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Joe Maalouf ’23, Ashlyn Gaulin ’23, and Kate Burnham ’23
 Kate Burnham ’23 won the top prize in the Oral Communication Center’s Three Minute Thesis competition on April 29.

The sociology major spoke on the topic What Does it Mean to be Spicy Smart? Elucidating the Experiences of Students with Learning Disabilities at an Academically Rigorous College.

Open to all members of the senior class, the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition offers cash prizes to students who can most effectively summarize their senior research projects in three minutes or fewer. Further, participants must tailor their explanations to a broad audience.

Biology major Ashlyn Gaulin ’23 took second place with her topic Invasive amphipod transportation in Ireland, and world politics major Joe Maalouf ’23 won  third with Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Analyzing Export Trends During War. First, second, and third place were determined by a panel of judges from the Clinton and Utica area. Gaulin also won the People’s Choice Award, which goes to the speaker with the most audience votes.

Express Yourself

The ability to speak and write in a clear, organized, and effective way is a central part of the liberal arts education at Hamilton College. The Oral Communication Center’s mission is to support the development of students’ speaking abilities.Callout Description

Hamilton is one of only a few undergraduate institutions that sponsors the competition. Three Minute Thesis traditionally “celebrates the exciting research conducted by Ph.D. students. Developed by the University of Queensland, the exercise cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills.”

Funding for the 3MT at Hamilton comes from the Ferguson Endowment, which advances oral communication across campus.

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