Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU)’s Hodson Summer Research Institute is a terrific opportunity for undergraduate students in the natural sciences to get hands-on lab experience. Especially for those who are both aspiring scientists and people of faith. It’s a unique asset that the school wanted to share with current and prospective students students in a compelling and accessible manner.

We were happy to oblige.

An important part of our approach to interviewing is to guide subjects in a way that is both productive and natural. So when we interviewed students and faculty for this film we didn’t ask technical questions. Instead we focused on the big-picture impact of the research program — both on the people involved, and in the wider world.

The final result focuses on a few key advantages of the program — advantages we identified in advance. One of these is the focus on student-faculty collaboration. The professors teach more than just science, and so it was natural for them to speak about more than just science; this is evident in the words of one faculty member, “As we pore over the problems of the science that we’re looking at, we can instill in them a little more…reverent awe.”

And the program pays off. Former Hodson Institute student researchers have gone on to medical school or doctoral programs at Yale, Northwestern, and Indiana University, among others.

We always love the opportunity to work with IWU’s students and staff; they’re responsive, articulate, and just plain fun. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love checking out state-of-the-art lab equipment? We had a field day.

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