Four Brigham Young University students — Sead Osmani, Amelia Adams, Arielle Badger Newman and James Jacquier — presented papers at the Ninth Annual Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference hosted by the European Union Center of California at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., April 7 and 8.
Although 52 papers were presented at the conference by students from institutions ranging from the University of Washington to Pennsylvania’s Mercyhurst College, only ten papers were selected for publication in the upcoming fall Conference Proceedings.
BYU's Osmani and Adams had their papers selected for publication, and Adams also won a trip to Belgium to visit the European Union headquarters.
Born in Kosovo, Osmani is a senior political science major whose paper, “The Kosovo War: NATO’s Opportunity” argues that NATO’s interest in self-preservation shaped its approach to the conflict in Kosovo. “I experienced those tense moments in my life, and I wanted to find out more about the real motives behind this war,” he said.
BYU professor Wade Jacoby suggested Osmani submit his paper to the conference. Once there, Osmani discovered the competition was fierce. “I saw other students had done really impressive work. I was honored and humbled when I found out about the chance for publication,” he said.
Adams, a recent BYU graduate and political science major, was “shocked” that her paper, “The Economic Crisis and the European Security and Defense Policy: Friends or Foes?”, was selected for publication. In her paper, she examines whether the current economic crisis is having a negative effect on Europe’s cooperative defense efforts. Of her experience, Adams said, “The process of revising, revising and revising again has taught me that rejection the first time isn’t the end.”
In addition, Adams was awarded a trip to Belgium to participate in a study group visit to the European Union headquarters. The trip is sponsored by the European Union Delegation in Washington, D.C. and the European Union Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
The other BYU papers presented were “Alien Citizens: Female Genital Mutilation and the Relationship between Citizenship and Integration in Western Europe” by James Jacquier and “‘And You Dare to Call Me a Terrorist’: The IRA and the ‘Troubles’ Through Music” from Arielle Badger Newman.
Wade Jacoby, political science professor and director of the Center for the Study of Europe at BYU, was a discussant at the conference. Keynote speaker Karel Kovanda is a former leading official in the European Commission and a visiting fellow at the European Union Center of California.
Travel expenses for the students were covered by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, the Mary Lou Fulton Chair of the College of Family Home and Social Sciences and the BYU Center for the Study of Europe.
For more information regarding European studies, contact the Center for the Study of Europe, 216 Herald R. Clark Building, at (801) 422-6277, or e-mail chris.lamoureux@byu.edu. For more information about the conference in which the papers were highlighted, visit eucenter.scrippscollege.edu/events/conference.php.
Writer: Lee Simons
