Brian Aycock, senior theater arts major, is glad Eastern has an improv group on campus.

They helped him win a competition, in a way.

Aycock, used Hello Dali in his paper titled “From Capitano to Fraternity ‘Bro’: The Evolution and Influence of Commedia Dell’Arte on Modern Day Improv” at the Third Annual Theater Arts Undergraduate Research Symposium at the Village Theater Wednesday night.

Students entered papers they either wrote for a class or for the competition specifically.

Aycock was one of five students placed into two panels in competition for the best undergraduate theater research paper of 2007.

The first panel was comprised of Amy Lipman, whose paper was titled “Conducting a Life Within Social Patriarchy;” Andrew Moeggenborg, whose paper was titled “Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Melodrama;” and Erica Walker, whose paper was titled “Shame Teaches Shakespearean Lessons.”

Walker, senior English major, mentioned both “The 12th Night” and “The Taming of the Shrew,” both of which Shakespeare wrote.

She wrote how some characters in these plays change through shaming.

Katherine, from “The Taming of the Shrew,” and Malvolio, from “The 12th Night,” were used as examples throughout her paper.

“Katherine is being turned into a woman that Malvolio can be proud of,” Walker said.

The second panel consisted of Aycock and Brendan Hughes.

Hughes’ paper was titled “Gustav III: Sweden’s Actor-King and the Birth of a National Theatre Which He Envisioned.”

Hughes thought his paper was relatable.

“The stock characters are something that everyone can relate to,” Hughes said.

Aycock liked the idea of improv because imperfection is accepted.

“When something goes wrong with improv it’s not as bad as when something is scripted,” Aycock said. “When you start from nothing, like improv, it means more than something scripted.”