Brilliance and talent shine at the All-College Symposium
Nearly 200 seniors presented the results of their transformative academic experiences during the daylong event
Sam Boehm ’24 can pinpoint the exact day his varied interests converged into the makings of a research project that has shaped and inspired his academic journey at Connecticut College.
He’s been studying Spanish since middle school, and, as a varsity athlete who has suffered quite a few broken bones, he came to college with an interest in healthcare and an affinity for practitioners committed to helping people return to the activities they love. At Conn, he declared a double major in neuroscience and Hispanic studies and joined Conn’s Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts (CISLA). Then, while he studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, his cohort took a one-day trip to the Mapuche Nation reservation.
“We learned about Mapuche medicinal practices and the Indigenous healers, the Machis,” Boehm told faculty, staff and students gathered to hear his presentation at Conn’s fifth annual All-College Symposium on Nov. 2. “We were able to talk with members of the nation, and I asked, ‘What are the experiences of the people of the Mapuche Nation who need to seek care outside of the Indigenous environment and in the Western medicinal sphere? What are those relationships are like?’”
That experience led Boehm to his animating question, “How can healthcare practitioners improve their quality of care through intercultural competencies?” and spurred his senior integrative research project on the intersection of Indigenous and Western medicine.
Boehm was one of nearly 200 seniors who presented at the daylong Symposium, the culminating Connections conference highlighting students’ integrative learning through four years. In talks, panels and poster sessions, the student presenters showcased the connections they have made among their courses and research, their jobs and internships, and their work in local communities and around the globe—along with the questions that animated their choices.
Boehm, who interned at the Centro de Estudios en Neurociencia Humana y Neuropsicologia, where he conducted neuroscience research, recently submitted a journal article for publication—written entirely in Spanish.
“I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but to be a first author on a research paper before I graduate is very exciting,” he said. Boehm, who is also part of Conn’s pre-health program, plans to pursue a master’s degree in public health and study to become a physician assistant. “My ultimate goal is to be a bilingual practitioner,” he said.
Watch more videos in the Making Connections series.
In their presentations, Boehm’s fellow seniors covered a broad range of topics, including data privacy rights, the global algae crisis, representation of women in the labor force, loopholes in the EU’s national security policies, the hidden social costs of the Peruvian mining industry, architecture’s impact on accessibility, tech solution for inclusive learning, micro-financing in Ecuador, mental health access in the juvenile justice system, artificial intelligence in marketing, racial disparities in dermatology education, and the role of chemistry in food research and development.
Interim President Les Wong said attending his first Symposium was “really quite special.”
“So much of what I saw today wasn’t just about your work, but about your work on behalf of other people. That is what a good education does, and you are the best image and icon of that ideal,” he told the students at an end-of-the-day gathering in Shain Library. “There is hope, there is dignity and there is great pride in what you will do.”
In her remarks, Dean of the College Erika J. Smith said the Symposium represents “an amazing celebration of the incredible intellectual and creative power” at Conn.
“Today was a day that really allowed all of the brilliance and talent that is inside each and every one of you to shine brightly,” she told the seniors.
