Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Nathan Bickart (2013)

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Nathan’s project will focus on improving ecosystem and community health through the construction of raised-bed community gardens near Wildcat Creek, which runs through Richmond and San Pablo, CA. Riparian habitats in these communities, particularly when they occur at the end of a dead-end street, are frequently used as trash dumps by less-than-certified trash haulers, creating a hazard for the local community and driving citizens away from these natural spaces. Nathan will work with a variety of community partners, including Urban Creeks Council and the cities of Richmond and San Pablo, […]

Gabriel Cortez And Natasha Huey (2013)

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To be homeless in the US is to be a member of a population with few advocates and progressively fewer resources. In the face of the rapidly increasing criminalization of homeless people, Berkeley-based humanitarian organizations like the Suitcase Clinic work hard to provide basic needs, food and shelter, for their clients. However, it is clear that this is not enough. Gabriel and Natasha envision the transformation of shelters and clinics into spaces that better facilitate the expression of voice and positive human connection and that foster dialogue, empathy and understanding […]

Luis Flores (2013)

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By constructing a history and political economy of the “IRCA generation” of migrants*, this project will present a counterpoint to the burgeoning public migration debate and eminent legislation. Three million undocumented workers obtained legal status under Immigration Reform and Control Acts (IRCA) 1986 amnesty provision. Yet remarkably, no significant attempt to recount the lessons and histories of this legislation has been made, even as a new amnesty law may be imminent. This time around, the resurgence of the migration debate has brought impassionate arguments for the provision of amnesty to […]

Rasheed Shabazz (2013)

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Rasheed will organize a UC-wide Afrikan/Black Student Media Collective that will empower student communities to share their own stories and experiences. Working with the Afrikan/Black Coalition, a UC wide network of student leaders, Rasheed will build a news website and a network of hyper-local social media profiles, and produce an online news show and podcast. The cutting edge project will combine journalism, community organizing and media communications to develop grassroots storytellers who will not only counter negative media images about Black students, but empower students to document their own experiences […]

Kazooba Kawamara (2013)

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For his Stronach Baccalaureate Prize project, Kazooba and his team of volunteers will locate orphans in Ntoroko, Uganda and record them into a secure database that will be used to match orphans with available social services. The secure database will be housed at the district headquarters and will include age, point of contact, and level of need. The completed database will then be used to place the orphans into existing government programs and NGO services such as healthcare, academic tutoring, psychological help, adoption, and emergency aid. There are few services […]

Maya Weir (2013)

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Maya’s project, Community Yoga Project, seeks to increase access to the practice of yoga by holding classes at various social justice organizations in the East Bay Area. Unfortunately, through the process of appropriation in the West, yoga has become a commercial industry that is marketed predominantly to a privileged demographic. Maya brings this awareness into her teaching as she strives to create classes that take into account the impact of historical structures of oppression. Providing access to the transformative and powerful practice of yoga aims to improve the emotional and […]