Undergraduate students from around Nebraska will congregate at Doane on Nov. 8 for the Nebraska Undergraduate Sociological Symposium (NUSS). The conference allows students to showcase their research in a supportive environment with other undergraduate scholars and provides students with valuable information on internships from other institutions.
The symposium will have oral presentations, discussions about paper-in-progress presentations, discuss internships and graduate school opportunities and feature a guest speaker from the University of Maryland, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Dr. Wade Jacobsen.
“NUSS provides a great environment for undergraduate sociologists to see what their peers are doing and to share their own efforts. NUSS is a unique professional development experience for students: they get to network with other students and faculty in sociology, refine their presentation skills and gain valuable experience that they can include in a graduate school or job application,” Associate Professor of Sociology Kari Gentzler said.
Gentzler believes NUSS can offer students opportunities and empower them to use sociology, learn from their peers and be reassured that their field is important.
“Undergraduate students do not often have as many opportunities to share their work outside of a classroom setting. Additionally, in the era of budget constraints, the costs associated with taking a group of undergraduates to a regional or national sociology conference is difficult. Also, undergraduate students may not feel comfortable sharing their work with graduate students or faculty researchers,” Gentzler said.
Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Sociology Danelle DeBoer believes this is an opportunity for students to take the next step in their lives, not just in education or career-wise. She believes that the research shown at NUSS can help students realize how important sociology is outside of the classroom.
“Sociological thinking is applicable to all other disciplines. Platforming student research in a variety of areas allows us to highlight the importance of using sociology to try to understand complex social issues. We emphasize the importance of engaging in research to improve the lives of those in our local, regional and global communities,” DeBoer said.
NUSS kicks off at 8:45 a.m. on the second floor of Perry Campus Center and will start with an opening remark by DeBoer and feature student presentations, followed by Jacobsen’s keynote address at 1 p.m. titled “Stuck in the Same Old Crowd? Adolescent Arrest, School Friendship, and Adult Persistence in Crime.” Following Jacobsen are more student presentations and information regarding internships and graduate school opportunities, the event will end with farewell remarks by Genzler at 4:30 p.m.
