UAlbany Starts a New Tradition With its Inaugural Showcase
ALBANY, N.Y. (May 2, 2023) — From the Massry Center for Business to ETEC, the Art Museum to the Campus Center, the Uptown Campus was buzzing Thursday with students, parents, faculty, staff, area school kids and community visitors — all taking in UAlbany student research and creative work.
I started the day in the Lecture Center Concourse, cruising through poster displays on topics from linguistics to math. I stopped to listen to grad students Pallavi Khurana and Seulgi Park explain the CDC’s reliance on “gain messaging” during the COVID-19 pandemic. I went up to the Campus Center Ballroom to take in the School of Public Health’s poster fair, then stopped in Assembly Hall to sit in on a discussion about the impact of racism, led by School of Social Welfare students.
I spent about an hour in the Campus Center Auditorium, and in that time took in presentations about translating poetry, policy ideas for ending human trafficking in North Korea, a history of Japanese pro-wrestling, and a demonstration of K-pop dance, all from students in the East Asian Studies Department.
ETEC was packed with demonstrations of projects in homeland security and emerging tech, including a drone pop-up tent and Meta Quest 2 headsets, the most popular and accessible VR headset on the market. There were also students with research projects in atmospherics and cybersecurity.
There were art exhibitions at the Boor Sculpture Studio and the University Art Museum. There were discussions and displays and demonstrations throughout the Lecture Center and Campus Center, and at the Massry Center for Business and the Life Sciences Research Building. I saw a chorale performance in the Performing Arts Center and the day concluded with a high-energy Podium performance by the UAlbany Spirit Band.
It all would have been exhausting if it weren’t so exciting.
UAlbany’s inaugural Showcase Day was, by all accounts, a rousing success. More than 1,500 students participated in more than 900 presentations, and thousands more came to watch, learn from and support their peers. More than 300 middle and high school students visited, learning a little more about what UAlbany might offer them in the future.
“All around campus the energy was palpable, the enthusiasm was unparalleled,” President Havidán Rodríguez said in a closing celebration as Showcase drew to a close. “And the pride, the pride of our students all showcasing the great work that transpires here at the University at Albany … This is what UAlbany is all about.”
The idea for a full day devoted to the research, creative and experiential work of UAlbany students came from Provost Carol Kim, who had founded a similar showcase day at the University of Maine prior to coming to UAlbany.
She noted at the end of the day that the UAlbany’s inaugural event featured undergraduate and graduate student presentations from more than 30 disciplines from all nine schools and colleges. “It really has been a grand undertaking,” she said.
“One of the great outcomes of our student Showcase is the bridge building it allows us to do with the larger community,” Kim said. “Another is the positive energy it ignites around campus. It really did catch fire on Thursday, thanks to our students. It was wonderful to be a part of it, and we are already looking forward to the 2024 UAlbany Showcase next year."
Watch a video recap of Showcase or find out more about the day, including some of the award winners, on the Showcase website.
The inaugural UAlbany Showcase took more than nine months of planning by more than 50 volunteer committee members. Running the event took support from countless staff members and a host of student and staff volunteers.
But it was the dedication of the students presenting their work, and the support from their faculty mentors, that made the day possible.
Don’t miss Showcase 2024, coming next April.
Photos by Patrick Dodson and Brian Busher