Midwest Undergraduate Conference on the Humanities
Submissions for the 2026 Midwest Undergraduate Conference on the Humanities are closed. Schedule is forthcoming. For now, consider checking out the conferencing toolkit below for guidance on preparing your presentation.
The Midwest Undergraduate Conference on the Humanities is a gleeful rejection of the idea that humanities scholarship is MUCH ado about nothing.
After the success of last year’s conference, we are expanding by inviting students outside of UW Madison to submit and attend!
At the conference, undergraduates from across the Midwest and beyond will share their work on panels chaired by graduate students. Any work from a humanities class, essay or creative, is likely perfect for MUCH. You don’t have to be a humanities major to present; undergraduate students from across the disciplines are encouraged to submit work!
This year, MUCH will be held on Saturday, March 21st, 2026 at UW–Madison. Each participant will give a 10-15 minute presentation, which equates to around 1300-2000 words. For shorter creative writing, consider presenting multiple pieces with critical framing and please refer to the “Creative Writing” tab in the “Conferencing Toolkit” below.
Attendance is free and includes catered lunch. At the conference, expect to see student panels comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, themed panels comprised of professors from across the humanities, and creative writing showcases.
Please contact us at much@english.wisc.edu with any questions or inquiries!
MUCH 2026
Presenter names and paper titles for concurrent panels are available under session tabs.
March 21st, 2026 in Helen C. White
8:30–9:00—Welcome and light breakfast
Helen C. White 7191
9:00–10:15—Session 1 (5 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Humorous Tactics (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6191—(In)Justice (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6171—Art and Space (Creative Writing Panel) (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 5181—Political Transformations
Helen C. White 5193—Early Feminists
10:30–11:45—Session 2 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Risky Gender (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6191—Literatures of Race and Family (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 5181—Changing Higher Education
Helen C. White 5193—Morality and Ethics
11:45–12:45—Lunch
Helen C. White 6171
1:00–2:15—Keynote Address
Helen C. White 6191—Tracing the Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet (Hybrid Accessible)
- Professor Avery Dame-Griff (Gonzaga University)
- Graduate Student Moderator—Evangeline Thurston Wilder
2:30–3:45—Session 3 (6 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Politics in Contemporary Cultural Production (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6191—Queer History, Historically Queer (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6171—Royal Drama (Hybrid Accessible)
Helen C. White 6172—Sit down with the MJLC: Expanding literary criticism in the context of abolition
Helen C. White 5181—Growing Up (Creative Writing Panel)
Helen C. White 5193—In/Of Space
4:00-5:15—Closing Plenary
Helen C. White 7191—Professor/Grad Student Roundtable: Humanities in/of the World (Hybrid Accessible)
- Professor Aparna Dharwadker, Professor Ainehi Edoro, Cherise Fung, Hamilton Wilson
- Graduate Student Moderator—Theo Joy Campbell
5:15-5:30—Awards and closing remarks
Helen C. White 7191
9:00–10:15–Session 1 (5 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Humorous Tactics (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Hamilton Wilson)
Parker Reed—Defamiliarizing Race in Wole Soyinka’s Telephone Conversation
Noah Kubiak—Facing Political Absurdism
Sara Ehlers—South Park Waking Up to a New Genre of Musical
Amelia Wozniak—The Feminist Critique and Female Gaze in Barbie
Helen C. White 6191—(In)Justice (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator— Kayleigh Lobdell)
Haleigh Smith—Disability and the Prison Industrial Complex
Rose Tyler—An Analysis of FBI Counterintelligence Against Black Radicals as Domestic Terrorism in the United States from 1960s-1970s
Angeline Morgado—Subestimadas: The Multidimensional Burdens of Latin American Migrant Caregivers in the U.S.
Helen C. White 6171—Art and Space (Creative Writing Panel) (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Kanika Ahuja)
Isis Plesnikova—Third place
Jiarui Wang—Wisconsin Tavern: Dream and Memory (Virtual)
Kyra Deters—Black and White and Red All Over
Sreejita Patra—“Slutty Statues”: A short fiction tale (Virtual)
Helen C. White 5181—Political Transformations
(Graduate Student Moderator—Emily Holzworth)
Zachary Cohen—The Philosophy of Solving Partisan Polarization
Tony McGill—From Storms of Steel to Ink and Quills: The Role of Great War Veterans in Nazi Propaganda
Claudia Schwiesow—Development, Colonialism, and Resistance: Dissecting the Relationship Between Three Narratives from “Portraits of Persistence: Inequality and Hope in Latin America”
Mar McKenna—Anarcha-Feminism, Liberal Feminism, and How the State Fails Women
Helen C. White 5193—Early Feminists
(Graduate Student Moderator—Amy Ruckman)
Michael Haynes—An Empty Shell: Power, Clothing, and Purpose in the Knight’s Portrait.”
