In February 2019 I had the opportunity to represent Wake Forest at the 2019 Pi Sigma Alpha National Student Research Conference in Washington, DC. The conference featured research presentations from nearly 100 undergraduate students from universities across the country along with informational panels led by industry experts. Students presented their research to conference attendees and graduate student commentators in panels of four presenters grouped according to general topic – International Relations and Comparative Politics, American Politics, Political Theory, and Public Policy.
I presented a research paper entitled “Israel as Both a Jewish and a Democratic State: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Israel’s Democratic Institutions at Ensuring Arab Minority Representation in the National Government,” during an International Relations panel focused on the Middle East. My panel’s discussant, a graduate student at George Washington University, provided valuable insights and critiques on my research and suggested areas to expand my paper, which I hope to apply to future research on this topic.
The conference’s lunchtime speaker was Major Garrett, Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News and host of the podcast, “The Takeout.” His talk offered great insights on research and reporting in Washington, connecting our work as undergraduate researchers with professional work in politics and government.
I am so grateful to have had the privilege of presenting my semester-long research paper alongside three other undergraduate women to an audience of student presenters from across the country. Thank you to my professors and to the Department of Politics and International Affairs for supporting my research and making this possible. I am looking forward to continuing research on this topic in the future.