Learn about UW undergraduates who volunteer over spring break to work with elementary school kids in rural and tribal Washington state communities. In Alternative Spring Break, undergrads work with the young students to help them create their own book or learn about environmental science. Alternative Spring Break is a program of the Pipeline Project, a unit within Undergraduate Academic Affairs. Video created and produced by UW Video for the UW 360 magazine show.
Author: Undergraduate Academic Affairs
Reviewed 9/22
Undergraduate discovery on display at annual Research Symposium
More than 1,000 talented University of Washington undergraduates will showcase their contributions to innovative and groundbreaking research at the Sixteenth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, one of the largest such symposia in the country. The symposium will take place May 17, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., in Mary Gates Hall. Some presentations will also occur in Johnson Hall and Meany Studio Theater.
The Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium provides a forum for undergraduate students to present the research, scholarly, and creative work they have accomplished alongside faculty and graduate mentors throughout the academic year. These students are making significant contributions to real-world and cutting-edge issues of our time. Through their poster and oral presentations at the Research Symposium, undergraduates also learn to explain and connect their work to a general audience. The resulting shared learning and discussion—among faculty, staff, students, and community members—is a valuable experience for many students and guests at the event.
The Undergraduate Research Symposium showcases the diversity of undergraduate research, which spans all disciplines and addresses critical issues of our time. In 2011-12, more than 7,000 undergraduates participated in University-sponsored research, benefiting from the University’s resources as a research powerhouse, and contributing to solutions to critical societal problems. At this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, students will share their research on topics which relate to new methods for targeted DNA sequencing, improving waste management efficiency at the UW, translating athletes’ football intelligence to classroom success, cultivating a sustainable farm at a prison, creating an accurate, low-cost, paper-based test to diagnose infectious diseases such as malaria in developing countries, and producing a Native American comic book to share important information relating to cancer education, among many others.
Undergraduate Research Symposium
5/17/13 | 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Mary Gates Hall and select rooms in Johnson Hall and Meany Studio Theater
There’s a lot to see! Create your own proceedings.
Students often utilize, and sometimes discover, new talents as they approach challenging research questions. Elain Fu, a research assistant professor in bioengineering, mentors undergraduates in her lab. She says that one of her favorite things to see is when students begin to recognize their own talents and capabilities through their involvement in research—an empowering experience. Fu has also seen undergraduates make great contributions to her discipline. Speaking of one undergraduate in her lab, senior Tinny Liang, Fu says “She has not only contributed to the research in my lab, being a co-author on three papers and counting, but her enthusiasm for her work is infectious.”
Students often spearhead original research projects that allow them to pursue personally-relevant topics which build upon their strengths. Undergraduate Alex Catchings, a senior majoring in English, decided to delve into the subject of race and higher education. “My experience as an undergraduate researcher has crystallized my inherent interests in issues of race and higher education,” Catchings says. He says that UW programs like the Undergraduate Research Program, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, the Mary Gates Endowment for Students, and support from professors across the English and American Ethnic Studies Departments have supported him to continue these interests.
Distinguished speakers Regent Joanne Harrell, Head Football Coach Steve Sarkisian, and UAA Dean and Vice Provost Ed Taylor will address symposium participants and attendees in a brief welcome at 12:30 p.m. in the Mary Gates Hall Commons. The annual undergraduate research mentor awards, which recognize exceptional faculty and graduate student mentors to undergraduate researchers, will also be announced during the program.
The Symposium is organized by Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ Undergraduate Research Program, which facilitates research experiences for students in all academic disciplines. Symposium attendees are encouraged to search the online proceedings, locate the poster and oral presentation sessions that interest them, and create their own, personalized proceedings to navigate the Symposium. Visit exp.uw.edu/urp/symp/ to use this tool.
Honors student Genevieve Gebhart selected for Luce Scholarship
Genevieve (Gennie) Gebhart, a senior Honors student majoring in international studies and economics, was recently selected as a 2013-14 Luce Scholar. A graduate of Mercer Island High School, Gebhart is one of 18 students nationwide to receive this scholarship this year.
The University of Washington is one of two Pac-12 institutions with a Luce Scholar this year.
The Luce Scholars Program is a major national scholarship awarded to fewer than 20 students each year. More than 160 candidates were nominated by 75 colleges and universities this year. The program is designed to raise awareness of Asia among young American leaders and funds a stipend, language training, and places scholars in professional worksites in Asia. A unique element of the Luce Scholars Program is that the foundation seeks students with little to no experience in and of Asia. Students who have had broad experience in Asia or who are majoring in Asian studies, for example, are ineligible for the scholarship.
Though she isn’t new to international travel (and was in Rome when she learned about her selection), Gebhart wrote by email that “Asia is the area of the world about which I know the least. I hope to gain some insight into Asia in general and my country of placement in particular, and [I] feel lucky to be able to do it with the support of the Luce Foundation’s experience, expertise, and infrastructure.”
