With the semester coming quickly to a close, so is my research on the Women’s Building, otherwise known as Morrill Hall.  I’ve spent all year finding out as much as I can about the beginning of the life of that “good ol’ red building” that sits on the north-east side of Michigan State’s campus.  Spending a lot of time at the MSU Archives (a big thanks to those at the Archives who helped me) I focused on the years between 1900 and 1925 (1900 being the year the Women’s Building was constructed). I found out some pretty interesting facts about not only the building, but the women who lived inside the building.  These women were pioneers; the first to enter a school full of men and to prove that co-education was the next step in university education.

However, if you want to know more about what I’ve found out at the MSU Archives, you’ll have to stop by the MSU Union on Friday, April 12^th at around 9:30am, where I’ll be presenting at the UURAF.  The University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum is held in the spring of every year for undergraduate Michigan State students to show the rest of the school what research they have been conducting all year.  Research can be presented either orally, on a poster, or performed (for those students showcasing their scholarship through artistic work, such as dance, music or theater).  There are twenty research categories total, ranging from Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (be sure look for my friend Matt Smith’s poster!), to Psychology, to Social Science, which will be the category in which I’ll be presenting.  Presenters will be asked questions on their research, and constructive feedback will be given by the judges.  Judging happens throughout the day, and is based on certain criteria, such as delivery, elements and visual aids.  Last year five hundred and sixty students presented at the forum, and I have no doubt there will be even more students this year.

For my research, my mentors, Dr. Lynne Goldstein and Katy Meyers, and I decided that a poster would be the best approach for my presentation.  To be honest, designing the poster was harder than I had anticipated.  It’s all designed on the computer, and PowerPoint is used for this.  However, PowerPoint must be set to certain dimensions (40” by 32”), so trying to view the whole poster on my tiny laptop screen was, well, inconvenient to say the least (as some of my friends would say, “first world problems”). Anyway, I eventually got all of my information placed on the poster only to realize, with the help of Katy, that it was extremely cluttered and disorganized.  So, back to square one, I had to reorder and re-place everything, but eventually I got it to look presentable.  The poster is in the process of being printed, and will be ready to go Friday morning.

So come on by to the MSU Union this Friday, to not only see some pretty interesting research on Morrill Hall (if I do say so myself), but also a lot of pretty incredible research from my undergraduate peers at MSU.  It’ll be an all day event, so even if you can’t make it at 9:30am for my presentation, there will be plenty of other chances during the day to see other presentations.  Come support all of MSU’s undergraduate researchers, and I hope to see you there!

Make sure to visit our interns at the UURAF this Friday, April 12th! At 9:30am in the Gold Room at the MAC Union, Bethany will be presenting her poster on Morrill Hall, and Katie and Dana will be presenting on their classification of the Saints Rest material. Feel free to visit and ask them questions about their research.

For more on the UURAF, visit: http://urca.msu.edu/uuraf/

Author: Bethany