Ellie Kahn
Contributing Writer
This coming Saturday, April 22, the Global and International Studies Department (GIS) at the College will host the 3rd annual Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) Undergraduate International Studies Research Conference. The conference is an installment in a series called “Challenging Borders,” which is a collaboration between The College of Wooster and Denison University.
The conference on Saturday kicks off with several presentations by students from various schools within the GLCA as well as other Ohio colleges, such as Kenyon, Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan.
The student presenters will discuss the research and findings from their respective senior theses, which all relate back to the central theme of the conference.
There are several Wooster students that will present research from their Independent Study projects; Rachel Wilson ’17 will present her topic of “Politics of the APolitical,” Michaela McNaughton ’17 will discuss “To Protect and Serve: Homicide Rates and Policing Policies in Central America” and Sam Waters ’17 will speak on his topic of “Economics Under Fire.”
Other students from Wooster who will also present include Haley Davis ’17, Megan Koeneman ’17, Cara Peterson ’17 and Sarah Strum ’17.
Later on in the conference, there will be a faculty panel discussing “Contemporary Issues in Migration Studies.” Moderated by Dr. Amyaz Moledina, the chair of the GIS Department at the College, the panel will feature Dr. Isis Nusair, an Associate Professor of International Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies from Denison University, as well as Dr. Brian Miller, an Assistant Professor of History from Allegheny College.
Throughout the year, both Wooster and Denison have collaborated to bring an array of speakers and events to their respective campuses, featuring individuals such as Arab-Israeli author and journalist Sayed Kashua, as well as journalist and civil rights lawyer Alia Malek. According to the event’s program, “the Challenging Borders project seeks to strengthen collaborative research and teaching pathways between GLCA schools,” and the conference will exemplify just that.