This week during our fellowship meeting, we were given the chance to get to know our new cohorts through a campus scavenger hunt! Exploring campus with my cohort was a great way to get to know them as it gave us a chance to talk about our projects, our experience with research, and what we hoped to achieve this summer and in the future.
I feel that I can definitely learn a lot from the researchers in my cohort! Our projects cover a variety of subject matter and I am excited to learn more about research through these projects. While my project focuses on natural history, I’ll be able to learn about research methods used in science, math, and anthropology-based studies!
There is certainly an overlap in how we will approach our projects. While our projects cover vastly different areas of study, Megan H., Richa, and I will all be using archival documents to unveil information about our subject matters. Ella and I are both carrying out studies on regional-based topics. I think that I will learn the most from Kaylee’s project, which focuses on the algorithm of solving a 3×3 Rubic’s cube using abstract algebra. I am very unfamiliar with this topic, which allows for a great opportunity to learn new research methods and tools.
Working with people from across disciplines can be very beneficial. Aside from learning more about other subject areas, gaining multiple perspectives on your research can allow it to develop in new, unexpected ways. Fellows from different areas of research bring many different skillsets that form unique viewpoints. At points where a researcher may be stuck in their research, consulting interdisciplinary colleagues can spark a new creativity around a project. However, some obstacles may persist with this method. Working with interdisciplinary colleagues means exposing a project to others that do not have the same understanding of the subject matter, meaning that there may be gaps in their knowledge of the subject. This sometimes makes it difficult for others to contribute to interdisciplinary work, but more importantly, makes it more difficult to communicate. While communicating with other Brackenridge fellows, this new issue has become apparent. While we are all well-versed in our own subject matters, we often know very little about what our colleagues are studying. This does not make any of us less wise, but impedes our ability to understand fully what each other’s projects are about, making it difficult to contribute. Through this exposure to other subject matters, I hope to learn how to most effectively communicate and learn about projects that I may not fully understand. Building these communication and comprehension skills will allow me to better communicate my research and develop studies that are well-rounded.
