As students spend their school year doing work for classes, jobs and extracurriculars, some have a little more on their plate as they develop and conduct their own research in any given field.

The Student Undergraduate Research Forum — more commonly known as SURF Day — is an opportunity for students to present their original research in front of students, faculty and staff.

Introduced at Elon University in 1993, SURF has showcased undergraduate research for more than 20 years. It is one of the ways Elon provides opportunities for students to practice professionalism and apply it to a future career.

This year, there are a few changes in SURF. Now, there are student moderators during the sessions and symposia presentations — pieces spanning across three or more departments.

Meredith Allison, associate director of the Undergraduate Research Program, said SURF is an excellent way for students to study a single in-depth project for an entire year or longer.

“It is so different when you can study one thing for so long,” she said. “It improves writing, presentation and professional skills. All the research is not coming from one place all the time. We value cross-campus participation.”

At this year’s SURF, 203 students presented original research ranging from communications, science, religion, sociology and other fields.

Memory through music

For his undergraduate research, senior Elon College Fellow Jake Sokoloff intended to capture and connect generations through memories sparked by music in a project titled: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me: Stories from an Unforgettable Generation.”

To gather his information, Sokoloff visited the Village at Brookwood, a senior living retirement community in Burlington, and conducted in-depth interviews with individuals older than 75.

During the interviews, he played songs definitive of their generation, such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “New York, New York,” to recall memories connected to these songs.

Sokoloff first developed the idea four years ago from his close relationship with his grandmother. Although the research relates to the events of her generation, Sokoloff said our generation could also relate to the common themes of childhood, love and work. His research looks at humanity, culture, music and the power of physical communications with others.

“So often we ignore the people who can’t keep up in the same way society expects us to,” Sokoloff said. “It’s amazing how much we can learn about ourselves and life if we take the time to slow down and listen.”

Sokoloff’s research culminated in two one-hour performances. Each performance entailed parts of the conversations the residents had with Sokoloff, performed by the residents and set to music. While some told other residents’ stories, others told their own stories in the performance.

“The residents telling their stories give voice to this often unheard generation,” Sokoloff said.

Sokoloff wants to use music to bridge generational gaps. His dream is to one day start a company that connects interviews and music to document the collective cultural history and experience of U.S. citizens across generations. This hypothetical company would combine the efforts of the project Story Core, which creates an oral history of the United States through conversations, and the nonprofit Music and Memory, which helps individuals with Alzheimer’s remember more through music.

“I want to use music, which is so visceral, to trigger these conversations and stories, and take it to be presented on a larger scale,” Sokoloff said.

Through his experiences with undergraduate research, Sokoloff became passionate with the idea of connecting people through common musical experiences. Sokoloff referred to his research as a playground for his education.

“I wouldn’t [otherwise] have fallen into this passion that may turn into a career for me,” he said. “It’s more fulfilling than simply fulfilling graduation requirements.”

Sokoloff’s mentor, professor of Performing Arts Jane Wellford, enjoyed working with him and seeing his enthusiasm for his research.

“Getting to know Jake through our Elon College Fellows research over his four years, I learned that he is not only a talented music theatre major but an individual who will do well in life,” Wellford said. “I love the fact that Jake dares to dream big and make things happen.”

Practicing the art of pop

Senior Honors Fellow Brooke Jenkins appreciates the straightforwardness of pop music.

“Simplicity in pop music is a beautiful thing,” she said. “It creates something people love. That’s definitely art.”

For her research, entitled “Songwriting and Arranging in Styles of Popular Music,” she studied specific albums from 10 different pop musicians — including Lana del Ray, Mika, Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift, among others — and wrote original songs based on the styles of these musicians.

Jenkins said some artists were easier to emulate than others. Her favorite was the style of Mika, which pushed her to be more “poppy.” Writing in the style of Fall Out Boy was the most difficult for her because of the clever wordplay and lyrics they usually incorporate into each song.

Throughout the research process, the most difficult aspect was writing songs similar to artists without ripping them off. She said it was difficult to follow melodic patterns without copying, especially with Lana del Ray’s music.

As a music production major, Jenkins has always enjoyed listening to and writing music, but she learned to appreciate pop music more with her research.

“Lots of people look at pop in a very formulaic way,” she said.

Prior to her research, she wrote many original songs, most of them folk- and acoustic-based, once a week while at Elon. After exploring pop music, she is more confident in songwriting, which she hopes to make into a career.

“I don’t see songwriting as overwhelming anymore,” Jenkins said. “To do it professionally, you have to just keep writing.”

Jenkins believes her research is an important contribution to the field of music theory. She said there is no pre-defined way to study and analyze pop albums, and her research helps build some structure for the field. 

Her mentor, Clay Stevenson, a lecturer in music, has seen Jenkins’ songwriting progress.

“At the beginning of the process, her music was fairly predictable in that she wrote in a specific style and maintained a certain sound,” he said.  “As she studied artists and styles she adopted a number of interesting techniques, and her music became more varied and interesting.”

Jenkins said participating in undergraduate research has changed the way she looks at music.

“It has been a defining element of my undergraduate career,” she said. “It lets me focus on what I want to do going forward. It’s what you do beyond classes that allow you to create something really meaningful.”

Click for a first impression

Senior Elon College Fellow Sara Hess’ research investigates individuals’ first impressions through online contact and profiles such as Facebook. Her research is titled “The Exploration of the Pit Bull Stigma in an Online Environment: An Analysis of Impression Formation and Online Discussion Groups.”

Her work, classified under the new psychology field Human-Animal Interactions, focused on the negative perceptions of the pit bull dog breed, which is stereotyped as an aggressive and mean breed. This degrading impression extends to pit bull owners as well.

Hess said people’s views on the breed have changed since the Michael Vick dogfighting incidents of the 2000s, which showed pit bulls aggressively attacking each other.

“They were regarded with respect, but now a majority of people hate and fear them,” she said.

To study her claim, she set up two mock Facebook pages. One featured a profile picture of a girl with a pit bull, the other a profile picture of a girl with a labrador. She found that more people liked the Facebook page with the Labrador. 

Hess connected her study to first impressions that people experience online and in person.

“The choice of a dog you choose to adopt or the choice of a phone you choose to buy can affect the way people see you,” she said.

Hess stressed that today, online first impressions are more important than ever.

Paul Fromson, professor of psychology, mentored Hess. He said her research was a unique addition to research done on first impressions. Fromson also said he learned about his own perceptions of the dog breed during research with Hess.

“I now know that pit bulls are not as inherently aggressive as they are often portrayed in the media,” he said. “But if I was walking down the street and saw one in a yard up ahead, I’d probably steer clear. I certainly wouldn’t approach it going, ‘Nice doggie, nice doggie.’”

Fromson said undergraduate research not only helps the individual but also the greater community of academics.

“The questions we investigate and the methods we use to pursue answers are embedded in our disciplinary communities,” he said. “Research doesn’t end until we have shared our work with members of those communities.”

Students worked on their research throughout the semester and shared it with their peers and faculty on Tuesday, April 28.