Magellan Scholars Shine

By Seana McKee

Megan Coker wants to imagine the invisible. Jade McDuffie wants to ensure that a piece of Columbia’s history does not remain invisible.

Coker, a junior information science major, and McDuffie, a junior mass communications major, are the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies’ newest Magellan Scholars. The Magellan Scholar program is an undergraduate research grant program that provides a mentored research experience. It encourages students to ask questions and find answers. It allows them to delve into whatever they’re passionate about. The university provides up to $3,000 to each Magellan Scholar to carry out her research.

Coker’s research project, Imaging the Invisible, explores whether the scientific images of objects invisible to the naked eye – imagine the blur of a horse’s galloping hooves or the ocean floor without the water in between – are a true depiction of the reality that is actually there.

She is the first Magellan Scholar in the new School of Library and Information Science undergraduate major. She said her major prepared her tremendously for this project. “Every bit of information science applies to research,” she said. “Knowing what to look for and where to look for it is all part of it, so information science has infinitely helped my ability to research.” Coker’s project mentor is Dr. Allison Marsh, an assistant history professor.

Coker said SLIS faculty were central to igniting the passion she has for her project as well. And SLIS faculty and staff are just as impressed by her.

“Megan has this incredible ethic about giving back and helping people. I call it the librarian gene,” said Dr. Sam Hastings, director of SLIS. “She is here to leave it better than she found it. We are blessed to have her on our student roll.”

As part of her research project, Coker will help to develop an exhibit displayed at the McKissick Museum in August. It will feature mapping of the ocean floor, fast-motion photography, nanotechnology and microscopic technology. She also will write a companion guide to the exhibit to add more to the experience.

McDuffie is equally passionate about her research project, Preserving Their Past: Using Multimedia to Document the Ward One Community. Her goal is to bring justice to a group of families who were displaced from their homes in the 1960s when USC decided to expand. McDuffie will merge multimedia and historical research to document the history of the Ward One Community in the form of a website. And the significance of the project lies within its permanency.

“This project is directly affecting these people right now,” said McDuffie. “They’re going to see something visual, the website, that is their history. And I think it’s important to start now with preserving, because the longer we wait, the more we lose.”

McDuffie’s project mentor is Dr. Bobby Donaldson, an associate professor of history and African American studies. Faculty from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications who also inspired McDuffie were Dr. Keith Kenney, a visual communications associate professor who led a service-learning trip she took her freshman year, and Art Farlowe, director of student services for the J-school and her academic adviser. Dr. Kenney encouraged her love for multimedia and began her initial deviation from print. McDuffie’s relationship with Farlowe has been a special one, too.

“I always underestimated myself, but Art actually saw something in me,” said McDuffie. “He’s pushed me to do things that I never would have considered to do.”

Farlowe echoed that sentiment.

“Jade has so many different interests, like this project. She didn’t go and choose a popular topic. She chose something that was going to make a difference,” Farlowe said. “One day Jade will be a big star. She’s got everything that I would think you need to really make a difference.”