Tashanna Edwards Presents at 2017 CREATE Conference

2017 May 2

The Third Annual CREATE Conference at Eastern Connecticut State University took place on April 21. CREATE stands for "Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern," and is the University's premier conference showcasing student research and creative activity.

Tashanna Edwards '17 of Norwich presented an oral presentation titled "Shooting Heaven." Edwards majors in Communication.

"My project presents the research that I did for my novel, 'Shooting Heaven,'" said Edwards. "The novel deals with cocaine use and a foster care runaway. CREATE has provided me with a great opportunity to practice advocating for myself as a writer - something that I wasn't comfortable with or confident about in the beginning - but this is my third conference and I am really getting the hang of it. The first time I presented this piece was at the Connecticut State University English conference and also recently at NCUR in Memphis. I was excited to also present at CREATE in order to share the hard work that I've accomplished with my professors and classmates."

The one-day conference featured more than 300 Eastern undergraduates who presented talks, professional posters, live music, dance performances, art and photography exhibits, documentary films and panel discussions.

"CREATE is a reaffirmation of Eastern's commitment to undergraduate research as Connecticut's only public liberal arts university," said Niti Pandey, business administration professor and conference co-chair. Reflecting on this year's record number of participants, she added, "There is a wonderful variety of presentations and performances for people to see. CREATE 2017 showcases the hard work and talent of our students and demonstrates the dedication of their faculty mentors. We look forward to an excellent event!"

From art to zoology, Shakespeare to social media, tax law to terrorism, Eastern students of all majors explore important concepts and produce exemplary research and creative work; the culmination of their work for the 2016-17 academic year was on display at CREATE.

Patricia Szczys, biology professor and conference co-chair, added: "CREATE is a superb learning experience for all who participate and a true celebration of our student's achievements."