Women in religion, the eco-feminisim movement and women’s role in the media were some of the topics discussed Friday at the 16th Annual Women’s Studies Student Research Symposium.

The symposium, sponsored by the Women’s Studies Graduate Association, featured research presentations by undergraduate and graduate students from several Georgia universities and colleges.

“The event is dedicated to getting out the research that is going on within the women’s studies department. It gives students a really great opportunity to share their research,” said Kristen McCauliff, a member of the Women’s Studies Graduate Association who has been involved with planning the event for two years.

Kathleen McCullen, a sophomore from Snellville, presented her paper titled “Feminine Incarnate” in the symposium.

“This was my first time presenting a research paper in this event,” she said. “I submitted my paper because I’m planning on going to graduate school and a presentation like this is good preparation for that.”

Most participants opted for the traditional style of presentation: reading their research papers and then opening the floor for questions from the audience, said Daleah Goodwin, co-president of the Women’s Studies Graduate Association.

“The event is a great professional development opportunity for undergraduates,” Goodwin said. “If you’re planning on going to grad school, you’re going to have to present your research, so it’s very beneficial to practice.”

She said the association sent out a call for research papers at the end of October.

“The call went out to University listservs and to women’s studies departments across the state,” she said in a phone interview Friday.

The association anonymously judged the submitted papers and grouped them together according to topic. Ultimately, all papers were accepted, she said.

Some students branched out from traditional presentations and offered a collaborative project.

“Shannon Miller, a professor of women’s studies, had her students present group projects,” Goodwin said. “Another presentation was in the form of a poetry conversation, with the research in the form of spoken word. So there was a lot of variety within the presentations.”

Goodwin said sharing the research that is going on within the University was one of the primary purposes of the event.

“We are a research institution, and this is the research that is going on in women’s studies,” she said. “There are a lot of amazing things going on in the field, and it would be sad if students put all this work into their research and weren’t able to share it with the public.”

For next year’s symposium, Goodwin said she wants to see more presentations.

“We had 34 presenters this year, which was definitely an increase from last year,” she said. “If we could increase that number even more next year, that would be absolutely great.”