Student World Affairs Conference Comes to Marist

Last Friday, Marist College hosted the 7th annual Student World Affairs Conference (SWAC) in the Hudson Valley. Students from Marist and other nearby colleges had the opportunity to present independent research on global issues, such as foreign policy, immigration, and environmental politics.

Planning for the event started back in August of 2020, and led to an educational and successful event for the Marist community. History Professor Dr. Michael O’Sullivan, a board member of the Hudson Valley World Affairs Council, was one of the key organizers that made the event possible. According to O’Sullivan, the purpose of the conference is to “promote world affairs education among university and college students in the area.” The SWAC gives students a forum to share their work on topics they’re passionate about and share ideas with others in their field of study.

Although many of the presenters were political science majors, one of the goals of this year’s conference was to open up the discussion to students in a variety of majors. “We really tried to pitch it as more interdisciplinary,” said O’Sullivan. Organizers of the event aimed to get more students involved in the program rather than only focus on those already interested in global issues, as well as advertise the SWAC to students outside of Marist.

“Marist places a lot of emphasis on creating these unique experiences for students,” said O’Sullivan. He added that another benefit of presenting at the conference is participating in “high impact practices” that students can add to their resumés and sets them apart in the eyes of future employers.

Student presenters at the conference enjoyed their day on Friday presenting their research and networking with others in attendance. Ashley Marcineck ‘22, who presented about environmental issues affecting the Amazon in Brazil, said “it definitely was a wonderful experience, especially to hear all the projects other people have. It’s really cool.”

Presenters were able to share their research with a diverse group of students from several other universities, some as far as Tufts University and Marquette University. “It was an absolute honor,” said Anaya Chaudhuri, Vassar ‘23. Chaudhuri gave a passionate presentation about climate and asylum seekers as a part of a panel at the conference on the politics of climate and environment. “I’m from India and you don’t really have such promotion of academic research in India. The education system is really streamlined and focused on quantitative analysis and not qualitative analysis,” she said. Lillian Wallace ‘20, a Biology major presenting on the environmental impacts of tourism agreed that the SWAC was a great experience.

By the end of the day, both the faculty organizers and students involved were thrilled at the success of the conference. “I’m happy with how it went,” said Dr. Juris Pupcenoks, another main organizer of the SWAC. “I think one sign of success is how excited the students are who are presenting.” Dr. Pupcenoks was especially enthusiastic about how this year showed how far the SWAC has come in the last few years to becoming as established as it is now.

The Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, Dr. Martin Shaffer, chimed in as well. “I think it’s great. It’s always great to have other students come to Marist.” 

The SWAC will continue next year in the Hudson Valley collegiate community. Students of all disciplines are welcome to submit their research papers for an opportunity to present at the conference in the future.