Yesterday, I went to the Law at the Fault Lines conference (which was live tweeted) that was held in the Frank Blue Room. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay for very long, but I did manage to catch the Gender and the Law panel. My personal favorite presentation was by Rebecca Hamlin (Political Science, Grinnell) titled Asylum for Women: Reading Gender into the Refugee Definition. This was particularly interesting for me, as she compared the refugee processes of Canada, the United States, and Australia. (If you didn’t know, I’m from Sydney.) This is definitely a salient political issue in Sydney, and was interesting to hear a different academic perspective.
I’ve been making an effort to actually attend some of the many academic talks, conferences, and events held on campus. Last semester, I know I would notice posters or flyers for events that looked really interesting, but would never get around to actually attending them. One of the great things about being at the Claremont Colleges is that not only are there events at Pomona to attend, but I can also go to talks on all the other campuses. I made it to the Atheneum on Claremont McKenna’s campus a few weeks ago for the first time for a lunchtime talk on Constitutional law and same-sex marriage. I’ve really enjoyed being able to explore my academic interests in a setting outside the classroom, especially when I’m still not 100% sure what I want to major in. It’s been a great way to explore different interests.