Ten Knox College juniors have been chosen as Ford Fellows for the 2014-2015 academic year. Ford Fellowships are awarded to students with strong academic records who are interested in pursuing independent research. The recipients are chosen by a panel of three faculty members and the director of the Gerald and Carol Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study.

Ford Fellows participate in a weekly seminar during Winter Term to prepare them for undertaking research and to help them explore options for future graduate study. The students also receive a stipend to sponsor their research, conducted over the summer. Ford Fellows often continue their research when pursuing senior Honors projects.

Mariangela Maguire, interim director of the Gerald and Carol Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study, sees the Ford Program as a way to "demystify graduate school" and as a way for students to learn from each other and their faculty mentors.

"One of the main goals of the program is to bring together students from a wide range of academic disciplines," she said. "Talking with each other about their research projects, they gain confidence in communicating about complex topics and they gain an appreciation of how knowledge is created in fields other than their own."

Newly named Ford Fellows, along with their academic majors, their faculty mentors, and the tentative titles of their research projects:

• Natalie Baldino, philosophy, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Brandon Polite, "Pain as Personal: A Phenomenological Account of the Inexpressibility of Pain on Interpersonal Relations."
• Celinda Davis, history, Burkhardt Distinguished Chair in History Catherine Denial, "Dismantling the Congo: The Role of the Public in Unraveling Leopold's Congo Free State."
• Mary DiPrete, English literature and philosophy, John and Elaine Fellowes Distinguished Chair in English Rob Smith, "Cinema and Existentialism: The Narrative Pleasures of Phenomenology and Film."
• Adrienne Ernst, biology and environmental studies, Professor and Chair of Biology Stuart Allison, "Development of a Pattern Language for Restoration Ecology."
• Lily Gaetgaeow, music, Assistant Professor of Music Nikki Malley, "Historicizing Klezmer Performance Practices."
• Noah Gleason-Hart, international relations, Assistant Professor of Political Science Daniel Beers, "Exploring Identity in Diaspora Communities: The Palestinian Experience in Jordan."
• Erik Gustafson, physics and classics, Professor and Chair of Physics Thomas Moses, "An Investigation of a Virtual Chiral Nematic Phase in Liquid Crystals."
• Olivia Martin, biology, Assistant Professor of Biology Matthew Jones-Rhoades, "Viability Comparison between Dictyostelium Species after Exposure to UV with Improved Assay Technique."
• Lyana Sun Han Chang, modern languages, Assistant Professor of Modern Languages-Spanish Claudia Fernandez, "A Comparison of Second Language Acquisition in In Immigrant Children and Adults."
• Michael Supej, chemistry and mathematics, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Helen Hoyt, "Reactivity of Iron Pre-Catalysts and Optimization of Catalytic Processes."

(Photo at top: Student Michael Supej uses an inert atmosphere glovebox as part of the research he is pursuing under the supervision of Knox College faculty member Helen Hoyt.)