Academic Festival 2011 to feature the best of Skidmore

Skidmore's 13th annual Academic Festival gets under way at early on Wednesday, May 4, throughout the campus. Sponsored by Skidmore's Honors Forum, the event is free and open to the public.

A total of 317 students- a record number - will participate in this year's event, which will feature 150 presentations over 55 sessions. Festival organizers note in the event's program, "We believe that this year's Academic Festival promotes interdisciplinary connections and truly captures the spirit of academia at Skidmore, setting a high mark for our future aspirations."

Highlights this year include the following: 

• "Perspective and Culture: Views on Petronius's Satyricon," by students in Michael Arnush's Classics Seminar. They will analyze the scandalous novel The Satyricon and share their scholarship on various aspects, ancient and modern, of the world's first surviving novel. 9 a.m., Ladd 206
• Environmental Studies capstone projects will again feature a strong local angle, with students discussing such topics as smart growth in Malta, N.Y.; using the decision of New York state to provide economic incentives to GlobalFoundries, which is building a new chip fab plant in Malta, N.Y.; biological monitoring and assessment of the Kayderosseras Creek, and assessing Skidmore's sustainable development. The presentations begin at 8:40 a.m. in Davis Auditorium.
• Psychology and Neuroscience senior thesis presentations will include an analysis of smart phone deprivation and its effects on anxiety and self-esteem, the effect of reporting on college students' cheating behavior, and an exploration of theory of mind in autism. Posters on these and other research topics will be in TLC first floor hallway, with students on hand starting at 9:15 a.m.
• A Sociology research poster session will include presentations by two students who won awards at the 81 ^st annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society in Philadelphia earlier in the semester. They are Emily Owens '11, author of   "Activism and Interest:   Attention to Media and Political Involvement," and Emmily De Los Santos, author of "Do Whites Avoid Racially Integrated Neighborhoods? The Effect of Education and Prejudice on Whites' Neighborhood Preferences." These and other posters will be presented starting at 10:30 a.m. in Gannett Lobby.
• "Japanese Folk-Tales" will be presented by students of Masako Inamoto starting at 11 a.m. in Falstaff's. The students will perform three Japanese folk tales:   "Princess Kaguya," "Peach Boy," and "The Mouse's Marriage." The stories will be recited in Japanese with English subtitles provided via PowerPoint.
• "Schubert Plays Schubert(s)" - Joanna Schubert '12 will present a program of classical piano (including Franz Schubert's Impromptu No. 3, Op. 142 in B flat Major) and two songs that she composed. 2:30 p.m. in Arthur Zankel Music Center, ELM.
• "The Hazards of Love" is the title of a theater presentation by students involved in Foxglove Company, a Skidmore organization working to bring the album The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists to life. The presentation will include a slideshow, a display of the puppets the group created, and excerpts of the performance. 2:30 p.m., JKB Studio A
  

This is the fourth and final year that Mathematics Professor David Vella, director of Honors Forum, is overseeing Academic Festival. He says that it "feels good" to have Honors Forum is such good shape, not only in terms of a strong tradition for Academic Festival but also with an HF component now available to students who study abroad. Student interest in HF continues to be strong, with membership in the program slightly over its target of 240 students. Vella calls this both "a blessing and a bit disconcerting. It's a good problem to have," he said.   Catherine Golden, professor of English, will succeed Vella next year.

Refreshments will be available throughout the day. Presentations are scheduled through the late afternoon. Click  here  for a detailed schedule of Academic Festival 2011.