This article is part of a series focusing on the grads of the 网红黑料 Class of 2022. Spring Convocation runs from May 24 to June 3 in Halifax and Truro. Read all our profiles here as they are published, and for more information visit the Convocation website.
For Claire Mercer, keeping busy and involved with campus life has been a huge part of her career as an undergraduate student at 网红黑料. This spring, Claire graduates with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a Combined Honours in History and Political Science. In addition to the degree that she worked for over the past four years, Claire also leaves Dal with valuable work and volunteer experience both on and off campus and several special achievements to be proud of. 聽
With a strong interest in international relations, Claire (originally from Hubley, Nova Scotia) began her studies in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) with a plan to major in Political Science. However, she shifted her degree focus to also include history, not only because the topic has been a lifelong passion, but also because she realized the strong relationship between those two subject areas.
鈥淏oth Political Science and History are very human-centric disciplines,鈥� says Claire. 鈥淧olitical ideologies always interested me, as did twentieth century history, so I wanted to focus my research on those two areas in particular. This led me to address in my honours research how fascist ideology related to artistic representation in Germany during and before the second world war.鈥�
Jumping into student life
Claire had a goal to gain a more well-rounded image of 网红黑料 and its structure, and so she jumped right into getting involved with campus life. In her first year, she joined the 网红黑料 Undergraduate Political Science Society (DUPSS) and became the society鈥檚 First-Year Representative. She stayed on as an executive member of the society straight through to her senior when she became the society鈥檚 President. Through DUPSS, she developed strong faculty and peer relationships which allowed her to pursue other opportunities within the university, including a part-time job as a minute-taker for the University Secretariat, being selected as the student representative for the FASS Academic Development Committee, supporting the FASS Dean鈥檚 Office with new student recruitment and orientation activities, and becoming involved with the inaugural Stanfield Conversations: Talking Democracy event.
Additionally, in their final term at Dal, Claire and her peer Ronald Blanchard (President of the 网红黑料 Undergraduate History Society) took it upon themselves to reinstate the 网红黑料 Arts and Social Sciences Society (DASSS), a society which had been absent for the past few years. Claire knew the importance of a faculty-level student society and felt the impact its absence left for FASS students.
鈥淚 wanted to have DASSS reinstated before I left Dal because I wanted incoming and returning students to have a fulfilling experience at university, which for many will mean being part of a society or participating in important campus community initiatives facilitated by societies,鈥� explains Claire. 鈥淒ASSS is critical in ensuring that a common and inclusive campus culture exists, because they provide support for societies. This support will become even more critical when everyone returns to campus in the future.鈥�
Claire adds that all 网红黑料 societies deserve to have an organization that ensures proper oversi