October 19 through 22 was Research Week at Andrews University. While our college is well known for its diverse population, something lesser known is the work that the students and many of the professors do here: research! Andrews prides itself on being a campus that is passionate in its pursuit of knowledge. With research classes across all majors, like the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences’ Research Methods classes and the Biology Department’s Scientific Communication class, students and professors are doing the work to help better understand the many wonders of the world.
Kicking off the week was the John O. Waller Lectureship for the Arts, a yearly lecture founded by the English Department to honor the late professor, Dr. John O. Waller. This year’s lecturer was Carissa Harris, a Ph.D. candidate and associate professor at Temple University. Harris presented her lecture, “Maternal Fury: Women’s Collective Rage at State Violence, from the Middle Ages to the Movements for Black Lives,” where she discussed topics from medieval tropes to the mothers of the Black Lives Matter movement. Karenna Lee (sophomore, business and English) says, “It was both enlightening and sobering to grasp the way modern society mirrors medieval England. I was reminded of how progress is not always linear. Still, Dr. Harris provided a positive flip side to the world's treatment of angry women. The rage of women is powerful, and the direction of that anger into real change is something we can all support in our own ways.” Wednesday, October 20, was the Robert and Lillis Kingman Speaker Series on Science & Society with lecturer Dr. Eugenia Cheng. Her presentation was titled, “The Art of Logic in an Illogical World” and was built on her book, "The Art of Logic: How to Make Sense in a World that Doesn’t", which was published in 2018. The lecture was open to the public and was available to watch remotely.
On Thursday, October 21, The annual Celebration of Community Engagement took place in Buller Hall. The event was a way to honor the work done by the university in serving the local and global community. Posters lined the halls of the building, all centered around the ways people can and have made a difference in Michigan and throughout the rest of the world. Research Week ended on Friday, October 22, with the Celebration of Research & Creative Scholarship. This annual event commemorates and spotlights the research being done on campus and allows faculty and students the chance to showcase their work. Dr. Scott Moncrieff says, “As far as the Celebration of Research on Friday afternoon, it’s a great opportunity to see what research faculty and students are doing at Andrews. It also helps you to appreciate how much research work is going on here. A lot. Seek knowledge.” A wonderful end to a celebration of a beautiful part of the culture here at Andrews University.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.