On Friday, April 20, 2007, the Helvidius Group hosted its first annual academic conference in the Lindsay Rodgers Room of Columbia University's International Affairs Building. The symposium, entitled At the Forefront of Undergraduate Thought: A Conference on the Political and Social Sciences, showcased several of the authors featured in the 2007 edition of the Journal of Politics & Society, as well as guest speakers including Professor Helen Benedict of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and Professor Jack Snyder, the Group's academic advisor and the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science and Institute of War and Peace Studies. Also marking the release of the 18th edition of the Journal, the conference, open to the entire Columbia community, provided an exciting opportunity for undergraduates to share their scholarship and engage in dialogue with other students and professors.

Focusing on the timely issue of sexual harassment against female soldiers in the U.S. military during wartime, the conference's McVickar Panel featured Jade Lamb, a Yale senior whose essay "Women Warriors" was awarded the McVickar Prize in the 2007 edition of the Journal; Professor Benedict, a novelist and journalist specializing in women's issues, race, and literature; and Jen Hogg, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. In a moving presentation, the three speakers spoke about their perspectives on the topic with a specific focus on the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent occupation. They also discussed possible causes for the trend as well as reasons that wartime sexual harassment is not properly recorded and/or punished.

Following the McVickar Panel, Eric Dwoskin of Columbia University, Conrad Legendy of Princeton University, and Noah Bonsey of Williams College presented on their essays published in the 2007 edition of the Journal. With the support of the Political Science Students Association, this panel also included Maria Coelho, a senior thesis writer in Columbia's political science department. The four subsequently answered any audience members' questions regarding their specific arguments and methodologies.

In opposition to a current Supreme Court ruling, Mr. Dwoskin defended the legality of panhandling in the New York City subways as a form of free speech, comparable to requests for donations made by religious proselytizers in public settings. Mr. Legendy, whose paper was awarded the T. Cuyler Young Prize in Iranian Studies at Princeton, investigated increased consumption of heroin in Iran and its curious relationship to the Taliban's anti-narcotics production legislation in Afghanistan, the world's largest opium dealer. Mr. Bonsey presented on the local and international politics of Hamas, discussing the role and influence of the domestic and expatriate Palestinian elite in light of the increased debate on the movement's orientation since its victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections. Finally, Ms. Coelho, the European Union's various treatments of minorities and its changing minority policies.

Lastly, the Future of Sovereignty Panel featured a video presentation on "The Sovereignty Exchange," co-authored by Benjamin Harburg, Alexander Busse, and Aaron Markowitz-Shulman during their undergraduate studies at Tufts University's Institute for Global Leadership. Published in the 2007 edition of the Journal, their projected organized the thoughts of fourteen world leaders—including politicians, scholars, and NGO executives—into a round-table discussion on the future of sovereignty. Although the authors were working abroad at the time, Mr. Harburg and Mr. Busse had digitally recorded their thoughts on their project and methodology. The video was followed by comments from Professor Snyder and Alex Gourevitch, a doctoral student in Columbia's political science department. Mr. Gourevitch drew upon his essay in Politics without Sovereignty, a volume of collected essays that he had recently co-edited. A review of the volume had been published in the 2007 Journal.

For the conference's inaugural year, the Helvidius Group was tremendously impressed by not only the caliber and clarity of the speakers but also by the audience's willingness to engage and challenge the presenters' scholarship and research. With that, the Helvidius Group looks forward to hosting its second academic conference in Spring 2008.

The Helvidius Group would like to thank the President’s and Provost’s Fund, the Political Science Department, and the Political Science Students Association (PSSA) for their generous support in making At the Forefront of Undergraduate Thought: A Conference on the Political and Social Sciences possible.

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