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When Marquis Scholar Megan Kunkelman ’07 (Narvon, Pa.) chose to conduct honors thesis research, she set out to challenge herself musically and mentally.
A double major in English and music, Kunkelman created an original piano composition by experimenting with harmonies from 19th and 20th century styles of music and expanding them to create new ones.
Over several months Kunkelman constructed her piece by meticulously playing the piano, often without looking at the keys or thinking about harmony. Instead, she listened and focused solely on the sounds she was making.
“Ironically, I thought at the beginning of the semester that my ear would only enjoy that to which I could give a ‘harmonic label,’” she says. “I realized that my ear needs to be just as active in the composition process as my mind.”
Skip Wilkins, assistant professor of music, served as Kunkelman’s thesis adviser. He encouraged the student composer to sit at the piano and manipulate chords and play sounds her ear wasn’t used to hearing.
Kunkelman is impressed with Wilkins’ expertise and values his dedication to his students.
“Skip has been wonderful to work with,” she says. “Because I’ve had Skip for four classes, he knows my musical strengths and weaknesses, and can stretch me and push me in areas that I didn’t realize I needed to be stretched in. He’s done a great job of allowing me to be the creator of my project and ultimately ‘own’ my musical choices, but at the same time, he has given me enough direction so I didn’t feel like I was floundering. And of course, Skip is interested in much more than just the specific project at hand. He wants all his students to be able to understand the connection of these projects to their musical lives and beyond.”
Joining the Lafayette faculty full-time in 2001, Wilkins received a fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for excellence in jazz composition. The acclaimed jazz pianist recently released a two-CD project entitled Skip Wilkins Quintet: Volume Iand Skip Wilkins Quintet: Volume II. His music has received positive reviews from the Detroit Free Press, Philadelphia Inquirer, Morning Call, Express Times, Improvijazzation, and 52nd Street Jazz.
Wilkins believes Kunkelman’s creativity will serve whatever career she chooses.
“This process has helped Megan examine possibilities that she hadn’t expected or imagined two or three semesters ago,” he says. “She has discovered a creative impulse and has learned ways to create something original of strong aesthetic value. Megan will be able to use that in any field. She has learned that she can produce high quality original work and that she has the tools to set the parameters for future creative projects – or discard those parameters if she likes. In short, she has a different level of self-confidence.”
Kunkelman appreciates the learning experience she has gained at Lafayette and the opportunity to work on an original project closely with a faculty member.
“Lafayette provides a fantastic atmosphere for conducting projects like this primarily because of the ability to work one-on-one with faculty,” she says. “Being at Lafayette has allowed me not only to pursue my interests, but I also had the opportunity to present my project, an opportunity that I might not have gotten elsewhere. And, although I don’t plan on pursuing music in the future as a vocation, I have certainly acquired skills and an expanded musical vocabulary that I hope to both use and pursue as a hobby.”
Wilkins believes in the value of allowing students the freedom to pursue their own interests with faculty support and College resources.
“Lafayette is a great environment for advanced student research because faculty members work directly with students to help them achieve their goals,” he explains. “Faculty members help their students plan, develop, and carry out their research. Lafayette’s faculty members know when to help students redirect their processes when necessary, and they especially know when to get out of the way and let their students run with their research.”
After graduation, Kunkelman plans to work for DiscipleMakers,a Pennsylvania-based Christian mission organization ministering to college students, at Penn State University.
Kunkelman is a piano lab teaching assistant, writing associate with the College Writing Program, and a member of all-female a cappella group Cadence. She also is on the executive board of Lafayette Christian Fellowship. She spent three weeks in London and Dublin for the special interim course The London Theatre. She is a past recipient of the Gilbert Prize for superiority in English and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most respected honors organization in the country.
Chosen from among Lafayette’s most promising applicants, Marquis Scholars like Kunkelman receive a special academic scholarship and distinctive educational experiences and benefits. This includes a three-week, Lafayette-funded course abroad or in the United States during January’s interim session between semesters or the summer break. Marquis Scholars also participate in mentoring programs with Lafayette faculty and cultural activities in major cities and on campus.
Honors theses are among several major programs that have made Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. The College sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year; 21 students were accepted to present their research at this year’s conference.