Conference Call

“The Morocco conference is on!” Hannah Rauch ’19 was astounded when the email arrived from her Honors Program adviser: She would be the sole undergraduate student, among doctoral candidates and faculty members worldwide, to present at the International Conference on Academic and Business Collaboration Across Borders.

“It was a surreal moment,” says Rauch, a Finance major and French minor whose adviser was Associate Professor of Modern Languages Jane Tchäicha. The two traveled to the city of Casablanca in April.

The research that Rauch presented looked at women as business leaders in France and in the French-speaking countries of North Africa (the Maghreb). Her findings suggest that women’s presence in business is strongly related to culture, those of both the country itself and the companies that operate there.

Rauch’s trip was funded by United Technologies Corporation, a longtime supporter of Bentley’s Honors Program. This year the company also sent eight students to the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Boston and three to the Northeast Honors Council Conference in Baltimore.

The Maryland trio, all seniors, presented their original research: Adina Sklar (“Social Media Use and Spending”), Jenna Plotzky (“Educating the Auditor of the Future”) and Astrid Valentin (“The Rise of Singapore and Fall of Argentina in the 20th Century”).

At the Boston conference, students attended workshops and poster presentations and networked with fellow honors students from around the world. Most impressive to them: faculty research on everything from edible landscapes to cybersecurity at the mythical Hogwarts; an inspiring talk by poet Nikki Giovanni; and ideas for boosting their home program, such as student-led classes.

“All students have the ability to work above and beyond,” says Associate Professor Christian Rubio, who directs the Honors Program. As the next conference season approaches, he hopes more students can attend “to push their intellectual curiosity and get to that next level.”