Houghton Student Presents at National Conference

Rachel Huchthausen ’23 presented at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research, held April 13-15 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Her interdisciplinary research project, “Musical Ekphrastic Poetry: Writing for Social and Intellectual Listening,” focused on how poetry can be used as a tool to improve an audience’s understanding of an instrumental music piece. Laurie Dashnau, professor of English and Writing and the director of the Writing Center, was her faculty advisor.

“It amazed me,” said Huchthausen, “to experience the sheer amount of work and research that is going on at various universities and colleges. I am thankful for the opportunity and privilege to present my research and creative work both at Houghton and in Eau Claire.”

Rachel represented Houghton extremely well as she shared how ekphrasis can aid individuals in understanding a visual or auditory text. She also explained the creative process by which she wrote an ekphrastic poem in order to reflect on the score of the movement “The Alcotts” from Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860,” by Charles Ives.

Laurie Dashnau, Professor of English, Director of the Writing Center