NW Missouri Times

Northwest Missouri State University's annual Celebration of Scholars, held on April 3, provided students the opportunity to display their research across various academic areas. The event, held in the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom, featured a broad range of topics, from heart rate studies to teaching strategies.

Sponsored by the Society of President’s Scholars, the Honors Program, the Office of the Provost, and Career Services, the symposium allows students to present their work outside the traditional classroom setting. Vasanth Kumar Palla earned a first-place award for his presentation titled “Formal Verification of Fog Computing Systems Using UPPAAL.”

The event included a judged competition, with awards given to top presentations. Among the winners was MaryJane Pitthan, a junior studio art major from Savannah, Missouri. Pitthan received a $250 prize for her presentation on Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, which she created as part of an art history class with Associate Professor of Art Dr. Karen Britt. Using imagery and commentary, Pitthan's podcast presentation explored Gentileschi’s emphasis on female biblical characters.

Pitthan shared, “I really liked how she illuminated female characters, specifically biblical heroines... I started getting into the research and there were so many little details about her that I thought were interesting. Once I started kind of snowballing the little things, I was like, ‘Ok, wait, this is kind of exciting,’ and then it kind of turned into a passion project more than a class project.”

In addition to oral presentations in meeting rooms, students lined the Ballroom walls with posters, engaging attendees with their research. Psychology students Tarah Jackson, Lauren Gillig, and Kinzey Meyer presented their study led by Dr. Amy Barton, titled “The Role of Unconscious Stimuli on Working Memory.” Their findings suggested that unconscious, masked visual items can interfere with maintaining consciously encoded items.

Jackson, a senior psychology major from Glenwood, Iowa, remarked, “It’s really interesting from a cognitive perspective – how unconscious items or stuff we don’t really think we perceive can impact our working memory and our ability to perform daily tasks.” She also noted that the experience boosted her public speaking confidence.

The event also served as practice for the students, who planned to present at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference in Chicago from April 10-12. “This is a great event,” Gillig noted. “There’s just so many different topics, and it is cool to see exposure from science to exercise and then psychology. It’s cool to just be in a room with other dedicated people.”