Class of 2007 Candidates for Distinction in the Field Present Work
May 01, 2007
Sean McKendry was one of roughly 50 members of the Class of 2007 who presented work recently as a candidate for Distinction in the Field. The presentations, which began April 23rd and will continue through May 12th, feature in-depth projects and discussions by students from wideranging disciplines. This marks the second year the College has held a forum for the presentations.
A double major in political science and history, McKendry presented as a candidate for distinction in both fields, beginning with his work entitled "When What is Due is Not Given," a discussion regarding the legality of President George W. Bush's detention policies on the war on terrorism, on April 23rd in the Jean Yawkey Center for Community Leadership Conference Room.
Originally written as part of an assignment for a class he had last spring with Professor of Political Science Marie Natoli, McKendry worked this past year on updating the project, which he presented last November at the Northeastern Political Science Association Conference. Expanding his thesis to discuss historical oppositions to executive detention as well as the Military Commissions Act (MCA), McKendry was also recently asked to present his thesis on April 27th at the New England Political Science Annual Conference.
While he admits he didn't originally intend to present as a candidate for distinction in both majors, he eventually convinced himself to go through with the effort. His history thesis entitled, "The Legal History of ‘Separate but Equal,'" which he presented on April 25th, provided a historiographical look at segregation and desegregation in public education.
"Originally I was apprehensive about doing two presentations," he said. "But when it came down to it, I had already written the political science thesis, so there wasn't any reason why I couldn't do both."
McKendry was one of just two seniors who presented talks in two fields. Laura Bean also discussed multiple theses, presenting her global studies work entitled, "Genocide and the Failure of International Policy" on the 23rd, and her history project, "Historical Treatment of the Mau Mau Uprising" two days later.
While discussions took place April 23-27, students have presented and continue to present their work in a variety of mediums. Michael Flaherty, for instance, presented via the poster session, which was held April 24th in the Maureen Murphy Wilkens Atrium. A biology and chemistry double major, he created two projects for exhibition, one entitled, "The Role of IkBNS in Gene Expression upon TCR Activation" and the other, "A Computational Studies of Copper-Containing Enzyme Diamine Oxidase."
On April 30th at 8:00 p.m. in the Auditorium, Performance Arts major Jessica Walsh will perform her work, "A Little Night Music." The presentation events will close with an art exhibition, with students work on display in the Saint Joseph Hall Foyer from May 4-12. The opening will take place Friday, May 4th from 5:30–7:30 p.m.