As a college of liberal arts and sciences, Rhodes has created an environment encouraging students to present their research or creative activity at professional conferences. They often are the only undergraduates invited to present at these meetings, and many go on to author papers in leading journals.
March and April have been busy months for students showcasing their work, both virtually and in cities from coast to coast. Here’s a roundup:
Rachel Perry ’23 presented “Space Junk, ‘Near-Earth’ Space, and Anthropocentrism” at the 40th Annual South Eastern Undergraduate Sociology Symposium held March 25-26 at Emory University. Students presented original work that involves data collection, analysis, and/or theoretical exploration of sociological significance.
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Rhodes students attended the 2022 State University of New York (SUNY) Model European Union (MEU) that was hosted at SUNY Buffalo State College April 6-9. Sarah Curran ’25, Robert Pettit ’23, and Khanh Ton ’23, who are members of Rhodes Model UN program, attended this conference and starred as the Delegation of Hungary. Pettit won Best Negotiator in his role as Viktor Orbán, President of Hungary. Rhodes received the Most Effective Member State Delegation.
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Mariam Khayata ’22 and Natalie Smith ’22 participated in the Midwest Political Science Association Conference held April 7-10 in Chicago, IL. Khayata presented “To Intervene or Not To Intervene: The Obama Administration’s Responses to Humanitarian Violations in Libya and Syria,” and Smith presented “Navigating Specialized Issues in a Generalist Court: The Effects of Federal Redistricting on Judicial Behavior.”
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Ansam Qaddoumi ’22 presented “Scientific and Artistic Narratives: Interpreters and Power Dynamics” and Natalia Cipponeri ’23 presented “The Liminal Space of Espanglish” at the Latin American and Latinx Studies Symposium held April 8 at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.
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Zoe Scott ’21 placed second in the oral presentation competition at the 2022 Southeast/Southwest Regional Meeting the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers held April 14-17 at The University of Mississippi. Scott presented her chemistry senior seminar research work on the design of novel therapeutics for COVID-19, which she continued after graduation in the Molecular Immunotherapeutics Research lab as a post-baccalaureate research associate. She plans to submit her work for publication this upcoming summer.
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At the virtual Joint Mathematics Meetings held April 6-9, Michael Shible ’22 presented “Hilbert Series of Invariants of T^2” and Jiwoo Lee ’22 and Abbey Gobble ’23 presented “Using Persistent Homology to Analyze the Topological Signature of William Shakespeare.”
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Isabella Fraser ’23, will present “Crisis, Individual Responsibility, and Race Evasion: How Media Framed a District's New Grade Retention Policy” on April 26 at the Annual American Educational Research Association in San Diego, CA.
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In addition, the Rhodes Symposium, held annually on campus, showcases student work through both oral and poster presentations. This year’s event is Friday, April 29.
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(update on May 2)
Student of the Language and Literacy Lab presented their work on character representation in early childhood narratives at the 2022 Cognitive Development Society Conference held April 21-23 in Madison, WI. This research investigates how preschool-aged children from neighborhoods with significant disinvestment are supported through story-sharing circles in developing character agency and expressing past emotional experiences.