Kent State University’s Department of Sociology will host more than 60 undergraduate students and their faculty mentors representing more than 25 colleges from across the region at the first Northeast Ohio Undergraduate Sociology Symposium in the Kent Student Center on March 1 at 8:30 a.m. The symposium will feature papers, posters and other creative projects.
The keynote speech will be given during lunch starting at noon by Melinda Messineo, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Ball State University. Messineo’s current research focuses on race, class and gender in the media, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She currently teaches courses in the sociology of media, leisure, research methods and the sociology major capstone. She is the recipient of the Lawhead Award in Teaching, the Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Teaching Award (all from Ball State) and the Schnabel Teaching Award from the North Central Sociological Association.
“We encourage students who have interests in sociology, criminology/criminal justice, gender studies, LGBTQ studies and black studies/Pan-African studies to attend the symposium,” says Clare Stacey, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at Kent State. “The conference will provide students with an opportunity to present their work in a friendly and supportive forum and to network with faculty and students from across the region.”
Kent State will honor Betsy Lucal, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Indiana University, South Bend, with its Distinguished Alumni Award during the lunch keynote session. Lucal earned all three of her degrees from Kent State (Bachelor of General Studies, summa cum laude and with honors, 1989; Master of Arts in Sociology, 1991; Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, 1996).
Registration
Online registration is required at the symposium website: www.personal.kent.edu/~jleveto. The student registration fee is $20, and there are waivers available for graduate student volunteers. The full-time faculty registration fee is $40, and part-time faculty fee is $25. Scholarships may be available for undergraduate student presenters. A light breakfast, lunch and reception are provided as part of the symposium fee with all meals served onsite.
Please RSVP to Stacey at NEOUSS@kent.edu if you plan to attend the optional Friday, Feb. 28, evening welcome reception from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center. Light refreshments will be served free of charge.