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STUDENTS PRESENT WORK AT SYMPOSIUM
By Whitney Clark
BYU Newsnet
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/71483
Brigham Young University
March 2 2009
Students had the opportunity to show their talent on Friday by
presenting their papers at the 11th Annual Religious Education
Student Symposium.
Every year, students are invited to submit original papers on a wide
variety of subjects with the hope that they will be chosen to present
at the symposium.
"The purpose is to give students, before they leave campus, a
sympo-sium experience," said Patty Smith, the supervisor of the
Religious Education Faculty Support Center.
Smith said the papers are usually due the Monday after Thanksgiving
and then given to a committee to choose those who will present.
Each year the symposium receives about 80 to 90 papers, and chooses
between 35 and 50 to present, she said.
"We have a wide variety of topics," Smith said. "Everything from music
and art to very spiritual topics, how-ever, everything must be within
a religious context."
Smith said that once all the papers are submitted, those who are
chosen are given 15 minutes to present their papers at the symposium.
The symposium was held in three different sessions, with about 12
presenters during each session.
"It's a really good experience to be able to research something
and present it to a group," said Sarah Bowthrope, a sophomore
from Cottonwood Heights studying illustration who presented at the
symposium. "I can't think of any negative things about it."
Bowthrope presented a paper entitled "Applying the Hero's Journey to
the Gospel." In her paper she com-pared a long time literary technique
of creating the Hero's Journey used in books such as "Harry Potter"
and "Star Wars" to gospel topics and our lives as a whole.
Paper topics, though they must all contain spiritual context, covered
a wide range.
John Manis, a senior from Las Vegas Nev., studying Family Science,
pre-sented his paper on Armenian traditions.
"The Armenian tradition has been neglected by LDS scholarship,"
Manis said in his presentation. "My hope is that a few of these
minimal insights may serve as sufficient moti-vation to LDS scholars."
When the committee reviews the papers, a first, second and third place
are chosen. Smith said the winners of these rewards win an amount of
money ranging from $1000 for first place, to $500 for third place. The
next 13 papers to place also receive a small prize.
The "Call for Papers" is presented in advance during spring term,
and then officially at the beginning of fall semester during religion
classes.
Nancy Davis, from the ORCA mentoring grant office, said the sym-posium
is a wonderful way for students to get some mentoring, as well as to
present to their peers.
"It can change the direction of their goals," Davis said. "It gives
them a step up when they can say they pre-sented at something like
this."
By Whitney Clark
BYU Newsnet
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/71483
Brigham Young University
March 2 2009
Students had the opportunity to show their talent on Friday by
presenting their papers at the 11th Annual Religious Education
Student Symposium.
Every year, students are invited to submit original papers on a wide
variety of subjects with the hope that they will be chosen to present
at the symposium.
"The purpose is to give students, before they leave campus, a
sympo-sium experience," said Patty Smith, the supervisor of the
Religious Education Faculty Support Center.
Smith said the papers are usually due the Monday after Thanksgiving
and then given to a committee to choose those who will present.
Each year the symposium receives about 80 to 90 papers, and chooses
between 35 and 50 to present, she said.
"We have a wide variety of topics," Smith said. "Everything from music
and art to very spiritual topics, how-ever, everything must be within
a religious context."
Smith said that once all the papers are submitted, those who are
chosen are given 15 minutes to present their papers at the symposium.
The symposium was held in three different sessions, with about 12
presenters during each session.
"It's a really good experience to be able to research something
and present it to a group," said Sarah Bowthrope, a sophomore
from Cottonwood Heights studying illustration who presented at the
symposium. "I can't think of any negative things about it."
Bowthrope presented a paper entitled "Applying the Hero's Journey to
the Gospel." In her paper she com-pared a long time literary technique
of creating the Hero's Journey used in books such as "Harry Potter"
and "Star Wars" to gospel topics and our lives as a whole.
Paper topics, though they must all contain spiritual context, covered
a wide range.
John Manis, a senior from Las Vegas Nev., studying Family Science,
pre-sented his paper on Armenian traditions.
"The Armenian tradition has been neglected by LDS scholarship,"
Manis said in his presentation. "My hope is that a few of these
minimal insights may serve as sufficient moti-vation to LDS scholars."
When the committee reviews the papers, a first, second and third place
are chosen. Smith said the winners of these rewards win an amount of
money ranging from $1000 for first place, to $500 for third place. The
next 13 papers to place also receive a small prize.
The "Call for Papers" is presented in advance during spring term,
and then officially at the beginning of fall semester during religion
classes.
Nancy Davis, from the ORCA mentoring grant office, said the sym-posium
is a wonderful way for students to get some mentoring, as well as to
present to their peers.
"It can change the direction of their goals," Davis said. "It gives
them a step up when they can say they pre-sented at something like
this."