The Macaulay at Hunter College Senior Research Forum was held on October 17 at the Roosevelt House, and it was a time for the senior class to get together and present their current and past research projects. The evening started out with hors d’oeuvres and brief mingling out on the balcony of the Freedom room of Roosevelt House. It was a wonderful time of mingling with fellow seniors that have not had time to catch up with each other given the rigors of school and post graduation plans.
The evening continued with buffet dinner at large group tables, which allowed mingling with both advisors and students. The presentations were varied from sound to African American literature to play writing. Presenter Eli Bierman started off the evening with his presentation on Sound Synthesis using Cellular Automata and a Relative Harmonic Network. Eli, who is a geology major, kept the presentation interesting with audience interaction and sound samples. It was interesting to see how sound waves can be manipulated through the formation and alteration of sine waves.
The next presentation was a total change in topic but truly showed the variety of our senior class. Norell Edwards presented a discussion of what is African American literature, while discussing Kenneth Warren’s argument for an extinction of a people’s literature. Her presentation allowed for an active discussion in the room about different topics in African American literature.
Another notable exhibition was made by James Salem; his presentation about his production, Bending All The Rules, started out with a musical introduction and included a song performance.
The presentations and the small atmosphere allowed communication and active learning rather than just sitting through presentations. I certainly learned much about these topics as well my fellow classmates research interests.
The Senior Research Forum team did an excellent job of bringing the senior class back together after having drifted apart after our last required honors seminar. The team consists of Aime Salazar, Jemi Jacob, Simmi Kaur, and Kaitlyn O’Hagan, who worked countless hours with Dr. Craig Harwood to make this event enjoyable for the senior class. Their planning made the event truly memorable and the turn out was excellent despite the event being held during midterm week. Hopefully there are many more senior research forums to come before our time at Macaulay comes to an end.
It saddens me to think of how far African society has been suppressed by the slavery and plunderings of the past.
I am white and British so I am not an angry coloured person, it’s just I feel very guilty of the damage done by our forefathers.