Virtual Spring Symposium enhances access for all disciplines

Virtual Spring Symposium enhances access for all disciplines

May 13, 2021 LA GRANDE, Ore. – This year Eastern Oregon University hosts the annual Spring Symposium, May 20 and 21, virtually. Hosting virtually creates an opportunity for all students to participate and allows families from everywhere to watch their students present their research and experiences. 

Instead of setting up multiple classrooms, each presenter will join a certain Zoom link. EOU librarians Sarah Ralston and Sally Mielke organized the event and said they are excited for the accessibility aspect that a virtual event allows for. 

“Access for all: that’s always been really meaningful for me because of our online population and I feel like in this setting we can showcase student work to a much larger audience than we’ve been able to before. Students can invite their parents, friends from back home, anybody can view…and I think that’s really exciting,” Ralston said. 

The presentations have a wide range, from the sciences, to sociology, to music. Titles like “Aerospike Nozzles, the Future of Rockets,” “Crib to Criminal, Books to Bars: The African American Male Struggle Within the Preschool to Prison Pipeline,” “Anxiety, Depression, Passive and Active Suicidal Ideation during COVID-19: A Virus That Affects The Mind and The Lungs” and “The Causes and Perpetuating Barriers of Homelessness in Lane County,” are featured in the two-day event. 

Spring Symposium includes 32 groups this year, totaling 52 individuals spread across those presentations. Ralston and Mielke said their library experience has made them curious about all subjects and specialities, and they look forward to seeing the presentations by on-campus and virtual students alike. 

“Because we’re involved with all students in every program, we see the variety of research, we see the variety of interests. So, I think we have a natural inclination to try to promote and showcase the wonderful things that students are interested in,” Mielke said. 

To watch presentations during Spring Symposium, viewers can go to the eou.edu/symposium website and join the Zoom link that corresponds with the presentation they are interested in seeing. Dates and times for presentations are posted there as well.    

Learn more about Spring Symposium and presentations at eou.edu/symposium.  

By PR Intern Emily Andrews.