The public is invited to Dickinson State University's annual Celebration of Scholars conference on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m.
The event will have around 62 DSU students participating in showcasing their original work in research findings, scholarly critiques, literary papers, musical and dramatic performances, and visual artwork.
"A lot of them are presenting their senior capstone projects," said Wendy Wilson, associate professor of psychology and Celebration of Scholars conference chair. "We usually have their parents, their grandparents, and a large portion of faculty there."
There are four presentation modes possible including oral paper, poster presentation, fine arts performance, and fine arts display, which are usually by senior students.
Chip Poland, chair of the Agriculture Department, said they will have nine Ag students presenting who have been preparing for their senior project for three semesters, but have been preparing for public speaking, perhaps, much longer.
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"A stereotypic ag student: they hate to write. They hate to speak publicly ... and god forbid you ask them to do math," he said with a laugh. "At the end, they still hate public speaking, but they are pretty good at it."
Poland said they try to get students accustomed to speaking in public in their freshman year and encourage it throughout their time at DSU.
The event is free and open to the public. There will be a buffet-style lunch provided, which is free to presenters, volunteers, and faculty, but for others the cost is $10 per person.
Awards will be presented following the luncheon to students in the categories of oral presentation, poster presentation, academic paper, and creative presentation.
Judging will be from nonfaculty members with the academic background and experience to rate the papers, according to the event website www.dsuresearch.com .
There are four academic areas-Agriculture & Natural Sciences, Nursing, Education & Psychology, Humanities, and Creative/Dramatic.
Poland said the groups are broken up in these four areas for judging purposes.
"It's difficult to compare an ag project with an art piece or some sort of oral presentation or a poem. So we sort of evolved to developing categories," he said. "The way an Ag student or a Natural Science student may present their work is likely very different than the Nursing and Education would. We try to find judges that sort of fit the academic discipline that is being judged."
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Wilson said that while the students might not enjoy it, in hindsight they realize they take away something from the experience.
"It's such a good learning experience for them," she said. "I like to see the students working together. I like to see them proud of their work and showing it off. You know, and they grumble and gripe but afterwards I usually get a good sense that they feel proud. The end result is wonderful."
For more information, visit the conference website at www.dsuresearch.com or contact Dr. Wendy Wilson at wendy.l.wilson@dickinsonstate.edu .
