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Summer research broadens opportunities for students

Elizabeth Child
September 7, 2007

That an undergraduate can tackle graduate-style research is one of the many benefits of a St. Olaf education in which faculty are mentors as well as scholars. Both students and faculty acknowledge the challenge of immersing themselves in original research during the regular academic year.

This past summer St. Olaf piloted a new undergraduate research program, modeled after the successful summer science research program, for students and faculty in the fine arts, interdisciplinary and general studies, humanities and social sciences. Todd Nichol, professor of history, and a taskforce of St. Olaf professors and librarians championed the idea. Students conducted research for 40 hours a week over two months, for which they were paid, and attended weekly sessions with faculty to learn research and writing techniques.

"We created a research community on campus," says Mark Werner '08, who plans to go to law school or graduate school in environmental studies after completing his senior year. Werner's research for History Professor Jim Farrell focused on the amount of "screen time" college students spend at their computers (more than six hours a day), noting that it severely reduces their "green time" or connection to their environment.

The opportunity to research and produce results is wonderful for students and, for faculty who love to mentor, the experience was "a delight," says Farrell. Werner will be the first student in Farrell's two-plus decades of teaching and publishing to co-author a book chapter with him. "You share what you do," Farrell says. "You share scholarship."

Like Werner, Ashley Bjork's name is likely to appear on a scholarly paper, and she may have the opportunity to co-present it at a national conference with her faculty collaborator, Social Work Professor Mary Carlsen. Bjork helped Carlsen analyze data on the role of social workers in end-of-life or hospice care. Carlsen had interviewed social workers, including leaders in the profession, while on sabbatical in England where the social work profession was founded.

Carlsen found Bjork's inquisitiveness helped her determine "who cares about this research, why does it matter?" Working with Carlsen gave Bjork, a junior psychology major, an opportunity to learn about analysis, find out what it's like to do academic research full time and get a glimpse into international social work.

Other summer research projects included research on the roots and motivations of the Ku Klux Klan, creating a database of Norwegian art songs, research on the history of Eastern Orthodoxy and a study to determine if, and how fast, Hmong Americans are losing their language heritage.

By summer's end, several students had become soon-to-be-published scholars and comported themselves as such, standing at the podium before faculty, deans and peers to give laser-focused, Power Point presentations. They spoke authoritatively, and confidently answered wide-ranging questions that challenged the depth of their understanding.

The verdict on the new research program is in: Dean of the College Jim May says it will continue next summer.

Contact Carole Leigh Engblom at 507-786-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.