The John S. Kendall Center for Engaged Learning is proud to present the fourth annual Celebration of Creative Inquiry on Friday, May 6 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Campus Center.  The celebration is a campus-wide forum to publicly share the creative work of Gustavus students over the past academic year, including class projects, senior theses or independent study research projects.

The idea for this event developed in 2008 when faculty at a Kendall Center for Engaged Learning workshop began to discuss the idea of having a conference for undergraduate research. The result was the Celebration of Creative Inquiry which has proven to be a success for the past few years.

“The idea was to provide a forum for students to present their research to the community. Although it is a serious event, we wanted to make it a celebration. There is a lot of fun and learning involved,” Professor of Communication Studies Leila Brammer said. Brammer was one of the original members of the committee who organized the first Celebration of Creative Inquiry.

The first Celebration of Creative Inquiry was held in the spring of 2008. “The first event was a great success. It was truly wonderful. The students who presented had a lovely time, and the visitors from the community enjoyed it thoroughly as well,” Brammer said.

This year, over 140 students will present their work, showcasing the liberal arts with various disciplines all in one room. Topics this year will range from a student presenting on the study of happiness as represented in Roman poetry to a study of the acoustical response of Bjorling Hall.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for scientists and artists alike to prove their accomplishments outside of the classroom,” John Lammert, remarked upon the types of academics that will be present.

The term “creative inquiry” was intentionally chosen to be broad, as it is intended to encompass a large variety of projects in research and scholarship. Appropriate projects are defined by the standards of research, scholarship and creativity of their discipline. An appropriate creative inquiry project may ask a question that has never been asked before, attempt to fill a gap in knowledge or to create new knowledge, or address a process or product that requires the student to add ideas or imagination of their own. Students may also present a critical reflection or a project that is shaped by choices the student made independently.

Each student will present a visual display of his or her work and will be near it for the most of the event, chatting with attendees, discussing their work and answering questions. Most students will only be expected to present for an hour, but visitors will never be in any shortage of displays to look at or students to speak with. The event has no formal schedule and any member of the Gustavus community is welcome to come during the two hours students will be presenting.

Senior Communication Studies Major Jackie Schwerm is looking forward to presenting her senior thesis. “I’m getting really excited about this event, as I have been working so hard on my thesis all year. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase my work and to talk about it, as well as to see what other students are presenting.”

Students presenting projects in the Celebration of Creative Inquiry range from first-years to seniors and are from any department of study on campus. Kayla Schrupp, a sophomore health fitness and athletic training major who presented last year, enjoyed the event and found it to be very enlightening. “I was really surprised at the diversity of the projects presented,” Schrupp said. “Here I was presenting my research project about different types of birth control, a few feet down another student was talking about Congress and democracy and even further down there was a student talking about revolutions in Ukraine.”

Presenters turned in an abstract during March under the authorization of a faculty sponsor. Since then, these students have been preparing their work and working on their visual displays.

“I was really surprised at how much fun I had at the Celebration of Creative Inquiry,” Schrupp said. “I actually found it to be very rewarding.”

One of the highlights of the celebration is the way it showcases the liberal arts of Gustavus. “It really is a wonderful event. It represents so many different areas on campus. It is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. It really reflects the liberal arts tradition at Gustavus,” Professor of Communication Studies Patricia English said.

Schedule of Events for Honors Day

9:30 a.m.: Coffee Reception in the Johns Family Courtyard (weather permitting) and the Courtyard Cafe

10:30 a.m.: Honors Convocation in Christ Chapel

11:30 a.m.: Honors Day Luncheon Buffet (ticket required) in the Evelyn Young Dining Room (reserved for honored students and families)

1:30 p.m.: Senior Honors Recital, Jussi Bjorling Recital Hall

4:00-6:00 p.m.: Senior Studio Art Majors’ Exhibition in the Hillstrom Museum of Art