Each spring, as an annual celebration of academic success and scholarship of faculty and students, Olivet Nazarene University hosts Scholar Week.
With months, and sometimes years, of preparation preceding, this interdisciplinary event allows many within the Olivet community to showcase their research and achievements for a campus-wide audience. This year’s Scholar Week spanned April 12-19, 2021.
Dr. Lisa McGrady, dean of assessment, teaching and learning, coordinates the programing of this event each year. She said of the importance of an annual scholar week, “There’s so much amazing work that goes on all over campus. Often the Olivet community doesn’t get to see that work.” She continued, “I always come away from Scholar Week impressed with our students and faculty.”
Throughout the week 86 students and 18 faculty members presented on topics of all disciplines. There were engineering teams solving real-world problems; chemists, zoologists and biologists conducting studies with medical or environmental implications; artists, musicians and writers sharing original work; teachers studying best practices and sharing their experiences; criminal justice and social work students debating important social and political; historians, philosophers, theologians, accountants, social scientists, mathematicians and psychologists asking important questions about the human experience and sharing their findings.
Seniors in Olivet’s University Honor’s Program demonstrated their depth of knowledge within their fields of study.
Honors projects included:
Bethany Weaver (Dr. Ryan Himes, mentor) Finding the Balance: The Effects of α-Cyclodextrin, 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin, and Cholesterol Bacteroides Vulgatus and Clostridium Bolteae
Elizabeth R. Kijowski (Prof. William Greiner, mentor) Hesed: Discovering Redeeming Brokenness in a Retelling of the Biblical Story of Ruth
Jason Tolley (Dr. Bruce J. Heyen, mentor) Measuring the Decrement Times of Volatile Anesthetics in Drosophila Melanogaster Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Nicole Samuelson (Dr. Brian Stipp, mentor) Essential or Optional? Effects of Creative Writing on Expository Skills and Attitude in Middle School Students
Haley Mitacek (Dr. Neal Woodruff and Prof. Josh Ring, mentors) Harmonic Function and Progressions Through Rodgers and Hammerstein Musicals 1940-1960
Brian Bowen (Dr. Kevin Mellish, mentor) Mothers and Sons: Queen Mothers of Judah and the Religious Trends that Develop During Their Sons’ Reign
Hannah Lewis (Dr. Karen Knudson and Dr. Andrew Hoag, mentor) Gender Roles Reviewed through Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with 21st Century Applications
Anthony Fund (Dr. Gregory J. Long, mentor) Restoration of β-Hexosaminidase A Deficiency Through the Use of Protein Chaperones
Zachary Monte (Dr. Mark Frisius, mentor) Augustine of Hippo: A Historical Theology Evaluation
Natalie Bardwell (Prof. April Kamba, mentor) ACL Injury Prevention Participation Amongst Collegiate Female Athletes
Madeira Sherwood (Dr. Lynda Allen, mentor) A Self-Study of FRN Olivet: A Student-Led Food Recovery Model on a University Campus
Timothy Steininger (Dr. Kristian Veit, mentor) Religiosity and Relational Anxiety: A Cross-Denominational Study
Kayleigh Kastelein (Dr. Kristian Veit, mentor) The Reliability and Validity of the Open Enneagram of Personality Scales
Anna Waldron (Dr. Kristian Veit, mentor) Time to Stop Worrying: A Correlational Study on Individualist Versus Collectivist Time Perspectives and Anxiety
Ten members of the Doctor of Education in Ethical Leadership (Ed.D) class of 2020-2021 also presented their dissertation projects on April 17, during the Ethical Leadership Colloquium. Topics included racial and family dynamics and relationships, academic assessments of students, and behavioral studies and qualities of effective leaders.
More information about the featured presentations can be found at digitalcommons.olivet.edu.
To learn more about the Honors Program and additional research opportunities at Olivet, contact the Office of Admissions at admissions@olivet.edu or 800-648-1463.
Published 4/23/2021
HRI
