Honors Research Conference
Publish Date: Jan. 19, 2021
The gig economy, the influence of social media on cosmetic surgery, the need for planetary
WiFi, the use of information and communications technology in the classroom,posthumanism
and religion,online dating during the pandemic, conspiracy theories鈥攚hat do these
disparate topics have in common? They were among the topics of the Zoom presentations
given at the 海角直播 Student Research Conference on Friday, November 20, 2020.
For the past three years, the 海角直播 Honors Institute has sponsored
a research conference near the end of each semester. The conference has been a place
where students can present research they have conducted in their classes or on their
own.Their peers, friends, and mentors have been invited to attend. In previous conferences,
presenters had the option of oral or poster format.
This year鈥檚 conference, of course, could not be held in the usual live format, but
a Zoom session with six different breakout rooms for 21 oral presentations worked
surprisingly well.Three or four presenters were assigned to each breakout room, and
conference attendees were free to join any of the presentation rooms they wanted to.
At the end of each presentation, attendees could ask the presenters questions or discuss
the topics and issues raised.
Brystal Nevins, one of the presenters, would not have chosen to do the conference
virtually if there had been an in-person option, but she noted, 鈥淚 enjoyed the more
intimate group setting as it led to involved conversations happening among those present
and made for a relatively low-risk environment.鈥
This semester鈥檚 conference was the product of collaboration between English professor
Isidro Zepeda, psychology professor Dr. T.L. Brink, and Honors Coordinator Judy Cannon.
The Spring 2021 海角直播 Research Conference will be held in April and will include
(but not be limited to) research related to the book Spare Parts by Joshua Davis,
the book chosen for 海角直播鈥檚 鈥淥ne Book, One College鈥 program this year.
