Two students in the McNair Scholars Program at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder won top prizes in the oral presentation competition at the Fourth Annual Rocky Mountain McNair Scholars Research Symposium and Graduate Education Conference.
More than 170 people from 21 schools came to share information and network about graduate education at the conference that was sponsored by CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming.
Christina Martinez, a native of Rockville, Maryland, and a junior majoring in political science, won the first place award for her oral presentation titled "Capital Controls in Response to Currency Crisis."
Her research seeks to identify the best public policy tool for the prevention and management of currency crises at domestic and international levels, and a realistic outlook for implementation. Martinez's faculty mentor is Professor Keith Maskus of the economics department.
Joe Zerber, a junior from Pensacola, Fla., majoring in history, won the third place award for his oral presentation, "Humanist Criticism of Late Medieval Scholasticism as a Preparation for Martin Luther and Reformation."
He uses satire as a medium to explore how the humanists used literary methods to attack scholastic theologians. Zerber's faculty mentor is Professor Padraic Kenney of the history department.
The program is named after Ronald. E. McNair, an African-American astronaut whose second mission on the Challenger ended in a fatal explosion in 1986.
"On behalf of the Student Academic Services Center and the McNair Scholars program, we are pleased to announce this recognition of two of our promising scholars," said Ramona Beal, McNair director. "In the spirit of fallen astronaut Ronald E. McNair, they braved this new challenge with a high degree of interest and energy. This approach helped them overcome obstacles to establishing a solid foundation for their research. We congratulate Christina and Joe as they embark on their new future in academics."
Both students found that the McNair program was instrumental to their pursuit of higher education.
"The McNair Program has become for me a catapult, launching my already intense academic studies into an accelerated quest for expertise in my field, international economic policy," Martinez said. "Combining my diligence and curiosity with McNair encouragement, advising, lectures, workshops, and faculty mentoring has made learning deliberate, challenging, and exciting."
Zerber said that he knows that as a history major it will be necessary for him to get a Ph.D. in order to teach on the graduate level, where he can continue his own learning as well.
"My greatest fear in relation to my undergraduate education was of not finding adequate tools to succeed in graduate school," he said. " The McNair Research Seminar is helping me to feel more comfortable with that effort."
Joe has recently applied for admission to the combined bachelor's-master's program in Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures.
The McNair Program prepares selected CU-Boulder undergraduates to study at the doctoral level. It is a federally funded program primarily designed to prepare low-income, first-generation college students to pursue the Ph.D. The program is administered by the Student Academic Services Center.
For more information stop by the McNair office in Willard 400 between 8-5 p.m., or visit the web site at .