Sarah Neville (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of English
Associate Professor, Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts
Research lab/topic:
I'm the founder and creative director of Lord Denney's Players, a theatre company at OSU that researches how technologies of textual transmission have influenced the reception of Shakespeare's plays. LDP uses performances of Shakespeare as a laboratory space to explore how Shakespeare's plays changed during and after his lifetime.
My favorite part about research:
My favorite part of this research occurs when we explore a "crux" or moment of problem in a play that critics have long tried to correct through altering or emending the words. Sometimes, in our rehearsal room, we can defend the reading of the original text simply by adding a gesture, a property, or a different intonation, which often calls critics' claims of error into question and sometimes disproves them entirely.
Favorite part about working with undergraduate researchers:
I love working with undergraduate researchers because they can often see things free from the influence of the "right answers" that authorities have passed down, allowing them to ask new questions.
If I could go back and give myself advice as an undergraduate researcher/give advice to current undergraduate researchers:
The topic of my book, Early Modern Herbals and the Book Trade (Cambridge, 2022), was initially sparked by research I did as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto. I was studying an herbal from 1597 and I was unhappy with the critical literature about it, which seemed to disregard some of the features of the book that I found most interesting. A few years later, when I was looking for a topic for my doctoral dissertation, I settled on some of the research questions about herbals that my undergraduate curiosity had raised years earlier! My one piece of advice to undergraduate researchers is to move beyond the "what", "where", and "when" questions, because asking "how" and "why" is where you find the best stories.
Cynthia Clopper (she/her)
Distinguished Professor, Linguistics
Research lab/topic:
My favorite part about research:
My favorite part of research is looking at the data: making graphs to illustrate the most important findings, analyzing the data statistically, interpreting the results to answer the research question, and discovering new things.
Favorite part about working with undergraduate researchers:
My favorite part about working with undergraduate researchers is watching them put the pieces together: drawing on what they’ve learned from their reading of the primary literature, looking at the data, and seeing how the work that they are doing contributes knew knowledge to the field.
If I could go back and give myself advice as an undergraduate researcher/give advice to current undergraduate researchers:
Be brave! If you want to get involved in research, talk to your instructors (faculty and graduate students) about their work and ask if you can help. I always need help in my lab!
Feeling overwhelmed with the search process or have questions about undergraduate research? Help is available!
Besides chatting with your departmental advisor and consulting your major’s website, individual consultation appointments are also available. Schedule an appointment by emailing sallade.3@osu.edu (general questions, Honors Research Distinction) or quinn.142@osu.edu (general questions, arts majors, Research Distinction) for an individual consultation.