Ten Illinois State University graduate students will present their research to a panel of judges in the University’s first Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at 6 p.m. Thursday, February 23, at the Normal Theater, 209 W. North St., Normal. The event is free and open to the public.
The 3MT competition challenges master’s and Ph.D. students to describe their research topic and its significance to a general audience in three minutes or less. Finalists for the competition have been chosen from each of Illinois State’s academic colleges. The first place winner in the competition will receive $1,000, while the second place winner will be awarded $750. A people’s choice award winner will be given $1,000. The first place winner will be entered in the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools competition in April.
Finalists and their thesis titles are:
- Kristi Probst, College of Education (Special Education), “Measuring the Longitudinal Communication Growth of Learners Who are Deafblind”
- Ethan Hollinger, College of Fine Arts (Theatre), “Without Blue: Maori Storytelling and Color”
- Gretchen Paulson, College of Applied Science and Technology (Kinesiology and Recreation), “Swimmers, Posture, and Shoulder Pain”
- Michele Shropshire, Mennonite College of Nursing, “Comparing the Effectiveness of Complimentary Interventions on Persistent Pain and Comfort in Elder Residents”
- Erin Barr, College of Arts and Sciences, (History) “’Fortune Will Favour the Brave’: Irish Women Come to America 1845–1870”
- Matt Drummer, College of Arts and Sciences, (Chemistry), “Alkyne Combustion: Experimental and Computational Studies of HCO Formation”
- Kate Browne, College of Arts and Sciences (English), “Body Composition: Reading, Writing, and Resisting Weight Loss Autobiography as Biopolitical Pedagogy”
- Emilio Lobato, College of Arts and Sciences (Psychology), “Examining Different Reasons Why People Accept or Reject Scientific Claims”
- Anna Hill, College of Fine Arts (Theatre), “Costume Design: Balancing History and Our Story”
- Maddie Biehl, College of Applied Science and Technology (Kinesiology and Recreation), “Cupping goes Gold”
Judges for the competition will be Quincy Cummings ’99, president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP; Dan Leifel ’66, M.S. ’71, a retired attorney; and Diane Wolf ’16 Ed.D., assistant regional superintendent, Regional Office of Education #17.
3MT develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of research students’ capacity to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience. Students are allowed to use one static slide, and no additional transitions, animation, video, or props. Presentations are all spoken word, and exclude songs and theatrical performances.
3MT was developed by the University of Queensland and has spread to more than 18 countries and 200 universities worldwide.
