7th Lowell Overton Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Department of Psychology and Sociology held the Lowell Overton 7th Undergraduate Symposium on April 22, 2016. This year's symposium was attended by (in alphabetical order) Dr. Robert Blumenfeld, Dr. Erika Dejonghe, Dr. Jack Fong, Dr. Juliana Fuqua, Dr. David Horner, Dr. Sara Langford, Dr. Stacy McGoldrick, Ms. Elisa Mitchell (Office of Undergraduate Research), Dr. Anjana Narayan, our benefactor Mr. Lowell Overton, Dr. Eleonora Rossi, Mr. Benjamin Sandoval (Bronco Institutional Repository), Dr. Viviane Seyranian, Dr. Felicia Friendly Thomas, and Dr. Nicholas Von Glahn. Our colleagues and friends served in different capacities as moderators, mentors, chroniclers, and as department chair that welcomed our friend Lowell. Our gratitude goes out to all aforementioned faculty and professional participants. Additionally, visiting from CLASS's Dean's office were Ms. Vanessa Franco and Ms. Pali Wilson. My gratitude goes to both Vanessa and Pali as they took the best photographs from the event, the vast majority of which are used for this website coverage that showcases our students!

This year's symposium fielded twenty-four speakers overall. Twelve psychology students and twelve sociology students presented their talks over a three hour period. This year's symposium had one of the largest poster submissions in recent memory. Twenty three poster presenters presented nine posters in a crowded and well-attended session. There were over sixty audience members at the crowded but energized event!

Our department chair, Dr. Horner, began the symposium by welcoming the attendees as well as introducing our important benefactor, Lowell Overton, President of RealMega.Com and Broker for Coldwell Banker. As a former graduate of Cal-Poly Pomona, Mr. Overton recounted his development at our university as well as his ability to harness the behavioral sciences to become a highly significant figure in the real estate industry. Mr. Overton's talk inspired our audience and the symposium presenters about the possibilities of empowerment through the social sciences. Certificates were then presented to our student participants, with the ceremony's conclusion signalling the beginning of the symposium in earnest. Mr. Overton's generosity in supporting our symposium was further enhanced by his attendance at our presenters' talks and poster presentations. We are very grateful that Mr. Overton has taken time from his busy schedule to attend our event as well as serve as a continuing benefactor for future symposia organized by our department.

We are also grateful for the continued participation of the Office of Undergraduate Research's (OUR) Elisa Mitchell. She has returned again to serve as moderator for one of our symposium sessions. Moreover, she also gave a talk to our students about the OUR. Benjamin Sandoval, our university library's Bronco Scholar Institutional Repository chief librarian, also informed our students about the merits of submitting their posters to the repository.

A very special thank you goes to our department staff Leticia Keenan, Jeanette Huyler, and Diane Slusser. Their efforts have been invaluable in making this year's symposium flow smoothly. Without their dedicated assistance with the logistics of attending to food provisions, the printing of posters, managing the configuration of rooms, as well as ensuring whatever supplies that were needed were available, this year's symposium would not have succeed.

Finally, without the students' dedication to knowledge and its dissemination, along with their intellect, professionalism, and curiosity, this symposium would not have taken place. We are thoroughly impressed by their efforts and commitment to their disciplines. Additionally, the students that attended deserve commendations as well since their ability to be part of an inquisitive audience adds greatly to the dynamic of the event. Thank you to all of you. In the following pages, speech presenters' photographs will be displayed along with the titles of their talks. Photographs of our luncheon area where poster presenters were stationed are also included.