This year’s Trimmer Travel Award winner is Olivia Reyes, a Global Art and Visual Culture Major at the University of Central Oklahoma. Reyes presented at the 2nd World Congress on Undergraduate Research at the University of Oldenburg. She analyzed Cuban, Polish, and American posters advertising the two American films, George C. Scott’s Rage (1972), and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). CURAH caught up with Reyes and asked her how it went. Here is what she told us.

Olivia Reyes reflects on her experiences

It is difficult to fully describe the value of my 2nd World Congress on Undergraduate Research experience. Nowhere else have I had the opportunity to work and collaborate with colleagues and scholars from across the globe. In addition to attending excellent keynote speakers like Dr. Lujendra Ojha, Dr. Anne Dippel, and Dr. Sonia Fizek, I also attended presentations by my undergraduate colleagues. There was such a strong emphasis on global relationships and the need for international cooperation, something that I felt we were all actively a part of in those moments.

My own presentation, a poster exploring the cross-culture development of visual languages during the Cold War through Polish, Cuban, and American film posters, was integral part of my experience. This project was the result of close to four years of work, and to be able to explore it with my international colleagues and scholars from a variety of disciplines was invaluable. I believe my research was well received, and I acquired many incites on the possibilities of traveling abroad once again to continue my research, as well as various ways to expand the research itself even further.

Another truly valuable part of my experience was the chance to network with other researchers and scholars. I particularly enjoyed the “communications” thematic session. Each of us came from a wide variety of disciplines but found ways to incorporate our own knowledge and ideas into one project. Going off the idea of a colleague from South Africa, we developed a series of research questions and ideas for the development of a baby monitoring device for deaf parents, one that would be as affordable as possible for people worldwide. I am proud of what we accomplished during that short time, and I hope I have the chance to work with these colleagues in the future!

It is often said that we live in an increasingly global community, and indeed, in order to tackle global issues it is more important than ever to connect with colleagues from a variety of disciplines and from around the world. I believe the 2nd World Congress on Undergraduate Research was the first of opportunity of many for my colleagues and myself to be a part of that global dialogue. I am truly honored to have attended such an event, and I am grateful to have received the Trimmer Travel Award.

For more information about the Trimmer Travel Award and all of CURAH’s awards, please visit our award page in our Resource section.