Three student research projects from College Writing were featured at the Office of Undergraduate Research’s (OUR) Fall 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium that took place on Friday, November 7th in Bauer Hall. The event featured a wide array of research projects from undergraduate students from across the WashU community. Students had the opportunity to hone their presentation skills while sharing the excellent work that they have produced as College Writing students. Some students presented posters of their research, while other students engaged in brief oral presentations and Q&As about their work.

Students presenting work from College Writing included:

• Francesca Bochicchio, “Exploration or Echo Chamber: How LGBTQIA+ Literature Functions on #BookTok”
• Rocio Laucerica, “Why We Choose What We Choose: Latino Students and Unequal Burden Behind Picking a College Major”
• Tina Liang, “Her Moment of Dream-Come-True: How Women Winning the Oscars Use the Podium in the 21st Century

Q/A with Francesca Bochicchio about the symposium experience:

How did you come up with the idea for your project?
My brother and I talk a lot about BookTok and its impact on literature, since we're both big readers. He's a big fan of classics, and I read pretty much everything. We had laughed together at viral videos of women practically jumping on each other to get the newest edition of romantasy books, and I wanted to understand how that came to pass, and why when I saw LGBTQIA+ books on my For-You-Page, they gained much less attention than those of the women battling each other in Target.

How did your understanding of what it means to do “research” change through your work on this project in College Writing?
My research dispelled the idea that research had to be analyzing numerical data and making conclusions from that. I analyzed and applied a lot of theory to things I saw with my own eyes and recorded. There's a lot of visual data out there, like Barnes & Noble displays, or the colors and texts of TikTok videos.

What was your favorite part of participating in the Undergraduate Research Symposium?
I loved seeing how important my research was to others. I was floored at the amount of people who came up to see me and were interested and excited to talk about BookTok through the lens of queer issues.

What advice do you have for current College Writing students about submitting their work to a future UR Symposium?
My advice to current College Writing students is that your research is important! If it's something you're passionate about, someone else is passionate about it too! Don't be afraid to put yourself out there; it's a great experience!

Q/A with Tina Liang about the symposium experience:

How did you come up with the idea for your project?
My interest in award speeches actually started with the 2025 Grammys. Last year, when Chappell Roan won Best New Artist, she used her moment on stage to call for a livable wage for musicians. She opened her speech by saying, “I told myself, if I ever won a GRAMMY… I would demand that labels and the industry profiting millions… offer a living wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.” In that same ceremony, Doechii, when she won Best Rap Album, talked about uplifting Black women. She said, “I know that there is some Black girl out there… and I want to tell you: You can do it.”

Hearing both of them made me think, wow — when women finally get to stand on these huge stages, they really use their voices to call out real problems and speak up for others. As I delved a little deeper into the topic, I realized this wasn’t just a one-off moment. It’s actually a pretty consistent pattern across award shows and even across different countries.

How did your understanding of what it means to do “research” change through your work on this project in College Writing?
Before this project, I thought of research mainly as finding sources and generating arguments. Through College Writing, I learned that research also means engaging in conversations with scholars, asking new questions, revising methods, and allowing findings to shape the direction of the project. I realized how interdisciplinary research can be: rhetoric, linguistics, gender studies, and data analysis. Most importantly, I learned that research is an active, interpretive process, not just information gathering.

What was your favorite part of participating in the Undergraduate Research Symposium?
Definitely getting to share the motives and insights behind my project, and then being asked questions that made me see my own work in new ways. It felt really rewarding to talk with people who were genuinely curious about the topic and to hear what stood out to them.

What advice do you have for current College Writing students about submitting their work to a future UR Symposium?
Many strong projects start with curiosity rather than perfection. I believe that interest is always the best tutor. Choose a topic you genuinely care about, and trust that your perspective matters. The symposium is really supportive and welcoming, and presenting your research is an invaluable experience that builds confidence and helps you grow as a writer and thinker!