Each Spring, CIEL holds an undergraduate research symposium at a CIEL member campus. The symposium is designed to provide students with rich opportunities for formal presentation and engagement with peers the practice of scholarship – to teach them about the academy’s role in knowledge-making by providing venues to engage in it actively.

The fifth annual student symposium was held at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 1-2, 2009.  CIEL experimented with sharing undergraduate research through virtual presentations featuring students from Pitzer College.  The presentations were outstanding and demonstrated a depth and breadth of scholarship.
List of student presentations
In addition, Dr. Tom Means of Marlboro College gave a virtual foreign language tutorial.

The Fourth Annual Student Symposium, called the 2008 Festival of Scholarship:
Celebrating Collaborative Inquiry, was held at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA in April of 2008. It was co-hosted by CIEL, The Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Student Voices Leadership Group, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Western Washington University, the Teaching-Learning Academy, Western Washington University Student Voices Club, and Western Washington University Associated Students.

The Third Annual Spring CIEL Student Spring Symposium was hosted by Johnson C. Smith University on March 30 and 31, 2007.
Download the schedule including the student abstracts. PDF  Word

On the 2007 Undergraduate Research Symposium, Pitzer College student Springsong Cooper wrote,

“Participating in the CIEL conference at JCS was fascinating in many ways.  It was such a pleasure to engage, share ideas, and collaborate with students from schools all over the country. Also, exploring JCS and interacting with the students there was an incredible experience. The school was beautiful and the students and administration were all so hospitable, as well as interested in what had brought us to Charlotte, North Carolina. The exchange of passion in different interest areas from social action to psychology was inspiring and telling of the quality of the students of the 21st century. Listening to research my fellow students had invested their time in rejuvenated me and I left the conference with a much more positive attitude towards the benefit of a liberal arts education! Pitzer’s participation in CIEL is beneficial to our goals as an institution and it is my hope that CIEL will become much more integrated into our curriculum and student resources!”

Pitzer student Amy Parker said:

“Going to JCSU allowed me the opportunity to hear from other inspired undergrads who are creating their own research.  We were given the chance to learn from each other, which is invaluable.  It is important that we are all in dialogue with each other, so that we know what people are finding all over the country.  In the few days we spent there I also got to know four other women from Pitzer—three inspirational students and the fabulous Kebokile.  Even after we left the wonderful Southern Hospitality at JCSU, these women are here for me at Pitzer as friends and as smart influential members of society.”

Pitzer student Deborah Lieberman had this to say:

“I was very impressed by the organization and hospitality which made the weekend run so smoothly. I was really pleased to have chance to see how another school works.

“Within the conference itself, student presentations were mixed in quality. I felt pretty positive and empowered by the opportunity to present my own research. Being given an open, receptive and dynamic space to share my research helped me to organize and push the ideas further. I was also very enlightened and inspired by some of the other presentations. I learned tactics and motivating ideas which I plan to bring back to my campus and communities I work in now and in the future. The format and spirit of the conference emphasized dialogue. I really appreciated the chances for question and answer and discussion; if anything, I would’ve made more time for this. It is rare that a group of self-motivated and experienced students are collected in a space to exchange and critically discuss the pressing issues of our time (classes often fall short). We need more of this. I was also so impressed and invigorated by my fellow Pitzer peers. These ladies are so self-aware and dynamic; their presentations and questions were challenging and compelling; they are empowering.”

The second annual symposium was held at Pitzer College in March of 2006. In April of 2005, CIEL held the first annual undergraduate research symposium at New College of Florida in Sarasota.