The Graduate Student Association (GSA) and the Graduate College welcomed all students, faculty and staff to join us for our Books & Bagels: Conversations on Interdisciplinary Research Program held on Friday, May 13, 2016 at 12 p.m. in the Graduate Student Lounge, located in Main 010. We heard from the following excellent graduate student speakers and faculty moderator.

Bushra Alfaraj

A Qualitative Analysis of How Arab Gamers Respond to Cultural Representations in Video Games
MS, Digital Media
Westphal College of Media Arts and Design

Summary: This study is an analysis of the responses of gamers who identify as Arab to depictions of Arab culture in video games. The reason we are looking at Arabs in video games stems from a lack of academic literature on Arab representation in games, let alone any firsthand data gathered from gamers of this identity group. Our aim is to understand how the current state of representation (or lack thereof) affects the gameplay experience of Arab gamers, and we anticipate that there are mutual factors in our findings that would affect other minority gamers as well.

Jennifer Johnson Kebea

Engaging Students in the Anchor Mission of the Institution
EdD, Education Leadership and Management
School of Education

Summary: The modern university has a dual role to serve as both a civic educator of students and as an anchor institution within the community. This research study consulted a panel of national higher education experts to develop a framework that defines how institutions of higher education can intentionally involve students in the anchor strategy of the institution to positively impact student civic learning and democratic engagement. This topic is relevant to colleges and universities across the nation that embrace the responsibility of educating students for active participation as citizens, while also realizing that as placed-based institutions they must also demonstrate qualities of responsible citizenship within the communities that they are located. This research topic is especially relevant to Drexel University, an institution that aims to become the most civically engaged in the nation.

Tim Gorichanaz

Bliss, and So Much More
PhD, Information Studies 
College of Computing and Informatics

Summary: We often think of science as the pursuit of knowledge. A PhD, in particular, is supposed to represent a "substantive contribution" to human knowledge. But my first two years as a PhD student have made me realize that science entails another pursuit: the pursuit of ignorance. In this presentation, I'll talk about how I came to this realization and how it's help me come to peace with the strife of conducting research.

Rachel Reynolds, PhD

Faculty Moderator
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Member of Core Faculty, Communication, Culture & Media
College of Arts and Sciences