Gabriela Monico
An estimated 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants live in the U.S. 2.1 million youth may attempt to legalize through the DREAM Act, if enacted. An activist movement led by eligible youth has mobilized around this legislation, which has given rise to a narrative that casts eligible youth as deserving, othering the 67% that would not qualify. Through interviews and participant observation of two support groups, Rising Immigrant Scholars through Education and 67 Sueos, Gabriela will explore how the DREAM Act narrative has triggered a divergent process of oppositional consciousness among ineligible […]
Morgan Greene
Morgan’s project will seek to address the timely question of whether the current body of antitrust law is adequate to ensure consumer welfare in the new technology-driven economy. Through extensive historical research, he will study how courts have interpreted the original antitrust statute through the decades focusing on representative cases. He will explore continuities and trends in the areas of judicial interpretation, economic theory and technological change that may help illuminate the current historical moment. He will then undertake a case study of the Microsoft antitrust trial, through intensive study […]
Gregory Hughes
The aim of Greg’s project, which will constitute his senior honors thesis in sociology, is to create a greater understanding of how gay identities and communities are formed in rural areas. Urban areas have formed not only the backing but also the major theoretical causal concept in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) theory. Rural gay culture and communities have remained unexamined and under theorized. Greg will be doing fieldwork in an area of the Northwest, where a rural community of gays and lesbians has developed. The area he will […]
Mary Gardner
Tourism, as Jamaicas largest and fastest growing industry, is vital to the countrys growth and development. Montego Bay, the second largest city in Jamaica, is the tourist capital of the island. The juxtaposition of a large local and tourist population in Montego Bay has created a unique form of physical and material segregation. Mary’s research project will explore how this space and, along with it, the tourist experience, is produced through the forces of marketing by the tourist industry, the physical segregation from the rest of the city and the […]
Jay Martin
Cognitive science aims to understand how people represent the structure of the world around them. Faces are thought to be windows to some of these representations, namely emotions, which are related to facial expressions biologically and culturally. Labeling expressions is a seemingly effortless task for people, but explaining the subtleties is much more complicated. Jay’s study will help develop a method to systematically explore the scope of different categories of affect, and to explore the correlation between subtle facial movements and the perception of emotion. With sophisticated facial animation software […]
Paul Aparicio
Recent research has proposed that schizophrenia can best be understood as a problem in the way the brain synchronizes information and has located this deficit in abnormal cerebellar functioning. In order to increase our understanding of the unique relationship between cerebellar dysfunction and schizophrenia, Paul intends to test the hypothesis that the cerebellum is essential for the coordination of attention and temporal representation. Paul will conduct an experiment with neurological patients who exhibit focal lesions restricted to the cerebellum, in order to ascertain the extent to which the cerebellum contributes […]
Malcolm Harvey
The vast majority of research associated with combat-related trauma and PTSD is conducted employing psychoanalytical and psychosocial models utilizing quantitative methodology that focuses primarily on the individual. Comparatively, little is known about the social impact of an illness that afflicts a great number of combat veterans and affects the lives of many others. Malcolm hopes to address this deficiency by: exploring it from a sociological perspective which will expand the scope of inquiry beyond the individual to society at-large; applying qualitative methodology which will uncover nuances that are missed by […]
Joshua Belton and Agata Surma
Agata and Josh will be studying the ways two major agricultural interventions–colonial development and the Tono Irrigation Project–have changed livestocks role in several communities in Upper East Ghana. They will first visit the British National Archives in London to research the pre-colonial conditions in the area and assess how colonial development unfolded there. They will then fly to Accra, Ghana, where they will interview experts to learn about the area’s past and present. Afterwards, they will travel to Upper East Ghana to observe the area and conduct interviews, which will […]
Evarosa Holt-Rusmore
Throughout the Sierra Leone conflict, many girls and young women are abducted and sexually abused. The result of the abuse and suffering is often pregnancy. Especially after the end of civil war in 2002, young mothers who return to their communities confront social stigmatization. This has had marginalizing effects for both mothers and their children. Eva Holt-Rusmore’s research will address the effects of community stigmatization on the children of young mothers. Ethnographic observation of these children’s lives through participation in a Freetown school, as well as informal interviews with individuals […]
Fele Uperesa
Samoans have often been associated with the bulk and athleticism of professional football players, but that reputation has undergone a drastic change paralleling the transition in traditional diets. The term nutritional transition denotes a shift in dietary consumption and energy expenditure linked to a growing epidemic of obesity-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). American Samoa, a trust territory, and Samoa, an independent nation-state, have both experienced significant changes in consumption practices. Emerging research attributes this nutritional transition to economic development and the waning availability of traditional food staples. Trade policy not only […]