Seung-Keun Martinez
Modern day pirates are among the most seemingly altruistic collaborators in the world. At least they are in reference to sustaining a public good. In fact, these internet based pirates provide a stunning real world example of a self-sustaining public good despite strong incentives to free ride. We observe this phenomenon in peer to peer (P2P) file sharing. The crux of Seung-Keun’s research project centers upon the question: How do P2P networks form and sustain themselves, and how can this be extended to influence better outcomes for other public goods? […]
Katherine Hood
While the recent economic downturn has brought national attention to the plight of the newly unemployed, downward mobility has been a steady feature of American society for generations. For Americans, however, downward mobility means facing not only declining economic prospects, but also the stigma of violating a cherished cultural norm: the pursuit of the American dream and the achievement of upward mobility. Katherine will travel to rural Oregon to conduct in-depth interviews with people affected by the decline of the timber industry, a once booming business that offered a chance […]
Kristine Lawson
Drawing on over five decades of folklore from U.C. Berkeleys Folklore Archives, as well as interviews and ethnographic participant observation to be conducted at Occupy events this summer, Kristine’s project draws comparisons between the folklore of the Free Speech Movement of 1964 and of the Occupy Movement of 2011-2012. With an understanding of folklore as promoting group identity and perpetuating notions of group boundaries, Kristine will trace pieces of folklore through each movement to demonstrate these tendencies. She will also examine the significance of the UC Berkeley campus as a […]
Hector Gutiérrez
Current research on Latino masculinity is just beginning to address the rich diversity of gendered experiences found among Latino men, suggesting that Latino men, like all men, are gendered in and through various ways. Still unaddressed, however, are the various different ways in which jornaleros (day laborers) are gendered, disrupting the assertion of a monolithic Latino male experience”. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth interviews with jornaleros at two East Bay sites, Hector’s study will add valuable insight into gender understandings. Exploring attitudes during the current economic downturn, it will […]
Yosub Jung
Korean policy makers fear an impending education bubble caused by an over-supply of college graduates. Analysts point to the presence of three million unemployed college graduates as evidence that there are already too many young people with advanced education in Korea. The recent national Half-Tuition protests that paralyzed colleges and shut down roads suggests that students and parents are deeply concerned about the over-education problem facing Korea. This research project will use comprehensive schooling and labor market data, combined with econometric methods to analyze: (i) the existence of an education […]
Matthew Grigorieff
In the spring of 2009, UC Berkeley (UCB) offered 98 courses in their Physical Education Department– none designed for disabled students. Forty years after UCB helped forge a civil rights movement for people with disabilities, neither Berkeley nor any UC has a plan or program for addressing the fitness needs of the disabled. Matthew hopes to address that deficiency. He will create and evaluate a pilot program to create boxing opportunities for the disabled, and travel to learn the successes and limitations of several other California adaptive fitness programs, creating […]
Ernest Honya
Susu is a traditional microfinance scheme in Ghana that has been ignored by commercial banks and microfinance institutions in the country. Ernest’s research asks why Ghana does not have an institutionally acceptable microfinance model that is specifically designed to fit the socio-economic and cultural needs of Ghanaians. His project will first investigate the susu model to find out what makes it institutionally unacceptable. Second, Ernest will survey the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of Wale and Ewe communities in northern and southern Ghana respectively. Ernest’s goal is to propose a new […]
Niku T’arhechu T’arhesi
The vintage anthropological enterprise typically derived from the researchers gaze on a non-Western society, in turn, producing the simultaneous exoticism and denigration of the so-called primitive. An anthropological production of knowledge relied on the holistic gathering of dataa process many times resulting in the researcher’s, the museum’s, or the universitys claim to ownership of material and immaterial cultural heritage. Contemporary anthropologists seek to exorcise the vintage specter by engaging in collaborative repatriation projects with indigenous communities. One such collaborative repatriation project developed when the Warao indigenous inhabitants of Mariusa, Venezuela […]
Morty Diamond
Morty’s research begins by asking how access to public health care has changed social conditions for the transgender community in San Francisco within the last 10 years. He will explore how current medical and mental health access challenges affect the physical, social and mental gender transition of transgender individuals. Beyond the importance of this research study as means of understanding the historical transgender community in San Francisco, the goal of this study is to record cultural and social differences within a nontraditionally gendered minority group. Morty will research policy changes, […]
Joseph Root
Since the onset of the financial crisis, many European countries have seen the financial base of their economies dissipate. Fueled largely by high levels of debt and market malaise, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and others have been forced to implement excruciating austerity measures to prevent financial collapse. Despite the ubiquity of bond markets, academic economists continue to speculate about the various forces that govern the fluctuation in market evaluation of risk. Joseph’s research will attempt to clarify the role that market sentiment plays in determining interest rates by looking at data […]