For her Summer Undergraduate Research Experience project, Merrie Byers ’26 has created a documentary exploring the friendship of two religious leaders whose communities share a complicated past.
Merrie Byers ’26 is not doing a traditional research project for the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE); the cinema and television arts major is exploring differences through a self-produced documentary.
The documentary focuses on the reverends of two churches in Burlington, North Carolina, with a deep, complicated and connected history. During U.S. slavery, according to Byers, members of Union Ridge Church owned members of Union Chapel United Church of Christ. Now, the reverends of each church, which sit across the street from one another, have developed a close relationship.
“They are using their friendship to combat this prejudice and hosted a committee where 10 members of the church from each side got together and talked about these differences,” said Byers, who is from Wake Forest, North Carolina. “It really made a difference in how these churches have blossomed into a bonded community.”
Byers, an Honors Fellow, was introduced to both churches through the Place and Placemaking course, connected to Elon’s Power + Place Collaborative, a community partnership that works to capture and share untold stories of communities in Alamance County.
In the course, Byers says, faculty members Sandy Marshall and Danielle Lake discussed the significance of Christianity in Black and white communities, and how those communities worship. Byers was tasked with creating a mini-documentary about another reverend, but when reviewing the work of other students about her current documentary subjects, she had an idea.
“When I watched the footage, it just felt like these stories should have been brought together,” she said. “It was really fascinating to me to see the way that this friendship has connected the two of them.”
Byers is working alongside Nicole Triche, associate professor of cinema and television arts, on the documentary, which she will present in a poster presentation at SURE on June 24 in the Snow Atrium of Schar Hall.
Nearly 60 students will present at the annual research symposium, which provides an opportunity for students to work with faculty and gain meaningful research experience over the summer, without the pressure of other courses during a typical semester. Students apply for the opportunity, which usually takes place during the summer before the junior or senior year.
“Professor Triche is genuinely one of the most understanding, yet professional, people that I’ve worked with,” said Byers. “I really appreciate her approach to education which stood out when I took her COM 2200 class.”
Even though her documentary won’t be displayed at the poster presentation, Byers still hopes people will take away an important message.
“I want to bring hope,” she said. “That’s been such a common theme with the two interviews I’ve had. Anything that can shine a light on the fact that this history is timeless and always needs to be talked about. Oral histories are important, and you can learn so much from someone else’s perspective.”