Research Poster Presentation Showcases Graduating Seniors’ Projects
On Wednesday, May 23, students graduating in global and regional studies, history, and women’s and gender studies gathered in Hagerty Lounge to present posters showcasing their senior thesis research projects. With the colorful and varied posters displayed on a semicircle of wooden easels, the seniors spoke informally and enthusiastically to members of the SMC community about their three-month-long projects and the findings that the posters conveyed.
“This . . . is a very interesting way to have a casual conversation with people as opposed to getting up and presenting a PowerPoint in front of class,” said Cheryl Cushing ’18, a global and regional studies major whose project focused on American music and how it’s seen around the world. “I spent a semester abroad in France and I was listening to very familiar American music while I was there,” Cushing said, explaining how she came up with the idea for her thesis.
Emily Lucot ’18, a politics and women’s and gender studies major, discussed her poster representing her interdisciplinary perspective on current events. “I’m really drawn to political times right now,” she said. “I feel there is a great political divide and I’m interested in examining gender in that divide.”
“Everyone here has something to offer,” said Pedro Dupree ’18, a history major and a Marine. Dupree’s project focused, he said, on “who were the Contras during the Contra War in Nicaragua” in the 1980s and “the entire US involvement in the [Iran-contra] affair.”
Many of the presenters said that they had worked hard and learned a great deal from both their own research and that of classmates. They were happy, they said, to participate in the research poster event displaying the culmination of their work—and to be graduating on Saturday, May 26.