Each year, The Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity is granted to five exceptional Indiana University students. These extraordinary student researchers are rewarded for remarkable work in their respective fields and are each assigned to an IU faculty mentor and many have found that these mentors play a pivotal role in their success. Additionally, the winner’s faculty mentors receive a grant sponsored by the Offices of the Provost to fund future research projects.
Meghan Langford: Humanities
Meghan Langford is a senior studying secondary social studies education and education policy. Her Provost’s Award reflects the extraordinary work she has done for her semester-long capstone project where she combined her three passions: social justice, community outreach, and children’s literature. “My project investigates the modernity of the depictions of Indigenous communities in children’s literature over time and features two main components: a website that serves as an open education resource (OER) of my research and a social justice book club event,” said Langford.
Langford’s IU faculty mentor, education librarian Christina Jones, has supported Langford in a multitude of ways throughout her research. “This project simply could not have been done without her advice and guidance,” said Langford, “Christina helped me locate Indigenous children’s literature and introduced me to the work of Indigenous scholars.” Jones played a significant role within the book club component of Langford’s capstone project as she worked closely with Langford and coordinated reader and facilitator discussion for the event.
“I am truly honored to be receiving this recognition and I wish to extend my deepest gratitude [to the Provost’s office for considering] my research,” said Langford. Langford is currently participating in the IU School of Education’s Global Gateway for Teachers program where pre-service teachers are placed in schools all over the world to complete their student teaching experience. She has been placed in a secondary school in Dublin and will be teaching there for ten weeks. After her return to the U.S. in late May, she will finally be able to fulfill her lifelong dream of being a teacher.