Josie Boyle—The World of Hamlet – Where Women Cannot Win
Xining Liu—‘What a Hero Hadst Thou Been:’ Shakespeare’s Herculean ‘Hero’
Nate Mason—A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Towards a Holistic Feminist Interpretation
10:30–11:45–Session 2 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Risky Gender (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Theo Joy Campbell)
Jiarui Wang—Existence, Gender, and the Fragility of Meaning in Virginia Woolf (Virtual)
Emily Reisman—Frankenstein’s Feminism: How the Versatility of Motherhood Breaks Gender Binaries
Vivian Spencer—Role of Birth in The Bell Jar
Aila Koivisto—”Harder, Daddy: The Intimacy of Revenge and Strangulation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” (Virtual)
Helen C. White 6191—Literatures of Race and Family (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Haley Johnson)
Madison Fleck—Veiled Lives in Sula: Gendered Expectations and the Limits of Connection (Virtual)
Lavinia Easley—Closed Coffins and Toni Morrison’s Sula
Mir Ramisa Raiyan Rose—Worlds Apart, Hearts Alike: Paternal Love in Kabuliwala and Midwestern Family Life
Giovanna Iosso—False Fathers, Broken Faith: Colonialism, Christianity, and Parental Loss
Helen C. White 5181—Changing Higher Education
(Graduate Student Moderator—Max Yakubovskiy)
Abby Leach—The Martyrdom of Female Writing Fellows: How We Teach Emotional Labor as a Moral Obligation
Ava LaBracke—Risk and Reward: How Instructors’ Attitudes on Generative AI Shape Writing Pedagogy
Benjamin Plum—Real Effects of Academic Surveillance on Student Writing
Madilyn Hauser—When Support Systems Strain: Attachment Theory and Gaps in Student Crisis Care
Helen C. White 5193—Morality and Ethics
(Graduate Student Moderator—Jason Q Han)
George Morris—Values in Science in the Context of Good Science
Lia Montemurro—Societal Norms and Medical Practice: How Morality and Ethics Affect Patient Care
Nadia Gitau—The Nature of Virtue: Discourse and Definition in Meno
Alex Sun—American Creative Pragmaticism: A Philosophical-Historical Survey of 19th- Century Higher Education Reforms in the United States
2:30–3:45–Session 3 (6 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Politics in Contemporary Cultural Production (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Cecelia Alfonso-Stokes)
Jack Smith—Accessorizing Dissent: Pussyhats and Paperclips in Protest Culture
Samantha Lopez—The Dani Rojas Dilemma: An an Analysis of Latino Stereotypes
Jacob Le—Scheherazade Goes… East? Fate/Grand Order’s Scheherazade and Orientalism in Japan (Virtual)
Evan Randle—Scapegoating Interactivity: The Case of “Dungeons and Dragons” during the Era of Satanic Panic
Helen C. White 6191—Queer History, Historically Queer (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Addison McDaniel)
Midnight Van Gundy—Fiction, Nonfiction, and Memory in Sarah Schulman’s Work on AIDS
Winter Wyman—Disability and Gender in the Iliad: The Image of Hephaestus
Jesse Nguyen—Willa Cather in 1970-90s Women’s and LGBT Print Culture: Exploring Feminist and Queer Representations in Alice Munroe’s “Dulse”, Adrienne Rich’s “For Julia In Nebraska”, and Majorie Pyrse’s “Into the Cañon.” (Virtual)
Katie Troske—Unconformity on Trial: Gender Dissent and Liberation in The Mercies
Helen C. White 6171—Royal Drama (Hybrid Accessible)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Miranda Alksnis)
Erin Sitrin—The Katte Affair: Family, Sexuality, and the Subjugation of Frederick the Great
Heba Haq—Henry Bolingbroke and the Impossible Throne: Legitimacy, Authority, and Strategic Ambiguity in 14th Century England”
Yantong Li—False Hope in Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Theological Perspective (Virtual)
Helen C. White 6172—Sit down with the MJLC: Expanding literary criticism in the context of abolition
(Undergraduate Student Moderator—Hannah Herbst)
Shu Lan Schaut
Jonathan Tostrud
Max Borgerding (Production Director)
Haleigh Smith
Quinn Henneger
Helen C. White 5181—Growing Up (Creative Writing Panel)
(Graduate Student Moderator—Hannah Mackey)
Grace Mossberg—Growing Up and Growing Old
Hazel Garland—Lǎotóng 老同
Han Raschka—Technobrat: Coming of Age On The Internet
Helen C. White 5193—In/Of Space
(Graduate Student Moderator—Jagravi Dave)
Anthony Martinez—New Urbanism: Lessons learned in a Midwestern Context
Leo Olmos—Long-Distance Relationships and Geographically Close Relationships: The Unnecessary Comparison Between The Two
Claire Orlikowski—The Public Library as the Great Equalizer: Religious Liminality in the Library Space
Rhett Kohl—The Vast Impacts of the Golden Horde on Renaissance Europe’s World Order
Conferencing Toolkit
Conference presentations can take many different forms. There’s not one “right” way to do it! With that being said, here are some tips to help you prepare for MUCH.
