Roanoke College Junior, Tiara Mehic, recently presented her paper, “Kant’s Just War Theory”, at the George Washington University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference in Washington, DC earlier this month. This is Tiara’s first year doing research at Roanoke but her second time presenting. This past November she also presented at Sweet Briar College along with other students from Roanoke.
Tiara had never considered getting involved in research at Roanoke until a professor suggested the idea to her. “The paper I presented at the conference had been a term paper I wrote for Professor Wisnefske a year ago, and I was so passionate about the subject that I was excited to present it to an audience” she explains. Dr. Ned Wisnefske was her faculty mentor and she stated that he “was very helpful in guiding me in the right direction when I explained what I wanted to write about as well as answering any questions I had pertaining to the material.”
Tiara’s research paper was about Kant’s Just War Theory where she argued that “Kant was a Just War Theorist by setting up his Theory of Morality, Theory of Justice, establishing grounds for pacifism and realism, explaining Traditional Just War Theory and finally comparing it to Kant’s Just War Theory.” The paper took about two months for her to complete it and following that she submitted it to the Philosophy Club at George Washington University. Tiara was one of only nine participants chosen to present at this conference and the only one from Roanoke.
For students considering research, Tiara advises to definitely get involved. “It is a great experience to present your own work and be able to defend your position/research. The fact that you’re willing to present your research looks especially good on resumes. And the connections you make along the way aren’t bad either. I’ve made friends at these conferences, I’ve been able to stand in front of an audience and answer difficult questions about my research, I’ve been able to gain experience, and none of that would have been possible unless I made the effort to try.”