Abstract of Project

For this project I presented an original essay at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference was held February 15-18 2017.  During the conference I presented in one of the undergraduate panels. The essay I presented was entitled “I Will Follow Where You Lead: Positive Female Workplace Relationships in Gilmore Girls.”  In this essay I looked at Dr. Anne H. Litwin’s research on female workplace relationships and made connections to two characters on the television series Gilmore Girls   My focus for this paper was on the relationship that Sookie St. James and Lorelai Gilmore have and how their friendship outside of work helps their work relationship.

 

Project Goal

This project helped me make professional connections with colleagues interested in similar pursuits. I also had the chance to practice presenting my research to other academics within a formal setting. The most important thing about this project was that it will helped me gain experience that many undergraduates are not able to get.I achieved the goal of making connections by attending other conference presentations and also talking to other people who were attending the conference. Presenting my essay to a crowd was scary at first, but it helped when I was able to look around the room and see that people were interested in what I was talking about.

 

Outcomes   

By writing this essay and presenting it, I was able to further my professional development.

Because I presented my research in an effective way, I also gained productive feedback about my writing.

Attending the SWAPCA conference furthered my professional development because I was able to talk to other educators while I was there. I was also able to attend pedagogical presentations. Immediately following our panel presentation, there was a Q&A session where attendee and presentation were able to discuss the presentation topics in greater detail. During this portion of time I was to receive feedback on my specific presentation. This positive feedback helped me gain more confidence in my writing.

 

Deliverable(s)

 By the end of this project I will be able to provide the completed essay as well as photographic evidence of my conference presentation. Due to the fact that I have received UGRASP funding for this project, I will also to do a poster presentation of my essay at the SUU Festival of Excellence in April. You can find both my essay and photos of me during my panel and my badge at shelbiedeatherage.wixsite.com/portfolio. Unfortunately, I was not able to do a poster presentation at SUU Festival Of Excellence because of a miscommunication between my mentor and the university.