The Arts, the Humanities and Alumni Panels
An overview of the upcoming Arts and Humanities Alumni Panel
By M Yeager
How can alumni get involved after graduating? They can be a part of various panels and share their experiences post-graduation and in the professional world with current students who share their chosen field of study. Various departments, campus organizations and even classes have invited St. Kate’s alumni to return to be a part of a panel or an event where they can share their experiences and network with students. One of the upcoming alumni panel events is the Arts and Humanities Alumni Panel that will take place on Tuesday, March 28, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the President’s Dining Room.
A small column on Communication Studies Club’s Minute Mentor. Credit: SCAN
Alumni networking and panel events are held often. Previous events like this were the Communication Studies Club’s Minute Mentor event, the STEM Life After University Mixer and a similar event held by the Masters of Business Administration program in 2018. The Arts and Humanities Department has held alumni events in the past, including during the pandemic.
The Arts and Humanities Alumni Panel will have representatives from each of the fields of study within the greater department: Art and Art History, History, English, Spanish, Philosophy and Theology. The alumni attending have jobs ranging from in-house counsel for Aetna Inc. to gallery director at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis.
The event will have a speed dating format, where groups of students will make their way around to each of the alumni and ask them questions. When asked why this format, Dr. Kristen Lillvis, the arts and humanities division chair, said, “We wanted to give the students an opportunity to make sure that they ask the questions that they want to ask.” Often, many panel discussions have the panelists talking the majority of the time, and even when a question and answer session is built in, it becomes eroded and students are not able to ask the questions they want answered.
In addition to being informative, the panel will be able to assist Arts and Humanities students with future endeavors. “It can actually give them [students] connections to people who are working in our local area,” Lillvis said. “It is a way to get an internship or job after graduation.” It also allows students to see the range of careers and fields that they could be a part of and offers new ideas of what a student may wish to pursue after graduation. In addition to the opening of a range of new opportunities, the alumni panel can offer tips for how to leverage the soft skills that those who have pursued a degree in the Arts and Humanities often work on to get the job that students want.
While there are similar events like this every semester, it is very important. Even if students already have a specific career in mind post-graduation, it is always beneficial to find out that there are other things that you may wish to do with your degree.
