More than 300 students from every college at Eastern Michigan University will present at the university's 46th annual Undergraduate Symposium, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences on March 27, 2026. Amy Bearinger, the event coordinator, said that several students involved with the event are scheduled to present multiple projects in collaboration with the departmental faculty members with whom they have chosen to work.
According to the event program, the various projects may be in the form of a poster presentation, an oral presentation or an exhibit in the Crossing Lines Design Expo Gallery.
"That's where we see 2D, 3D work, sometimes interdisciplinary in nature," Bearinger said. "Think interior design, construction, theater and lighting, simulation, animation [and] gaming — hands-on types of projects."
This will also be the second year that students in the College in Prison program will be able to participate through video submissions. While the event can provide important preparation for graduate school, it is not exclusively for prospective graduate students, and all students are welcome to participate, Bearinger said. Students will present the results of their research and creative academic activities, the symposium webpage said.
"Research looks different in every discipline," Bearinger said. "There are some majors that, when you sign up for them, you know you're going to have to do time in a lab. There are other majors where the opportunities are there, but it's not necessarily woven into the journey. You kind of have to decide and pick and be purposeful about those choices."
One of the students presenting at the symposium is Raiden Francisco, a senior whose project is focused on universal basic income.
With the current U.S. economy, an oversaturated job market and artificial intelligence replacing jobs, implementing universal income is becoming more and more necessary, Francisco said. Originally, the project started as a paper in a social stratification class. Francisco’s professor suggested entering the paper into the symposium.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to present, to have more to put on my grad school application. And I just think it would also be a great learning opportunity,” Francisco said.
The symposium application process begins with applicants submitting an abstract. Once accepted, the students meet with their mentor to talk about what the expectations are for the symposium. There is also a Canvas course just for the presenters that walks them through how to get prepared and what to expect the day of, Francisco said.
As part of the EMU Forensics Team, Francisco said doing speeches and performances has prepared him for the symposium.
“I really do feel like that’s helped me build my confidence and feel less nervous presenting in front of others," Francisco said.
Eastern junior Alexandria Miller is doing a project that came from a class on African American politics. Miller pulled information from documentaries, interviews and personal experience to create a model for an organization. To prepare for the symposium, Miller has been redoing some of the research.
“I want to make sure that a lot of my information is up to date and correct,” Miller said.
Miller said she recommends this experience to all students. It’s a great career opportunity that could help students in future endeavors, Miller said. However, Miller said that any student who’s looking to enter a project in the symposium should do it on a topic that they love.
“This is not just something to put on your resume or something to say you did; this is something for you to take pride in, to be able to say with your chest that I did this,” Miller said.
Bearinger, an EMU alumna who was once a graduate assistant to former event runner Wendy Kivi, stepped into the role in 2019 after Kivi's retirement. During the two decades that she has been helping with the symposium, she says certain projects have stuck with her. In one of her first years working on the event, she remembers a freshman's research on tarantulas. After the symposium that year, the student went on to do field research with graduate students who were surprised by her knowledge level.
"That was my first 'aha' moment of like, 'Wow, this is a difference maker,'" Bearinger said. "I will never forget that project."
EMU senior Marius Martello will be presenting in the symposium for a second time. This year, Martello will be giving two oral presentations. One of the projects is about planned obsolescence, when businesses purposefully make products that do not last long so consumers have to buy more. This project did not come from a class but is rather a passion project for Martello.
The second project is about a public act passed in Michigan to increase the number of adoptions for kids in marginalized communities. Martello’s research is to find out if the public act actually increased the adoption rate. The inspiration for this project came from personal experience.
“I was adopted when I was six months old. So that's definitely something that I was very interested in,” Martello said.
As part of preparation for the symposium, Martello will be presenting the adoption research project at the Midwest Economics Association Conference, where he will receive feedback from other students and professors.
“Then I'll have a chance to kind of take some of that feedback and implement it before the symposium, which is the following Friday,” Martello said.
From his presentation on adoption, Martello said he hopes people take away that economics is a broad field that encompasses many social factors.
“I would hope that people, at least for the adoption presentation, take away that economics is a lot more than just kind of looking at money and finance; it can really be applied to a variety of kind of situations in this world,” Martello said.
The symposium is a great opportunity to apply academics to the real world and get some experience, Martello said.
Aside from the potential financial awards students become eligible for by presenting, Bearinger said that gaining experience in research, communication, professional development and faculty mentorship are also reasons students may want to participate.
To Bearinger, the event is an opportunity to see the diversity of ideas that EMU fosters.
"It shows all the different ways to be an Eastern student and to have an academic journey of excellence here," she said. "There's not one way, and I think that's spectacular about Eastern."
The Undergraduate Symposium takes place Friday, March 27, 2026, 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the EMU Student Center and is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can learn more and view the schedule of events on the symposium webpage.