Revising
Even an excellent written paper requires some tweaks to become an excellent oral presentation. Here are some steps to help you revise your written paper into something you’ll be excited to present:
- First, read your paper out loud to yourself. Note moments where you get lost, run out of breath mid-sentence, or trip over words. Those are often good places to start revising.
- In general, shorter sentences are better in an oral presentation.
- If you tend to write in long, semicolon-rich sentences with embedded clauses (you’re not alone if you do!) like this sentence here, you might want to break most of them up into simpler sentences; it would be hard to follow this sentence if you were hearing it read aloud!
- As you revise your paper, keep an eye out for moments where you have an opportunity for humor or levity. Don’t force it, but a good joke goes a long way!
- Often, turning a paper into a presentation requires cutting parts of your paper. This is the hardest part of the revision process for lots of people. Here are some tips if you’re struggling to get your paper down to the time limit:
- Focus on one key idea you want your audience to remember from your presentation. A narrow focus is usually better than a wide-ranging argument.
- Make sure you’re not spending too much time summarizing. If you’re talking about a novel or a film, it’s tempting to spend a long time giving a plot summary. It’s frequently not necessary to have much summary at all: your audience will follow along just fine if you share only the most important details for your argument.
Slides
Slides are common but not mandatory for conference presentations. When used effectively, slides can make your presentation more accessible to your audience, keep your audience engaged, and lend a little structure to your ideas.
- Use a format that’s easy to share and pull up quickly. The most common ways to do this are a Google Slides presentation (which you can share with your panel chair), a PDF, or a PowerPoint presentation. Your panel chair will let you know if they have a preferred format.
- It’s also a good idea to have backups. Sometimes technology betrays us! Consider having a thumb drive with your slides loaded up with you on the day you present in case something goes wrong.
- Keep text to a minimum and use a font that’s easy to read. Two effective ways to use text include:
- 1. Writing your thesis statement or other key points out on a slide
- 2. Sharing key quotes, especially longer ones, so audience members can follow along.
- Images and graphics are useful if you’re talking about something visual. They can also be a fun way to keep your audience engaged. Make sure they’re relevant to your presentation and not too distracting.
Presenting
Presentation styles and conventions vary widely according to discipline. At MUCH, you can expect most presenters to read from a paper (or notes) and have accompanying slides. You are not expected to have your presentation memorized. At humanities conferences, usually about half the presenters read directly from a paper and the other half presents from notes. Do what’s most comfortable for you!
- Practice, practice, practice!
- Consider practicing in front of a friend. When you’re done, ask them if there were any times they got confused or lost.
- Time yourself and stick to the time limit. This is a sign of respect to your co-panelists and makes you look professional and prepared.
- Try to look up and make eye contact with your audience frequently. This makes you look confident & prepared, helps your audience connect with you, and can be an effective way to emphasize a key point.
- Consider marking places on your notes/script to remind yourself to look up in key moments.
- If you’ve practiced a lot and you’re a confident speaker, consider moments where you might go a little off-script! An off-the-cuff joke, a key idea you know well explained in your own words, or a small connection you can make in the moment are all ways to go above and beyond in your presentation.
Creating an accessible presentation supports audience members in engaging with your ideas! There are some simple tips and resources that can help you ensure accessibility. However, it’s important to know that access needs vary by person due to social and material conditions, disabilities, and personal engagement preferences. We encourage you to do your best to create accessible materials, with the understanding that this is an ongoing and dynamic practice.
