From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, the Showcase of Student Academic Talent will be held in the Chapman Great Hall. This is a demonstration of many students’ research projects and capstones, which they have been working on all year.
It is a chance for the students to show their findings to parents and faculty and demonstrate what they have learned in their four years at Trinity. It is put on now by the Office of Academic Affairs and coordinated by Charlene Davis, associate professor of business administration.
The event originated in 1982 as a showcase for the music department. It was meant to show the musical abilities and versatility of the students in that area of study. Since then, it has evolved to encompass all interests students may have and students, their families, and faculty come and see what this institution has to offer.
“I always look forward to the showcase to see what our amazing students are up to,” said Dennis Ahlburg, president of Trinity University.
While the purpose of the showcase is for students to create an exhibition of their knowledge, many of those who drop by often find themselves learning about the information themselves.
“I always learn something about topics I knew nothing about””and there are a lot of those,” Ahlburg said.
The different presentations vary widely, but are specific to the students’ interests and areas of study. In total, there will be 56 students presenting for their specific departments plus the people who went abroad in the year 2012. The focus of their work differs from presentations about English to History to Biology.
Senior Katrina Lichtenberg, a communication major, will present a project centered around ticket sales at the Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre.
“I created a plan to increase audience attendance at the theatre’s spring signature production, “˜Alice! A Ballet Wonderland’,” Lichtenberg said. “Through my research, I identified Alamo Arts as a difficult brand””one that has limited opportunities to satisfy consumers””and then suggested a strategy of persistent presence.”
Rory Davidson, a senior English major, is presenting a research paper entitled “Tree Rings””Post Holocaust Memory and Representation”.
“The paper began as a closed textual analysis of Anne Michaels’ novel “˜Fugitive Pieces.’ This is a book that doesn’t have a lot of critical literary analysis so that was one of the challenges and opportunities of opening it up for a larger research paper,” Davidson said. “My paper investigated issues of memory, bearing witness, intergenerational suffering, and how to navigate a post-Holocaust world. At the actual presentation I will be reading several key passages from the novel and some key parts of my paper.”
Senior Madison Kahler, from the department of Business Administration, created a project which reflected her passions at Trinity.
“My presentation is a business management consulting project,” said Kahler. “I did it with a group of three other people and we consulted Goodwill San Antonio on whether or not they should enter a new business segment and which ones were some good choices to start off with.”
One of the points of the showcase is for students to gain many skills from working on their presentations. These are strengths they will need when entering the world outside of college.
“Some of the experience I gained was working for a client because ultimately we had to please them, time management and leadership,” Kahler said.
“While I’m slightly nervous about the showcase, I am excited and honored to share my capstone with the larger Trinity community and their families, especially since a lot of hard work and dedication went into my project,” said Lichtenberg, “I’m also very proud to represent the Communication department.”
The event is free and open to everyone.
