Louis Kang

Transistors are the most fundamental building blocks of modern electronic devices. They perform various functions that range from logic operations to voltage regulations. Since their creation, researchers in the field have devoted significant effort to shrinking down the size of transistors, as transistor scaling provides many desirable benefits, including cost reduction and higher computational power per chip. However, the minimum feature size of modern transistors is already in the nano-scale range, and we are approaching a scaling limit that cannot be overcome with conventional transistor designs. Exploratory research is needed […]

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 […]

Reem Jubran

The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 enforced dislocation and fragmentation upon the Palestinian people. Nevertheless, while the old may have died, dense history and culture has been passed on to the youth by way of oral history. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has dramatically transformed in the past 60 years, leaving the physically divided Palestinians today with an indefinable identity: do you consider yourself Arab, Arab-Israeli, Palestinian-Arab, or just Palestinian? Reem will create an artistically compiled short film that will capture a collection of voices and stories unique to […]

Dennis Velasquez

Dennis research seeks to expand the exploration of transculturation through an in-depth analysis of three vastly unrelated literary works that nonetheless contend with English Linguistic Imperialism, and reveal strikingly comparable strategies that defy it. Focusing on canonical texts by eighteenth century Scottish, nineteenth century Pequot Native American, and twentieth century Chicano authors, he will conduct a comparative study of strategies of literary subversion of English Linguistic Imperialism across disparate time periods, ethnicities, and geographic locations. He plans to investigate the distinct internal discourses of The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, A […]

Jennifer Fei

Jennifer’s research will explore the impact of current International Rescue Committee (IRC) Resettlement Programs on female economic empowerment. Her working hypothesis is that the empowerment effect of the IRC on refugee women will vary depending on cultural norms, resettlement program type, and resulting employment. She will study female refugee populations lived experiences and the development of the IRC Economic Empowerment program development in New York City through regional and headquarters offices. She will focus on how IRC programs later affect refugee women’s perception of family life, self-sufficiency, and personal autonomy […]

Destiny Dixon

Destinys research aims to investigate the history of Black owned businesses in Compton, West Oakland, and West Berkeley. She will focus on the ways in which a strong Black economy influenced Black solidarity culturally, socially, and politically. While exploring the different types of businesses African Americans owned, Destiny’s research will reveal a new glimpse into what the 1980s drug and gang epidemic destroyed. By examining archival records as well as conducting interviews with current and former business owners and their families, Destiny’s work will offer a richer narrative to Black […]

Emma Deboncoeur

What began as an investigation into access to health care for transgender women in Montral by way of an institutional ethnography has changed into a larger query of knowledge production, preservation and dissemination. This works seeks to clarify and problematize what is research, who is the researcher, how biomedicine and transgender women are inexorably linked and how macro questions of archiving, and the lack thereof, relate to endemic patterns of burnout and knowledge loss on the micro level.

Anna Darzins

Many people assume that women with disabilities experience domestic violence to a lesser extent than women in general, yet research indicates that women with disabilities are up to four times more likely to be victimized than their non-disabled peers. Given that women with disabilities experience disproportionate rates of domestic violence; where do they go to access domestic violence services? How does their disability status influence their decisions seeking help, and are providers meeting their needs? Anna’s work will investigate these issues through a disability studies and social work lens. She […]

Ana Cristina Gomez-Vidal

The rise of China is arguably the single most important event to shape international politics in the 21st century. The United States understanding and response to Chinas ascent will shape global political stability. The U.S. Government, through legislative mandate, created two commissions, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC), whose purposes are to ensure that Congress has the information necessary to make effective decisions relating to Sino-US affairs. Cristinas research project seeks to undergo a content analysis of the information generated by […]

Steven Czifra

How does California continue to find public support for the practice of permanent solitary confinement, particularly when confronted by sustained hunger strike activity against them? Steven will examine all sides of the relevant discourses in response to the hunger strikes, paying special attention to the written statements of strikers in letters to advocates and the media, as well as the state response. In order to disrupt the dominant hyperbolic claims by the state that support solitary confinement practices, the strikers formed a multi-racial/ethnic group coalition that called out the public, […]