The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Spring 2024 SURE Award recipient, Zoe Carver (International Affairs and Peace Studies, ’25). Read on about Zoe’s research and how she plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her experience!

Hello! My name is Zoe Carver and I am a current junior in the Elliott School Dean’s Scholars Program! As part of this program, IA students get to conduct their own research projects as part of their senior thesis. I’ve spent the last year developing my ideas and this summer I will be heading to Senegal to conduct field research! I will be interviewing Mauritanian migrants about their migration and integration process into Senegalese culture, now more than thirty years after the Senegal-Mauritania Crisis that expelled thousands of black migrants south. While some Mauritanian migrants are members of ethnic groups that are represented in Senegal, such as the Wolofs, others, such as the Haratins, are not. My research will be dissecting the differences in integration between the Wolofs and Haratins, and how the ethnic communities and kinship groups in Senegal supported their integration process. To achieve this, I will be spending six weeks in Dakar this summer. The travel is not an easy undertaking, and I am so grateful to the SURE award for helping me cover the costs of travel to Senegal. I have also received the International Women of Elliott Award, the ESIA Research Award, and the GW Undergraduate Research Award. This money will support me while I conduct interviews, surveys, and learn more about the daily lives of the migrants. After I leave Senegal, I will spend the next semester writing my findings into my final research thesis. Once this is completed, I will hopefully be able to bring it to various conferences during my senior spring. There are many exciting things ahead, so stay tuned!

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!