Five ACU honors students presented their research at the Great Plains Honors Council’s annual conference April 1-2 in Arlington. Honors students from more than twenty institutions in five states shared their work in fields ranging from biology to English.

Meghan Clark, senior political science major from Olney, said the opportunity to hear the perspectives of students from University and junior colleges across the state broadened her own perspective on research and scholarship. It also allowed her to examine her research on the roles of Turkish women in politics and society in the light of different worldviews.

“Presenting the paper challenged me to make sure that I could clearly explain my research to people who weren’t familiar with my topic,” said Clark. “It also gave me a chance to get feedback from people who don’t know me and can, therefore, be completely objective when evaluating my research.”

The conference’s broad spectrum of research fields offered a fitting setting for Amanda Arzigian, junior history major from Edgewood, N.M., to share her research, she said. In her paper, titled “Rocks, Papers, and Sometimes Scissors: The Challenges of Collections Management,” Arzigian compared her challenges and priorities while working at ACU’s paper archives to interning under cultural resources at the Salinas Pueblo Missions in New Mexico.

“I didn’t do scientific research, but I used my experiences to talk about my topic,” Arzigian said. “They shed light on museum methodology.”

Though the conference welcomed non-scientific research, it also accepted Amber Deschamps’ presentation on genetic diversity among populations of a species of shrimp that lives along the Texas coast. Deschamps, senior biology major from Liberty Hill, asserted in her presentation that the fishing industry would be hurt if the ghost shrimp, used as fish bait, formed two segregated genetic pools.

Dr. Joe Stephenson, interim dean of the Honors College, and Dr. Chris Willerton, professor of English and honors studies, accompanied the students to Arlington, Deschamps said. Each of the professors presided at over a paper presentation session.

The conference participants heard Dr. Mary Vacarro, professor of art history at the University of Texas at Arlington, speak about a painting recently determined to be the earliest surviving work of Michelangelo, Arzigian said. Attendees then viewed painting at the Fort Worth museum district.

Exploring the Kimbell Art Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Forth Worth, and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art served as the highlight of the trip for Arzigian. For Clark, the conference was an extension of her journey as an ACU honors student.

“The honors experience, as a whole, has been important in my decisions as a students and a scholar,” Clark said. “As an honors student, you are constantly challenged to look for ways to go beyond what’s required – to not take the easy way out.”

Clark said she took the conference as an opportunity to show that ACU students can prove themselves as scholars in a diverse academic setting.

INFOBOX:

ACU Student Presentations:

Amanda Arzigian, junior history major from Edgewood, New Mexico: “Rocks, Papers, and Sometimes Scissors: The Challenges of Collections Management”

Meghan Clark, senior political science major from Olney: “The Role of Women in Turkish Politics and Development”

Amber Deschamps, senior biology major from Liberty Hill: “Population Genetic Study of the Ghost Shrimp Callichirus islagrande”

Amanda Goodall, junior communications major from North Richland Hills: “For the Love of Love: A Rhetorical Analysis of The Bachelor”

Greg Jeffers junior English major from Sugarland: “Oppression and Rebellion in American Novels: A Political/Philosophical Reading”