Meet Leighnah, a senior Media and Communications major with a creative writing minor. She currently is continuing independent research with Dr. Goodman in the MCS department after starting it as a Summer Fellow in 2016. 

Tell us about your research.

During the summer, I completed a research project titled “Talk About Race in the Undergraduate Classroom: A Discourse Analysis”. I recorded a few CIE classes and their talks on Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” in order to examine how undergraduate students talk about race in the classroom.

This semester, I’m now working on research focusing on minority group students’ experiences on campus.

What is your favorite part of research/academic travel?

1) Working with my mentor Dr. Goodman. Aside from having CIE with her my freshman year, I also had Gender and Ethnicity Communication with her which ultimately lead to me becoming an MCS major (one of the best decisions I’ve made). She’s a great professor, adviser, and mentor so I’m honored to work with her.

2) Being able to pursue a topic that I am so passionate about. My own personal background as well as the political climate have lead me to want to better understand others’ perspective through research. It doesn’t feel like work when it’s something you’re really interested in.

What do you hope to do in the future with the skills you have gained from your experiences?

The entire research process itself –from transcribing data, to analysis, to writing papers has been incredibly rewarding. Although I do not plan to pursue my research after Ursinus, I am confident that the writing skills I’ve gained, as well as problem solving, collaboration and presentation skills will serve me well, when I begin my post-grad career in social media branding.