Gannon University’s College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (CHESS) and the English Department will be hosting the fourth annual CHESS Conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, on the third floor of the A.J. Palumbo Academic Center.
According to Taylor Roth, CHESS conference committee chair, the conference is run by English department graduate assistants. Roth said the conference is held to allow students from Gannon and other colleges to showcase their humanities work.
According to Roth, the theme of the conference this year will be Coming Together to Survive and Thrive, which correlates with the overarching CHESS theme of Surviving and Thriving in Uncertain Times. Roth said that the theme was used to relate to recent history.
“The English TAs decided to match the theme this year because we thought the theme was appropriate, because in recent years people of all kinds are coming together to overcome all manners of challenges, locally, nationally and globally,” she said.
“Furthermore, the theme is open to wide interpretation, which allows for different types of research and work from a variety of majors and fields.”
Roth said that the conference will allow undergraduate students to take part in an academic conference in a familiar setting.
According to Roth, some of the work that will be presented will be in the form of poetry, short stories and a one-act play. There will also be panels on the topics of leadership, world politics, education, art therapy, philosophy, local art and women in literature.
“I am really excited for this year’s conference because we have such a diverse group of panels and presenters,” she said.
“There is a little bit of something for everyone.”
According to Roth, the conference received a small sponsorship from Highmark this year.
The event will kick off with registration and a coffee service in the main commons in Palumbo from 9-9:30 a.m.
From 9:30-10 a.m., opening remarks and the keynote address will be presented by Linda Fleming, Ph.D., dean of CHESS.
Presentations will follow the opening remarks and keynote address. A discussion on Leadership and Lens of Gender will be presented by Adam Nogaj, Channa Morgan and Athar Almadanat from 10:15-11:15 a.m. in Room 3201 of the A.J. Palumbo Academic Center. Taylor Roth and Sabrina Yassem will present on Writings about Life in Room 3243 from 10:15-11:15 a.m.
From 11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m., Anissa Wardi and Lindsay Brewster will speak about Women in Literature in Room 3201.
Rebecca Willow and Katherine Wardi-Zonna will present on Caring for Mental Health in Room 3216.
A presentation on Changing Education will take place in Room 3223 by Melanie Cholewinski, Malorie Bartlett, Anne Schmitz, Nicholas Conklin and Quyen Aoh.
A lunch for presenters catered by Nunzi’s, a local Italian restaurant, will take place from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Commons. Non-presenters may join the lunch for $5 or visit one of the nearby restaurants.
From 1:45-2:45 p.m., Richard Moodey and Chris Magno will speak about Politics of the World in Room 3201.
Michael Haas and Laura Rutland will present on Poems and Performance in Room 3216.
A presentation on Learning and Leadership by Tarek Almadanat, Ray Oshop and Emmett Lombard will take place in Room 3223.
To wrap up the event, Janet Minzenberger, Tex Brieger and Rebecca Styn will present on Domains of Leadership in Room 3216 from 3-4 p.m.
Dominic Prianti III, Mariana Syrotiak and Shreelina Ghosh will speak on Giving Voice to the Unspoken in Room 3223.
In Room 3243, Roth, Jake Murzynski and Alex Wheaton will present on Writings and Writing Processes.
More information about the upcoming conference can be found at https://gannonchessconfere.wixsite.com/guchessconference.
HARLEE BOEHM
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