Graduate

Hometown: Concord, Massachusetts 

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? My favorite course I’ve taken at BC was Dr. Hilary Palevsky’s Environmental Data Analysis and Exploration. This course is fundamental to my Ph.D. research, and it has enabled me to ask interesting research questions using a variety of oceanographic data. I had the privilege to support the course the following year as a Teaching Assistant. In doing so, I was able to help other graduate and undergraduate students develop their analytical abilities while I gained valuable teaching skills. 

What has made Morrissey College a good fit for you? Morrissey College has provided me with a community of researchers who are driven and engaged in the work that they are doing, which both inspires and supports my own research. The professors, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students in my department conduct research across a wide range of topics, yet they still create a cohesive community where everyone can discuss what they're working on and get feedback and ideas. The college has additionally shown itself to be a good fit for my graduate education through the many guest lecturers who present their research and expertise, and the development of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. 

Hometown: I grew up in the small, rural town of Lugoff, South Carolina. However, I have spent a considerable amount of time in Charleston, SC over the last several years and feel it would be wrong to not acknowledge that it occupies a special place in my heart.

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? I am currently going into my second year as a Behavioral Neuroscience Ph.D. student, and while I still have a long way to go in terms of learning and experience, I would have to say that my favorite research experience, thus far, has been getting adjusted to the culture of my lab. Our undergrads, including the ones who have just graduated, the ones who are still with us, and our new members, have all been so helpful in keeping our lab held together with their unique and friendly personalities. They’re incredibly genuine and enthusiastic about the things we do in lab, and we truly could not function without them. The other members of our lab, including my fellow grad student, our two post-docs, and my advisor, have all continually made it clear that I am incredibly fortunate to be part of such a supportive and enriching lab environment. I look forward to working more closely with everyone and getting to learn more about their research interests as I progress through my own research (which is also pretty exciting, if I do say so myself!).

What has made Morrissey College a good fit for you? Truthfully, I think that the size of Morrissey College is what makes it a good fit for my graduate education. The smaller size of the College, particularly in terms of my department, allows for me to feel as though I am truly supported by everyone around me. I have no doubts that every member of our faculty wants to see me, as well as my peers, succeed, in whatever way we define “success.” I can say, with confidence, that the research community here is one of the best there is. It is hard to find a research community, particularly within the STEM field, that is genuine about their mission to increase diversity while not sacrificing the quality of research that is produced. It’s difficult to find programs where diversity is not listed as a priority; however, it is much harder to find programs where it can actually be seen that an increase in diversity is something everyone is willing to fight for. All of that is to say that, in a word, the kind of community I have found here at BC is supportive. And truly, I would not want to have it any other way.

Hometown:  Glenside, Pennsylvania 

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? As a doctoral student in the Theology Department's new Catholic Health Care track, I have had the unique opportunity to integrate theory and practice through clinical ethics internships at local medical facilities. These internships have exposed me to the real world challenges that hospital staff face as they seek to provide humane and compassionate care to their patients. My internship at Carney Hospital, for example, provided the perfect complement to a course I was taking at the time in end-of-life ethics. The experience enabled to see how abstract ethical principles were concretely operationalized at the bedside to honor and uphold the dignity of individuals facing their final days of life. 

What has made Morrissey College a good fit for you? Without a doubt, the faculty in my department have made Boston College the perfect place for me to pursue doctoral studies. I chose BC's theology program because I could genuinely see myself working with any ethics faculty member on a dissertation project. Sure enough, throughout my time at BC, each of my professors has provided generous feedback on my work, assisted me in getting papers ready for conferences and publications, and respected me as an emerging colleague in the field. Perhaps my favorite part of the program is our biweekly colloquium, in which professors and graduate students gather to offer feedback on each other's work. This experience has not only provided an outlet for professional development; it has also cultivated a distinctive spirit of collegiality that has enabled me to feel at home at BC. 

