This summer, three groups of students and professors partook in the second session of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), a new initiative of the College of Arts and Sciences. This four-part video podcast focuses on the largest of these groups, a three-professor, four student contingent for Environmental Humanities.
Started in summer 2022, SURF was a pilot program in the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics. This Summer, the program was opened to Arts and Sciences students of all disciplines and found a cohort of eight students across various disciplines. Dr. Brad Wile, Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, says, “Polar SURF program allows us to put a structure around something that ONU faculty and students do well – individualized mentoring experiences. Projects are based on the interest of the student. The faculty are there to help the students figure out the context and importance of these questions in a specific field.” Wile finds the program important in that it “provides an opportunity to learn more about a topic of interest and connect it to something bigger than one course at ONU.”
Led by Dr. Forrest Clingerman, Professor of Religion, Dr. Jonathan Spelman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, and Dr. Emily Jay, Assistant Professor of Art, the Environmental Humanities group pursued individual projects in the interest of each student participant. Politics, Faith, Activism, and Art were pursued for intersections with the environment. Clingerman is satisfied with the outcome for his group: “What was special about the humanities group was how interdisciplinary the group was. Not only did we get a chance to talk to experts from different fields, each student and faculty member brought their own disciplinary lens to the table.” Program activities included interdisciplinary conversations with guest speakers from a variety of fields.
Aubrey Davis, a Junior Studio Arts major, produced environmentally-sourced artwork for her research project. She says, “Self-directed study is not for everyone, though I enjoyed and ultimately believe it to be a success since I was able to complete what I had set out to do.” She says the project was a lot of work–much of which was independently guided–but “the project was ultimately a great chance to learn something new about myself.”
Maggie Kurtz, Sophomore Environmental and Field Biology major, conducted a project completely outside her discipline: a comparative analysis of religious deficit on climate change in local churches. In line with the core of interdisciplinary study, she says, “I’m super grateful that I got to gain this type of research experience as an undergrad because it will benefit me in reaching my future academic and career goals.”
It is unclear at this time whether the program is set to run next summer, although trends in engagement and administrative satisfaction indicate it might. Either way, Davis has this to say on the program’s existential purpose: “The SURF program probably won’t generate any immediately groundbreaking research but instead really generates a starting point or a taste of [the] more intensive research practice the student researcher may find themselves doing later on. It holds the potential to expand the horizons of the student researcher, especially if they are not [familiar] with humanities methods, really allows you to potentially learn a new facet of whatever it is you’re interested in.”