Elon students and professor honored for poster presentation at conference

Prudence Layne, an assistant professor of English and coordinator of the African/African-American Studies Program, was honored this month along with five students for their poster presentations at the 2010 Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching in Greensboro, N.C.

The team won Best Poster Presentation at the conference, which ran Feb. 5-7 at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center.

From the conference web site: “Lilly Conferences are retreats that combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses, with opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and university teaching and learning.

“Internationally-known scholars join new and experienced faculty members and administrators from all over the world to discuss topics such as gender differences in learning, incorporating technology into teaching, encouraging critical thinking, using teaching and student portfolios, implementing group learning, and evaluating teaching.”

Students who were honored include the following:

Lauren Taylor ’10 – Lumen Scholar, Periclean Scholar and AAASE minor
Amanda Brown ’10 – Lumen Scholar, Periclean Scholar 2010 AAASE minor
Katie Meyer ’10 – Lumen Scholar, Leadership Fellow and AAASE minor
Frank Stiefel ’12 – Periclean Scholar and independent major in African/African-American Studies
Kristin Schulz ’10 – Periclean Scholar and AAASE minor

Meyer and Stiefel shared their experience as founders of activist organizations at the university. Meyer started the Elon chapter of Invisible Children, while Stiefel found the Elon chapter of STAND: Students Take Action Now: Darfur.

Taylor, Brown and Schulz provided information on their undergraduate research.

Taylor is examining women’s health and HIV/AIDS; Brown is using mathematical modeling to predict the spread of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa; and Schulz is exploring rural development initiatives in Ghana.