(Posted April 13, 2009)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College will cancel classes on April 22, but it's not really a holiday for the student body. Instead, Juniata students will be free see what kind of research and projects their classmates have been working on.

The Juniata Liberal Arts Symposium, known jokingly on campus as "Mountain Day for the Mind," brings together students from almost all academic disciplines to present their research projects to panels of judges. The oral and poster presentations will run from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 22 in buildings across the campus, including Brumbaugh Academic Center, the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts, Good Hall and the von Liebig Center for Science.

"More than 170 students from 19 different academic departments will be presenting research."

Dennis Johnson, assistant provost

Juniata's Liberal Arts symposium, now in its third year, is open to many more academic departments. According to Dennis Johnson, assistant provost and associate professor of environmental science, who organized the event, more than 170 students from 19 different academic departments will be presenting research.

Throughout the day there will be 83 poster presentations and 91 oral presentations. The distribution of research throughout categories counts 43 projects in the humanities, 43 projects in the social sciences and 88 projects in natural sciences.

The cancellation of regular classes allows all rooms to be available for presentations and frees volunteer students and faculty to act as judges.

Exhibitions by students in the visual arts and performing arts are included in the symposium this year. There will be a selective exhibition of fine art projects on display in the lobby of the Suzanne von Liebig Theatre in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts during the day. In the evening there will be student theatre projects, collectively titled "SOLO festival." All 16 productions will be created, performed and directed by students. "SOLO" will be presented at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 22 through Saturday, April 25 in two separate spaces. Student productions will be staged in the von Liebig Theatre and in the Movement Studio, both located in the Halbritter Center.



Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.