As an undergraduate, Gebhart’s accomplishments extend well beyond the classroom and include research projects and leadership accomplishments. She has been on the Dean’s list every quarter since entering the UW in 2009; earned a Mary Gates Research Scholarship to research eating disorders, family dynamics and film in southern Italy; received Mary Gates Leadership Scholarships for her work developing the women’s program of the Husky Cycling Club and then serving as the club’s president; was the youngest-ever recipient of the UW Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates; and was selected for several additional scholarships. As if that weren’t enough, Gebhart is also a vocalist on the Grammy-nominated recording of “The Shoe Bird” with the Seattle Symphony.
Gebhart’s interests have led her on a multidisciplinary path culminating in a plan to pursue international librarianship and address issues of information access. She wrote, “My multidisciplinary education has been one big string of surprises. I never could have predicted that I would be involved in economics, or film studies, or library sciences—and, I never could have predicted that I would be doing those things all at once! My education at UW has made me more open to different fields and ways of doing things, and it’s made me more perceptive of unexpected connections among all those fields. For something like information sciences, this is invaluable—what librarians do is so multidisciplinary and requires so much intellectual flexibility.
“Information access takes a different shape in every nation and every community,” writes Gebhart, “but in the end it comes down to a balance between literacy, distribution, and policy. I see my role as figuring out how to optimize these three elements, something that I think is impossible without public engagement and advocacy at every level. So, I think I can make the greatest contribution in clarifying and communicating the urgency of information issues to non-academic and non-professional audiences. We’ve got these buzz words like ‘open access,’ ‘information justice,’ and ‘information commons’ floating around, but the connections between them are new, counterintuitive, and not yet well understood.”
Gebhart’s interest in libraries was inspired in part and wholly supported by her work in UW’s library system. “It’s the people I get to work with that have really role-modeled for me the many ways in which a librarian can be a force for the greater good,” she notes.
After her term as a Luce Scholar, Gebhart is considering graduate school but also wants to be open to opportunities that may present themselves while in Asia. Ultimately, though, “I see myself following a path that sticks to what I think is at the heart of librarianship, regardless of how technology and resources change. It’s about how about how people express, record, and narrate their experiences, and how available information can shape communities and the people in them. I hope to look back one day and be able to say that everything I’ve done has been in service to those greater ideas, to using information for public good.”
In addition to her academic pursuits, Gebhart enjoys creative writing, swimming, hiking, and is studying Italian, French, and Latin.
Read a Q & A with Gebhart here.
Learn more about undergraduate opportunities to earn national scholarships.
Learn more about the Luce Scholars Program.
Q & A with Luce Scholar Genevieve Gebhart
Learn more about Gennie Gebhart’s experiences at the UW and what her future plans are in this Q&A, conducted over email while Gennie was on a study abroad experience in Rome.
Why did you apply for the Luce Scholarship?
I knew that I wanted to take time to travel after graduation, and I knew that I wanted to do something with libraries outside the US. I was especially drawn to the Luce because of the incredible amount of personal attention and support the program offers—the Luce Scholars Program works to find individual job placements for every scholar, and continues to support scholars with language training and periodic group meetings throughout the year.
What do you hope to learn through the Luce program?
I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of international travel, and Asia is the area of the world about which I know the least. I hope to gain some insight into Asia in general and my country of placement in particular, and feel lucky to be able to do it with the support of the Luce Foundation’s experience, expertise, and infrastructure.
Do you know where you’ll be going? Where do you hope to go and why?
I’m still in the middle of the placement process, so I can’t say for sure yet. This is a great chance, however, to give the Luce Scholars Program huge thanks and praise for their placement process—their support has been remarkable.
Your bio for the Luce scholarship says, “Gennie hopes to enter the global open access debate armed with international experience, a multidisciplinary education, and constant mindfulness of the vital human side of digital information technology.” What do you imagine you’ll do in the “global access debate”?
Information access takes a different shape in every nation and every community, but in the end it comes down to a balance between literacy, distribution, and policy. I see my role as figuring out how to optimize these three elements, something that I think is impossible without public engagement and advocacy at every level. So, I think I can make the greatest contribution in clarifying and communicating the urgency of information issues to non-academic and non-professional audiences. We’ve got these buzz words like “open access,” “information justice,” and “information commons” floating around, but the connections between them are new, counterintuitive, and not yet well understood.
What is it about a multidisciplinary education that you’ve found valuable? How have your academic experiences shaped who you are as a thinker and doer?
My multidisciplinary education has been one big string of surprises. I never could have predicted that I would be involved in economics, or film studies, or library sciences – and, I never could have predicted that I would be doing those things all at once! My education at UW has made me more open to different fields and ways of doing things, and it’s made me more perceptive of unexpected connections among all those fields. For something like information sciences, this is invaluable – what librarians do is so multidisciplinary and requires so much intellectual flexibility.
You have a long and varied list of accomplishments and interests. How do you see them relating to one another, and what are you most proud of and why?
