January 27, 2020
Students Cheyenne Ross (‘20), Christian Merchan (‘20), and AjiFanta Marenah (‘20) were busy on and off campus during the Fall 2019 semester. In addition working as Undergraduate Writing Coordinators with Writing Across Communities, Cheyenne, Chris, and AjiFanta had the opportunity to present their own unique research projects at academic conferences. Read about their work and conference experiences below.
Christian Merchan
Name of Conference: National McNair Scholars Conference 2019
Project Title: “Locating Inefficiencies in Current Frameworks of Latinx Shootings”
My favorite part of the conference was witnessing the various students who shared my culture present their research. The conference held a genuine warmth and friendliness.
Cheyenne Ross
Name of Conference: National McNair Scholars Conference 2019
Project Title: “Assessing Belongingness in a Writing Across Communities Program at St. John’s University through the Lived Experiences of Student Partners”
Basking (or baking) in the beautiful Miami sun was great and all but the best part of this conference was getting to see people who look like me share their research about people who look like me.
AjiFanta Marenah
Name of Conference: Northeastern Political Science Association 51st Annual Conference
Project Title: “How does International Migration Theory explain Somali migration to South Africa?”
Networking was definitely my favorite part of this conference. I got the chance to interact with professors and students from diverse backgrounds. The crème de la crème was meeting a Sene-Gambian professor, who was also a facilitator at the conference. We engaged in conversations about pre-colonial African history, neocolonialism, and the brain drain.