When you walk up to Nicole Castiglione\u2019s poster display, she greets you with a handshake and smile before telling you about a marketing and public relations agency in Columbia, S.C. But the Furman senior isn\u2019t recruiting at a career fair. She\u2019s simply sharing the Furman experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, our professors encouraged everyone to present during Furman Engaged!,\u201d said Castiglione, who created a poster about her internship at Clare Morris Agency.<\/p>\n
Furman Engaged! is a day-long event that celebrates the research, scholarship and creativity of Furman\u2019s undergraduates in every academic department. Every year, the university postpones classes to give the campus community and its visitors the opportunity to attend oral presentations, posters, and creative performances.<\/p>\n
The program was launched by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Internships in 2009 as a way to highlight student projects created inside and outside of the classroom. Since then, the event has grown in popularity. Furman had more than 600 students participate in this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to showcase one of the things we do best at Furman, which is engaging students in projects that allow them to apply what they learn in their classrooms to working applications,\u201d said John Beckford, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Furman. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be in a passive setting and receiving information about a topic, but it\u2019s entirely different to be engaged in that process. We\u2019re really proud to illustrate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the day, students like Castiglione stood by posters ready to explain their work. Others delivered oral presentations, or showed off their creative work by performing in front of an audience. But all the presentations had one thing in common.<\/p>\n
The students had to be prepared to explain their work\u2014often to people who had little or no knowledge of the subject. For students like Seth Greenstein \u201814 (Clemson, S.C.), it was an opportunity to develop skills for graduate school or a future career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re planning to do research as a career, you’ll have to do presentations like this,\u201d Greenstein said. \u201cI did an oral presentation last year and it helped me understand the material because chemistry faculty were there asking questions. I needed to be able to explain why I did what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Furman Engaged! provides a forum where the university\u2019s most experienced undergraduates can share their work, it still creates room for students to get involved early in their academic careers. Several of Furman\u2019s freshmen had an opportunity to participate in the event thanks the school\u2019s First Year Seminars, a unique set of courses that allows first-year students to examine a topic of special interest.<\/p>\n
Lloyd Benson, a history professor at Furman, encouraged his First Year Seminar students to present their research on The Battle Autumn of 1862. One of his students, Joseph Paulson, took up the challenge by developing a poster that compared the perspectives of two different men fighting in the Battle of Antietam.<\/p>\n
But when Paulson wasn\u2019t describing his work to interested onlookers, he explored the work of his classmates. He had plenty of options. The Physical Activities Center, which is home to the university\u2019s exercise equipment and recreational activities, housed more than 200 poster displays at Furman Engaged!<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool to stroll around and check out other people\u2019s posters,\u201d said Paulson \u201816 (Cary, N.C.).<\/p>\n
On the opposite side of campus, Furman\u2019s art, music and theatre arts students showed off their own creativity.<\/p>\n
Sidney Vlass, an art major, got a taste of the marketing world by creating packaging for a fictional organic food brand. She designed the boxes to appeal to children by including colorful text and images along with fun games and facts about local and organic foods. She got the idea after taking a May Experience course focused on sustainable food practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought to question where my food came from and what was in it,\u201d said Vlass \u201813 (Roswell, Ga.).<\/p>\n
During her presentation, Vlass\u2019 professors challenged her to think beyond her design. She was asked about price points, product testing and other barriers she may face when selling the product.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s important for young artists to be able to communicate ideas about their work articulately and clearly,\u201d said Bob Chance, an art professor at Furman. \u201cThis is an opportunity for them to think about and present their work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, that opportunity would be lost without a supportive faculty. That\u2019s one of the strengths of Furman Engaged!<\/p>\n
\u201cSuccess should be attributed to our students that seized the opportunity to make the most of this event,\u201d Beckford said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also a real tribute to the Furman faculty that they have provided leadership and guidance to create these opportunities for students who wish to go beyond basic classroom assignments. I\u2019m thankful to a faculty that recognizes this.\u201d<\/p>\n