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Whitworth to host academic research conference April 27

April 23, 2013

Whitworth will host the 2013 Spokane Intercollegiate Research Conference (SIRC) on April 27, beginning at 9 a.m. in Weyerhaeuser Hall’s Robinson Teaching Theatre. Keynote speaker Whitworth President Beck A. Taylor will deliver a message on “The Opportunities and Challenges of Interdisciplinary Scholarship” in the teaching theatre before presentations begin. The SIRC is open to the public and will conclude at 4:30 p.m.  Sessions will be held in the Hixson Union Building, the Robinson Science Hall and Weyerhaeuser Hall.

The conference features undergraduates and graduates from a variety of disciplines presenting faculty-advised research. The conference gives students the opportunity to participate in a professional-level academic event.

This year the event will include 224 students from Whitworth University, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, Spokane Community College, and the Institute of Science and Technology at North Central High School. It will include 35 sessions, which will feature material from a wide range of subjects, such as business, economics, sociology, history, English, biology, and chemistry.

“The thing I look forward to the most about SIRC is the opportunity to share a topic I'm passionate about,” says Ana Quiring, ’14, who will attend her second SIRC this year and present “The Cinematic Catholic Spy Novel: Genre Fusion in Graham Greene's End of the Affair.”

“When I participated last year, I was able to consider my paper from a different perspective,” Quiring says. “Usually I think about the grade a paper will receive, but for SIRC I considered the verbal and interpersonal implications of the project, my presentation style and professional delivery, as well as how easy my paper was to understand.”

Casey Andrews, associate professor of English and a faculty moderator at this year’s SIRC, encourages all students to take advantage of this great academic opportunity and to submit abstracts and apply for the conference during their college career.

“SIRC is a rare opportunity for undergraduates to participate in a full-blown academic conference like  those run by professional scholars,” says Andrews. “I see this conference as a chance for professionalization and mentoring of students who are testing a vocation for academic life.”

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. The university, which has an enrollment of 3,000 students, offers 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Contacts:

Lucas Beechinor, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or lbeechinor@whitworth.edu.