This year's 2026 Undergraduate Colloquium will take place on Friday, April 17th, in 198 Hagerty Hall. This event is open to the public and welcomes contributions from undergraduate CS/RS/WL majors and minors, as well as students in courses taught through the Department of Comparative Studies.
Tentative Schedule
12:30pm Welcome & Introductions
12:45-1:45pm Panel 1: Power and the Everyday
Chair: Lydia Ertachew
- Keegan Rudy, “Rhetoric and Camp: An Exploration of the Intersection of Genre, Context, and Identity”
- Kass Groner, “Horse Breeding as Nation Building: Equine Reproductive Capital and Valued Masculinities on Colonized Land”
- Samir Haurani, “Walking the University”
1:45-2pm Break
2-3pm Panel 2: Religion, Myth, and Modernity
Chair: Kate Kaura
- Min Feldman, “Open-Source Enlightenment: Interpreting Buddhism in Corporate America”
- Summer Shigley, “The Power to Become: Myth, Memory, and the Creation of Worlds
- Wonjoo Lee, “Towards the Golden Era of Kpop: Shamanism and KPop in KPop Demon Hunters”
3-3:15pm Break
3:15-4:15pm Panel 3: Technology and Digital Culture
Chair: Nikoo Karimi
- Ryan Sivakumar, “Digital Disconnection: A Thematic Analysis of Practices, Motivations, and Concerns”
- Emily Bullock, “Analyzing Multimodal YouTube Video Essays as a Modern Essay Form”
- Benji Gonzalez, “What is Our Responsibility in the Face of AI Acceleration?”
Additional Information
Do you have a completed paper, a thesis project, or a work-in-progress that you would like to share and receive feedback from your peers, faculty, and community members, all while gaining valuable presentation experience?
Undergraduate majors and minors in Comparative/Religious Studies, as well as non-majors/minors who are writing papers for
Comparative/Religious Studies courses, are encouraged to submit a proposal for consideration in this year’s Colloquium. Join us in celebrating the variety of work being done in the department!
Presenters will be provided with a faculty or graduate student advisor who will help them prepare. Presenters should expect:
- A group practice session with graduate student mentors to rehearse presentation material.
- A presentation time of 10 minutes, regardless of presentation type (thesis, completed course paper, work-in-progress).
Proposals with a 250-word limit were due by 12pm on Monday, March 9th.
For further questions regarding the Colloquium, please contact:
- Isaac Weiner(.141, Faculty Organizer)
- Mark Anthony Arceno(.1, Senior Academic Program Coordinator)