Helping students to better understand diverse populations through hands-on interaction was the goal of more than 40 human diversity research projects that are on display to the public today, said Darlene Fry, associate lecturer of the Foundations of Education department.

“The students actually did research in the community to understand diverse populations on a deeper level,” she said. “We are hoping to engage the public out there interacting with people.”

The expo will be held from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in the Council Fire Room in Davies Center. One hundred thirty students will present more than 40 projects, including 12 brief video documentaries.

Project topics explore a variety of issues concerning ethnic and social diversity, including Deaf culture, hate crimes, on-campus gender roles and several different ethnic groups.

Through a joint effort between various university departments, students studying communication disorders, education, psychology and social work completed the project.

Fry and Cynthia Gray-Mash, associate professor of the Foundations of Education department, assigned the project in their Social Foundations of Human Relations course. La Vonne Cornell-Swanson, associate professor of social work, assigned a similar project in her Ethnic-sensitive Social Work Practice class.

In addition to course credit, the research project fulfills required service learning hours.

Students enrolled in the Social Foundations of Human Relations course also are encouraged to act on social inequities or discriminatory practices uncovered through their research, Fry said.

One group, she said, is working to alter a set of university policies it considers discriminatory.

Cornell-Swanson said her course and the project are different in that the focus is less about prompting change and more about establishing professional contacts in the social work force.

“It’s meant to teach them how to research and gain access to cross-cultural and closed communities,” she said, “but they will also be moving on to internship following this course, and this will prepare them for that.”

Senior social work major Amanda Corbeille’s project, assigned by Cornell-Swanson, focused on the Ojibwa Native American culture.

Corbeille and fellow group members studied the impact that entering high school as a minority had on Ojibwa students.

She said that aside from the professional experience, the project helped her develop a greater level of cultural sympathy.

“I have a higher level of respect for what the kids go through,” Corbeille said.

The project expo has been held in Eau Claire since 1998 but has become more hands-on in recent years, Fry said.

“We’ve moved away from Web site studies,” she said. “Students now learn through greater interaction.”