Owen Blum
In the late 18th century, England was experiencing massive urbanization as well as what historians call the ‘consumer revolution.’ I seek to ask how these massive changes in the composition and economy of the English city were processed by urban female workers, specifically through the figure of the female street vendor. I particularly seek to achieve a novel synthesis of spatial and economic analyses to ask how this unique category of proletarian women engaged with the communal and informal economy of the early modern street to achieve subsistence. By honing […]
Abigail Villa
Executive function (EF) is highly investigated in cognitive science and education due to its correlation with academic performance. Current research has shown that differences in EF with children from different racial/ethnic backgrounds are often due to the quality of the environment and family resources. Thus eliciting a narrative of an ethnic/racial “achievement gap” as early as school entry for children. However, assumptions that have not been proven are interwoven into the assessment(s) which may have important implications for results. A belief exists that all children respond similarly to assessment contexts, […]
Zhuoya Wang
Awe arises — when we are standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon or listening to the soaring melodies of Beethoevn’s Symphony No. 5. In these moments, we may feel small, part of a greater human collective. Awe is a self-transcendent emotion that makes us feel integrated into broader social entities. In a broad entity, the original boundaries between “they” and “we” fade away. This raises a question: Can awe blur the distinction between outgroup (“”they””) and ingroup (“”we””) members, in other words, blur social categorization? I will study […]
Xavier Beck
My project explores the flow of forestry knowledge between the US and China through the lens of US missionary, Joseph Bailie. I seek to connect this flow with impacts of Western forestry practices on locals. Late Qing/early Republican China was an estuary of knowledge: Chinese tradition met with Western modernity, and scientific modes of thinking squeezed between local superstition and traditional knowledge. Trees were important for the modernizing project of the Republican State in early 20th century China. But how did locals and educators navigate cultural rites and modern, imported […]
Wenjun Fu
The knowledge of the human body has changed throughout history. Since the late Qing period (1901–1911), biologists and Western doctors introduced anatomical concepts of the human body to China. This project uses blood as an example to explore a historical narrative of the body in both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medicine during Republican China (1911–1949). The body is so relevant to us — so why do we understand it so differently and variably? How did the knowledge of blood differ between TCM and Western medicine in early twentieth-century […]
Sarah Felson
This project explores and develops upon the contemporary literature in moral philosophy to investigate whether and how we should be held morally responsible for our nonvoluntary mental states, such as our beliefs, attitudes, and judgments of the world. There is a common intuition that our actions are only available for moral assessment insofar as they are voluntary. For example, I would undoubtedly be blameworthy for tripping a passerby if I voluntarily stick out my leg, but not if my leg jerks out due to a sudden muscle cramp. However, unlike […]
Nyssa Combs
This project will investigate the presence of Basque in Bakersfield, ultimately asking the question: To what extent is the Basque language used in Bakersfield, and how does it compare to the other Basque diasporic communities in the US? Basque communities have had success in maintaining their language over the past century, and while this phenomenon has been discussed in the context of other Basque diasporic communities, it has not had recent investigation Bakersfield.
Michael Brand
Behind the internet there are large systems of physical infrastructures, with increasingly large environmental costs. As global digital infrastructure industries expand, the energy required to support an ever-growing cloud continues to attract public and scholarly attention. As some new hyperscale data centers are demanding over a gigawatt of power, much of the data center industry believes that nuclear power is the only sustainable solution. At major industry conferences, executives are excited about new Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) — which they believe will offer a safer, more affordable, more resilient power […]
Maya Hilmi
My research investigates how Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem resist Israel’s economic suffocation through grassroots strategies that reclaim autonomy amid systemic violence. Israeli policies, like mass work permit revocations, movement restrictions, and fiscal controls, enforce dependency through what I term “necropolitical extractivism”, referring to the exploitation of resources while governing life or death under occupation. In the midst of ongoing Israeli settlement, surveillance, and arbitrary raiding, Palestinian communities subvert these tactics by reviving traditional olive harvest networks, barter economies, and leveraging diaspora support. In practice, they […]
Matthew Martinez
Major retail corporations promote flexible scheduling, mental health resources, and work-life balance initiatives as central to their corporate identity. Companies like Target, Macy’s, and Nordstrom highlight these programs in recruitment efforts, suggesting that retail employees have meaningful access to support. However, research shows a disconnect between corporate rhetoric and workers’ lived experiences, especially for low-wage workers of color, who often face unstable schedules, job insecurity, and limited access to resources. This project interrogates that gap, asking: How do structural labor conditions in major retail corporations shape workers’ access to work-life […]