Coker College Student Ivy Aldrich Presents Honors Project

HARTSVILLE, S.C. (04/11/2012)(readMedia)-- Coker College student Ivy Aldrich, of Columbia, S.C., recently presented her honors project during the third annual Coker College Celebration of Academics Student Research Symposium. Students with a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average who have completed 75 semester hours may apply to sit for honors.

Continuing in a tradition that began during President Robert Wyatt's inauguration as the 16th president of the College in 2010, Coker hosted a week-long campus-wide Celebration of Academics April 9-13. This year's schedule also included presentations of student-faculty research and service-learning projects as well as a performing arts showcase.

In her honors project, "Idealism of Imperfection? The Representation of Women Through Four Gothic Novels," Aldrich examines four Gothic novels, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen in order to determine if the female characters within the novels are strategically characterized in such a way as to indoctrinate their largely female readership into what were considered the Romantic ideals of femininity.  Aldrich is a senior English major at Coker.

Established in 1908, Coker College readies undergraduates for personal and professional success through a distinctive four-year program that emphasizes a practical application of the liberal arts as well as hands-on and discussion-based learning within and beyond the classroom. Coker is ranked among the "Best Colleges" in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review. Located in Hartsville, S.C., Coker is within two hours of the cultural, financial and recreational resources of Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.