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Showing posts from May, 2019

Association for the Study of Nationalities Conference in New York

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I was fortunate to present a different chapter of my book manuscript Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia at the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) in New York. This conference was special because I presented my research on a panel The Eurasian Migration System panel with my writing group colleagues. It was also my first ASN conference and I enjoyed the social science panels coupled with the film and book panels so I will definitely be back! 

Celebration of Scholarship Poster Symposium at Millikin

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Human Trafficking Research Lab Assistant Julisa presented our research at the 2020 Celebration of Scholarship Poster Symposium at Millikin. Her speech and poster were so impressive that she was awarded third prize in the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Judith & G. Richard Locke Poster Awards. This award is especially significant given the nascent research at our lab and the fact that she was the only social science award winner competing against mostly hard science students. Way to go Julisa!

REECAS Northwest Conference in Seattle

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While my students were presenting their own research, I was presenting a chapter of my book manuscript Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia at REECAS Northwest, the annual ASEEES Northwest Regional Conference for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. This was the first academic conference that I presented my research at back in 2005 and it was great to be back at my alma mater celebrating 25 years of Baltic Studies and disusing my forthcoming book on human trafficking! 

Winning Third Place at Millikin's 2019 Celebration of Scholarship Poster Symposium

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The unbelievable happened! I won third place at the Poster Symposium, which was a first for the Political Science department at Millikin! Despite being a little unprepared due to having to work and also having to present my senior thesis project that same morning I was able to impress the judges so much that they awarded us a third place ribbon and cash award prize! I had an amazing time explaining to everyone that approached me what our findings were and the importance of the research matter. Most of the people I explained our research to were unaware of the countywide efforts the United States government has been funding since the early 2000s and I was proud to be able to provide them with that information. I felt as if I was extremely prepared despite not having any notecards to rely on because of the numerous presentations given before the poster symposium. My conversation with the judges was engaging and I could tell they were really interested in the research topic bec