Graduate school symposium aims to bring more attention to GSAS

A group of students and faculty met for the eighth Annual Graduate Student Symposium on Saturday. The Symposium consisted of 13 presentations from students representing departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Robin Kanarek said the event was an opportunities for faculty and students to learn about graduate work.

"I would say this event was very successful," graduate student and event co-chair Ryan Hughes said. "It is also a great opportunity for undergraduates to see what's going on in the graduate community."

"This event is designed to showcase graduate student research and allow professors to learn more about other departments' work. Often they only know about their department," said graduate student and event co-chair Amanda Pavlick.

Biomedical engineer Chengyuan Wu won first place for his work on the formulation of an approach for the detection of epileptic seizure activity and epilepsy.

Second place went to History graduate student Gweyne Langley for her research on the structure of the immigrant community in Patterson, N.J. in 1910.

"I was surprised that I got second," Langley said after receiving her award. "Overall, I thought it was a really good experience and good practice. I liked that the presentations were from so many different fields."

Kristian Demary from Biology and Tad Brunye from Psychology received third and fourth place, respectively.

"The participation in the Symposium by graduate students has been excellent," Kanarek said. "However, I will admit that I would like to see more faculty in attendance at the Symposium." She cited the fact that the event is always held on a Saturday as a reason why it is difficult for faculty members to attend.

The lack of faculty support is seen as one symptom of a larger discussion of the graduate programs' students and programs fighting for attention from undergraduate students. "Tufts is recognized as one of the top undergraduate schools in the country," Dean Kanarek said, "and I think that its reputation of undergraduate education indeed may overshadow some of the outstanding graduate programs that we have."

In response, administrators would like to see more interest in graduate programs. Kanarek said the Graduate Student Research Symposium is one way the school can achieve this goal.

The symposium contestants represented departments including Child Development, Electrical Engineering, Drama and Philosophy. Four judges reviewed the presenters.

The event was sponsored by the Tufts Arts, Sciences and Engineering Graduate Student Council.