Start Date

3-12-2024 4:00 PM

End Date

3-12-2024 5:00 PM

Author(s) Bio

Alyssa Wright is the Head of Research Services at West Virginia University Libraries. Her work centers on improving students’ critical thinking and research skills as well as partnering with faculty to craft assignments and lesson plans that address students’ information literacy deficits. She teaches courses in information literacy and a graduate level course in grant seeking. Her previous teaching experience includes courses in communication, writing, rhetoric, and public speaking at the university level. She has an MA in Communication Studies and an MLIS from the University of Iowa. Sally Jane Brown, an artist, curator, and writer, explores womanhood, motherhood, and the body through drawing, painting, and performance. Her work has graced national and UK exhibitions, earning two illustration awards. She's undertaken artist residencies in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Argentina. Her writing is featured in major publications such as Woman’s Art Journal. She's curated exhibits across the USA. She holds a BA in Studio Art and Master's in Public Administration and Art History. She currently serves as Exhibits Coordinator for West Virginia University Libraries.

Keywords

Graduate students; Academic research exhibits

Description of Proposal

This session will describe West Virginia University Libraries’ annual Graduate Student Exhibits Award. The award, managed by our Art in the Libraries Committee, invites current graduate students to submit ideas for an exhibit to visually showcase their scholarship in new and experimental ways. These can present a visual evolution of their work, visualize their research and influences, or answer a research question. Graduate student proposals can be based on academic or creative research and lend themselves to visual interpretation with Library consultation. Awards include a $500 prize and help with design, installation, promotion, and coordination of a public program, offering an opportunity for exposure. The exhibits are hung annually in the Libraries’ Graduate Student Commons and are promoted in partnership with West Virginia Universities’ Office of Graduate Education and Life. The goals of these awards are to: provide a multidisciplinary platform for deeper learning, foster intellectual discourse and discussion, and demonstrate the breadth of WVU's creative and innovative activity. The award program mirrors our Faculty Research Exhibit award and has been successfully run for two years resulting in three exhibits. The exhibits have represented a range of graduate research at WVU from Sociology, Soil Science, and English. The public program includes a reception and short research presentation with question-and-answer session. The presentation provides graduate students the opportunity to discuss their work in a public forum that might be lower stakes than a conference. It also asks graduate students to make their research visible and more accessible to audiences outside of their own fields. The award program has the added benefit of promoting the Libraries Graduate Research Commons space which is designed for graduate student study space, meetings, and events. Feedback for the events has been positive at the administrative, faculty, and student level. The conference session will highlight some examples of the exhibits, review how we developed the award, the support we provide the student creating the exhibit, how we promote the exhibits, and our plans to continue to grow the program as part of an expanded suite of research services for faculty and graduate students.

What takeaways will attendees learn from your session?

Attendees will learn best practices for:

Developing research exhibit programs at their library

Promoting exhibits and events for graduate students

Developing partnerships on campus for graduate student programs

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Mar 12th, 4:00 PM Mar 12th, 5:00 PM

Building a Graduate Research Exhibits Program in an Academic Library

This session will describe West Virginia University Libraries’ annual Graduate Student Exhibits Award. The award, managed by our Art in the Libraries Committee, invites current graduate students to submit ideas for an exhibit to visually showcase their scholarship in new and experimental ways. These can present a visual evolution of their work, visualize their research and influences, or answer a research question. Graduate student proposals can be based on academic or creative research and lend themselves to visual interpretation with Library consultation. Awards include a $500 prize and help with design, installation, promotion, and coordination of a public program, offering an opportunity for exposure. The exhibits are hung annually in the Libraries’ Graduate Student Commons and are promoted in partnership with West Virginia Universities’ Office of Graduate Education and Life. The goals of these awards are to: provide a multidisciplinary platform for deeper learning, foster intellectual discourse and discussion, and demonstrate the breadth of WVU's creative and innovative activity. The award program mirrors our Faculty Research Exhibit award and has been successfully run for two years resulting in three exhibits. The exhibits have represented a range of graduate research at WVU from Sociology, Soil Science, and English. The public program includes a reception and short research presentation with question-and-answer session. The presentation provides graduate students the opportunity to discuss their work in a public forum that might be lower stakes than a conference. It also asks graduate students to make their research visible and more accessible to audiences outside of their own fields. The award program has the added benefit of promoting the Libraries Graduate Research Commons space which is designed for graduate student study space, meetings, and events. Feedback for the events has been positive at the administrative, faculty, and student level. The conference session will highlight some examples of the exhibits, review how we developed the award, the support we provide the student creating the exhibit, how we promote the exhibits, and our plans to continue to grow the program as part of an expanded suite of research services for faculty and graduate students.