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Students display their academic skills at Furman Engaged!


Last updated February 17, 2016

By News administrator

by Erikah Haavie, Contributing Writer

Witness a master class taught by the concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Learn about bird diversity and bat activity in local forests. Enjoy a planetarium show.

The fourth annual Furman Engaged! Celebration, set from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, March 30, will showcase all forms of engaged learning – student research, creative activity, performances, internships, study away, service learning – that span the natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. In lieu of attending regular classes, students participate as presenters and attendees.

More than 600 students will share in presentations throughout campus, ranging from freshmen completing their first year at Furman to seniors presenting multi-year research projects. Fifty oral sessions will cover nearly every academic discipline at Furman and 220 posters highlighting projects and internship experiences from around the world will be on display at the Physical Activities Center.

Other highlights of this year’s event include:

* “Whose Cuisine Reigns Supreme?” an Iron Chef-style competition from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., featuring Eli Hestermann’s First Year seminar students cooking with ingredients from local markets. Their dishes will be available for sampling at 12:30 p.m.

* A masterclass offered by visiting professor William Preucil, Concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, from 10:30 a.m.-11:50 a.m. at Daniel Recital Hall.

* Judith Grisel (Psychology) and Eli Hestermann (Biology) will be recognized as recipients of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Distinguished Mentor Award and Anne Leen (Classics) will be honored as the recipient of the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) Excellence in Teaching Award.

* Special guests include a large group of prospective students and their families, students from Greenville area middle schools, as well as eight visiting science students from the University of Florida who will make presentations during the morning and afternoon poster sessions.

“The Furman Engaged! Celebration exemplifies the engaged learning philosophy which has become the hallmark of a Furman education,” said John Kaup, coordinator of science education and Furman Engaged! “We welcome everyone from the Furman community and the broader Greenville community to share with us the extraordinary talents of these exceptional men and women.”

For a full schedule of events, see the Furman Engaged Webpage.

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