Miami Dade College to Host Virtual Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium Dec. 11

Miami, Dec. 1, 2020 – Miami Dade College (MDC) will host its 2nd Annual Virtual Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium with daylong viewings of student projects and live presentations on Friday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.  This event is free and open to the public.

“This virtual symposium showcases the drive and talent of our undergraduate students,” said Dr. Julie Alexander, MDC Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.  “They’ve worked independently on their own research topics and demonstrated the findings of their research in academic papers and posters, as well as in various creative formats, including art and dance. It’s truly exciting to see humanities undergraduate research activities taking place outside of the traditional classroom.”

The symposium features independent research projects by MDC students participating in the Fall 2020 Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Program (HE-URP). The Humanities Edge is generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of a three-year Community College Pathway Partnership grant program that MDC and Florida International University (FIU) were awarded first in 2017 and again in 2020.

The students worked closely with their faculty mentors on their student-led humanities research projects, as well as librarians, who helped with scholarly research activities and provided workshops on the research, writing, and presentation processes.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to create a program with a culminating student experience around the high impact practice of research, and to provide that program to our students in a fully remote setting with multiple weekly touch points,” said Kirk Paskal, the Humanities Edge director.

This fall, the program focused on encouraging more humanities undergraduate research, aligned with the MDC and FIU goals for The Humanities Edge grant, which is an academic and career development program for MDC-to-FIU transfer students. The Humanities Edge grant program aims to create a supportive academic experience that values and leverages diversity, and seeks to broaden appreciation for the humanities, which is critical to safeguard democratic values. The new three-year grant award will continue to build evidence-based practices for both MDC and FIU to address the national need for diverse humanities scholarship and application through activities including: enhanced workforce development preparation; student support; parallel cohorts at both institutions; robust curriculum alignment efforts; faculty development opportunities; and expanded advising and peer writing mentor programs.

Empowerment through Education, LLC planned and organized the undergraduate research program and the virtual symposium for the program, The Humanities Edge: An MDC-FIU Pathway Partnership.

For more information, please contact Kirk Paskal, grant director, at kpaskal@mdc.edu.

 

WHAT:              Virtual Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium

 

WHEN:             Friday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m.

 

WHERE:           Visit https://libraryguides.mdc.edu/HEURP