Learn more about the Undergraduate Symposium and the woman behind it, Amy Bearinger

Eastern Michigan University's first Undergraduate Symposium was held April 3, 1981. More than 40 years later, this annual event continues to provide undergraduate students with opportunities to celebrate and present their research and creative projects.

Amy Bearinger, an associate lecturer in the School of Communication, Media & Theater Arts (CMTA), is the event coordinator for the symposium. The College of Arts and Sciences hosts the event and welcomes all undergraduate students to participate. To participate, students must be nominated by a faculty mentor and recommended by the respective department or school. The 2025 symposium is scheduled for Friday, March 28, at the Student Center.

Q: What drew you to coordinating the symposium?

A: I was actually in my second year working on my Master’s degree in Communication, Media and Theater Arts, I was a teaching graduate assistant. In my second year, enrollment just gave us some surprises, so we didn't have as many classes available. We need to have so many hours that we work. So the whole team of us — there were about 12 of us that year — we had to find other places to work, to give service time.

There were all these different options. Wendy Kivi worked in Communication, Media & Theater Arts, and she ran a symposium as the Event Coordinator and also did special event planning for CMTA ... I had helped her out once or twice on a few special events. She said, "Hey, you know, if you are looking for something to do to supplement the teaching, I could really use some help with the symposium."

So, I did that in my last year of grad school, then they ended up hiring me part time to teach. Because I was still here, I just helped out Wendy. I did that, my gosh, probably for 12 years. I guess I would say I was her assistant. In 2018, she retired, and it’s kind of just made sense for me to step into her role. I knew the ins and outs, obviously there was plenty that she did that I never had my hands on, but I knew the basic structure enough to do it. 

Q: What fuels the excitement to support and encourage students to submit their projects?

A: There's so much that we can do very well here on this campus, but nothing is more motivating and rewarding to me than programs that, first of all, include everybody, right? So, this is an event that is hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, but it's open to the entire University community, and it's all undergraduate research. There's different ways that we define and conceptualize research and creative work in higher education and academia. It's so important for us to be really inclusive in that and see things in different ways.

So first of all, I love that it's a party that everyone's invited to. I also think it's important to acknowledge the role of the faculty mentors. They are stepping in outside of their role as a classroom educator, and really stepping into that mentorship with purpose, value and engagement. Making sure that people can experience the whole scope of their undergraduate career. Whether that's a class that they took that sparked interest, or really confirming that this major or minor is really going to serve them in the way that they thought it was. The faculty mentorship is such an important part.

Q: What is your favorite part of event day?

A: On event day, it's so cool to pause and have this kind of culminating celebration where we're highlighting the students, it's really all about the students and what they've done. It's always so cool to see how surprised people are when they come to the event. Maybe they were just walking through the Student Center, or they want to come get LBC3 credits. They know that the students have done good work, and its quality and it's interesting, but to see people stop and realize they're talking about antibiotics or cancer research or soil, they're talking about things that are going to impact my life in a couple years. So, it's cool for people to have that aha moment of, this is beyond just having an experience here at EMU. This is an experience that you're going to have at EMU that will then stay with you and push you into other opportunities, or even just personal ways to confirm that you've made the best choices for yourself academically. So, it is focused on students and so supportive of highlighting students.

Q: How do the different colleges intersect in this event?

A: We've got five colleges here at EMU. The College of Business and Education might do different things than the College of Arts and Sciences or Health and Human Services. Or one thing that's super cool, that is important for me to mention, is sometimes when you think there would be no interdisciplinary connection, there actually is, right?

So, there's this, ‘Oh, gosh, you're doing a project about public relations, and I'm in mathematics and statistics, but we're actually using the same software to count our data. Let's talk about that. Let's share resources.' So, it is interesting when we look at the variety and the different approaches to what research and creative work looks like. It's also cool to see where things weave together.

We have a total this year of 240 projects. We will feature more than 280 students, because some projects have multiple students, so it's a really nice chunk of students, and all five colleges are represented.

Q: What are the types of presentation?

A: Students at the symposium have three presentation options. They can give an oral presentation, which is very much like a traditional public speaking situation. They can do posters, which is a big room full of posters, people walk by, and you do elevator talks and kind of quick pitches of your work. Or you can actually engage further ... depending on how your discussion goes.

Then we also have the crossing lines Design Expo, which is where we feature more 2D [and] 3D works. Think of interior design, costume-making, simulation, animation and gaming. That's kind of the best way to answer the question, you can even see the diversity within the three different presentation styles. But you can come to the symposium, and you could learn about ... Professor [Cara] Shillington's spider lab; you could learn about tarantula behavior but also learn about set design and lighting, then go to an oral presentation and learn about social justice initiatives. It's really cool to see the depth and breadth of what can happen and what we can share and talk about at the symposium.

Q: When can students apply?

A: The submission window is typically November to January. What happens is, we have a faculty committee that reviews abstracts from their particular area or their department. Once they approve those, it comes back to me. I do some more editing. We officially confirm student acceptance pretty much in early February. Then we're doing all of the scheduling, organizing, who's in what room at what time and where are we, the RSVP for the lunch and all of that.

We encourage students to come by and check it out. Obviously, these are your peers. This is part of the work that's going on here at Eastern. We're going to have a raffle for undergraduate students who visit us the day of. We also can award LBC3 credits if they do need that or desire that. It's just kind of a cool space to come check out.  We take over a part of the Student Center for the whole day from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and there's always something to see and something to do. 

Q: How do students typically get involved?

A: What happens is, you do have students who either are already working on a project; perhaps they're in a major program that, you know, maybe requires lab work, or a practicum of some kind. So they're already kind of involved. Other students may be in a class and an instructor would say, "Gosh, that paper or that project that you did was really high quality, very engaging. There's still a few research questions that you could tap into." Or, "If we took this kind of a couple steps further, this could be a great project for the symposium."

So that kind of manifests, and then what we assume is, when you come back in the Fall, either you started that conversation or you're continuing that conversation. So November to January is when we open it up, because that way people are kind of in place to present in the Spring.

Q: Why is the symposium so important?

A: Because it is such a celebration of undergraduate students and potential and opportunities, that almost cultivate a very cool pride within Eastern which people are surprised about. They don't really get that unless they attend the event, and then they have these surprising aha moments of, 'Wow! Look at this incredible work, this incredible partnership between student faculty.' That's honestly, like I said, the number one motivating factor for me. I get to be nosy and see what are you working on, and what does that mean, and for the future, what might that look like? It's really cool to see that.

-

The Undergraduate Symposium will take place Friday, March 28 from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. in the Student Center. All students and committee members are welcome. The Student Center parking lot gate will be open; however, it is recommended to take into consideration the popularity of the event for adequate parking. Students may receive Learning Beyond the Classroom credit by attending the symposium.