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Boston College undergraduates spoke passionately about academic interests that included explorations in foreign lands, research in laboratories, entrepreneurship and other scholarly pursuits at the second installment of BCTalks, held last week in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons.
Modeled after TEDTalks, the popular global lecture series that highlights cutting-edge thinking and new ideas, BCTalks showcases the scholarly interests and achievements of undergraduates. Founded by juniors Lisa Piccirillo and Conor Sullivan, the series debuted last fall.
“BCTalks is an event where students can learn from other students. We want to present not only quality research, but also enlighten underclassmen about grant and research opportunities that might otherwise be unknown to them,” said International Studies and political science major Narintohn Luangrath ’14, BCTalks director.
“I also think the presenters’ personal story — the thing that sparked their journey — is captivating. I hope BCTalks inspires other students,” she added.
Senior history and International Studies major Iulia Padeanu’s presentation examined the Holocaust from a Romanian perspective. As part of an independent research project and with funding from the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning, Padeanu traveled to Romania and researched the roots of anti-Semitism and the nationalist policies that led to the death and deportation of so many Romanian Jews.
While Romania in 1930 was home to more than 750,000 Jews, Padeanu said, today there are so few Jews — less than 5,000 — that they are considered part of a demographic category of “other.” Yet many in her homeland deny or discredit the information about the violent Romanian pogroms of 1940 and 1941, she said.
Psychology major Emilie Josephs ’13, who works as a research assistant in Psychology Assistant Professor Sean MacEvoy’s Vision and Cognition Lab, spoke about the role perception and memory play in vision. She cited examples such as blindsight — where a person cannot visually see an object but can sense its attributes — and akinestopsia, where a person cannot perceive the motion of an object.
Political science major Courtney Kuhn ’13 gave a thought-provoking presentation titled “The Assault on Privacy: How Target Predicts You're Pregnant.” She examined the constitutional right to privacy and how technological advances and the lack of legislation have left Americans vulnerable to companies and other entities interested in gathering personal data for profit.
The other projects and presenters were: “The Business of Giving: The Importance of Social Entrepreneurship,” Maxwell Ade ’12; “Playing in the Mud: A Study of the Connecticut River Estuary Turbidity Maximum,” Mike Cuttler ’12; “Medieval Murder and Mayhem: Attitudes Towards Violence in the Middle Ages,” Kevin Hall ’12; “The Kennedy Family: Exploring Their Catholic Faith,” Elizabeth Wall ’13; “Mobilizing Al-Aqaba: Teaching English in Palestine,” Matt DeMaio ’13; “Playing Games: The NCAA's Exploitation of Amateurism,” Patrick Kessock ’13; “The Effects of Brain Cooling on Animal Behavior” Kyle Marra ’12, “From Fear to Friendship: Rethinking China,” Sam Shriver ‘14.
BCTalks is organized by Education for Students by Students, which also runs BC Splash, an on-campus educational experience for high school students. BCTalks is co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and supported by Boston College Television. For more information, see www.bctalks.org.