PHOTO COURTESY OF HAMILTON COLLEGE
On Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. the First-Year Course Conference took place as an opportunity for first-year students to showcase the various things they had learned in their first term of courses on the Hill. The event took place in the Library’s 24-hour room where presentations on various subjects were presented to the Hamilton community.
The Conference was organized by Alex Rihm Wohnsen, the First-Year Experience Librarian. Wohnsen invited academic classes categorized as first-year courses to the conference, including Professor Katherine Terrell’s Literature 149: Finding Identity class and Professor Tina Hall’s Literature 125: Monsters class.
Alongside the students from these classes presenting on what things they had learned, the professors also participated in the Conference. From the Archaeology and Literature departments, Professor Carpenter, Professor Hall, Professor Sundar, and Professor Terrell all attended.
The Conference was full of different presentations with greatly varying subject matter. Speaking to this, Professor Hall told me, “There was a great range of exhibits at the Conference, everything from posters on Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) to sculptures based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest to faux satellite imagery inspired by “The Call of Cthulhu.” Projects varied between classes and professors. Professor Hall said that, “students from my class created specimens from monsters that appeared in the short stories we read this semester.” Professor Terrell stated that her students, “made large-format posters based on their research into the background, reception, and publishing history of literary works.” The Conference had a very diverse group of projects.
Professor Hall and Professor Terrell also spoke about how they believe the conference can help First Year students.
Professor Terrell stated that “The Conference encourages campus community, as students from different courses — and different class years — get to see what others have been working on. It helps the presenters to develop public speaking skills as they explain their projects to those attending the Conference, and it provides valuable experience in translating specialized research for a broad audience.”
Furthering this sentiment, Professor Hall added that the Conference “is a great way for students (and professors) to see what kinds of research is happening in classes across the curriculum. The First Year Conference is a valuable way for students to “publish” their work and share ideas with the larger community while highlighting the depth of knowledge and inventiveness that can be achieved even in the very first semester of college.”
Arianna Robertson ’23 spoke to why she attended the Conference, saying, “I thought it would be fun to turn the research we did for our class project into a poster that would be presented to an outside audience.” Jesse Wexler ’23 said he was very happy he attended the Conference and explained that, “The Conference was a very fun and engaging way to learn. I was able to see how diverse the subject matter is in Hamilton’s curriculum and feel very inspired.” Ethan Plous ’23 was another attendee and reported, “I would encourage other first year students to engage in conferences like these. This Conference was very helpful to me and I would recommend going to others.”
