Research looks different in every field. Let’s celebrate yours.
As the Undergraduate Research Symposium continues to grow, we are eager to have students from all fields of research participating. Here, you’ll find examples to help you imagine how your project could take shape at the Symposium. While this page spotlights fields from which we hope to increase participation at the Symposium, students from all disciplines are welcome and encouraged to participate.
Arts and Humanities
The Arts and Humanities shine at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Whether you’re a maker or scholar, performer or writer, the knowledge you develop in your field helps deepen our shared understanding of the world. The Symposium offers multiple ways to join the conversation—keep reading for examples to help you imagine how.
Art, Art History, and Design Research
Celebrating Arts creative and scholarly projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Studio artworks (paintings, sculptures, installations, photography, ceramics, mixed media), digital and design projects, explorations of materials and processes, or historical and critical analyses of art — and more!
What if my work feels unfinished or exploratory?
Answer: You do not need to have completed your research to be considered. Many students present research that is ongoing. It is perfectly acceptable to share preliminary results or anticipated findings at the Symposium, so long as your submitted abstract fulfills our Abstract Guidelines.
What is the difference between participating in an art exhibition and showcasing visual work in the Undergraduate Research Symposium?
Answer: In an exhibition setting, the work and artist statement often stand on their own, and the artist may not be present to discuss the ideas or process behind the piece. At the Symposium, you’re there to introduce your work, talk through your research and creative process, and engage directly with viewers through conversation and questions.
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session! While all options require you to be prepared to engage with the audience about your project, you can choose the option that best allows you to present your work.
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
From Concept to Creation
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous student presentations in the Arts!
Digital projections or film/mixed media work
These would all fit well within our Performing Arts Session! You would have ten minutes to share your work with an audience in Meany Studio Hall Theatre. Please note that limited tech support is available.
Studio arts (painting, sculpture, installations, photography, ceramics, mixed media), orUX or digital design
This could be on display in our Visual Arts & Design Session, where your work is exhibited in a gallery walk setting in the Allen Library Research Commons.
Art historical research,cultural or textual analysis, orcritical inquiryresearch
This could make a great 10-minute PowerPoint presentation or research poster.
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.
Get inspired! Here are some past presentations by Arts students…
Dance Research
Celebrating Dance creative and scholarly projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Original choreography, dance film, performance studies research, site-specific dance, explorations of embodiment or movement – and more!
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session!
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
Research in Motion
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous Dance student presentations!
Original choreography or movement practice
These would all fit well within our Performing Arts Session! You would have ten minutes to perform an excerpt from your choreography and peel back the curtain to discuss your creative research process. Please note that limited tech support is available.
Dance film or a video essay
This could be on display in our Visual Arts & Design Session, where your work is exhibited in a gallery walk setting in the Allen Library Research Commons.
Performance studies, ethnographic dance research, dance education research, dance science, dance history, or research on dance in popular culture
This could make a great 10-minute PowerPoint presentation, research poster, or could be combined with a performative element for the Performing Arts Session.
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.
Get inspired! Here are some past presentations by Dance students…
- Alleviating Dysmenorrhea in BIPOC populations through Community Dance
- NeuroDance- Movement-based Learning Model for STEM
- An Outsider’s Perspective: Analyzing Korean and American Perspectives on How Historical Korean Gender Values Manifest in the Korean Pop Industry
- Embodied Object – A Physical Interrogation of the Male Gaze
- History and Injury of Classical Indian Dance: Kathak
- Artistic Integrity vs. Commercial Viability: The Music Video Choreographer’s Dilemma
- Neuroscience of Emotion and Movement
- The Physiology and Applications of Fascia for Dance Movement and Injury Prevention
- Choreographic Research on Nostalgia and the Creation of After Everything
- The Role of Dance Training in Color Guard Educational Programs
- The Influence of Dance Education on Nutritional Habits and Beliefs
Drama Research
Celebrating Drama creative and scholarly projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Any of these things: A theater history or performance studies paper, costume design, lighting design for a show, set design for a show, digital projections for a show, a dramaturgy display, a devised show, and more!
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session!
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
Taking Center Stage
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous Drama student presentations!
A devised show, digital projections for a show, set design for a show, or lighting design for a show
These would all fit well within our Performing Arts Showcase! You would have ten minutes to share your work with an audience in Meany Studio Hall Theatre. Please note that limited tech support is available.
Costume design
This could be on display in our Visual Arts & Design Showcase, or you could have a group wear your costumes and talk about them in our Performing Arts Showcase.
Theater history or performance studies papers
This could make a great 10-minute PowerPoint presentation or research poster.
Dramaturgy display
This one could fit in any session, depending on what you’re hoping to share! It could be a static piece in the Visual Arts & Design Showcase, a more active presentation in the Performing Arts Showcase, or it could be organized as slides in a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation.
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.
