The event was designed for students enrolled in RCAH 112. It gives students the opportunity to present a research project to the community.
RCAH Communications Manager Katie Wittenauer said the open house allows students to explore and present new information that would benefit the arts and humanities.
RCAH dean Stephen L. Esquith said the goal of the event “is to provide students with some experience talking about their work and answering questions about their work in a setting that is slightly different from a classroom.”
“The open house is an opportunity for (students) to present the research to their peers and other students in the college and interested community partners in the work of the college,” he said.
For RCAH associate professor David Sheridan, the event helps students present their findings in an articulate way.
“We are expecting (students) to be able to articulate the findings that they have generated based on their research throughout the semester,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan teaches one of the classes’ six sessions.
“We are interested in the way they talk to other people on what they learned,” Sheridan said.
He said he asked his students to base their projects on a cultural issue or problem to see how they would go about solving it.
Furthermore, the open house gives students a chance to present their projects while receiving a direct feedback from members of the community, Esquith said.
RCAH and film studies freshman Amy Wagenaar presented her research about hip-hop artist Macklemore, tying it to how he advocates for more acceptance towards the LGBT community in his song “Same Love.”
“I found that Macklemore has positive influence on the gay community on how people look at it and how they react to it,” Wagenaar said.
Wagenaar decided to use an alternative method to the research poster. Instead, she presented a video of students she interviewed about her chosen topic.
“I love video as a medium. I think it provides a lot more ... in terms of its visual appeal and the audience it gathers,” Wagenaar said.
RCAH holds open houses at the end of every semester.
“We have it every fall and every spring (and) we’ve done it for seven years since the college begin,” Esquith said.
