The biannual Roger Williams University Conference on Religion and kicked off today, hosting scholars from across the globe to investigate “Narratives and Negotiation: Agency, Religion and the State

Mulvey, Jenna

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Undergraduate Research Panel Kicks Off Conference on Religion and State

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger4-12-2013Undergraduate Research Panel Kicks OffConference on Religion and StateJenna MulveyRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationMulvey, Jenna, "Undergraduate Research Panel Kicks Off Conference on Religion and State" (2013). Featured News Story. 99.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/99Home News News Archive Undergraduate Research Panel Kicks O  Conference on Religion and StateUndergraduate Research Panel Kicks O Conference on Religion and StateApril 12, 2013 Jenna Mulvey '13BRISTOL, R.I. -- The biannual Roger Williams University Conference on Religion and kicked o  today, hosting scholarsfrom across the globe to investigate “Narratives and Negotiation: Agency, Religion and the State.For the  rst time, this year’s conference opened with an undergraduate research panel featuring Roger WilliamsUniversity students from across the disciplines.“One of the core values at Roger Williams is student/faculty research, and that happens a lot in the sciences, and someof the other areas of the school,” said Assistant Professor of American Studies Jennifer Stevens, a moderator for thisyear’s conference.One way faculty can engage with students in research, Stevens pointed out, is to encourage them to approach theirresearch professionally and submit their papers to present at academic conferences. Stevens recently participated in theannual Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference in Washington, D.C., wherefour additional RWU faculty and 17 students presented research to hundreds of scholars from around the U.S. Shenoted how wonderful an experience it was for the students not only to observe the conference, but also to participate init. And whether students choose to pursue graduate studies or enter the workforce, the experience of presenting at anacademic conference will serve them well, Stevens added:“If you go on in academia, obviously it’s an experience you’ll have many times over and hopefully this will help preparethem, but it also excites them about the possibility of doing that.” she said. For those who pursue non-academiccareers, “that idea of being in a professional environment and sharing your ideas and taking questions and participatingin a intellectual dialogue – there’s nothing bad that can come from that. And all that can do is give people morecon dence, and another opportunity to practice skills that happen out here in the real world in all kinds of ways. Thereare very few jobs where you don’t have to stand up in front of colleagues or co-workers and share your ideas. And thebetter you are at that, or the more experience you have at that, the more con dent you’re going to be and that alwaysmakes for a better presentation.”Senior history and secondary education major Emily Masseo, who served as the Student Assistant for the Religion andthe State Conference, presented her research on the Assyrian Genocide. a minority in the Middle East. According toscholars and the international community, the genocide of the Assyrians – a minority population in the Middle East –occurred from 1914-1918. Masseo contends that the genocide did not just happen during that time period, and it wasnot “the response of a collapsing empire, the Ottoman Empire, but rather that there were genocidal intentions startingin the 1840s up through the new republic of Turkey in 1924.”Two scholars who have in uenced Masseo’s research, Hannibal Travis and Aryo Makko, are attending the weekend-longconference.“The Assyrian genocide in general isn’t well researched or well-documented, so [I’m] de nitely looking forward togetting feedback from people,” Masseo said. She also noted that this feedback could help her with her writing andresearch that she will continue throughout the semester. “It’s also a good opportunity to grow as a professional or as anacademic, being able to present in this setting.”Tom Sojka, a history and political science major, presented his research paper, “Women of Allah: The Veil,Shirin Neshat, and Revolutionary Women in Islamic Society,” about Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat’s work as it relates tothe role of women in Iran and Islam.According to Sojka, Neshat's work has been shown worldwide, including at Castello di Rivoli, the Serpentine Gallery,and the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals. While Neshat is not banned from Iran, her artwork is. Her position as anex-insider who has been culturally and socially marginalized allows her personal experience to expose the position ofwomen in a theocracy, Sojka noted. “I think undergrads have a lot to say and we’ve largely been unrecognized as able to make signi cant contributions tothe  eld, which is unfortunate because a lot of us – especially at Roger Williams – have work done on individual basiswith faculty members. So I think we do have quite a bit to say to contribute to the study of history,” he said.Other undergraduate presentations included:Kevin Marchand (Creative Writing), “Divided Beliefs and Common Su ering: Islam and Christianity in Nigeria”Kyle Sandler (History), “The Rabbi and the Ayatollah: Theocracy in Israel and IranNicole David (History), “Social Engineering: Stolen Babies of Spain”The Religion and the State Conference was founded in 2007 by longtime RWU Professor of History Joshua Stein, whopassed away in September a er an 18-year battle with cancer. The event has evolved over the years from a one-daysymposium to a weekend-long conference with two keynote speakers and multiple panel presentations.“He was just really struck that this is a school named for one of the great supporters, and one of the great kind ofhistorical  gures, who was associated with this idea of the relationship between religion and state, and that to have aschool named a er Roger Williams ought to have some sort of recognition of that,” Stevens said of Stein.Share This: REQUEST INFO  VISIT CAMPUS  APPLY  MAKE A GIFTMap & DirectionsContact UsDirectoryNewsEventsAthleticsrwu.eduUndergraduate SiteGraduate SiteSchool of LawSchool of Continuing Studies    © 2018 Roger Williams University. All rights reserved.  GMAIL AT RWU BRIDGES MY RWU IT HELP SITE POLICIES WORK AT RWUOne Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI 028091-800-458-7144

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Undergraduate Research Panel Kicks Off Conference on Religion and State

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