CAS Students Publish Tenth Annual Research Journal

By Julia Conant

“Sovietization and the Jews in the Muslim Regions of the USSR,” “A Social Construction: The Importance of Architectural Design, Community Facilities, and Housing Quality in the Success of Public Housing: A Study of London and New York,” and “Behavioral Measure of Temporal Contrast Sensitivity Development in Macaque Monkeys”—these are just three examples of the many research projects conducted by College of Arts and Science (CAS) students during the 2005-2006 academic year. Abstracts of more than 150 of these were published this fall in the college’s annual journal of undergraduate research, Inquiry, vol. X.

CAS Dean Matthew S. Santirocco says that all projects showcased in Inquiry “attest to the crucial importance of independent inquiry as a paradigm for a liberal arts education for the 21st century.”

Students are mentored in their research projects by faculty members. Financial support is provided through faculty grants, external funding, or through the Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund. That fund offers research scholarships that are made possible through the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends of the college. Among the faculty mentors for the students’ 2005-2006 research were biology professor Claude Desplan, anthropology professor Lok Siu, English professor Martha Rust, psychology professors Karen Adolph and James Uleman, fine arts professor Mosette Broderick, and history professors Molly Nolan and Michael Gomez.

Students may conduct their research individually, in teams, or in study abroad settings. Many students have the opportunity of presenting their work at the CAS Undergraduate Research Conference which is held annually in the spring.