Hometown: Barrington, Rhode Island

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? The process of writing my forthcoming book, Design and the Social Imagination, has been an incredibly rewarding research experience. In the course of writing I had the chance to reflect on the last ten years of my teaching, research, and practice within and outside of universities, from the context of what I have learned in my sociology graduate education at Boston College. The book explores the relevance of design to sociological practice, and the significance of sociological research and theory for design practice. It is part of a new series from Bloomsbury called Designing in Dark Times, which looks at the potential of design to address present day systemic, social, economic, political and environmental challenges. I've learned a great deal from the series editors and peer reviewers in this process, which has allowed me to see some of my experiences in a new light. 

What kind of community have you found here at BC? I have especially found community through my work as an instructor and coordinator for the Inside-Out Program, which I helped to develop at Boston College. In addition to professional education workshops and public events, the program involves a semester-long academic course in the Sociology Department that brings together undergraduate students with incarcerated students to study at the Suffolk County House of Correction in Boston. The sense of community among those in the program, who learn together across profound social divides, has been inspiring. Because so many participants stay connected to the program, I have had the chance to collaborate with many of my former students on research projects and events. This work with the Inside-Out Program has also given me the chance to meet faculty and staff across campus who I would not have met otherwise, from the Woods College of Advancing Studies to the Lynch School of Education and Human Development and the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. 

Hometown: South Kingstown, RI 

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? My favorite courses at BC have been Modern Organic Synthesis I and II. These courses highlighted the importance of creativity in synthesis and critical analysis of synthetic approaches, which are key aspects of becoming a discerning chemist in the field. The first semester of this foundational course set me up with the fundamental skills and critical thinking strategies that I rely on daily and will continue to use throughout my career. The second semester gave us the opportunity to apply these skills by proposing our own creative solutions to total synthesis challenges we may face in the next stages of our careers, whether in industry or academia.

What kind of community have you found here at BC? I have found an extremely collaborative community in the BC Chemistry Department. Other students, staff, and faculty will actively go out of their way to help their colleagues both personally and professionally. The department also encourages students to grow as professionals as part of their graduate education by placing a strong emphasis on scientific communication. The department has implemented courses in scientific communication and opportunities for students to practice presenting their work with a broader audience, which is essential for professional life after graduation. 

Hometown:  Langley, British Columbia

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? My research is shaped completely by my professors and their willingness to mentor me in my interests. One obvious instance of this was an independent study I did with my advisor Richard Kearney, culminating in me presenting my research on psychoanalysis and religion in Rome.

In the classroom, my two favorite experiences have been sitting in on two senior undergraduate and graduate hybrid courses on Freud with Professors Bloechl and Rumble: Civilization and its Discontents, and Freud and Philosophy, respectively. I love the undergraduates at BC, and hearing how they work through philosophical questions and working with them is by far the most impactful learning experience I've had during my Ph.D.

What has made Morrissey College and the BC community a good fit for you? It's obvious Morrissey College is invested in higher education in the humanities. I've been able to host and fund three conferences on research with scholars from around the world. Boston College has an incredible history of theologians and philosophers, and everyone I've met here is so eager to take advantage of that and grow our research and community. The faculty in my department are brilliant, understanding, and engaged in student life, and our graduate students are multi-faceted with diverse interests. Deciding to come to BC to research philosophy was, for me, an easy decision.

Hometown:  Oak Park, IL

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? Although I'm a graduate student in the History Department, my most impactful class at BC so far was "Gender, Race, and Ethics" with Dr. Christina McRorie in the School of Theology and Ministry. This class was particularly special because I'd never taken a class in the School of Theology and Ministry before. That alone meant I was being introduced to new perspectives and ideas from both the scholars we read in the class and my classmates. I really valued feeling like I could bring my own training into the classroom, but I was also invited to think beyond the usual lines of my discipline and was helpfully challenged to consider some of my own ideas and opinions more deeply.

This class was also meaningful because my research focuses on transnational commercial surrogacy, and while gender and race are two clear lines of historical analysis I also wanted to engage more deeply with the complicated ethics that surround commercial surrogacy. Being able to think holistically about commercial surrogacy, its history, and current place in the world and real people's lives was especially important to me, and by taking this class I felt like I became more adept at having what are sensitive and sometimes tricky conversations.

