William Jewell College’s annual David Nelson Duke Colloquium will be held April 23 on Zoom. A Jewell tradition, Colloquium Day is devoted to the scholarly and creative works of students who work with faculty advisors for an extended period of time in order to research and prepare for the day’s presentations.
Jewell canceled last year’s Colloquium Day due to the pandemic. While the College considered doing virtual presentations, there was not enough student interest at the time. However, this year, 28 students from a variety of majors have prepared 22 presentations. Following the morning session, participating students will hold virtual poster presentations of over 15 different topics.
The first two sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m and the third and fourth sessions at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m. keynote speaker Dr. Kirk McCullough, a 2001 Jewell allum and orthopedic surgeon, will round out the morning sessions. At 1 p.m the final three sessions will begin. The poster presentations will begin at 3 p.m., finishing out the day.
Presentations for this years Colloquium Day include, “The Efficacy of the Head Start Program on School Readiness” by Lillian Frevert, senior elementary education and ACT-IN major; “The Consequences of a Failed Reconciliation” by Jack Still, senior economics and political science major; and “Relationship of Atrial Fibrillation and Cognitive Decline” by Alycia Shepherd, sophomore nursing major.
The final oral presentation of the day, beginning at 2 p.m., will be “Slavery, Memory, and Justice at William Jewell College,” in which a research group made up in part by Dr. Christopher Wilkins’ HIS 204: Slavery, Memory, and Justice students will outline their recent discoveries concerning Jewell’s founders’ slaveholding past.
Poster presentations will also cover a variety of topics, including Angela Lenhartd’s, senior nursing student, “Importance of Early Diagnosis in Turner Syndrome Patients” and Christina Kirk, senior Oxbridge institutions and policy and international relations major, “The Role of Quantum Dots in Detecting and Treating SARS-CoV-2.”
To allow students adequate time to present and attend, all Friday classes were moved to the day before. Since this year’s Colloquium is virtual, anyone from the Jewell community and beyond can attend.
The full event schedule, Zoom links, presentation details and other information can be found on Jewell’s website.