Delivering an Accessible Presentation
It can be nerve wracking to deliver a conference presentation, and these considerations can help you feel confident your audience will be able to engage with your talk.
- Start your presentation with a brief personal description to introduce yourself. This can help non-sighted, visually impaired, or anyone who would prefer to listen to follow along. Example: “My name is Jordan Royce. I use they/them pronouns and am a white, nonbinary person with short brown hair.”
- Include a PowerPoint presentation. All audience members will be aided by a presentation to look at with concise bullet points about your main arguments, typed out quotes (if you are reading any aloud), and useful images. This helps your audience follow along with your argument and any close readings, as well as providing a visual context.
- Use brief image descriptions. If your presentation includes any visuals, it can be helpful to describe what is depicted. Here are some examples of what you might describe: text, subject, setting, colors, expression, or other interesting details. You can describe the image from top to bottom, then right to left.
- Include an access copy. An access copy is a written script for the presentation you’ll give. You don’t need to provide a copy of your presentation verbatim (although you certainly can!), but it’s helpful to provide a substantial outline with image descriptions and any quotes you are reading aloud. You can include an access copy linked in your presentation as a QR code and/or bring a small number of printed copies.
Designing Accessible Materials
When designing accessible presentation materials, it’s important to consider text size, font, and color. The UW–Madison DesignLab offers digital media design support services, including consultation appointments. Check out some of their resources:
In her TED talk, “Poetry Makes People Nervous”, poet and performer Sarah Kay talks about the need to reshape the frame in which we think about poetry so that it’s less distant and secret and more human. Poetry makes people nervous because one usually thinks poetry can only be written by certain types of people, for certain types of people, about very specific subjects. The first step to starting to think about poetry – to write, to perform, and to talk about it – requires a shift from the notion that we have to “get poetry” for it to be “for us”. The first real step then is to believe poetry belongs to us.
Reading/Talking about Poems
- Think of poems as a communal project. Have dramatic responses to the poem as you notice the language, structure, and ideas within a poem. Find someone to share that with.
- Think of the comprehension of poetry not as a sort of careful dissection of its individual elements, but interact with the poem in ways that feel more personal, more imaginative, more dialogic.
- Ask about the poem, “So what?” What does it do? What does it say? What is its purpose?
- “Don’t worry about what a poem means,” says poet Joy Harjo. “Do you ask what a song means before you listen? Just listen.”
- Read a poem aloud. Hear the connections between words – both in sound and meaning.
- “We live in language differently when speaking it aloud. We can feel the words reverberate in the brain and chest.” Adrian Matejka
- Find language that surprises you – think about how it creatively pushes you to make meaning. Talk about that. Let curiosity hold you in the poem.
- “Poetry is an experience as much as it is a concrete thing to be discussed and like all experiences, there isn’t always a right or wrong answer to it.” Adrian Matejka
- Speak to your experience of the poem – where it found you and how it made you feel. – Focus on small moments in the poem that spark interest. Do not worry about trying to grapple with the poem as a whole.
- Read with an eye for patterns and common themes. See how poems may actually be speaking to each other.
On Revision
- “Each revision, ideally, gets us closer to the poem we sense is there, waiting.” Maggie Smith
- Read the poem out loud, see where the poem sounds out of place. Try different word choices for what feels like it isn’t working.
- Notice what is changing in each draft, and what remains the same.
- Use this list of things to keep in mind while revising poems.
- Try different revision strategies and see what works best!
Other Resources:
- https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/readingpoetry/
- https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2016/how-read-and-talk-about-poetry
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69901/talking-to-talking-about-talking-with
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/70305/the-warmth-of-the-messy-page
- https://lithub.com/maggie-smith-on-how-to-revise-poems-without-losing-the-initial-spark/
What should I wear?
It’s typical to see a wide range of styles at academic conferences. The best choice is always something you feel comfortable and confident in. If you’re stuck, business casual is a safe place to aim for. (Think: fancier than shorts and a t-shirt, not quite as fancy as a full suit.) You could also think about what your professors wear to teach and you’ll be in the right zone! For some fun style inspo, check out https://phdinclothes.com.
What should I bring?
It’s a good idea to have a water bottle, some snacks, a notebook (to take notes during others’ presentations), and your presentation notes or script. If you want to present from a laptop or tablet, that’s fine, but consider bringing a printed backup just in case.
What should I expect my panel to be like?