Looking back, I can see that the each of the things I have been drawn to do has held the seeds of this interest in information sciences. For example, in journalism and publishing, I got to explore free speech and a professional’s ethical responsibility to making information available to the public; in environmental economics, I have discovered models for the management and distribution of public resources, whether they be tangible ecological resources or digital information resources; and in international studies, I have been pushed to pursue lines of cross-cultural inquiry to surprising conclusions. Somehow, they have all connected to and informed the work I want to do in international librarianship.
How have you grown as a leader in your time at the UW?
I have been a member of the Husky Cycling Club since my first day at UW, and the club has defined my undergraduate experience. After having the opportunity to lead the club as president, I have learned that you don’t need to be the most skilled member of the group to be a leader. I am definitely not the fastest bike rider in the bunch, but Husky Cycling has been so special because you don’t need to be a fast or talented or exceptional cyclist in any way to be a valuable part of the group. Instead it is all about initiative and community and creative opportunities for one another. Elite athletes and curious beginners come together on Husky Cycling because we just like riding bikes, and the profound results of that simple feeling–from group cohesion to competitive success to community service–continue to amaze me.
What kind of leadership do you think the world needs and how of you hope to develop as a leader as a result of this scholarship?
We can never have enough of the kind of leaders who thrive in helping others discover and understand what they’re capable of. This scholarship is giving me a chance to get involved in projects that come down to that same leadership principle: using information, and access to information, to enhance people’s and communities’ capacity for self-realization and self-determination.
What was it about your work in Odegaard that led to these interests? Was there a particular experience whereby that experienced transformed from work to passion?
I can’t say enough about how my mentors at Odegaard – as well as in other parts of the UW Libraries like the Media Center, Suzzallo, and administration – have inspired and supported me. Work and projects in different parts of the UW Libraries have stimulated me and allowed me to learn more about day-to-day operations in such a massive library system, but it’s the people I get to work with that have really role-modeled for me the many ways in which a librarian can be a force for the greater good.
What do you see yourself doing after graduation and after your Luce experience?
Different travel/research fellowships are on my mind, as is grad school – but anything could happen during this next year, so I want to stay open to that, too. Right now, though, all my efforts right now are on selecting where I’m going to go as a Luce Scholar and preparing for that experience.
Project ahead—way ahead—and imagine you’re at your retirement party. From what are you retiring and what do you hope people will say about your life’s work? Is there anything else you’d like to add?
The technology and methods and goals are all changing so fast that it’s hard to predict what my job description will be in 40, 20, or even 5 years. That’s one of the things I like most about this field – how dynamic it is. I see myself following a path, though, that sticks to what I think is at the heart of librarianship, regardless of how technology and resources change. It’s about how people express, record, and narrate their experiences, and how available information can shape communities and the people in them. I hope to look back one day and be able to say that everything I’ve done has been in service to those greater ideas, to using information for public good
Inside the Undergraduate Teaching Experience
Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Center for Teaching and Learning present:
Inside the Undergraduate Teaching Experience
A celebration of the book about the UW Growth in Faculty Teaching Study
with authors Catharine Beyer, Ed Taylor, and Jerry Gillmore
February 25, 2013
Doors open at 2:30 p.m., presentation at 2:45 p.m.
Reception to follow
Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall
Register here
“…sometimes I think my teaching career is like Groundhog Day, the movie—I have to keep doing this over and over until I get it right…”
—UW GIFTS participant, faculty member in the sciences/math
“This book captures the voices of faculty engaged in the classroom in a fashion that I have not seen before. In the midst of a cacophony of works denouncing the professoriate as insensitive to problems of student learning (generally with little evidence), this study offers a glimpse into the real attitudes of a large group of instructors.”
—David Pace, coeditor of Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students Learn Disciplinary Ways of Thinking
The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation contact Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: 206-543-6450/V, 206-543-6452/TTY, 206-685-7264 (FAX), or e-mail dso@uw.edu.
UW Leadership Firesides begin Jan. 10
Curious about leadership development?
Sam Lim, founder and executive director of Scholarship Junkies, a Seattle-based scholarship resource, is the first speaker at the UW Leadership Firesides for winter quarter. Sam will share his story of personal growth as a student leader with the UW Dream Project and Scholarship Junkies as well as discuss how his leadership philosophy stems from Robert Greenleaf’s idea of servant leadership.
Space is limited; sign up today! Register here.
WHEN: Thursday, January 10 | 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: HUB 1st floor lounge
About the UW Leadership Firesides
Offered as part of The Husky Leadership Initiative, the UW Leadership Firesides provide a space for civic, corporate, and campus leaders to offer students their perspectives on leadership by sharing their personal journeys and stories. Firesides are designed for students who want to engage in a dialogue about leadership and further develop the skills and knowledge to be effective leaders on and off campus.
Guest speakers come from diverse backgrounds, making each Fireside unique. The setting is informal and cozy, therefore space is limited for each Fireside. Save your space by registering here: http://tinyurl.com/firesidesWIN13. You may enter the registration system as many times as necessary.