Upcoming: Seniors Showcasing

“A Celebration of Scholarly and Artistic Excellence Across the Liberal Arts”
By Eugene Truong

Senior Showcase is taking place on Tuesday, April 17th, with presentations by members of the Class of 2018. The event, which spans for 2 hours, will be held at the C. J. Rodman Center for the Arts.

Amy Rachuba, Ripon College’s assistant librarian and an organizer of this year’s Senior Showcase, summarized the occasion and its specific features. Thirty seniors, nominated by their department’s professors, will be introducing their work in the forms of oral presentations, poster displays and artistic performances.

Each presentation will take approximately 15 minutes and will be judged by pre-selected students from the junior class. A Q&A session with the audience will also follow each presentation. Staff from respective departments will also be present to moderate presentations and decide on the winners of the night.

Justine Jacobsen, nominee of the Religion department, expects “a lot of” questions from enthusiastic audiences. However, given the constrained time budget, she is not too concerned if the questioning time runs out and expresses willingness to answer to any interested spectator.

“Whatever they want to ask me about it [the presentation], I’m sure I’m happy to talk about to them about it…” she comments.

Jacobsen, whose gallery will be on display during the showcase, examines “divine gifts” of Christianity and whether or not they still remain viable in the modern world.

Benjamin Wozniczka, from the department of Politics and Government, has studied the history of the Republican Party in depth. He will deliver a slideshow presentation demonstrating the evolution of the party from its nascent years in the mid-1850s to its current status in American politics.

Given the nature of the occasion – high quality presentations of many forms and a potentially large audience – Jacobsen and Wozniczka both see it as a good opportunity.

“I think it’s good practice to […] talk about your research and be able to have good academic discussions,” Jacobsen said.

Wozniczka stated that having a recognized project will do nicely in the future as well. “It [the showcase] only adds to your resume. With practice doing this, you can have a better understanding at presenting to audience in the future to various audiences, not just students … It’s just good practice ultimately,” he said.

The seniors also expressed that they like the idea and purposes of Senior Showcase. Aside from the flexible choices of format, the event provides seniors with a good occasion to observe and appreciate their colleagues’ academic pursuits at their finest.

This year will mark the tenth annual Senior Showcase at Ripon. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.