The many talents of Southwestern University students will be on display Wednesday, April 9, as the university hosts its 9th annual Student Works Symposium, formerly known as the Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Symposium.

The event, titled “From Every Voice,” will begin at 5 p.m. in the Red and Charline McCombs Campus Center and the Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center. Creative works, music and theatre pieces will be presented in the Fine Arts Center, and research projects will be presented in the ballrooms of the Campus Center. The Southwestern University Chorale will perform in the Cove, which is located on the ground floor of the Campus Center.

The event is free and open to the public.

“We have 22 different disciplines represented this year,” said Jessica Bolton, a sophomore animal behavior major who is co-chairing the symposium along with junior communication studies major Robynne Heymans. “It looks like a good mix, so I’m pretty excited.”

The symposium is open to any research topics and fine arts performances that students wish to present, as long as there is a faculty supervisor involved. “If you have something to talk about, go ahead!” Bolton said.

Student projects will address topics such as the design of a computer game for interactive language learning, re-designed admissions materials for Southwestern University from a student’s perspective, the economics of ethanol, the politics of Facebook, costume designs from the recent production of Fiddler on the Roof, and much more. Some students participating in the symposium have been working on their projects since the spring of 2007.

Many of the projects being presented are capstone projects, which seniors are required to do in their specified majors to graduate. Some of the projects received support from the King Creativity Fund, which provides students with grants of up to $2,000 for “innovative and visionary projects.”

For more information, visit www.southwestern.edu/fromeveryvoice.