HAC at the Butler Undergraduate Research Conference

Posted by essmith3

April 11th, 2025 was the Butler Undergraduate Research Conference. Undergraduate students from the Butler Community as well as other universities were able to present their recent research to local academics. Students were given a choice to present their work in the form of a presentation or a poster. Presentations were sorted by filed of study with each student given fifteen minutes to present and answer questions before moving on to the next student. The poster presenters were split into two groups with each group given forty five minutes to display their poster in Hinkle Fieldhouse  and answer questions as interested individuals approached them.

The History, Anthropology, and Classics department had fifteen presenters this year with an additional two students from outside the department presenting on their own anthropological findings. Thirteen of these students were from Dr. Mould’s 460 Anthropology Capstone class with these projects being the culmination of their Anthropological education here at Butler University. All students who participated in the URC have been working tirelessly for months conducting research, collecting data, and designing their findings for the public with the help of their professor mentors.

The day started off at 10:30 when the Anthropology presentation block began in Levinson Hall 120. Nine students participated presenting their findings on various topics, from Rocky Horror to Indianapolis Bus Transportation. Presentations consisted of discussing Vietnam War Memories, racism towards medical professionals, body altercations, the Vatican Jubilee, and more. After the panel wrapped at 1:00 pm students got lunch and prepared for an afternoon of poster presentations.

Across the two sessions eight students displayed their posters from 2:30-4:00pm. Highlights included findings on family dinners and their role in storytelling, analyzing reddit threads discussing postpartum experiences, Appalachian healing practices, Ukrainian activism in Indianapolis, and much more.

We are proud of all the students who participated in the Undergraduate Research Conference and congratulate them on their hard work.  We hope to see continued efforts for students participating next year.

COVID-19 Oral History Collection

Posted by essmith3

When discussing the COVID-19 pandemic almost, everyone has a story on how COVID impacted their lives. From losing a family member to discussing how quarantine impacted their mental health, the pandemic altered the world. Five years later, COVID has now affected part of our history. Upon this anniversary, History Professor Dr. Molly Nebiolo began asking what we can still remember as we move further from the pandemic. The resulting project is a collection of oral histories from students across a few of Dr. Nebiolo’s classes which is being incorporated into the Butler University Archives digital collections for anyone to visit and contribute to.

The first stage of the project consisted of 42 students conducting oral histories with each other. Each student developed five to seven questions to ask each other during recorded interviews. Questions in oral histories must be incredibly fined tuned as they must direct the flow of conversation while giving space for the interviewee to elaborate on certain points. When discussing the development of the questions Dr. Nebiolo mentioned, “They [the students] had to articulate why they chose together those five to seven questions to think through. What is a great question that embodies an experience that may be collectively the two have had or might have had differently?” After the questions were approved, the interviews began. Each one was recorded and then the transcripts were cleaned up by students in Dr. N’s Introduction to Digital Humanities class, emulating the process of archiving raw audio data and building their experiences with historical information.

Once the website for the digital collection is complete (only two example oral histories have been posted in the initial collection site), people will be able to view the oral history of these 42 students and also donate their own oral accounts of their pandemic experiences to add to the collection. “Since many of our alums and current students have experienced COVID-19 and the pandemic itself,” says Dr. Nebiolo “We really are open to anybody donating to it.” The website will be a growing collection of diverse experiences from all over campus, so that future historians can learn from the events of our present. Dr. Nebiolo will also include the initial assignment given to the 42 students so future faculty can incorporate it into their classes. She hopes the collection will be a good way for future students to not only learn more about the pandemic and oral histories, but they also be able to build the collection even more. Once collected, the newly submitted oral histories will be archived by the current Butler Archival team and then will be incorporated into the collection.

On March 18th, 2025, the collection was revealed at a COVID-19 memorial event in Irwin Library. Students who worked on the project viewed, and celebrated, the culmination of their work for the first time and took pride in preserving a piece of history. The collection can be found here. We recommend visiting multiple times over the coming weeks, months, and years as more people share their oral histories.