What has made Morrissey College and the BC community a good fit for you? Morrissey College and the BC community as a whole have been a great fit for me because I have met so many people across many departments who have become not only good friends and mentors but have also helped me to learn more than I could have ever possibly done on my own. The opportunities I've been provided through research, graduate workshops, travel, lectures and campus events, and conversations over coffee at the Chocolate Bar are too many to count and are truly because of the generosity and excellent scholarship of others that I've simply been lucky to benefit from. My own thinking has without a doubt been enriched by all of the people I've met at Morrissey College and the Clough Center as a Doctoral Fellow, and I'm grateful that I still have at least a few more years of my program so I can continue to meet new people and build upon the work I've done with others.

Hometown:  Los Angeles, California

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? My most memorable course to date has been a graduate seminar devoted to Blaise Pascal’s Pensées, in very large part because the course typified what has made my experience at Boston College so great: a small group of dedicated, eager students who convene for the purpose of arriving at a greater understanding of the most fundamental questions. The course brought together not only colleagues from my department but also students from other departments. It became a very real example of the benefits that accrue when we break out of our disciplinary silos—an interdisciplinarity that Boston College does so well to foster. And yet the experience was remarkable not because it was an exception but because it was such a good instance of the sort of educational environment I’ve come to expect at Boston College.

What has made Morrissey College and the BC community a good fit for you? Boston College has been a particularly good fit for me because, besides the many virtues of the Political Science department, Morrissey College and the University itself are the right sizes to warrant the name “communities.” Rather than feeling lost amid a massive, sprawling administration and institution, I, as a student, am at ease in navigating the resources at my disposal or in connecting with whomever I need to speak, whether within my department or the University as a whole. This is one of Boston College’s distinct advantages.

Hometown:  Newton, Massachusetts

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? Professor Christina Klein’s Issues and Methods in American Studies is the most impactful class I have taken at BC. Professor Klein’s course challenged me to reimagine the way I approached scholarly analysis. Throughout the course, she modeled methodically different ways of crafting an argument while offering us a toolkit of skills we could deploy in our own scholarship. Her class emboldened me to more fully explore the extent to which historical awareness can illuminate American literature and culture. During the last year, as I traveled to archives around New England and Japan while completing my dissertation, I continually reflected on the advice I learned in her course as I refined my research.

What has made Morrissey College and the BC community a good fit for you? I was drawn to Morrissey College because of its dedication to innovative scholarship. As an M.A. student, the Boston College English Department deepened my analytical skills and strengthened the methodological foundation of my research. For my Ph.D., I returned to BC not only because of the faculty's world-class scholarship but also because of the creative and supportive nature of the Department. BC's English Department is a place where students can take risks and deeply explore unique topics. At BC, the faculty encourages students to pursue innovative, interdisciplinary work, and the Ph.D. program prioritizes students' intellectual development. I have also valued how the Department makes space for students to focus on their research and coursework. In addition, BC supports its Ph.D. students as they learn to design and teach a range of courses. Throughout my time at BC, I've had the opportunity to teach courses from a first-year writing seminar to an upper-level elective on New England history and culture.

Hometown:  Kerala, India

What has been your most impactful research experience or class so far at BC? My interactions with my advisors have been the most impactful part of my experience at BC so far. They have been very generous with their time and effort. The discussions that we engage in are detail-oriented and have helped me immensely. The environment is always positive and approachable, yet highly professional. My colleagues are also very helpful for collaborations and discussions enhancing the research process.

What has made Morrissey College and the BC community a good fit for you? The activities and experiences the BC Grad Student Association and OISS organize to bring students together stand out to me. I got to experience the famous Boston duck tour as part of the BC community. There was also an event called 'Study by the Sea' that took a few of us grad students for an overnight stay at a quiet, beautiful house where we could work and enjoy nature with other grad students. These and many more such experiences have been truly invaluable highlights at Boston College. I am grateful to be part of the BC community.