You will present your work on a panel with 2-3 other undergraduate students. Each panel will have a theme, so there will probably be some crossover between your own presentation and that of your co-panelists. A graduate student will chair your panel, which means they’ll introduce each speaker to the audience, help you keep track of time as you present, and moderate the Q&A.
Each presenter will take turns giving their presentation (roughly 15 minutes each, depending on how big your panel is. See your panel assignment email for details!). After each presenter has spoken individually, all the presenters will come up to the front of the room and take questions from the audience for 15-20 minutes.
What should I do as an audience member?
When you’re not presenting, plan to attend another panel that looks interesting to you! The best audience members are the most engaged listeners. The bare minimum is not talking or being on your phone while someone’s presenting. It’s also a good idea to jot down notes, questions, and ideas while the panelists are presenting. Try to think of an interesting question you can ask one or more of the presenters during the Q&A!
How can I prepare for the Q&A?
The Q&A portion of your panel can seem scary, but it can be a great opportunity to hear how others respond to your work! It’s an honor for someone to listen to your ideas and engage with them by asking questions. As you practice your presentation, consider practicing in front of a friend/partner/roommate and have them ask you questions. Did you have to cut a part of your presentation for time? If you get a question, you might have a chance to share it then!
It’s also fine if you get a question you don’t know how to answer! It is always okay and quite common to say, “Thank you so much for that question, I will have to research/think about that more.”
What should I do after the conference?
It can be tiring to spend all day at a conference. It’s common to need a little rest and down time afterwards. Take care of yourself and celebrate yourself for doing something hard!
In the weeks after MUCH, consider emailing the instructor who taught the class your paper was originally written in. If they helped you prepare for the conference, be sure to thank them. They would probably love to hear how the presentation went! You can also add the conference presentation to your resume or CV.
MUCH 2025
Thank you everyone for attending the first MUCH! We are pleased to report that over 127 people attended, including undergraduate student presenters, graduate student moderators, professor plenary speakers, friends, and parents!
Presenter names and paper titles for concurrent panels are available under session tabs.
8:30–9:00—Welcome and light breakfast
Helen C. White 7191
9:00–10:15—Session 1 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—New Temporalities: History, Methods, Resistance
Helen C. White 4207—Correcting the Narrative
Helen C. White 5181—Spirituality and the Mind
Helen C. White 5193—Pre-Modern Gender Relations
10:30–11:45—Session 2 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Popular Media and its Audiences
Helen C. White 4207—Markets and Advertising
Helen C. White 5181—Artistic Presences and Absences
Helen C. White 5193—The Subversive Potential of Comedic Forms
11:45–12:45—Lunch
Helen C. White 7191
1:00–2:15—Featured Sessions (2 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191–A Q&A with the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism Team about Undergraduate Publishing
- Landis Varughese, Mihika Shivakumar, Will Hicks, and Max Borgerding
Helen C. White 4207–Graduate Research Roundtable: Humanities in Practice
- Levi Sherman, Taylor Dickson, Vignesh Ramachandran
2:30–3:45—Session 3 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Creative Writing Panel
Helen C. White 4207—Gender/Science Intersections
Helen C. White 5181—Positionality on Campus
Helen C. White 5193—Visibility/Invisibility and the 18th Century
4:00-5:15—Closing Plenary
Helen C. White 7191—Professor Roundtable: Humanities Research in the World
- Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, Michael Bernard-Donals, and Elaine Cannell
5:15-5:30—Awards and closing remarks
Helen C. White 7191
9:00–10:15–Session 1 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—New Temporalities: History, Methods, Resistance
(Graduate Student Moderator- Addison McDaniel)
Interaction and Effective Testimony- Max Welford
Poetic Possibilities of Improvisational Composition- Diya Abbas
La Veneka Femme and the Mythopoesis of Relational Futurities- Valeria Rodrigo Rojas
