English majors represent New Paltz at Mount Saint Vincent undergraduate conference

SUNY New Paltz students Andrea Bialosuknia ’19 (English) and Gabriella Pomata ’18 (English, Communication Studies) presented original research at the third annual Hudson Valley Medieval and Early Modern Undergraduate Symposium, hosted this spring at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Bronx, N.Y.

With support from faculty in the English Department, Pomata and Bialosuknia took advantage of a unique opportunity to showcase undergraduate scholarship, at a time when graduate programs are increasingly on the lookout for applicants who have research and conference experience.

“The event was well organized, the papers serious, and the general feel of the day really positive for the young scholars who attended, many of whom were presenting their work for the first time in public,” said Associate Professor of English Thomas Olsen, who made the trip from New Paltz to the Symposium to moderate a panel on Materiality and Elite Culture.

Bialosuknia presented her paper, “‘Crooked Figures’: Personal and Political Performance in Shakespeare’s Hendriad,” as a member of a panel on Identity and Performance. Pomata’s presentation, “Hamlet’s Undiscovered Country,” was part of a panel on Christianity and Conflict.

“Andrea and Gabby both presented wonderfully insightful, mature, crafted arguments, and both did so with the kind of professionalism and confidence that one ordinarily sees in mature graduate students or even faculty,” Olsen said.

The English Department at SUNY New Paltz frequently supports undergraduate and graduate students as they attend and prepare to present at disciplinary conferences all around the world.

The department also hosts a themed Graduate Symposium on campus each spring; this year’s installment, titled “Flexible Forms” will take place on Friday, April 21, beginning at 2 p.m. at the College Terrace. The symposium will feature eight presentations of graduate student work, and a keynote address by Caroline Levine, the Ryan Professor of Humanities at Cornell University, at 7 p.m.

Follow this link to learn more about English at SUNY New Paltz.