Scott Leon Washington
Scott’s project examines the crystallization of the “one-drop rule” in the United States between 1890 and 1936: a relatively unique principle of racial classification which defines as “black” anyone with even the slightest trace of black or African ancestry. Over the summer Scott will be visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Harlem, and, in order to investigate the internal workings of the United States Census Bureau, he will be conducting research at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In addition to explaining some of the more distinctive features of […]
Simmie L. Foster
Simmie’s research project is situated at the intersection of cell biology, immunology and molecular biology in the important field of bacterial pathogenesis. Understanding the interaction of intracellular pathogens with mammalian systems is critical for preventing and treating a number of diseases that pose a major challenge to the biomedical community. Specifically, Simmie will focus on the way in which a protein produced by a particular intracellular pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, is degraded in the cytosol of the host cell. By illuminating the complexity of the host-parasite interaction in this instance, Simmie’s […]
Ki Won Yoon
Ki Won’s project involves an investigation of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). CMBR travels to us over cosmic distances, beginning its journey a short time after the Big Bang, the birth of the Universe. In essence, it is a snapshot of the aftermath of creation. Specifically, Ki Won will study the polarization characteristics of CMBR, using a polarization-capable radio telescope being built at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Ki Won will develop a detailed plan for the use of the telescope to detect CMBR polarization, write software to automate the […]
Peter B. Brownell
Through a combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative field research, Peter’s Interdisciplinary Studies Field Major Senior Honors Thesis will investigate the effects of the 1996 Immigration and Welfare Reform Acts on the flows of undocumented migration between Mexico and the United States. Focusing particularly on the differential impact of this legislation on women and families, Peter will be testing his hypothesis that the new laws favor single people over families, men over women, and working-age people over children and the elderly, with the overall impact of encouraging cyclical migration rather […]
Miruna Andrea Stanica
Miruna will research the representations of Gypsy identity in writings at two historical moments: first, the works produced by European non-Gypsy writers in the period from roughly 1770-1870, and second, the emerging work of Gypsy artists in Europe after 1989. Her study will examine how the nineteenth century development and current modifications of the concepts of nation-state, nationalism and national identity have affected the ways Gypsy identity–based neither on a common territory, a standardized language, or a normative set of institutions–is constituted. In addition to undertaking a comparative study of […]
Melissa M. Adams
Through a series of carefully designed experiments with Kangaroo Rats (Dipotomys mirriami), Melissa’s Cognitive Science Senior Honors Thesis will test her hypothesis that these rodents’ capacity to perform “transitive inference” tasks constitutes true reasoning and relies on the same neural structures as less abstract forms of reasoning. A long history of philosophical thought views human reason as unique in and apart from nature. In contrast, evolutionary theory suggests that our reasoning abilities are based on the requirements of the natural environment in which they evolved and, furthermore, that there should […]
Amber Rose Smock
Amber will create a multimedia narrativelayering videos, performance, sound, and slidesand a written journal based on her experiences of culture shock as she explores her deaf identity as a young adult. Growing up, Amber was mainstreamed and considered herself hard-of-hearing, but had never met anyone from the Deaf community. This summer, Amber consciously immersed herself in Deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time. She visited the Professional Theater School of the National Theater of the Deaf (NTD) in Chester, Connecticut, observing deaf people engaged in the […]
Lena A. Salaymeh
Stephanie Neda Sadre-Orafai
Stephanie’s project will explore the connection between consumption and self-identification within the rapso community of Trinidad and Tobago. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Trinidadian musical form of rapso has been a vehicle for social change and cultural activism; however, to date, it has received almost no scholarly attention. In order to test her hypothesis that rapso offers a grassroots alternative to the colonial legacy of externally imposed identity, Stephanie will conduct field-research in Trinidad this summer, using participant-observation methods and formal and informal interviewing techniques with artists, […]
Anny Song
Anny will investigate Asian-Latin literary production in Argentina, focusing particularly on a vibrant literary community of Chinese and Japanese immigrants and descendants in contemporary Buenos Aires. In order to understand how these Asian-Latin writers represent their multiple identities in a homogeneous culture lacking a multicultural vocabulary, she will travel to Buenos Aires this summer to interview writers and editors and to examine published and unpublished works. In addition to conducting face-to-face interviews, she will be undertaking primary source research at cultural center archives in Buenos Aires that house contemporary materials, […]