Student research spans the disciplines at today’s Mount David Summit

David Harning '13 of Rye, N.H., talks about his sediment core research in New Zealand during the 2013 Mount David Summit. Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College.

David Harning ’13 of Rye, N.H., talks about his sediment core research in New Zealand during the 2013 Mount David Summit. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

The 13th annual Mount David Summit, Bates College’s celebration of student academic achievement, takes place at 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 28, in Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk) and other campus locations.

Featuring diverse student presentations including poster talks, panels and performances, the summit is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please visit bates.edu/summit or contact Kerry O’Brien at kobrien@bates.edu or 207-753-6952.

“The Mount David Summit is the premier academic event of the year at Bates. It’s something that just should not be missed,” says sociology professor Emily W. Kane, who will be moderating a session of research talks by senior sociology majors.

More than 350 students will take part in this year’s summit. In Pettengill Hall, during concurrent sessions throughout the afternoon, students will present research posters, short talks, panel discussions, a photography exhibition, literary readings and several films.

The summit will culminate in a concert by the Bates College Dance Company at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St., featuring the work of student choreographers in collaboration with student lighting and costume designers.

Here’s a preview of summit presentations:

  • Students will present more than 100 research posters in African studies, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, economics, environmental studies, geology, history, mathematics, neuroscience, physics and psychology. Topics range from the economics of the Maine rockweed harvest to treatments for tuberculosis, and from the Arab Spring to the impact of algae blooms in Lake Auburn;
  • Anthropology students will give talks on their senior thesis research, which ranges from the analysis of pottery in early Roman Britain to ethnic agency in Uganda, while sociology seniors consider topics from social entrepreneurship in the local New American Sustainable Agriculture Project to the sexual assault nurse practitioner program in Lewiston;
  • Creative writing students will read from their poetry and fiction, and dance majors will discuss how they develop choreography;
  • Politics students will screen short video documentaries on 10 political organizations in Maine;
  • Research conducted with community partners and for the public good will be discussed by Community-Engaged Research Fellows who work through Bates’ Harward Center for Community Partnerships;
  • Symbolism in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings will be the subject of four talks by first-year students;
  • Presenters will discuss such topics as the media and the Boston Marathon bombing, visual narratives of Lewiston, rural health in China, the ways math is used in life sciences and the impact of too much oxygen on the developing respiratory system.