Jarret Petrillo had to take a bus, two trains and hitchhike a ride to get to Northwestern on Friday afternoon. The University of Chicago freshman was on his way to present his research on religion and magic at the first Midwest Undergraduate Anthropology Research Symposium.
Petrillo joined 16 other undergraduate students from NU, the University of Chicago, DePaul University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University Chicago who presented their anthropology research to judges and fellow students in Norris University Center.
NU’s Undergraduate Anthropology Society organized the symposium to allow undergraduates to display their research, get feedback from judges and see presentations from students from other universities, said group co-president Brian Dubin.
The student-run symposium differs from other research conferences because it only features anthropology research, the Weinberg junior said.
“A lot of other research symposiums are more focused on natural sciences with less focus on the social sciences, so judges don’t often relate to the work they are critiquing,” he said. “We wanted to fill that void.”
After a speech from NU Prof. William Leonard, chairman of the department of anthropology, the students presented their work to judges in 15-minute intervals followed by breaks to give the judges time to see other students’ presentations.
Hector Quintero, a senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago, won first place, and Weinberg senior Ivana Brajkovic was runner-up for her presentation on racial disparities in infant health in the United States.
But competition was not the sole focus of symposium. The posters represented different perspectives of various Chicago-area anthropology programs, Leonard said.
“Today’s symposium provides us with the opportunity to help foster an exchange of ideas across the subdisciplinary boundaries of anthropology and across the boundaries geographically,” he said.
Bringing different anthropology programs together would help reinforce collaboration, Dubin said.
The Undergraduate Anthropology Society plans to expand the symposium to more schools in the Midwest and rotate the event among the participating schools.
“The idea developed because Northwestern undergraduate students feel this disconnect from other Chicago schools and schools in the Midwest,” Dubin said. “We thought this would be a good way to open up those battered lines of communication.”
Weinberg senior Jill Laskowski presented her senior thesis on global food in the local economy of Cochabamba, Bolivia. She came to the event because she wanted to see other students’ work, she said.
“I wanted to get more practice presenting my research, converse with other people in the field and learn about their research as well,” she said.
The presentations allowed students to see the practical applications of an anthropology major, said Weinberg senior Brooke Thurman, who presented her research on child health care in Illinois.
As the youngest presenter, Petrill said he attended the symposium to gain insight from the other students.
“I wanted to get a better understanding of the presentation process,” Petrill said.
Petrill said he would be back next year but only on one condition.
“Hopefully I’ll find someone to drive me,” he said.
