Three Westminster College faculty members contributed collaborative research to the 40th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity held in September in Kent, Ohio.

The conference was co-organized by Dr. James Rhoads, professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science, Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies at Westminster, in collaboration with Dr. Susan Ramlo from the University of Akron.

Rhoads—along with Westminster colleagues Dr. Jamie Chapman, associate professor of sociology and director of the All-College Honors Program, and Dr. Kristianne Kalata, professor of English and chair of the Department of English, Theater and Art—conducted research investigating high-achieving students’ attitudes toward interdisciplinary coursework and learning environments.

Chapman presented their findings in the presentation, “How Do High-Achieving Students Place Value on Aspects of Their Educational Experiences?”

The faculty’s research draws upon theories of teaching and learning related to high-achieving students, an understudied sub-population in higher education. Twenty-three high-achieving Westminster students participated in the study, with results suggesting a potential correlation between flexible course design and deep learning practices, as well as a link between performance-based self-esteem and students’ experience of the educational process.

In addition to his contribution to collaborative research with Chapman and Kalata, Rhoads led a pre-conference workshop on Q methodology and was panelist in the opening plenary, where seven scholars commented on the impact of the writings of Steven R. Brown, the preeminent scholar of Q methodology. Rhoads also presented his recent research on viewer responses to Greta Gerwig's 2023 film, “Barbie.”

For more information about Q methodology, contact Rhoads at jrhoads@westminster.edu. For information on Westminster’s All-College Honors Program, please visit www.westminster.edu/honors.

Above, from left, are Dr. Jamie Chapman, Dr. James Rhoads and Dr. Kristianne Kalata.

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