Ryan Beasley, associate professor of political science, and five students will trade swimsuits for notepads during Baker University’s spring break.

The students will attend a five-day International Studies Association Conference in Montreal, Canada, Wednesday through March 19.

“This trip is a great opportunity to explore and get professional advice on our projects,” senior Will Duncan said.

The students’ final projects in the senior seminar class consist of a paper and a presentation on an international topic of the student’s choice. The requirements are to be original, multi-disciplinary and international.

Every student in the class was given the opportunity to go on the trip. The students attending the conference are seniors Lauren Miller, Erin Riggs, Will Duncan, Lena Sweyko and Tiffany Scofield.

“The students are responsible for themselves while in Canada. I’m just along for the ride, but will be there if the students need help with anything,” Beasley said.

The conference will consist of panels and sessions. The panels will vary from international conflict, political economics, peace and changes in the world to educational panels.

Each panel will oversee a certain topic by presentations of papers written by scholars.

“I plan on attending panels and sessions that will help me make progress on my project,” Scofield said.

These panels and sessions are designed to help the students make progress on projects that are in the works and to give students a sense of what it is like to be in the field of international studies.

“The primary focus for the week is to improve the students’ final projects, as well as get an understanding of what it’s like to be a professional in this field,” Beasley said.

The conference is in the morning and afternoon, leaving evenings free for students.

“Getting to be in Montreal will be an experience within itself,” Scofield said.