By Will Bower
The Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) Research Club recently hosted an open house featuring various research labs from across the department. The open house highlighted the diverse research opportunities available to students.
In CSD, labs provide direct research experience and mentorship from leading experts in different areas of the field. Students can expect to work with state-of-the-art technology and conduct important, innovative research that helps build competitive skills and a stellar résumé.
The Speech Sign and Systems Lab, led by assistant professor Ethan Kutlu, was featured in the showcase. The lab’s stated focus is “to explore how individuals perceive, categorize, and adapt to linguistically rich and variable environments.” A key aspect of this research is looking at how people adapt to different accents.
“Imagine having a friend who is from New York City and you are from Iowa City,” Kutlu said. “Your friend's speech production will be slightly varied compared to your speech production. How do our minds handle these differences quickly and efficiently?”
Understanding how the mind adapts to these differences requires an understanding of how the subject communicates within their social network, whether that be through spoken or sign language. Kutlu said the lab creates a mini social system for each participant.
The Speech Signs and System lab also gives students the opportunity to run studies, pitch ideas, and assist in experiments.
“The expected outcome is that students will have one national or international conference and one local conference experience by the time they complete their work in my lab,” Kutlu said.
Experience in a conference environment allows students to present and discuss their work, providing a solid foundation for a future career in research.
Kutlu said the lab is available to students from varying backgrounds and is not limited to CSD.
“The only requirement we have is the interest in learning and conducting research,” Kutlu said.
Interested in getting involved with research? Contact the CSD Research Club at studorg-csd-rad@uiowa.edu.
