Baruch College’s eighth “Creative Inquiry Day Expo” took place in person on May 12 and featured presentations from numerous Baruch departments.

Since 2014, “Creative Inquiry Day” has provided students with the opportunity to research, propose and present projects that align with both their coursework and personal interests.

Faculty sponsors from multiple departments announced first-place awards in several categories from the natural sciences, black and latino studies, journalism department, Zicklin Business, the English department and more.

Several students said their first Creative Inquiry Day was a positive experience.

“I’m absolutely loving it,” Mateja Tokic, a senior at Baruch, said. “It’s amazing to see how many people are actually interested in hearing what we came up with.”

Tokic and junior Bruno Rodriguez gave a presentation called “Analyzing the Presence of Sustainability Topics in Baruch Business School Curricula” that compared the inclusion of environmental education in other business schools in New York with the school’s business program.

The event was also a first for researcher Hugh Shin from Baruch’s Sleep and Environmental Psychology Lab.

“I feel nervous, but this is exciting. We’ve been in a pandemic for two years, and it’s good to be back,” he said.

Shin presented the first phase of his study on “The Health and Environmental Impacts of the Emerging Plant-based Meat Market, and he plans to graduate this Summer with a dual concentration in psychology and computer science within CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies.

For over two hours, the large conference hall on the seventh floor of the Newman Library Building was lined with rows of students and their posters that showcased  months of effort. Students said they were excited to tell curious onlookers about their project.

Many students focused on environmental sustainability and the experiences of minority groups in New York.

“My project is based on finding a safe space for Muslims in my area,” senior Anisa Chowdhoury said.

“So, I decided that for the month of Ramadan that I would do my part and host an Iftar, the moment you break your fast at sunset, and this year I wanted to make some changes.”

Those changes, like welcoming families from different cultures to celebrate together, were part of Chowdoury’s display “A Safe Space for Muslims.” Her event was funded in part by Maker Hub, a program at Baruch that supports students with extracurricular design and entrepreneurial projects.

According to the website, the Expo was organized “in the desire to cultivate more course-based opportunities for students to participate in research and experiential learning.”