(All) In (Good) Time: Temporality in The Crying of Lot 49- Wylie Dituri
Helen C. White 4207—Correcting the Narrative
(Graduate Student Moderator- Cecelia Alfonso-Stokes)
Hopi Time and Skepticism of Grammatical Effects on Worldview- Skylar Harvey
The Story of L.C. Anderson High School: How Brown v. Board Made Educational Equality Improbable- Natalie Suri
A Critical Reassessment of “Court Order Can’t Make Races Mix”: The Undermining of Zora Neale Hurston as a Political Thinker- Lilly Innes
Keeping the Faith: The Lynching of Sonya Massey and Memory of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois- Axell Boomer
Helen C. White 5181—Spirituality and the Mind
(Graduate Student Moderator- Theo Campbell)
Haunting the Subconscious: Dorothea Tanning’s Surrealism and the Female Psyche- JK Smith
Color Me Happy: Art as an Enchanted Version of Wellness- Aspen Schrupp
Religiosity, Social Engagement and Their Connection to Well-Being and Satisfaction- Mingo Blackbird
Localizing Non-Violence: Confucianism, Sun Yat-sen, and the Three Principles of the People in Republican China- Xiner Wu
Helen C. White 5193—Pre-Modern Gender Relations
(Graduate Student Moderator- Miranda Alksnis)
Written by Herself: Idealization in Pietist Memoir- Parker Wall
Elusive Peace in the Face of Toxic Masculinity within Beowulf- Jamison Grimm
Subverting Gender Roles in Medieval and Modern Contexts- Sydney Ziemniak
10:30–11:45–Session 2 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Popular Media and its Audiences
(Graduate Student Moderator- Jay Lowe)
In The Zone of Interest, viewership serves as an accomplice to evil- Sreejita Patra
True Crime & the Pornification of Media- Tara Thomsen
Six Degrees of Separation: The Short Distance Between Man and Monster- Ryane Neal
From Frankie Knuckles to Chappell Roan: An Exploration of Queer Midwest Music- Eliza Tool
Helen C. White 4207—Markets and Advertising
(Graduate Student Moderator- Haley Johnson)
The Bali Time Chamber: Asceticism for the Modern Man- Nora Bergstrom
The Dual Impact of Mid 20th Century Household Innovations on Women- Giorgia Mattana
Do market incentives necessarily render corporate AI pledges futile?- Elizabeth Larson
Constructing Modernity: The Crystal Palace as the Nexus of Art and Industrial Capitalist Ambition in Victorian England- Sarojshree Namasivayam Janaki
Helen C. White 5181—Artistic Presences and Absences
(Graduate Student Moderator- Hyorim Joe)
A Warning from Nature- Frank Wang
The Other Palmer- Elena Nirobo Paul
Stigmatization of the Arts through a Vietnamese American Lens- Jason Nguyen
Helen C. White 5193—The Subversive Potential of Comedic Forms
(Graduate Student Moderator- Alex Paulsen)
A Cabinet of Colonialism- Nirai Sanchez
Comedy: Letters to Juliet and Shakespeare- Maggie Lenar
Not to be: How the lack of continuous personhood emphasizes the absurd in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead- Esme Garrett
Cugoano and Prospero: the Need to Commit to Collective Action- Evan Randle
2:30–3:45–Session 3 (4 concurrent panels)
Helen C. White 7191—Creative Writing Panel
(Graduate Student Moderator- Kanika Ahuja)
The First Part: The Hounds / The Second Part: Shiv / Separate- Lorelei Dittl
“ἄειδε θεὰ (Sing, O Muse):” A Writer’s Exploration of Women in Greek Myth- Claire Orlikowski
There’s life inside these skulls- Isis Plesnikova
Fannie Albert’s Herbarium- Katrina Moberg & Milo Daly
Helen C. White 4207—Gender/Science Intersections
(Graduate Student Moderator- Caroline Hensley)
Balancing Ethical Medical Practice Throughout History- Amelia Wozniak
Beyond the Myths: Challenging Colonial Understandings of Contraceptive Misinformation in Sub-Saharan Africa- Claudia Liverseed
She’s More Than Machine: Female Cyborgs and Intersectional Narratives- Gabby Droessler
Helen C. White 5181—Positionality on Campus
(Graduate Student Moderator- Taylor Dickson)
Pizza and Politics on Campus- Virginia Bolick
Relational Tutoring Methods as Positioning Strategies in Writing Conferences- AJ Dehnke
A Cultural History of the UW Madison Writing Center: Language, Pedagogy and Epistemology- Evie Erickson
Hummingbird Heart- Rissa Nelson & Jonathan Tosturd
Helen C. White 5193—Visibility/Invisibility and the 18th Century
(Graduate Student Moderator- Diego Alegria)
Making the Invisible Visible: The Art of Environmental Denial- Riley Zenkewicz
The Presence Within Absence- Emma Anderson
The Unstable Imagination: An Analysis of Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case”- Winter Wyman
Between Slavery and Corvée: Forced Labor Systems in Qing-ruled Xinjiang- Houye Lyu