David PesciDecember 16, 20102min
Hosting a symposium to discuss new research findings is a rather common event for universities today. However, the symposium “Rethinking Insurgency” held at Wesleyan this fall was unique in one important way: the vast bulk of research was done by undergraduates. Their research was the final product of an intensive 10-week summer internship held under the auspices of Wesleyan’s Program on Terrorism and Insurgency Research (PTIR), which is directed by Assistant Professor of Government Erica Chenoweth. Chenoweth says that undergraduates are often overlooked in many research institutions, but that Wesleyan’s tradition of embracing undergraduates as participants in active research helped…