More than 100 Providence College students from multiple academic disciplines attended the second annual Global Studies Student Research Symposium held in the Feinstein Academic Center on campus.
Sponsored by the College's Global Studies Program, the symposium drew more than twice as many student attendees as last year's inaugural event. Held on Saturday, April 4, the symposium featured paper presentations and panels by 20 students.
The 5½-hour program began with welcoming remarks by Dr. Hugh F. Lena, vice president for academic affairs, and was followed by a keynote address by Sophia Lafontant, senior organizer and training specialist for Oxfam America. Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization dedicated to finding solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.
In an address entitled "Who Controls the River?", Lafontant discussed global social justice and equality issues. She urged students to take an active role in bringing justice and service to societies locally and globally.
Lafontant encouraged students to utilize the resources of organizations like Oxfam America and to continue to educate themselves about global issues, particularly in the areas of human rights and justice.
The remainder of the symposium was devoted to seven student-led workshops. Categories ranged from immigration, corruption, and human rights to the global food crisis and sustainability. More than a dozen research papers were presented by students from five academic disciplines: global studies, political science, social work, public and community service studies, and foreign language studies.
The student organizers of the symposium were Athena Fokaidis '09 of East Lyme, Conn., and Bridget Landry '10 of Putnam, Conn.
Interest in discipline, issues grows
The director of the Global Studies Program, Dr. Nicholas V. Longo, assistant professor of public and community service studies, and the organizers were heartened by the interest and attendance at the symposium.
"There was a solid foundation from last year that generated a lot of student interest," said Longo, referring to the first symposium under the leadership of the program's former director, Dr. Nuria Alonso García, associate professor of Spanish. "And, there's a growing sense of interest in global issues on campus."
"The fact that we saw students from so many disciplines was a testament to the symposium and the interest in global issues," said Fokaidis.
"The global studies major," she added, "is growing, but the most exciting thing is that in the introductory course, there are many students from outside the discipline."
The College began offering global studies as a major in 2005. Currently, there are more than 100 majors. The curriculum offers students an interdisciplinary global perspective on social, economic, and political issues.
In addition to bringing visibility to global studies, the symposium met its other major objective of highlighting student research, said Fokaidis. Longo and she pointed out that papers chosen for the symposium represented research written specifically for the event as well as work prepared for courses from across campus.
"Some of the papers represented semester-long projects. I think we tried to communicate that students are doing intense research work," said Fokaidis.
"The symposium was a good opportunity to showcase our students' research, and I think it helped inform students on a whole range of global issues," said Longo. "I think it shows the commitment of Providence College and the Global Studies Program to academic excellence."