Getting Creative at Victoria College Research Day
Fourth-year student Armiti Zarbakhsh presents her research, “Perceived Child Mental Health Among Caregivers of Children With and Without Disabilities From Diverse Racial and Ethnic Backgrounds Across Canada,” to Kelley Castle, dean of students and a Research Day judge, at Victoria College. (Photos by Neil Gaikwad)
By Dan Blackwell
What do research and creativity have in common? Quite a lot, says Victoria College Professor Shaun Ross.
Ross organizes Victoria College’s Research Day, an annual event that challenges undergraduates from across disciplines to distill their research into a poster and present it to a panel of judges. He sees research and creativity as two sides of the same coin.
“Research Day is becoming one of our premier undergraduate events,” says Ross. “We started asking: why separate research and creativity? Why not bring them together?”
That’s why Research Day, held March 30, once again concluded with an evening showcase titled Creativity Night, now in its second year as part of the program. While Research Day condenses complex academic research into posters, Creativity Night highlights research through creative mediums such as stories and art.
“The idea behind both events is cross-pollination,” says Ross. “Research Day pushes undergrads to speak to people outside their discipline to explain their work in a way that is clear and relevant. In that sense, expanding to include Creativity Night made perfect sense. Research and creativity are not separate parts of university life; it’s all connected.”
Creativity Night is about finding new and original ways to showcase student work—from holograms and repurposed textiles to soundscape recordings, videos and role-playing games—says organizer Adam Sol, director of Victoria College’s Centre for Creativity and co-ordinator of the Creativity and Society Program.
“Alongside traditional research projects, many students, especially those in the Creativity and Society minor, are now doing what we call ‘research creation,’” says Sol. “If you’re studying the toys children played with in the ninth century, the best way to share that knowledge might be to recreate one, or to tell a story about how it was used.”
Creativity Night showcased student research through sound, image and performance at Victoria College, with work ranging from holograms to audio-visual installations. At right, Professor Adam Sol, director of the Centre for Creativity and co-ordinator of the Creativity and Society Program, listens to a student audio work through headphones during the event.
“The idea is that creative work is a valid and essential form of knowledge, and we want to showcase our students’ efforts in that area as well,” says Sol.
With more than 20 student projects on display at Creativity Night and 32 at Research Day, along with a record number of applicants this year, undergraduate research appears to remain a strong focus at Victoria College for both students and faculty alike.
“The goal with these events is to encourage everyone in our community to see both the more analytic, research-based side and the creative side, and how our academic programs are fostering both,” says Ross.
Read more about some of this year's Research Day and Creativity Night participants and award winners below!
Victoria College Research Day in Photos
Hana Greenberg, a second-year Victoria College student majoring in political science with a minor in both applied data science and creative writing, is researching how AI influences the writing of non-native English speakers, highlighting potential biases in automated feedback.
"There’s a lot of bias embedded in these chatbots that can influence how [non-native speakers] write and express themselves," she says. Imposing AI corrections can reduce linguistic diversity: "Even when AI corrects non-native writing, it tends to normalize it according to North American English standards, imposing a style that may not align with the writer’s original cultural or linguistic approach.”
Lesley Pan, a fifth-year student at Victoria College studying psychology, law and education, is researching how inclusive syllabus design and classroom policies shape students’ sense of belonging. Her research examines how equity, diversity and inclusion practices influence engagement, accessibility and perceptions of support in the classroom.
"We’re talking about EDI practices, which aim to create a sense of belonging and support within the classroom," she says. She adds that inclusive course design can have a meaningful impact on students’ experience: "When students first read the syllabus, they feel safe in the class and feel like they can talk to the professor."
Farryzki Noor Thoriq, a fourth-year undergraduate at Victoria College majoring in international relations, public policy and urban studies, is researching how countries can withstand economic sanctions by turning to alternative financial systems. His work examines how Russia maintained economic stability after being cut off from Western systems in 2022.
"By joining the Chinese system Cross-Border Interbank Payment System and because of sustained trade with China, Russia was able to benefit significantly," he says. He adds that without such alternatives, "they would lose like $21.4 billion per month in the value of trade. I don’t think in the near future it will collapse."
Liren Abeyratne, a third-year student at Victoria College studying neuroscience and molecular genetics, is researching how brain organoids, three-dimensional models grown from stem cells, can be used to study Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. His work compares healthy and disease models to better understand how proteins like amyloid beta accumulate and affect brain cells.
"It’s like a mini brain that we use to study Alzheimer’s disease," he says. "This could lead to drug testing and finding more suitable targets to stop Alzheimer’s disease."
Julia Pelitis, a third-year Victoria College student specializing in English with minors in creative writing and creativity in society, traced the authorship of an obscure 18th-century poem through archival research, identifying Elizabeth Thomas as its likely writer. Her work draws on newspaper advertisements and historical records to uncover overlooked voices in literary history.
"I thought it was really fascinating that this poem wasn’t attributed to anyone and ended up probably being written by a woman," she says. "I ended up falling in love with this kind of archival research."
Armiti Zarbakhsh, a John H. Moss Scholarship recipient and a fourth-year Victoria College student studying human biology and health studies, is exploring child mental health at the intersection of race and disability.
“Children with disabilities were significantly more likely to be perceived as having poorer mental health than those without,” she says. “Because caregiver perceptions can influence whether a child receives support, these findings highlight the need for services that are both accessible and culturally responsive.”
Professor Shaun Ross says Research Day continues to grow while bringing together both research and creative work from across the university. "We had to say no to a larger number of applicants than ever," says Ross. Emphasizing what makes a strong presenter, he says successful presentations are those that "translate their work for a general audience" and avoid disciplinary jargon.