Record Number of Baruch Students Present Their Research at Premier Global Conference
Event showcases the best undergraduate research from around the worldNovember 3, 2021

Fatou Diop was one of 23 Baruch students who participated in the 2021 International Conference of Undergraduate Research speaking about “The Witch Hunt in Scotland during the 16-17th Century.”
A record number of Baruch College students, 23, presented their research to a wide-reaching global audience at the ninth International Conference of Undergraduate Research (ICUR).
The annual event—which this year brought together 595 student presenters, representing 14 institutions from 12 countries in five continents—showcases the best in undergraduate research from around the world via remote conferencing technology and its own app.
The College’s 23 students, who are pursuing different majors and interests, come from Baruch’s three schools: the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, and Zicklin School of Business. Their individual or team research projects delved into various fascinating and timely topics, such as “The Roaring 20s: How Women’s Social Progress Extends to Women Lawyers” to “Transforming Mental Health Crisis Responses in New York City” to “Bitcoin: The Pioneer of Cryptocurrency with a Limited Dream.”
The ICUR Experience: Builds Confidences and Careers
According to Katherine Pence, PhD, associate professor of history, director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Baruch’s Weissman School, and the campus organizer of the annual event, this high-profile global research event brings significant personal and even professional benefits to students.
“By participating in this conference, students gain confidence in their own expertise and ability to thrive within a community of international colleagues, which helps professionalize them for graduate school and careers,” says Professor Pence. “Student presenters overwhelmingly have thought ICUR helped them improve their skills and prepared them for future study and careers. Along with Baruch’s Critical Inquiry Day in the spring, ICUR has played a major role in celebrating the excellent research conducted by undergraduates in Weissman, Zicklin, and Marxe schools. One student praised the conference for offering the chance to ‘interact with international students whose love for knowledge was as passionate as mine.’”
Bitcoins to Bengali Culture: Hear from Two Baruch Students
The research presentations from Anna Gellerman, an operations management major, and Maheya Jasin Afnan, an international marketing major, show the breadth of topics from the Baruch students.
For Gellerman, her focus stemmed from a personal interest: Bitcoin.
“I spent a long time researching cryptocurrency on my own and wanted to share my knowledge, especially as crypto got a surge in popularity and exposure,” she says. “I chose Bitcoin specifically because it is the biggest cryptocurrency on the market. A lot of news recently came out highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of Bitcoin on a large scale, and modern news showed more businesses accepting Bitcoin, such as PayPal, AMC, and even fast-food chains.”
Gellerman adds, “I believe everyone should become acquainted with cryptocurrency, as it is our future. But with exposure, we must learn the limitations of virtual coins, as well as how to use them to scale up our assets.”
A Weissman School professor inspired Afnan to participate in the ICUR with the encouraging words “your research has the potential to reach many people, even those outside of Baruch College would be interested in it.”
Afnan, who grew up in a small village in Bangladesh, India, researched how personal address terms in her hometown shape relationships and reinforce gender and social status of the speaker and the addressee.
“I chose this research topic to show unique cultural differences but also to highlight the diverse existing connection of different communities,” says Afnan. “My future goal is to get an MBA in communication, and I believe this event will help me in creating that foundation and establishing the fact that it is important for anyone to understand cultural differences if they work or interact in multicultural contexts.”
Baruch and ICUR
Baruch students have taken part in ICUR since 2014. Besides University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and Monash University in Australia—who are the host institutions that organize ICUR—Baruch is the longest-running participant in the conference alongside NTU Singapore.
Baruch College’s Office of the Provost financially supported the institution’s participation in this event, with Dr. Katherine Pence serving as coordinator.
ICUR uses remote conferencing technology and its own app to connect students in all fields of study across continents at no financial cost to them. This unique international conference offers undergraduates an exciting forum to present their own research and to share ideas with peers around the world.
Baruch College Presenters: Their Projects and Majors
- Maheya Afnan (’21), international marketing, Zicklin School
- “Complicated Address Terms of Bengali Language”
- Lillianne Bornstein (’23), history, Weissman School
- “How British Women Have Been Taught to be Women”
- Irene Bougatsos (’21), history and human resources management, Weissman and Zicklin Schools
- “Athenian vs. Spartan Women: War and Death”
- Gar Bi Chan (’24), financial mathematics, Weissman School
- “Ranked Choice Voting in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community”
- Fatou Diop (’22), political science, Weissman School
- “The Witch Hunt in Scotland during the 16-17th Century’
- Andrew Elvir, biological sciences, Weissman School
- “Healthy Hands: The Ultimate Eczema Glove”
- Emma Fetman (’24), natural sciences, Weissman School
- “Ranked Choice Voting in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community”
- Anna Gellerman (’23), operations management, Zicklin School
- “Bitcoin: The Pioneer of Cryptocurrency with a Limited Dream”
- Mana Hashimoto (’21), industrial and organizational psychology, Zicklin School
- “Assessing the Effects of Disability Visibility and Disclosure Timing on Hiring Decisions for an Asynchronous Video Interview”
- Inga Keselman (’24), visual arts administration, Weissman School
- “Ranked Choice Voting in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community”
- Anne McDonnell (’21), industrial and organizational psychology, Zicklin School
- “Assessing the Effects of Disability Visibility and Disclosure Timing on Hiring Decisions for an Asynchronous Video Interview”
- Daniel Mesa (’22), psychology, Weissman School
- “Secondary Control and Depression in Adulthood: The Role of Age and Gender”
- Mukhsina Nurilloeva (’21), computer information systems and accounting, Zicklin School
- “Predicting Restaurant Resiliency in New York Using Yelp Data”
- Pabvitraa Ramcharan (’21), political science and economics, Weissman School
- “Neo-Extracting Gilded Welfare States: A Comparative Study of Extractivism and Latin American Welfare State Formation”
- Margaux Ramee (’21), political science, Weissman School
- “The Social Contract Theory in the Face of Empirical Morality: Integration and Its Consequences”
- Jenna Saif (’24), history, Weissman School
- “The Roaring 20s: How Women’s Social Progress Extends to Women Lawyers”
- Aleksandr Sigalus (’21), history, Weissman School
- “Kodak Advertisements and Formation of the Modern Woman”
- Edward Stehr, history, Weissman School
- “A Gendered Revolution: The American Revolution and its Effects on Women’s Gender Roles”
- Geetanjali Sugrim (’21), industrial and organizational psychology, Zicklin School
- “Hiring Candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Effects of Diagnostic Disclosure and Presence of ASD Behaviors on Employability Ratings”
- Nusrat Tahera (’21), computer information systems, Zicklin School
- “Predicting Restaurant Resiliency in New York Using Yelp Data”
- Sadat Tashin (’21), history, Weissman School
- “Under the Big Apple: A Historical Study of the Early Decades of Operation of the New York Aquarium”
- Deana K. Yu (’21), public affairs, Marxe School
- “Transforming Mental Health Crises Responses in New York City”
- Benjamin Zheng (’23), finance, Zicklin School
- “Bitcoin: The Pioneer of Cryptocurrency with a Limited Dream”
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