King's philosophy student and English alumna off to Dublin for Undergraduate Awards Global Summit

Curtis Sell, a fourth year philosophy student at King’s, and Theresa Bailie, a King’s alumna, have been selected as “highly commended” entrants for the prestigious international Undergraduate Awards. The pair will travel to the UA Global Summit which takes place annually in Dublin, this year from November 10th – 13th. The Summit is an exclusive event which only winners and highly commended students are allowed to attend. It’s designed to celebrate these outstanding students from around the world where they can attend workshops and discussions.

Sell’s essay, “Merleau-Ponty, Disability, and the Power of Gesture”, is ranked in the top 10% of the philosophy and theology category. His paper is ranked in the top 20 of his category of more than 5100 submissions in the contest from 255 universities and 39 countries. His peers include students selected from Princeton, the University of Toronto, the University of Chicago, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, among others. Sell’s paper looks at disability from a philosophical perspective. He argues bodily gestures can be disabling and make spaces less accessible.

Sell is a scholarship student at King’s who also works at The Write Place as a peer tutor to help students with essays. Formerly, he’s been a member of King’s students’ council as well as holding the position of President of the King’s philosophy club. Sell is in his fourth year of an Honors Specialization in Philosophy and a Minor in Women Studies, which he takes at Western University.

Theresa Bailie, a King’s alumna, wrote an essay while at King’s studying English this past year. Her paper,  “Peter Pan and Coraline: Gender’s Impact on Mapping Psychoanalysis onto Physical Spaces”, which demonstrates that Freud’s psychoanalytical theories of the unconscious mind, as well as figures of the monstrous feminine, are literally manifested in the secondary landscapes of Peter Pan and Coraline. Her paper argues that for Peter and Coraline, these threats and desires are manifested and dealt with differently because their genders impact how they interpret and respond to their own unconscious drives.

Bailie graduated in June 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts Honors Specialization Degree in English Language and Literature with Distinction. During her time at King’s, she was involved in KAMP (King’s Academic Mentoring Program). Bailie has been on the Dean’s Honor Role every year as well as continuously receiving the King’s Entrance Scholarship and the top prize for the Queen Elizabeth II Aiming for the Top Scholarship. She is currently working, and will be attending the Faculty of Education in September 2016.

King’s is proud to have Sell and Bailie represent the university in Dublin and wishes them good luck at this year’s Summit.