Undergraduate Research

The purpose of our university is not the acquisition of knowledge but the search for deeper knowing. Rather than imagine your education as downloading information or facts, reimagine your education as a process of seeking, questioning, probing, arguing, and creating.

The primary responsibilities of faculty are to research, teach, and guide students. The primary responsibilities of students are to learn how to learn and to continue this quest for the rest of their lives. Faculty are primarily involved in the search for and creation of new knowledge, but faculty invite students to join with them to learn methods and approaches.

Six Ways That You Can Participate in Undergraduate Research:

#1: Explore Methods

Students explore research methods through an introductory course to a field of knowledge (for example, ENGL 1090 – Critical Methods, FMST 1100 – Gateway to Film & Media Stds, JUPS 2010 – Nonviolence Theory & Practice, PSYC 2000 – Research Methods & Statistics, or SOCI 2901 – Methods of Social Research)

#2: Join a Project

Students join with faculty in a research project, serving as research assistants via .

#3: Start Your Own Research Project

Students propose their own original research projects, seeking summer fellowship funding via Davis, , , , , etc.

#4: Present Your Findings

Students bring back their summer research and develop this material into a thesis, capstone, or independent project in the senior year. Students present their research via on-campus symposia (including the College Academic Council Research Colloquium in the spring) and off-campus conferences (supported by PURPAS grants).

#5: Expand on the Experience

Students use their undergraduate research projects as stepping stones to further research, creative projects, fellowships, jobs, graduate study, public service, etc.

#6: Keep Asking Questions

Continue to ask questions and pursue deeper knowing as key activities in lives of purpose.

Student Voices