Collaborative Research Projects - Gerald & Carol Vovis Center for Research & Advanced Study & Health Professions Advising

Flowers bloom in the Prairie Plot on campus.

The Vovis Center supports students seeking active learning opportunities outside the classroom.

What are Collaborative Research Projects?

Collaborative research projects are multi-week group projects led by a faculty member either in the summer or winter break. These projects are in-person experiences and most are held on-campus at Knox. Most projects are suitable for students with no experience with research or the research topics; others have a few minimal requirements. All selected students receive a stipend from Knox to support their participation. See below for more details.

Summer Collaborative Research Projects

During the summer, a small group of students engage in a short-term collaborative research project guided by a faculty mentor and focused on a particular topic. Students generally apply for the summer program in winter term and enroll in a spring term course that prepares the group for the summer. See below for an overview of the projects open for 2025.

This collaborative research project provides students with a grounded introduction to biophilic and resilient design practices focused on themes of Place, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity, and Aesthetics. This affords a creative opportunity to collaborate across a wide range of disciplinary interests, including arts & design, anthropology & sociology, biology, business, computer science, environmental studies, and psychology, among others. We will examine the theoretical foundations of biophilic and resilient design principles in a half-credit Spring term course. During the summer, we will put these design principles into practice with a series of experiential activities, culminating in a 3-D mockup design of a future Sustainability and Resilience Learning Center and in the actual implementation of a small-scale design project on campus using biophilic and resilient design principles. Faculty mentor: William Hope, Chair & Associate Professor of Anthropology-Sociology.
In this project, Knox College students and professors investigate how artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT can respond with bias toward human input. They examine ChatGPT discourse in day-to-day interactions for signs of explicit and implicit bias toward social identities such as race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, culture, and language. As artificial intelligence gains greater integration into everyday life, these findings offer an important critical perspective of how artificial intelligence may perpetuate existing discriminatory beliefs and behaviors toward people and groups from diverse backgrounds. Faculty mentor: Ming Lei, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies.
Ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are central to modern global business practices, particularly in an era of rapid globalization, technological advancements, and heightened stakeholder awareness. Companies are increasingly held accountable not only for their economic performance but also for their social and environmental impacts. Ethics and CSR are critical to hold societal expectations while creating long-term value for businesses. Therefore, this collaborative research project aims to study how emerging technologies, shifting societal norms, and global business practices reshape the ethical and CSR landscape. This project aims to carry out literature analysis and empirical research in the following countries: United States, Japan, Germany, India, and South Africa. Each student is responsible for doing research on one country with the guidance of the faculty mentor. Faculty mentor: Gertrude Hewapathirana, Associate Professor of Business and Management.

Apply to participate via the Collaborative Project Application by February 9, 2025.

Enrollment in an Interdisciplinary Studies (IDIS) zero credit spring 2025 course is required to prepare for the summer project. Some projects may also require an additional half-credit course. See the application for more details.

December Collaborative Research Projects

During winter break, students participated in 2-week collaborative research projects, under the guidance of a Knox faculty mentor. Selected students complete a seminar course in the fall term to prepare them for the project. See below for an overview of the projects from 2024.

Minerals are all around us, but only rarely are they unique or beautiful enough to be put on display. Knox College holds a large collection of rocks and minerals, developed by our geology department prior to the 1980s. While many of the best samples were sold after the department closed, we still have a significant collection. Students will explore our mineral collection and identify samples worthy of display. They will then construct a display space appropriate for these minerals, with the option to demonstrate fluorescence of the samples via the safe use of UV lights. Museum practice will be examined as part of the development of interpretive labels explaining this phenomenon. Faculty mentor: Katie Adelsberger Chair & Professor of Environmental Studies; The Douglas and Maria Bayer Chair in Earth Sciences.
"Supercomputers" are the large parallel computers designed for large problems; think 10,000 processors in a room connected by a fast network and working on important scientific problems. The network turns out to be very important part of this system, crucial for quickly sending messages between the processors so they can work together efficiently. Creating a network to support this goal while keeping the cost reasonable is a challenging problem as we keep building larger systems. We'll be learning about current designs and searching for something even better. Faculty mentor: David Bunde, William & Marilyn Ingersoll Chair in Computer Science.
Sport can be utilized by nations to foster or further a sense of national identity and to advance their national interest. In this project, students will examine several cases in which nations have attempted to shape how they see themselves as well as how others see them in order to advance their national interest. We will examine both the academic literature and a variety of media and government sources to examine two or more cases. Students can expect to be focused on these cases and building portfolios of evidence as a research team, taking each case in turn. Faculty mentor: Andrew Civettini, Chair & Associate Professor of Political Science; Chair of International Relations; Chair of Public Policy.
Students will take the content from RELS 231: Hebrew Bible and explore how this ancient text is applied and practiced in the American Midwest. Students will learn ways that the a text that dates back thousands of years is still a living text that is used in contemporary Jewish communities in our local area. We will visit local Jewish centers and synagogues to learn about the study and application of sacred text, and its interpretation, in modern religious life and how American Judaism represents a diverse mix of theological traditions. Faculty mentor: Scott Harris, Lecturer in Religious Studies.