By Juliana Vasquez | Staff Writer

Though many don’t start doing scholarly research until graduate school, for Draper’s three panelists on Monday, the seed was planted years prior.

In a small panel of three, graduate students lined up to present their research to an audience of students on Monday in Draper at the department of political science’s “The U.S. Constitution and American Political History Interdisciplinary Showcase of Graduate Student Research.”

Cathleen Scura, a 2024 master’s graduate from Los Angeles, explained her and her peers’ work in her opening statement.

“My research isn’t on something groundbreaking and amazing historical aspects or bureaucratic definitions,” Scura said. “My research was around learning and developing a new way to look at a really old and tired subject.”

Scura’s research was titled, “Can an 18th-century French aristocrat be considered an American founding father?” The research she presented shed light on new topics and ideas that the students in the audience may not have been aware of, rehashing old ideas and transforming them into something new and exciting, breathing life into fresh thoughts.

The inspiration for these new thoughts was pulled from the students’ own unique experiences and time spent at graduate school.

Pittsburgh fifth-year Ph.D. candidate Joe Natali said his time as a high school teacher and as a college professor’s assistant has shaped him as a student and researcher.

“I think one of the things that I reflect on the most is the way that I’ve gotten to interact with students as a teacher of record … that’s a really great experience,” Natali said. “Being able to reflect on the impact that I can have on students has been particularly helpful.”

Knoxville, Tenn., third-year Ph.D. candidate Jordann Heckart said her teachers and peers have been formative during her time at Baylor.

“I’m sure you all have those faculty members and those people that are in your program that you associate as well with being a part of that experience that has really shaped what that’s felt like for you,” Heckart said. “I have also been at a lot of Christian schools during my training, so I’ve been able to integrate my faith alongside my academic journey, and that’s been another big component that has shaped what I hope to do after leaving here.”

Scura said her experience as a mom and retiree has had a strong impact on her time in the graduate program.

“It taught me real discipline. I had to figure out how to get research done. I had to figure out how to balance my time … I had to really discipline myself and learn to structure my days in a way that would get me through this and get it done,” Scura said.

The researchers pulled on their personal experiences as well when selecting their research topics. Heckart’s paper, “Revolutionary petitions, how gender and religion informed Quaker activism,” drew on her own background of faith and womanhood.

“I was taking on women, gender and sexuality in America, and I was interested in starting to look at Quakers, to be able to integrate them into my discussion,” Heckart said.

Natali said his research paper, “Bureaucracy at the American founding,” was inspired by a class he took while earning his undergraduate degree and his personal experience in the workforce. Natali researched New Deal relief programs in his undergraduate course on domestic public policy. After earning his undergraduate degree, he explored different career opportunities, including working on The Hill and teaching high school.

“I have always been interested in practical politics,” Natali said. “When I got to graduate school … I realized that I was interested in how the sausage was made.”

Scura said her research on Marquis de Lafayette was inspired by the classes that she enjoyed taking during graduate school.

“Teaching and figuring out how to write a curriculum that would be useful to people on a subject that I love is how it kind of just collided into one interdisciplinary package,” Scura said.

Opening her presentation, Scura set out to encourage students that even if they take the unconventional route, anything is possible. Starting at Baylor as a 55-year-old undergraduate sophomore, Scura said she had no idea she would not only graduate, but also earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

“If any of you are wondering if you’re going to make it, if you don’t have a focused plan, it’s possible,” Scura said. “You can be completely scattered across a bunch of different subjects, and you too can graduate and move on to do something else.”

Constitution Week at Baylor is a joint effort across several departments, including Baylor Libraries, the political science department and the history department. The week of events includes more lectures, exhibits and even a trivia event in Draper.

The departments of history and political science will host a “Which founding father are you?” event at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Tidwell lobby, and Friday will hold “Constitution Week Trivia” at 4 p.m. in Draper 147.