Miami Dade College’s Humanities Edge program advances opportunities for students to contribute to their humanities disciplines by bringing their diverse perspectives to quantitative and qualitative research. Undergraduate researchers shared their thought-provoking research at the Virtual Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 17, 2021.
“This virtual symposium showcased the Spring 2021 humanities undergraduate research projects of our talented students from across the college, all of whom worked independently under the guidance of a faculty mentor and an assigned librarian,” said Dr. Julie Alexander, MDC Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
The symposium featured independent research projects by MDC students and was designed to encourage attendees to engage in public conversations around the student’s self-selected investigations. The event featured live presentations and the exhibition of ten research projects with interactive commenting features for audience interactions with researchers.
“Our students examined a wide range of timely public topics through their research and demonstrated their findings in creative ways to spark a response and nurture public dialogue around these different social issues and perspectives,” said Kirk Paskal, the Humanities Edge director.
The Humanities Edge is generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of the three-year Community College Partnership grant program that MDC and FIU first were awarded in 2017, and then again in 2020.
The Humanities Edge grant program aims to create a supportive academic experience that values and leverages diversity to deepen and broaden scholarship in the humanities; strengthens transitions for aspiring humanities students from MDC to FIU; supports ongoing pedagogical and research collaborations between MDC and FIU humanities faculty; and identifies and drives institutional practices to support diverse humanities majors and improve student success.
For more information about the symposium, contact Kirk Paskal, grant director, at kpaskal@mdc.edu.