With posters displayed in the Mabee Library and performances in the Mulvane Art Museum, the sixth annual Apeiron ran its course on April 18.

Apeiron, a forum hosted by Washburn, shows the research, scholarship and creativity of Washburn students. This year nine performing arts, 37 oral and 40 poster presentations were showcased. The project involved 99 participants from 23 disciplines, compared to 124 students from 19 disciplines last year.

“A little dip down of participants reflects the quality of the presentations this year,” said Kim Morse, committee chair of Apeiron. “We want to present academic achievement of strong quality.”

Robin Bowen, vice president for academic affairs, put a high value on the students’ research in Apeiron and gave high compliments on mentors’ efforts during the keynote address in the Mulvane Art Museum.

“Their works are truly outstanding. Some of the research is at the graduate level,” said Bowen. “They all end with the collaboration of both the mentor and students to achieve this quality.”

The responses from participants were positive too.

“I played a lot in public but I didn’t get lots of chances to speak,” said Amanda Mayo, one of the presenters from the music department. “In this presentation process I learned more about myself and also reflected the research to more people.”

The most significant improvement of Apeiron this year was in the number of visual performances, triple the number of last year. Students from the music and theatre departments displayed their talents in various forms. From a string quartet to a dramatic monologue, the presenters impressed the audience with their performances.

“I believe they get more encouragement from the faculty,” said Larisa Elisha, a faculty mentor and artist-in-residence in the music department. “Good things should be developed.”

In the oral presentation and poster sections, gender issues were the rising topic this year. The topic was touched upon several times, by Mikalle M. Burcher and Lydia C. Parker’s “Remonstrant: The Lost Women of the Suffrage Movement,” ReAnne R. Utemark’s “Journalists or Just Another Pretty Face: Women in Journalism and the Role Appearance Plays” and Lauren Albin’s “Media and Men: Do Images of Supermodels Effect Perceived Female Partner Attractiveness?”.

The forum ended with a reception for the participants in the Mabee.