Four Cornell College students presented their work at the Iowa Sociological Association (ISA) annual meeting on April 18.
The event recognizes the best research papers by undergraduates across the state. Each Cornell student presented papers they developed during sociology courses and the Cornell Summer Research Institute. Two students received two of the five awards.
Sophomore Celina Schertz ’27 won the Mary Alice Ericson Award in the open topic paper category. The paper was titled “Sexual Identity and Mental Health: How Does Sexual Identity Impact Mental Health?”
“This project was all that I did for an entire month in Block 4, Research Design and Data Analysis,” Schertz said. “I am very passionate about it, and it is amazing to be recognized for all of the work I devoted to my research. Being able to present at ISA showed me how much more research there is to do, and it inspired me to do more. I look forward to expanding my research during Senior Seminar next year and being back at ISA to present again.”
Recent graduate Laura Sander ’25, who is taking a legal assistant position in Madison, Wisconsin, before going to grad school for immigration law, won the Ward Reynolds recognition for best criminal justice paper with her project titled “Grants Pass vs Johnson,” which was completed in two blocks—an independent study block and capstone.
“Winning this award didn’t mean a lot to me as a measure of personal achievement, but it meant so much to me as a recognition of the topic of my research being an important issue to address, which was delving into the dangerous repercussions of criminalizing homelessness,” Sander said.
Visiting Assistant Professor in Anthropology Noah Johnson says this type of presentation gives students an experience of producing knowledge rather than ingesting knowledge.
“At conferences like this, the students get to actually feel what it means to bring a novel perspective or new information to the attention of an academic community,” Johnson said. “I think that is a very empowering experience. Likewise, getting to see what their peers are working on is also a mutually uplifting and humbling experience.”
Each student who presented a paper answered questions about their work.
“Even more noteworthy than the presentations of their papers, in my eyes, was the ease and earnestness with which our students conducted themselves in the Q&A sections that followed,” Johnson said. “Each of our Rams was able to speak with fluency and clarity that demonstrated their deep, personal, insightful command of the subject upon which they presented.”
This year’s event was held at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Iowa. Cornell College students have consistently attended and won awards at the ISA annual meeting for more than fifteen years.
Additional Conference works:
Nick Alderman ’27: “A Dream Deferred Makes the Heart Sick”
Oriana McKanan ’26: “Street Medicine in Cedar Rapids”