Last month on Wednesday, November 12th, Doug Dechow, Jessica Bower and Lugene Rosen participated in the Faculty Research Expo on campus. Every department of Chapman University was represented at the event, faculty sharing their current projects to any inquiring students. Set up in the Bush Conference Center, Beckman 404, the trio set up their tables. Pamphlets, books, and photographs decorated them along with flyers highlighting the different resources and services the Leatherby Libraries offer. The event allowed undergraduates to talk to librarians first hand, learn and discuss the level of research required for graduate school. They also got a chance to present their individual research.

Jessica Bower, Coordinator of Interlibrary Loan, presented the research from her Faculty Master Class, Fragments of History: The Mysterious Mayan Written Word. “During the colonization of the Americas, the written texts of the Maya were destroyed and their ancient language nearly lost…We explore the mystery, history, and controversy of the remaining fragments of the surviving Mayan written word.” At this table, students were able to ask questions not only about Mayan culture and language, but also about the research process Bower did to find her sources.

Lugene Rosen, Coordinator of Brandman University Library Services, approached the expo from a different perspective. Her long-time interest in the intersection between popular culture and scholarly research prompted her slideshow of abstracts from different presentations that she has given at regional and national conferences sponsored by the Popular Culture/American Culture Association. In addition, she displayed the book Supernatural, Humanity, and the Soul: On the Highway to Hell and Back. The book, published in September by Palgrave Macmillan, contains the chapter she wrote based on one of her presentations: “Who’s Your Daddy?: Father Trumps Fate in Supernatural.” Students dropped and received pointers on how to take what you know, conduct original research, and have a darn good time while doing it.

Dr. Jana Remy and Dr. Douglas Dechow, Digital Humanities & Science Librarian, hosted a research table about the Digital Humanities program at Chapman University. Dechow and Remy were one of the four tables whose presenters came from the Image/Text/Interface CRASsH research group.

The Leatherby Libraries is proud of its professional and dedicated librarians for their immense help and involvement in the research at Chapman University. Their involvement allowed Chapman students to explore and inquire further about researching, and how to utilize the scholarly sources found within the library. Chapman University will be hosting a similar undergraduate research event on Wednesday, December 10th during the semiannual Student Research Day. More information about this event can be found on the Office of Undergraduate Research website.