By Clay Parham

Undergraduate conferences are an interesting thing. Since most of the work we do during our undergraduate is only seen by one or two people, the kind of critical analysis that is vital for truly understanding a topic seldom comes. There exists the importance of undergraduate conferences. The Claremont-UC Undergraduate Conference on the European Union placed me on a panel with 3 other undergraduate experts on far-right nationalism in Germany.

Clay Parham and Lauren McLane both presented at the Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union in April 2019.

We each approached the topic from a different lens: mine was a comparative review of ethnic conflict in Germany, one student analyzed the rhetorical construction of far-right political advertisements, another looked at the historical success of the far-right in Germany, and the final student had a brilliant analysis of the far-right’s impact throughout Central Europe. The following discussion was enlightening for myself and for the attendees of the conference.

Additionally, conferences such as these give undergraduate students potential publishing opportunities. In fact, this conference publishes in a yearly journal the 10 best papers presented during the conference. I was fortunate to receive that honor (look for Comparative Models in German Elections: Using the German Far-Right Party as a Proxy for Ethnic Conflict in a JSTOR near you). I am thankful that Baylor and the International Studies program allowed me the opportunity to attend this conference. Without their support, I would not have been able to go. They remain committed to helping showcase the undergraduate research conducted at our university.

Clay Parham (‘19) is an International Studies major from Buda, TX. He studies the contemporary far-right populism in Germany. He hopes to join the United States Department of State upon completion of his Fulbright ETA to Germany.