said.
hm156809@ohiou.edu
Editor's
note: This article was updated to clarify how many more presentations GSS plans to have this year and to state that the upcoming presentation is taking place Feb. 17, not Feb. 7.
