At Westminster College, students are encouraged to attend and present at academic conferences where they can build their networking skills and meet with leaders in their fields, and sophomore Hayne Webster is grateful for the early exposure he was given last spring.

Webster, an honors student and history major from Wellsboro, Pa., attended the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., where he presented his research “Beyond the Warrior Cultural Memory: An Examination of the Practical Side of the Samurai of the Ashikaga Shogunate.”

“The Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium was a fantastic experience. I was able to present my first-year research alongside some of the brightest undergraduate humanities scholars in the U.S.,” said Webster, whose conference attendance was made possible with a grant from Westminster’s Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research.

It was an assignment in his History of Japan class—led by Associate Professor of History Dr. Angela Lahr—that sparked his interest in his research topic.

“I studied the nature of samurai in the 14th century and how Western media has changed the perception of samurai to that of death-crazed warriors instead of mercenaries who were largely concerned with their pay,” said Webster, who compared primary source documents from 14th century Japan to modern media depictions of samurai. “While they were still warriors who valued piety and nobility, at the end of the day, a large drive for the samurai was the reward they were given by their lord.”

In addition to offering his research at the symposium, Webster also observed presentations from other undergraduate students.

“Attending other presentations was intellectually fascinating and beneficial when thinking of possible senior capstone research ideas,” said Webster. “I am very grateful to the Drinko Center for helping to fund my trip and to Dr. Lahr, who guided me along the way.”

The Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research promotes and provides students with various research, scholarly and creative opportunities in all academic disciplines through support and resources for undergraduate work.

For more information about Westminster’s history major, please visit www.westminster.edu/history.

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