Get inspired! Here are some past presentations by Drama students…
- “Capstone Project” Wild Dumrul
- Eldest Daughter Elegy: Mutual Experiences of Family in a Precarious Position
- Do White American Women Have Intergenerational Trauma? A Semiotic Performance Analysis of Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me
- Performing Activism Passively Vs. Actively Performing Passivity: How The Thanksgiving Play Contradicts Itself in the Pursuit of Audience Action
- It’s Like the F****** Soundtrack to my Life: What The Flick Has to Teach Us About Escapism, Storytelling, and Survival
- The Bed Trick: Deconstructing Tropes
- Dipping Into Vietnamese Water Puppetry
Music Research
Celebrating Music creative and scholarly projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Original compositions, live or recorded performances, musicology research, ethnomusicology studies, explorations of sound and technology – and more!
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session!
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
Composing Knowledge
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous student presentations in the field of Music!
Original compositions or vocal/instrumental performances
These would all fit well within our Performing Arts Session! You would have ten minutes to share your work with an audience in Meany Studio Hall Theatre. Please note that limited tech support is available.
Recorded performances or a video essay on music studies
This could be on display in our Visual Arts & Design Session, where your work is exhibited in a gallery walk setting in the Allen Library Research Commons.
Musicology research,ethnomusicology studies,music history or music theoryresearch
This could make a great 10-minute PowerPoint presentation or research poster.
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.
Get inspired! Here are some past presentations by Music students…
Humanities Research
Celebrating Humanities research projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Anything that reflects your research process—whether analytic, interpretive, theoretical, archival, historical, interdisciplinary, or creative–scholarly. The Symposium has a space for your work.
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session!
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
Interpretation and Inquiry
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous Humanities student presentations!
Literary or textualanalysis, cultural or media studies,historical or archivalresearch, language or translationstudies, gender or queer theorywork
These are great fits for oral presentations (10-minute talks with slides) or research posters if you prefer a conversational format.
Film or televisionanalysis, visual communicationresearch, research-based exhibits, visual humanitiesprojects
These projects, especially if including visual or design elements, would work perfectly within the Visual Arts & Design Session.
Critical-creative work, curatorial or exhibit design research, projects with anarrative or storytellingelement, digital/multimediaprojects
These would be a great fit for any of our sessions – from poster or oral presentations to our Visual Arts & Design or Performing Arts sessions.
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.
Get inspired! Here are some past presentations by Dance students…
- Think Tanks at the End of History: The National Bureau of Asian Research and U.S. Foreign Policymaking for Post-Cold War Japan
- Transforming Historical Texts into Data: Network Analysis of Medical Practices in 19th Century Ottoman Iraq
- Cultural Memory, Feminist Archives, and the Future of Shoujo and Josei Manga
- Becoming-Inanimate, Becoming-Human, Becoming-Animal: The Objectification and (de)Familiarization of Captive Animals in Photography
Built Environments
Built Environments research comes to life at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Whether you’re designing, planning, analyzing, or building, the work you do shapes how people experience places, systems, and communities. The Symposium offers multiple ways to share your ideas—keep reading for examples to help you imagine how.
Built Environments Research
Celebrating Built Environments creative and scholarly projects
Ready for the Call?
You might be wondering, what would I present?
Answer: Design proposals, architectural or landscape models, site plans and renderings, urban or community design projects, construction or systems research, human-centered design projects, sustainability or planning studies – and more!
But what would my presentation look like?
Answer: You get to decide the ideal format for presenting your work. We have four options for presentation types at the Symposium: Poster Session, Oral Session, Performing Arts Session, or the Visual Arts & Design Session!
Why should I present at Symposium?
Answer: Presenting at Symposium helps you reflect on your work, share your ideas with a curious audience, and gain new perspectives. It’s a great way to build communication skills and add meaningful experience to your résumé or portfolio.
I’m still not sure…
No worries; if you have questions, concerns, or thoughts on what this experience could look like for you, we encourage you to reach out to your faculty mentor or send us an email!
Shaping Spaces and Systems
Here are some potential projects and how you might showcase them at the Symposium, including some inspiration from previous presentations in the Built Environments field!
Urban or environmental analysis, construction process or systems research, policy, planning, or zoning studies, human-centered designresearch
This could make a great 10-minute PowerPoint presentation or research poster.
Architectural or landscape models, designprototypesorrenderings, interactive/systems-baseddesigns
This could be on display in our Visual Arts & Design Session, where your work is exhibited in a gallery walk setting in the Allen Library Research Commons.
Community-engaged design projects, sustainability or resilience studies, design-build or appliedresearch projects
These projects often work well in a variety of presentation formats, from a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to being on display in our Visual Arts & Design session. We’re happy to help you choose the best fit!
Let’s get creative together! Email us at undergradresearch@uw.edu if you want to talk through options for your presentation.