Pacific University’s annual research conference keynote speaker, Charles Delplanche discusses his past undergraduate research and upcoming speech
As Pacific University’s annual research conference comes up, both students and faculty are steadfast in preparing for their speeches and presentations. For this year’s conference the keynote speaker is none other than Pacific University’s own collections and circulation supervisor, Charles Delplanche.
“Since I was an undergraduate student here at Pacific back in the day, [I’m] basically going over some of the research I did then,” said Delplanche. As a past participant in Pacific University’s research conference, he has a lot of great things to share about the experience. “It helped me kind of figure out some things about myself,” he shared, expressing that it encouraged him to discover, “what I wanted to pursue, not just as a career, but, [also] the kind of the work that I found important and wanted to do in my free time as well.”
Being an undergraduate biology and creative writing major, with a minor in English literature, Delplanche had a vast range of interests. “In terms of the research I did, it ranged a bit,” he said, explaining that “We were researching basically how family dynamics influenced identity formation in LGBTQ youth. We did interviews [and] created poems based on those interviews.” Combining both personal, anthropological interest and creative writing, Delplanche acquired much more than just research.
“It was like diving into, you know, LGBTQ youth and at that point I thought I was just being a good ally. I didn’t realize I was a part of that,” he explained. Delplanche put a great amount of emphasis on how Pacific’s research conference is much more than academic, it can also be a great way to discover more about yourself and the community. He recounted that, “finding that welcoming space allowed me to explore those parts of myself.”
“I think one of the things that I was also going to mention in my speech is the importance of having a distinction between work and then also hobbies,” he says. Even though the field of doing research can be volatile, Delplanche wants to tell undergraduate students that they should still pursue it. “Some people say, ‘if I’m unable to get a job in this field, then I can’t do it,’ but you can still do that. You can still get a job to pay the bills, but then you can still do research,” he reassures.
When asked about what research he is hoping will be present in this year’s conference, Delplanche noted that, “I am curious to see what humanities research is being done because I know it is typically more limited at the undergraduate level.” Being a creative writing major, he also hopes to see some more research that involves more creative writing processes.
As Pacific University’s collections and circulations supervisor, Delplanche has gotten to imbue some of their research knowledge onto other students. “I have clear things that I’m doing, like supporting students, training students and processing things.” Having this job has made it so that he can continue exploring creative research projects.
From Pacific University undergraduate to collections and circulations supervisor, Delplanche has gotten to experience every part of what the world of research has to offer.
Pacific Universities annual research conference is on Friday, October 23rd from 5:30pm to 7:30 pm in Les AuCoin hall.
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