Undergrads Win Awards at Research Expo
School of Education and Social Policy seniors Lillian Fu, Mia Xia, and Adrienne Scheide were honored for their research at Northwestern University’s Undergraduate Research & Arts Expo, which celebrates the accomplishments and discoveries of undergraduates through poster presentations and curated student panel talks.
Fu and Xia both won awards for best oral presentation. Scheide took third place in the social and behavioral sciences poster session.
Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) and the Northwestern Undergraduate Research Journal, the Expo allows students to share their projects and receive feedback from faculty, staff and alumni judges. This year, students from every undergraduate school presented, including several students from Northwestern University in Qatar who traveled to Evanston to showcase their work.
While the Expo has existed in some form for nearly 20 years, this year saw “off-the-charts interest,” according to Peter Civetta, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. “We’re at maximum capacity in a way that we’ve never been,” he said.
The Office of Undergraduate Research received 170 applications for 40 oral presentation slots, and staff maximized space inside Norris University Center to allow 180 students to present posters over the course of two sessions. Another two-dozen students performed at the Creative Arts Festival, a variety show-style event which allows students to showcase projects with creative outputs including documentaries, music and more.
Read more about SESP presenters:
Lillian Fu
Award: Best Presentation in Understanding Family and Relationships
Title: Assent and Negation Language and Emotional Experiences in Marriages and Friendships
Advisor: Claudia Haase, Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Research Summary: Fu’s study examined how using affirming ("yes") and denying ("no") language during conversations affects emotional experiences in marriages and friendships. It found that in marriages, “yes” language was linked to fewer negative emotions, while denying language increased them—especially during conflict—but these patterns did not appear in friendships.
About Fu: A two-time winner in the best presentation category, Fu grew up in Shanghai and Australia and is studying learning and organizational change, psychology, and data science. She has received several research grants, including both Summer and Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grants and the interested in how honest conversations and empathy can improve relationships and wellness.
Mia Xia
Award: Best Presentation: Improving Education and Access
Title: Equalizer No More: Chinese, Black, and Choctaw Education in The Age of Separate and Unequal Policies
Advisor: Nitasha Sharma, Professor of Black Studies and Asian American Studies
Research Summary:
Xia studied how race shaped education for Chinese, Black, and Choctaw children in the segregated South. In 1924, Chinese sisters Martha and Berda Lum were barred from a white school in Mississippi; the Supreme Court upheld the ban. The family later moved to Arkansas, where the girls attended a white school—an option denied to most Black and Indigenous children. While some Asian students accessed white schools, others were systematically excluded. Xia’s research challenges the idea of education as a “great equalizer,” showing how it often reinforced racial hierarchies and limited opportunity based on race and power.
About Xia: A social policy and American studies double major with a minor in data science and a certificate in civic engagement, Xia is interested in studying political participation and civic engagement. On campus, Mia is involved with the Institute for Policy Research, Associated Student Government, the Northwestern Undergraduate Law Journal, and Supplies for Dreams.
Adrienne Scheide
Award: Third place for her poster in the Social and Behavioral Sciences division
Title: “When Home Becomes a Hospital Room: The Intersection of Caregiver Expectations, Lived Experience, and Child Interactions during Extended Hospital Stays”
Advisor: Terri Sabol, Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Research Summary:
Scheide interviewed 12 caregivers to learn how parents cope when young children are hospitalized with serious illnesses like cancer. Many felt unprepared and overwhelmed, often receiving vague or unhelpful support. Caregivers also felt dismissed by medical staff and had to advocate strongly for their children’s care. “Simple comforts—like familiar toys and games—helped improve the hospital experience for both parents and children,” Scheide said. Her work highlights the need for clearer communication, better emotional support, and more personalized care during long hospital stays.
About Adrienne: Scheide, a peer advisor, is studying human development, psychology and French. She was founder. of Rural and SMall Towns, NU and successfully nominated her high school teacher for a Morton Schapiro Distinguished Secondary Teaching Award.
More than a dozen other SESP student presented at the expo including:
Kaylyn Ahn
Title: "A Divergent Justice: A Comparative Analysis of Command Responsibility in the War Crimes Trials of Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia"
Maggie Flores
Title: "The Experiences of Dyslexic Students in Higher Education"
Jackson Gordwin
Title: "A Different World: How Black Men at Northwestern Perceive Their Academic and Social Belonging"
Annika U. Holliday
Title: "Willingness to Pay for Eco-Labeled Products: A Study of Green Seal Certification and Consumer Trust"
Luke Incardona
Title: "Self-Perceptions of Socioeconomic Status at NU"
Hana-Lei Ji
Title: "Challenging the Tourist: How the Experiences of Growing Up in Hawai'i Influence Engagement with Dominant Narratives about Home while in the Continental United States"
Alexandra Kahn
Title: "Experiences of Younger Sisters of Eating Disorder Patients"
Katherine McDonnell
Title: “Perceptions and Experiences of Attraction in College Students”
Jack McNiel
Title: "Dissecting Mental Rotation Tests: How Stimuli Influence Children's Spatial Performance"
Kathyayini Mendu
Title: "Resources for Promoting Resilience and Belongingness within High Schoolers"
Danielle Nevett
Title: "The Impact of Sports Participation on Gender Expression and Self-Perceptions of Female Athletes"
Valentina Parra
Title: "Hitchhiking en Botella: Race, Gender, and Politics of Mobility in Cuba"
Nithan Rajappa
Title: "Abolitionist Futures vs. The Status Quo: Northwestern Racial/Ethnic Affinity Spaces and Black and Brown Students' Post-undergrad Goals"
Anna Truong
Title: "Educators' Beliefs About Students' Background Specific Strengths As a Means to Foster Motivation and Academic Success"
Maya Vuchic
Title: "Beyond Risk: The Changing Influences of Social and Physical Contexts on the Health Promoting Behaviors of Undergraduate Students"
Carly Winick
Title: "After the Highland Park Mass Shooting: Impacts on Gun-Ideology, Identity, and Community"