BY SABRINA EDWARDS ’20
On Friday, April 13, students, faculty, staff, parents and friends convened in Kendade, Cleveland, Dwight and Reese to hear presentations on a variety of topics at the Senior Symposium. Held annually on campus, the Senior Symposium is a chance for seniors to share their academic interests and work in a panel-setting to the Mount Holyoke community.
“Any senior can present their body of work — something they’ve been working on, their ambitions [and] their passions,” said Lynn Letourneau, senior administrative assistant at the Weissman Center for Leadership. “They go through a process of getting their title approved, getting their abstract approved and, once that’s done, anyone can present. As long as your advisor approves it, you can do it.”
The preparation required for Senior Symposium varies depending on the type of project being presented. Some seniors presented research completed on campus as part of a project or thesis, while others presented work or passions that they engaged with off campus. Some of the topics covered this year included theses from biology, chemistry, economics, German studies and architectural studies, as well as independent research and other projects from a variety of disciplines.
Becky Wah ’21 attended a presentation on architecture, a field she is interested in. “Seniors were presenting their projects, one went abroad and then there was one who was studying Japanese architecture… they were all pretty interesting,” said Wah. “My teacher canceled class [for the symposium], so it was pretty nice.”