LEWISTON — The 18th Mount David Summit, Bates College’s annual celebration of student academic achievement, will begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 29, on the campus.

The event will begin with a musical introduction by the Bates Brass Ensemble in the Perry Atrium, Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road.

Malcolm Hill, the college’s vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, will offer welcoming remarks following the music.

More than 300 students will participate this year. In Pettengill Hall, during concurrent sessions throughout the afternoon, students will present research posters, short talks, panel discussions, demonstrations, literary readings and video screenings.

The annual Barlow Off-Campus Study Photography Exhibition, a display of images made by students, will be on display in Pettengill Hall.

At 6 p.m., jazz students will play a post-summit gig in the Fireplace Lounge in Commons, 136 Central Ave. At 7:30 p.m., the Bates Dance Company will present the first of four performances in the annual Spring Dance Concert, showcasing work by student choreographers, in Schaeffer Theatre.

Among the Mount David presentations are nearly 100 research posters in anthropology, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, classics, digital and computational studies, economics, environmental studies, geology, German, history, mathematics, neuroscience, physics and astronomy, politics, psychology and sociology. Topics range from the origins of Lyme disease to the impact of sea level rise on coastal real estate prices.

Research focused on Lewiston and Auburn, always a focus of the summit, will be presented by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships’ Community-Engaged Research Fellows; students conducting class projects in environmental studies and studio art; and seniors in sociology and education.

In short talks, students will discuss Islam and women’s rights in Tunisia; the jazz origins of hip hop; video gaming culture in China; sustainable energy in future cities; work-life balance for certified nurse assistants; the media coverage of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings; and the ethics of privacy and technology.

Writing students will present poetry and fiction readings; dance majors will discuss how they develop choreography; and theater directors, actors and stage managers will discuss their creative process.

Students of Roman history and American science fiction will demonstrate how they use virtual reality technology to create virtual cityscapes, and biology students will demonstrate how they use 3-D printing to better understand the human body.

The summit is free and open to the public. For more information, visit bates.edu/summit or contact Kerry O’Brien by email at [email protected] or by calling 207-753-6952.