Washburn’s annual Apeiron is expected to showcase diverse work from students across campus this year. Apeiron is an event that occurs yearly during the spring semester to give students an opportunity to show faculty, staff, fellow students and the Topeka community what they’ve been working on throughout the semester.

Courtney Sullivan, professor of French and chair of the Apeiron committee since 2018 has seen countless different types of presentations done.

“It is a pre-professional research forum. By that I mean, if you go on to graduate school or into certain careers, you’re expected to present your research on an annual basis. Apeiron is similar to that, but for undergraduates and in a friendly environment,” Sullivan said.

Apeiron welcomes different types of student-based work to be presented in these formats, presentations, fine arts performances and poster sessions. Apeiron provides a program to show what time these sessions are and where they will take place.

“In the past we’ve had an opera singer who was a German major, and she sang in German. We’ve had science students present their research, computer science students present their programs or applications and filmmakers showcase their films,” Sullivan said.

Student participants in Apeiron gain experience to put on a resume and scholarship applications.

Jessie Revell, a senior secondary education history major, presented at Apeiron last year. Revell applied for the WTE scholarship, which encouraged her to present a speech about her class trip abroad.

“Last spring, I took a class called Women in World War II and part of that class was a 10-day trip to France. While we were there, I was looking for something that I could present at Apeiron that was reflective of my experience in the class but was also unique to the trip that I went on,” said Revell.

The knowledge Revell gained from her class trip to France inspired her to do further research and develop an oral presentation on a part of history that others may not know much about.

“While we were in France, we learned about the Nazi occupation of Paris. The Vichy Regime, which was the leadership in France at the time, had taken it upon themselves to preemptively remove the Jewish population from the city. So, I told the story about the roughly 4,000 children who lost their lives after being detained and sent off to Auschwitz,” Revell said.

Revell explains that there were many beneficial outcomes from presenting her research at Apeiron.

“It was a really emotional experience there, so it was really nice for me to be able to come back and share what I had been able to experience by going on that trip. It also helped me meet the WTE requirements, but honestly I probably would’ve wanted to do it anyway because it was such a great way to share something I was interested in and something that people didn’t necessarily have a lot of experience with,” Revell said.

Sullivan also shared that there are many benefits for students to showcase their work at Apeiron.

“So, I think the biggest benefit is the gratitude of sharing your passion in your research with the community. The biggest takeaway is gaining experience in a friendly environment. It also looks great on your resume and graduate school applications.”

Apeiron will be on April 21, 2023. Be sure to check out the WIFI Film Festival after Apeiron that takes place in the Rita Blitt Gallery starting at 5 p.m.

Students are also welcome to come check out the event to see what it’s all about. The event is free and there will be food provided as well. The food served will be Caribbean style with vegan options.

Before the poster presentations, Mary Sheldon, retired Washburn English professor will be giving the last lecture on Norwegian Detective novels.

If students are interested in seeing what Apeiron is all about, check out www.washburn.edu/Apeiron. For more information about the WIFI Film Festival go to www.WIFIFilmFestival.com.