‘Unlikely Pairings’ Ignite Curiosity at Science, Society and the Arts Conference The interdisciplinary conference gave students the chance to share original research that integrated their academic interests and personal passions.

By Emily Innes
April 16, 2025

Some things just pair well together, like Washington and Lee University and undergraduate student research. However, the theme of this year’s Science, Society and the Arts (SSA) conference encouraged students to consider “Unlikely Pairings” that fuse their academic interests and personal passions, highlighting the creative and interdisciplinary work that is essential to a W&L education.

Held on March 21, the biennial conference gave students a chance to share original research with members of the W&L community and explore the breadth of the academic work being conducted by their peers. Participating in an internal research consortium like SSA gives undergraduates the unique opportunity to navigate the research process first-hand, collaborate with faculty and present their findings in a professional setting. Classes were canceled for the day so the entire student body could attend the entire slate of presentations and fully engage with the experience.

Students presented their research at SSA through posters, presentations, performance and visual arts showcases and small-group discussions. During the four breakout sessions, students presented in “unlikely pairs,” with each one-hour block featuring two students speaking on “opposite” subjects back-to-back. This year also marked the first year that SSA has been entirely student-run, further emphasizing the commitment of W&L students to an academic experience that ignites curiosity and encourages them to follow their passions.

The SSA conference is rooted in the centrality of student research to the W&L experience, and students found that this year’s theme encouraged them to think more creatively about their research and how it might pair with their interests outside the classroom.

“SSA highlights how amazing and intelligent the students at W&L are, and it makes me feel lucky to be here and learn from all of these incredible people,” said Calla Andrews ’27, a biology and environmental studies double major who presented on the behavioral manipulation of ants. “Conducting independent research and presenting at a conference as an undergraduate is something I have found is truly unique to W&L and is something I don’t take for granted. Plus, being able to do a deep dive into a specific topic you care about or are interested in is really fun!”

Andrews’ presentation, “Zombie Ants!, ” was inspired by the HBO television adaptation of the video game “The Last of Us,” specifically investigating the scientific reality behind the premise of the O. unilateralis parasite jumping from ants to humans in the aftermath of a climate catastrophe. Andrews also presented a selection of photos she had taken around W&L and Lexington, highlighting her own “unlikely pairing” of interests and talents. Andrews enjoyed how SSA “really shows off just how many things people do” and has found W&L to be a particularly welcoming place for exploring a range of interests and opportunities.

Andrews also appreciated the exchange of knowledge that SSA promotes, between exploring new topics presented by her peers and practicing delivering her own research in an accessible way. “The more people who can understand a topic, the more knowledge we share, and the more knowledge we share, the better off everyone is,” she said.

Samuel Shu ’28 was drawn to SSA because of the opportunity to go beyond the classroom and gain immersive research experience, and as a first-year student who has not yet declared a major he appreciated hearing about the range of research his peers are conducting.

“Seeing the impressive work my fellow students are doing right here on campus is inspiring, and it’s a good way to gain exposure to subjects I might not otherwise learn about,” he said.

Shu investigated a topic he initially encountered during his first semester on campus, in a course taught by Timothy Lubin, the Jessie Ball DuPont Professor of Religion. Inspired by the course’s focus on systems that blur the lines between the categories of magic, science and religion, Shu decided to dig more into Pythagoreanism, a belief system founded by the ancient thinker Pythagoras. Because it was informed by aspects of both religion and mathematics, Shu felt Pythagoreanism was in some ways its own “unlikely pairing” and fit perfectly with the SSA theme.

Stefanie Lehman ’25 also saw SSA as an opportunity to dig deeper and think more creatively about her own research; she presented her art history senior thesis at this year’s conference. Inspired by a Spring Term course on modern art in Barcelona that she took during Spring Term 2024 with Elliott King, professor of art history, the yearlong independent research project examines connections between Salvador Dali and Johannes Vermeer, and one of the unexpected joys of conducting such immersive research has been the chance to develop an expanded worldview and understanding of art.

“I really enjoyed learning about modern and post-modern theoretical lenses during my research, such as the phenomenology of perception and successive phases of the image,” said Lehman. “Now when I look at art, I understand it in a completely new light.”

With its unlikely pairing of the surrealist and the 17th-century Dutch painter, Lehman felt her thesis was a perfect fit for this year’s SSA conference, and she found that the two artists were more alike than she anticipated. She appreciated how this year’s theme urged students to think about research in a more interdisciplinary way and affirmed how exciting it can be to make unlikely connections in your research.

“That’s the beauty of unlikely pairings; they reveal connections that otherwise would not be made unless you take the time to seek them out,” she said. “SSA’s structure was exciting in the way it encouraged this same kind of thought process by establishing such a creative theme and pairing interdisciplinary topics in the same sessions. The possibilities of connection are endless!”