Summer Scholars Go Public With Their Research

Students from the GWU/School Without Walls Early College Program (ECP) presented research papers at a symposium held in Gelman Library on August 16th.


Students from the GWU/School Without Walls Early College Program (ECP) presented research papers at a symposium held in Gelman Library on August 16th. The students, who are rising high school juniors, represent the program's second cohort and will begin taking all of their courses at George Washington beginning this fall. The UW002 summer course, taught again this year by Prof. Robin Marcus, prepares the students for the transition to university level writing. The six week, Washington, DC - themed course emphasized research (developing research questions/lines of inquiry, conducting research and presenting new knowledge) and involved several site visits to conduct field research and interviews. Intensive library instruction and support was provided this summer by Eckles Library instructional librarian Bill Gillis. At the end of the course students produced ten page papers that concluded with either a proposal or an original idea that emerged during the research process. These papers were then presented to the academic community at the Summer Symposium.


Before an invited audience of family members, friends, instructional librarians and UW20 staff members the students, Sam Giagtzoglou, Krisha Paz, Austen Hamilton, Sophie Kerwin, Gabrielle Sawyer and Xiomara Rojas presented papers that examined various cultures in DC. They ranged from preserving "Porch Culture" in the Petworth section, the "Forgotten" community of Anacostia, a Big Bear Cafe inspired investigation into coffee houses, authenticism in the Punk Rock scene, how or whether Hip Hop can affect change in a community reeling from gun violence and the hidden realities of immigrant baby sitters. The film, Ben's Chilli Bowl - Keeping the Soul in the Bowl produced by Sam Giagtzoglou, was shown between panels and will be included in the Ben's Chilli Bowl collection now being curated by Gelman's Special Collections Division.

[Pictured above is Gabrielle Sawyer.]