Isaac Kreisman
Because I am an out-of-state student, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship allows me to stay near UC Berkeley and its resources. Without the distractions of academic coursework during the summer, I have the freedom and time to delve into theory and materials from a multitude of disciplines. I am excited to work with my mentors and my SURF cohorts. I am grateful both for the opportunity to conduct an independent research project and for the supportive environment of the SURF community.
Marissa Teitelman
Certain histories have been ignored that are incredibly important to understanding self-identity. The Dutch West India Companys (WIC) history epitomized trans-Atlantic diaspora, creating unique cultures all over the world and intensifying identity transformations. I will examine the extent of the Dutch role in producing identity transformation and cultural diaspora along the 17th century WIC slave route from Amsterdam, to Ghana, to Curaao, and finally to New Amsterdam. I will draw on publications from experts in the field such as Paul Gilroy, Kwesi Yankah, and Linda Heywood. Looking at tales, traditions, […]
Graham Haught
Jhoole, a textile production NGO based in Madhya Pradesh, India, formed in 2008 through a dialogical need from sari weavers that were working under indentured conditions. Since its formation in 2008, Jhoole has provided collective ownership, secured creative freedom over design/production, implemented sustainable agricultural practices, and supplied living wages to these female artisans. However, in March 2012 after reading Marx, Hannah Warren, the founder and Executive Director of Jhoole, un-incorporated Jhoole in an effort to dismantle institutional hierarchies that limited the extent to which local stakeholders were able to direct […]
Erin Lam
The Roman poet Horace, an enormous influence on Western thought and poetry, himself stands within a long tradition of Greek and Latin lyric. He innovates on the foundations his forebears have built, creating new and surprising poems. Many of Horaces Odes reveal a marked attention to the construction of setting. I categorize these settings into actual place, or a geographical location that could potentially exist, and poetic space, more imaginary or surreal constructions. These spaces are often linked to a religious ritual and involve a skillful manipulation of time and […]
Julia Uyttewaal
There are over 18,000 NGOs operating in Haiti, many of which provide overlapping services in the same regions without collaboration. Recent academic debates have pitted NGOs against the Haitian state, claiming that the multiplicity and fragmentation of NGOs prevents any sort of uniform policy from being implemented and thus further undercuts the legitimacy and accountability of the Haitian state (Etienne 1997). My research project will attempt to challenge this dualistic framework by conducting participant observation with the Cap-Haitien Health Network, an organization that coordinates the operations of over seventy health […]
Rotem Aboody
Why do children spend so much time engaged in pretend play, imagining fictional scenarios? Could children actually be learning new things through this process, exploring new possibilities inaccessible to them in daily life? My SURF project seeks to explore whether imagination can indeed enable children to learn about and successfully intervene on novel causal structures, even in the absence of a demonstration of the structures. Children will be introduced to a novel causal structure, and will be asked to choose one of three possible interventions on the structure to produce […]
Michelle Leu
In my research, I plan to investigate the role of vitamin A in obesity prevention. With obesity increasing at alarming rates in the United States in the past twenty years, it is imperative to gain a deeper understanding in the development of the condition. Obesity is influenced by many risk factors such as diet, lifestyle, and genetics. I will explore how vitamin A regulates adipose tissue, observing mice with the Rdh10 gene conditionally deleted in white adipose tissue, and comparing their weight gain to that of wild type control mice. […]
Rochelle Valdez
Since 2002 the Philippine government has labeled numerous leftist Filipino parties as terrorists, using the Global War on Terror (GWOT) as a political tool to delegitimize opposing parties. Despite imprisonment, torture and killings, Filipino activists continue their struggle for national democracy. This project, contributing to a Peace & Conflict honors thesis, examines their resiliency: how do Filipino activists strategize despite state intimidation? Using the framework of political legitimacy, I will compare the National Democratic Front of thePhilippines (NDFP) and BAYAN, two leftist organizations. The former operates through political exiles in […]
Nicolas Ames
My project is a reassessment of current archaeological interpretive techniques through comparing two main focuses of artifact analysis. I will be looking at site interpretive resolution of more standard heavy-fraction analysis (focusing on items > 4mm in size) in relation to microdebris analysis (focusing on items > 2mm in size) to find out which method provides 1) the highest resolution of site area use, 2) efficiency/cost of use of the techniques. My goal is to determine whether more specialized techniques, such as microdebris analysis, provide enough of an interpretive edge […]
Lisa Levin
Part creative writing, part auto-ethnography, part literary analysis — my project examines how war blurs distinctions between national and individual identity, the ways in which this complicates family bonds, and how both of these issues haunt future generations. My research focuses on the memoir as a genre of historical narrative, specifically of the Jewish diaspora and the Japanese experience in the Second World War and its aftermath. My goal is to relate these seemingly disparate stories to one another, and to ultimately bridge both sides of my own Jewish-American and […]