Lorna Macmillan and Francisco Nanclares

Lorna Macmillan and Francisco Nanclares propose to undertake ethnographic research that examines the shift in gender power relations among Padaung Karen refugees resulting from the influx of tourism to the Mae Hong Son province in northwestern Thailand. Their goal is to build on previous research to explore the ways in which the economic power that tourism has provided the so-called long neck women affects their familial and communal roles. They will do ethnographic field research in Thailand, resulting in a senior honors thesis in anthropology. Macmillan and Nanclares anticipate that […]

John Junsuk Lee

Histological analysis has been a vital technique for studying biological tissue structures for many decades now. Recent developments have allowed histologists to use fluorescent labels to visualize dynamic events such as bone remodeling. More advanced biochemical developments have expanded histological analysis to gene expression patterns, protein and mineral deposits. In spite of these advances, histology is primarily used for qualitative visual purposes (usually only in two dimensions). The product of John’s research will be a system capable of performing three-dimensional analysis including the complete reconstruction of bone tissue composition and […]

Kevi Krause

Kevi is studying the work-lives of Alameda County paramedics. His objective is to describe a dynamic process by whereby social relations and culture shape the practices of the paramedic community. His work should improve our anthropological and sociological understanding of factors that influence the behavior of groups of people. Results of Kevi’s research may also be useful to companies and governments that provide emergency services.

Debra Jeanne Kraus

Debra’s life experience as a caregiver to her husband throughout his terminal illness has inspired her to create an art exhibit that narrates his lifetime as a man and soldier groomed by the social effects and fears of the Cold War. Her work will investigate agent orange exposure of American soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Fiat Lux, will be grounded in the social understanding of artwork from the 1960s, moving forward in time to explore some of our current veteran health issues. Six multi-media sculptures, four paintings, and a video […]

Olga V. Kotlyarevskaya

Olga will examine to what extent less developed countries (LDCs) and developed countries (DCs) benefited from the informal World Trade Organization (WTO) compromise in which LDCs allowed uniform regulation of intellectual property and DCs allowed uniform regulation of textiles. To do so she will compare the disputes from 1995 to 2001 between India and the United States that were referred to the WTO to those that were not. Olga will conduct archival research and interview trade officials in Washington, DC, Geneva and India. She will present her findings as her […]

Eden James

Eden will examine newspaper editorials and public opinion data to determine how interest groups advance and amplify specific frameworks to influence domestic discourse on the issue of free trade. This research will combine a quantitative content analysis of editorial opinion on free trade and the recent protests against it in Seattle and Quebec City along with in-depth interviews with political actors who seek to frame debate around this important issue. Within these “framing contests” on free trade, the potential for interest groups, as well as journalists, to influence public opinion […]

Cynthia Houng

This study seeks to understand how residents of the San Francisco Bay Area constructed definitions of Nature in the late 20th century, and how that construct in turn affected the development of the Bay Area landscape between 1940 and 1980, focusing specifically upon the construction and utilization of Bay Area parks. The dynamic interplay between designer and user reveals something of how humans relate to their environment as the park is physically adapted to shifting definitions of landscape and nature. Providing an entry point through which scholars can begin to […]

Saori Haigo

The coordination of cell movement is an integral process in development, affecting morphological shape as well as cell fate specification. While the importance of this process has been long realized, the molecular regulation of cell movement remains poorly understood. Saori plans to investigate the roles of two genes, fuzzy (fy) and inturned (in), in establishing cell polarity during convergent extension movements in the early frog embryo. Convergent extension is the process by which a population of cells redistributes itself by converging along one axis, thereby elongating along the perpendicular axis. […]

June L. Gruber

The primary objective of this project will be to examine the way in which patients diagnosed with schizophrenia use language to describe their subjective emotional experiences. Using a clinical interview, the Schedule for Deficit Syndrome, patients with schizophrenia will be asked to provide a brief narrative of salient emotional experiences in their lives (e.g. what makes you happy?). Trained research assistants will then transcribe and code the videotaped interview. Through the results of the study, the researcher hopes to shed light on the way in which emotion affects linguistic properties […]

Benjamin Goldstein

The recent growth of the Fair Trade coffee niche market in the United States suggests that consumers are beginning to concern themselves with the social conditions under which their coffee was produced. Fair Trade coffee consumers accept that the Generic Fairtrade Standards established by the International Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO) provide certain de jure guarantees regarding production conditions. Yet what is the de facto situation within the coffee cooperatives? Benjamin will travel to a Fair Trade certified coffee cooperative in Guatemala this summer to investigate the grassroots application of the […]