Mathilde Bonvalot
The reassertion of Catholicism’s essential principles after the Council of Trent had a major impact on religious art production in 16th century Italy. Consciously putting together reliques from the early years of Christianity with Rinascimento painting techniques, the new visual programs created within Roman churches became the place where sacred space and ideas could be rebuilt, generating a new meaning for the Catholic community. I will travel to Rome to investigate the emergence of the discipline of Archaeology as the crucial event that allowed early Christian antiquities discovered in the […]
Kiara Covarrubias
The Chinese Exclusion Act is considered the most racist law in U.S. history; it entailed quarantining immigrants for up to two years on Angel Island, resulting in a collection of poetry carved by the detainees onto the walls of the detention barracks. Given the tumultuous history of immigration from south of the border, where is this poetry for Mexican and Central American immigrants? While immigration has been extensively studied through various academic perspectives, the literature from the immigrants themselves has largely remained untouched. By identifying the trajectory of literature by […]
Emily Doyle
I am currently exploring the question of the ways in which the phrase as if — as it appears in novels by Henry James, particularly What Maisie Knew — implicates integration into a social existence in which the curious and problematic acceptance of both reality and unreality is required of the self, particularly the pre-adolescent self. This is a vital question because, first, it offers a foundation from which to examine the complex interplay between several important novelistic factors: the self in relation to the other, the socialization of the […]
Alina Enoiu
Many communities in the San Francisco Bay Area struggle with food insecurity or the lack of access to healthy and affordable food, making them more likely to suffer from diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Because these communities have a base of corner stores where people already shop, such as liquor stores or other smaller-scale stores, bringing healthy options to local corner stores may be a more effective strategy than developing larger supermarkets. My project will examine whether the federal governments strategies of providing financial incentives to storeowners is […]
Stephanie Fung
The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established in 2003 with the goal of trying those responsible for the horrors inflicted upon Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. Two of the original four Accused in Case 002 are currently being tried at this Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and as part of my research, I will be monitoring these trials at the ECCC on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. By observing these trials and interviewing experts on the ECCC and the Democratic Kampuchea period, I intend to examine […]
Kamyar Jarahzadeh
Turkey is home to a population of 17,000 Afghan refugeesa number which is projected to double by the end of the year. Afghan refugees travel to Turkey fleeing violence and economic hardships, only to find themselves struggling to subsist while navigating a convoluted resettlement process. My project is an ethnographic study of their experiences and interactions within their communities, and with state and non-state actors. Findings will be generated with participant observation and interviewing of Afghan refugees currently in Turkey. The project will explore what citizenship means for displaced peoples […]
Andrew King
The 1957 obscenity trial of Allen Ginsbergs Howlthat cornerstone epic of the Beat generationis understood as a major episode not only in the history of American and West Coast poetics but in the history of American culture. Missing from prevailing accounts of the trial, however, is an assessment of the role of Gil Orlovitzs text, The Statement of Erika Keith and Other Stories, Poems and a Play. When undercover officers Russell Woods and Thomas Pagee purchased a copy of Howl in order to arrest City Lights Books clerk Shigeyoshi Murao […]
Gwendolyn Hubner
The area in and around Tilden Regional Park in North Berkeley is home to both a growing human population and a number of species of wild carnivorans. Little is known about the population densities and distributions of the latter and their interaction with human populations in this area. In this study, I will use camera traps to determine baseline densities of ubiquitous species, such as the coyote (Canis latrans) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus). Camera traps with scent lures will be used to establish the presence of the more elusive […]
Cathy Dai
Dopaminergic projections from the midbrain to the striatum and prefrontal cortex are known to affect widespread brain processes, including reward, movement, cognitive control and working memory. Lower dopamine levels in the striatum are linked with higher body mass index, poorer decision making in relation to food choice and a skewed sense of healthiness of food items. I propose to investigate the role of dopamine in a working memory task and decision making on the food task and examine if a relationship exists between the two tasks. I will also investigate […]
Tyler Naman
My research examines a current, multinational advertising campaign, analyzing in detail the campaigns appropriation of inclusive political rhetoric used by president Barack Obama, and what this reveals about American nationalism and global identity. Using multimodal discourse analysis and other more specific visual semiotic frameworks for decoding print and billboard advertisements, I will be analyzing advertisements marketed in the United States and Europe as part of this campaign. Since this advertising campaign relies heavily on the rhetoric of unity, and is multinational in its scope, what can this tell us about […]