UK Libraries' Learning Lab Interns to Present Research at WorldCUR

Congratulations to our Learning Lab interns who are traveling to England this week to present their primary source-based independent research at the World Congress on Undergraduate Research (WorldCUR). Occurring every three years in a different location around the globe, WorldCUR is an international conference celebrating excellence in undergraduate research.

We are so proud of the fifteen students who will represent the University of Kentucky at the conference in Coventry, England, beginning April 3, 2023:

• Abigail Mortell, senior, history
  • Canonization of Irish Authors: Nationalism and the Popularization of 1920s Irish Literature 
• Ash Pechon, senior, psychology
  • Peace, Love, and Prison: A Case Study on Feminism after Vietnam
• Avery Schanbacher, sophomore, English
  • “In Kinship to our Crafts”: Larkspur Press and the Kentucky Literary Community
• Joe Mattingly, Jr., junior, Spanish and Political Science
  • Sisterhood and Sanctity: A Reexamination of Colonial Mexican Femininity 
• Eleni Karelis, senior, English
  • “We Give Our Sweat Not Our Blood:” The Many Voices of Rural Appalachian Activism in the 20th Century
• Haafsah Fariduddin, senior, biology
  • The Command Over Science: An Analysis of the Atomic Energy Commission After World War II
• Jessamine Michler, senior, art history and visual studies
  • Admiration of the Violet: Cultivating the Familiar Flowers of Native Woodland and Wayside
• Lauren Bollinger, senior, art history and visual studies 
  • The Heart of a Movement: Conversations Between Activists Olive T. Dargan and Rose Pastor Stokes
• Leena Haider, junior, history
  • Banking While Female: Women’s Alternative Banking Systems Around the World
• Osswaah Fariduddin, senior, psychology
  • A Case Study of Ending Trachoma Blindness in Children
• Regan Strehl, junior, English
  • The War of Dots: Exploring the Development of English Braille in the United States 
• Riley Bryson, junior history
  • Pandemic of Hate: Hate Crimes Against Asian American Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic
• Riley Droppelman, junior biology
  • An Ethical Dilemma: Developing a New Model for Teaching Culturally-Aware Ethics in American Medical Schools
• Riley Simmons, junior, anthropology
  • Goodnight, Sweetheart: A Wartime Love Story
• Sophie Wingo, junior, Spanish, art history and visual studies
  • Marketing Paradise: Mexico Through Historical and Contemporary Photography

This list includes the entire 2022-23 Learning Lab cohort and three former Learning Lab interns. In 2019, seven Learning Lab interns presented their research at the conference in Oldenburg, Germany. 

UK Libraries Learning Lab is a one-of-a-kind paid internship opportunity for undergraduates to pursue a year-long individual research project. Set in our Special Collections Research Center, the Learning Lab provides space and resources for students to explore a topic meaningful to them, using materials that inspire and challenge them personally. Bolstered by supportive mentoring in an interdisciplinary peer environment, our interns build a learning community centered around research and gain experience and skills that transcend disciplinary training.