O’Neal Hosts Third Annual SSRP Symposium
The O’Neal School will be hosting its third annual Signature Scholars Research Program (SSRP) symposium to showcase the research of five SSRP Scholars. The five 20-minute presentations will be held in McMurray Library of Bradshaw Hall at O’Neal. Presentations will be divided between Wednesday, May 22, and Thursday, May 23 starting at 5 pm. Refreshments will be served. Attendance is open to the public; however, seats are limited and a call or email to reserve your seat is required.
The two-day symposium will begin on Wednesday with a keynote address titled “F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jazz Age Mass Media” by Dr. Jennifer Nolan, associate professor of English at North Carolina State University.
Dr. Nolan teaches courses on twentieth-century American literature and society. She is a periodical studies scholar whose work has appeared in journals such as Book History, Journal of Modern Periodical Studies, F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, and American Periodicals, and is co-editor of The Complete Magazine Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1921-1924 (2023). She is a proud member of the board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society and very much looking forward to all of the centennial celebrations of The Great Gatsby in 2025!
Here is the agenda:
May 22nd
Keynote: Jennifer Nolan, "F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jazz Age Mass Media"
Caroline Acker: "The Rhetorics of Retelling: How Ancient Greece Was Transformed into a Tool of Western Hegemony"
Audrey Kim: "Navigating Video Games: The Stereotypes, Perceptions, and Experiences of Girl Gamers"
May 23rd
Luke Harper: "Dulling the Double-Edged Sword of Vaping: E-Cigarettes and the Antithetical Impacts They Exhibit Between Smokers and Non-Smokers"
Tylar Pastre: "The Science of Justice: the Past, Present, and Future of Forensic Science"
Rachel Wolff: "U.S. Food Waste: Its Environmental Implications and Adopting France's Supermarket Waste Law to Increase State Accountability on Grocery Store Practices"
O’Neal launched the inaugural cohort of the Signature Scholars Research Program (SSRP) in the fall of 2022. It is a highly selective program for upperclassmen who are not only academically strong but also passionate about a specific subject area. Applications for the program are submitted during students’ sophomore year. The two-year intensive study is directed by English Department Chair, Dr. Nicole Camastra. The first year as juniors, students take the Research Methodology and Philosophy course taught by Dr. Camastra, who guides their exploratory research. That same year, the scholars write an annotated bibliography and research proposal; they also identify experts on their research topic as credible sources and plan the schedule and phases of the project from beginning to end. While working with a faculty mentor during their senior year, the scholars produce a 10,000-word research paper or portfolio/product of relative weight and value. They present and discuss their research before the school community and the public. Students who complete the program earn a diploma with distinction from O’Neal.
O’Neal’s SSRP is intended to allow these exceptional students to engage in an intensive student-centered and inquiry-based course of study that will challenge them well beyond a normal college preparatory or Advanced Placement program.
This year’s symposium will also be streamed on the School’s YouTube channel. To attend in person, please reserve your seat by calling or emailing Tara Logan: (910) 692-6920 ext. 100 | tlogan@onealschool.org.
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