Now in its seventh year, the annual James J. Whalen Academic Symposium celebrates Ithaca's tradition of student and faculty collaboration in research and creative activity. Named in honor of Ithaca College president James Whalen, the event affords students the opportunity to give oral presentations and to present their original creative work in the arts.

Sustainability was a key interdisciplinary focus of this year's symposium. After a keynote address, "Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change," delivered by Geoffrey Chase, dean of undergraduate studies at San Diego State University, presenters from throughout the School of Humanities and Sciences offered information on topics ranging from geothermal heat pumps and wind energy to environmental efficacy and South Hill land management.

Presentations in English ranged from Shakespeare's vampires to Native American storytelling. In economics, topics spanned the globe from the banana industry of Central America to the currency markets of Western Europe. And in history, students bridged four centuries with case studies, dissecting the anatomy of global oppression.

The psychology department was represented at this year's symposium with numerous poster sessions and presentations. Three groups of students sponsored by associate professor Cynthia Scheibe presented original research in body-image perception. Assistant professor Andrea White and members of research team 10 presented detailed studies of voting behavior and political beliefs. Another group sponsored by White designed a sequential study to analyze student memories of the 9/11 disaster. Other groups tackled topics ranging from midlife transitions to third-world preschools.

Physics presentations covered topics that were out of this world, including stellar occultations, planetary formation, and meteorite composition. On more terrestrial planes, student Alexander Williamson presented findings on heat flow in copper and gold, while Kevin Faehndrich reported on the archeological exploration of a 1,000-year-old pit house village site in southwestern New Mexico.

The physics sessions were a nice companion to the work presented by some of Ithaca's finest chemistry students. Thomas Polson explained his experimental work on nanoscale copper oxide solar cells, while Daniel Cordaro discussed his experiments in proton transfer reactions. Their work was sponsored by assistant professors Akiko Fillinger and Vincent DeTuri.

Along with a number of intriguing math presentations, including an unusual exploration of "black code" finger games, students from the math-computer science department showed off the most recent results from their work in the department's virtual reality lab, where students are researching the application of virtual reality techniques in rehabilitative medicine. Assistant professor of computer science Sharon Stansfield sponsored the presentation.

Throughout the symposium guests had the opportunity to view student artwork in Clark Lounge. Pieces by students Michael Pritchard and Carolyn Hallar were highlighted, sponsored by the art department's professor Harry McCue and assistant professor Bruce North. In Klingenstein Lounge, attendees listened to readings from some of the College's finest writers.