Brilliance and Creativity on Display

202 seniors presented at Conn’s sixth annual All-College Symposium.

Surrounded by a captivated audience of students, faculty and staff in a bright room on an unseasonably warm November day, Zale Peart ’25 made a passionate argument for investing in America’s railways.

“Affordable, efficient and electric rail transportation is an achievable goal in the United States,” he said. “Passenger rail should be viewed as a public good—an essential service designed to benefit the American people, rather than a network purely driven by profit.”

Behind him, his poster details his case: Strategic government investment in electric rail routes and high-speed rail lines would support economic growth and social equity by creating jobs and providing rural communities with accessible travel options, while also significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Peart, an international relations and history double major and scholar in the Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway from Brooklyn, New York, was one of 202 seniors who presented at Conn’s sixth annual All-College Symposium. The culminating conference for Connections, the Symposium highlights students’ integrative learning through four years. In talks, panels and poster sessions, the student presenters showcased the connections they have made among their courses and research, their jobs and internships, and their work in local communities and around the globe—along with the questions that animated their choices.

Peart’s fellow seniors covered a broad range of topics, including financial literacy in youth education, sustainability in the fashion industry, eelgrass restoration in Long Island Sound, access to mental healthcare in the U.S. and France, factors influencing information sharing decisions, the ethics of displaying human remains in museums, the disproportionate impact of plastic manufacturing on vulnerable communities, socioeconomic barriers in melanoma care, and preventing heat stroke death in high school sports.

Bianca Falcone ’25, an art and psychology double major and scholar in the Creativity Pathway from Wellesley, Massachusetts, presented her research on how museums and art galleries can enhance accessibility and engagement for neurodiverse audiences. Falcone, who curated the annual all-student art show at Conn and completed internships at two New York City galleries, showed the audience how even simple steps can make a significant difference.

“After graduation, I am hoping to go into art administration or communication design. My research in the Creativity Pathway helped me affirm this interest by bridging my studies in art, psychology, art history and design,” she said.

Justin Finkel ’25, a biology major and scholar in the Public Health Pathway from Cheshire, Connecticut, said the Connections curriculum allowed him to use an interdisciplinary lens to explore ways to prevent opioid overdoses in veteran populations. At a celebratory gathering at the end of the daylong event, he commended his fellow seniors for their own interdisciplinary work.

“Today, I had the chance to see the brilliant and creative work that my classmates have been developing throughout these last few years, and I could not help but think of how proud I am to be a part of such a gifted group of students.”