TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Fifteen graduate students at The University of Alabama will compete for a chance to win scholarships and monetary awards in the finals of this year’s Three Minute Thesis.
The UA Graduate School hosts the competition. The finals will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at the Bryant Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Developed by The University of Queensland, the competition challenges graduate students to present a compelling talk on their thesis or dissertation topic, explaining its significance using language appropriate to a nonspecialist audience, in three minutes. The audience will vote for the People’s Choice Award.
The scholarships and awards will be used to support the students’ research and conference travel. This year’s competitors represent an array of academic departments and disciplines. The competition also serves as a professional development exercise that gives students the opportunity to clarify and crystallize their research ideas and discoveries while honing their presentation and communication skills.
Prizes are:
First place: $1,500 scholarship. Winner may present at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools’ 3MT Competition.
Second place: $1,000 scholarship.
Third place: $750 scholarship.
Fourth place: $250 scholarship.
People’s Choice – $750 scholarship.
The Center for Public Television & Radio will record the event for broadcast later.
The finalists are:
| First Name | Last Name | Presentation Title | Department Name |
| Khadeidra | Billingsley | “Right Writing” | English department |
| Christina | Brown | “Half-Witch, Half-Feminist? Revisiting Sabrina in the Trump Era” | Communication studies department |
| Danielle | Deavours | “Not Just What You Say, But How You Say It: Nonverbal Neutrality” | College of Communication and Information Sciences |
| Jennifer | Fortunato | “What Makes You, You?” | Biological Sciences department |
| Meagan | Heilman | “Reducing Aggression in Youth Using a Predominantly Internet Intervention” | Psychology department |
| Blake | McKinney | “The National and International Church: National Socialism, German Protestantism and the Watching World” | History department |
| Meredith | Mock | “Harnessing Bacteria to Reduce Caffeine Contamination” | Chemical and Biological Engineering department |
| Burcu | Ozturk | “Unheard Stories from Middle Eastern Female Intimate Partner Violence Survivors” | School of Social Work |
| Mackenzie | Pike | “The Power of Words: The Impact of Power Language in Corporate Financial Disclosures” | Communication studies department |
| Nathaniel | Sturm | “Species Detection in the Dark” | Biological Sciences department |
| Moumita | Tabassum | “Designing Accessibility into Block Languages” | Computer Science department |
| John | Walker | “The Young and the Restless: Improving Digital Citizenship Instruction” | Educational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies department |
| Chris | Walters | “School Leadership Impact on Student STEM Learning through Teaching Strategies and School Culture” | Educational Leadership, Policy, and Technology Studies department |
| Kaydee | West | “Inclusion in Geoscience” | Geological Sciences department |
| Joshua | White | “Open for Business: Governors’ Emphasis on Entrepreneurship” | Management department |
Contact
Richard LeComte, UA communications, 205-348-3782, richard.lecomte@ua.edu