The following blog post was written by Peer Advisor Lucy, a sophomore studying international affairs.
Besides “interdisciplinary curricula” and “holistic applicants”, identifying as a “research institution” seemed to be the hottest trend in university marketing when I was touring colleges. You better believe it – some bright-eyed admissions rep would tell the gaggle of students and parents that had just spent probably a few too many hours in the car together – our students, here at [insert name] University, can do original research with faculty as undergraduates.
Like many things schools tell prospective students on tours (“the freshmen dorms are really nice”; “you’ll never get tired of the dining options”; etc.) I assumed that these alleged research opportunities should be taken with a grain of salt. Ok, so undergraduates can do research with faculty – how many students actually do research and what percentage of these students do research outside of the hard sciences? Knowing that I would be pursuing a major in the social sciences, I was fairly apprehensive about the actual amount of opportunities that would present themselves.
Of course this was because I had a completely incorrect understanding of what working with university faculty actually meant. Clearly, I would probably do more damage than good in a lab setting, but it was ridiculous to think that I could only perform original research from behind an Erlenmeyer flask.
Last Spring, I applied on a whim for a research assistant position that had been posted on the honors blog to work with a Professor Harris Mylonas in the Political Science department. Because I was only in my second semester ever at GW, I was mostly expecting a “thanks but no thanks” at best given the fact that I did not have 15 internships immortalized on my resume. However, I was pleasantly proven wrong, and Professor Mylonas invited me to assist him with his research. Professor Mylonas’s work centers largely on diasporas, nation-building, and Southeastern Europe. Since beginning work with him last Spring I have been able to contribute to various papers and articles. I continued working with Professor Mylonas this semester, and most recently, I have been assisting him with updating Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2018 Report for Greece and Cyprus.
It was foolish of me to think that as a social science major I would need to wait for a senior thesis or graduate school to develop a close relationship with a faculty members. Professors are doing research in fields beyond just the hard sciences, and student engagement is feasible in all disciplines. My experience working with Professor Mylonas has been challenging and fulfilling, and I know that I am a stronger student and critical thinker because of this experience.
Category: Research Stories
Boston University Twin Project [Research Assistantship]
Professor: Jody Ganiban
Department: Psychology
Title: Boston University Twin Project
Description: The Boston University Twin Project (BUTP) is a multi-method, multi-situation, longitudinal study of early child temperament and related behaviors. The first phase of this project focused primarily on activity level and comprised over 300 twin pairs assessed in the home and lab at ages 2 and 3. Subject recruitment, sample characteristics, and study procedures are described. A second phase broadens our focus to the development of multiple temperament dimensions and developmental outcomes in a new cohort of 300 twin pairs to be assessed at 3, 4, and 5 years of age.
Duties: Research assistants will be involved in the collection of data through analysis of videos of parent-child dyadic interactions. Each RA will be assigned videos weekly to code. Much of the work would be done independently and on the research assistant’s schedule. One hour each week would be dedicated to a meeting with other research assistants and the supervisor in order to discuss anomalies in videos and necessary modifications to the coding manual and procedures.
Time commitment: 7-9 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 3
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: ganiban@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met. Students selected to be research assistants should contact Ben Faulkner at benfaulkner@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.
Political Campaigns Meet Fantasy Sports [SURE Stories]
The following blog post was written by UHPer and SURE Award winner Benji Englander.
One of the best things about pursuing individual research is the ability to create your own project focused on the things you find most interesting. As a political communication major moonlighting as a self-proclaimed fantasy sports expert, my thesis allowed me to combine my loves of sports and politics into one academic research project.
By conducting an A/B test that compares two versions of a candidate’s speech – one with local sports team references and one without – in three states known for the loyalty of their sports fans, my research ascertained the political usefulness of sports rhetoric. While not conclusive, the results show that under the right circumstances with the right audience, references to local sports teams can play an important role in political rhetoric and offer unique insights into voter behavior. This project was a substantial undertaking that would not have been possible without the SURE award and support from the UHP. The funding allowed me to gather a representative sample size for my experiment leading to statistically significant results.
If given the opportunity, I would highly recommend that students participate in individual research. Academic research combines all the skills taught throughout college and focuses them on something guaranteed to be interesting because you are in control. The ability to pick the subject matter is rare as an undergraduate and an opportunity one shouldn’t pass up.
2018 Research Showcase Recap
This year’s Honors Research Showcase featured presentations from eleven intellectually omnivorous UHPers. Check out their project titles below.
Benjamin Englander: Rooting for the Home Team: Sports, Politics, and the Rhetoric of Identification
Eliza Goren: The Undergraduate Female Experience: It’s a Man’s World
Elizabeth Hasier: The Streets We Share: A Photographic Study in Transience and Defining Community
Hannah Corn: An Analysis of Chinese Internal Migration to Beijing
Jacqueline Dyer: Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Netrual Lipid Species by Laser Desorption Ionization from Silicon Nanopost Arrays and MALDI
Jacquelyn Veatch: Understanding the City’s Role in Climate Action
Kara Zielinski: Amylin Aggregation Kinetics
Margaret Steiner: HIV-1 Transmission Clusters and Drug Resistance in Washington, D.C.
Quinn Divens: Through Her Eyes: Baya Mahieddine and the Female Form in French Algeria
Rohan Patil: A Multimodal Solution to Workplace Violence in the Hospital
Youmna Sirgi: Understanding Outbound Student Mobility in Lebanon’s Sectarian Environment
Thanks to all who came to show your support! And to our presenters, who did a fantastic job.
Questions or ideas for future UHP research-related events? Please email benfaulkner@gwu.edu.
Spring 2018 Research Showcase
Honors Research Showcase
You are invited to celebrate the research of your UHP peers at the University Honors Program Research Showcase!
Enjoy brief presentations and ask questions Friday, April 27th from 1pm-3pm in the Club Room of the Honors Townhouse. Let your fellow UHPers know how proud we are of their dedication and willingness to take intellectual omnivorous risks!
Please let Ben know ASAP if you’d like to present! (benfaulkner@gwu.edu.)
Honors Research Showcase
You are invited to celebrate the research of your peers at the University Honors Program Research Showcase!
Enjoy brief, casual talks and ask questions Friday, April 28th from 2pm to 5pm in the Club Room of the Honors Townhouse. Let your fellow UHPers know how proud we are of their dedication and willingness to take a risk in order to contribute and disseminate original work as active scholars!
And if you have research you’d like to present, let Catherine know by Monday, April 24th to be included in the program!
Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Research Symposium
All members of the University Honors Program are cordially invited to this years Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Symposium on Wednesday, April 19th!
The Elliott School Undergraduate Scholars program is an enhanced independent research opportunity for outstanding Elliott School juniors and seniors. After months of research and writing, this year’s cohort will be presenting their work April 19th from 10:00am – 2:00pm in Lindner Family Commons. A number of Honors students will be presenting this year, and their names are bolded on the schedule below. We would love for any and all to attend, ask questions, and support them in their presentations!
10:05 am to 11:05 am
Political Participation, Identity, and Power in Asia
Phoebe Bui, Stephanie Gill, Yian Ke, Eun Kyung Na, Dyuti Saunik
Moderated by See-Won Byun, Graduate Student Mentor
11:15 to 11:55 am
Do We Matter? Leveraging Identities in Times of Conflict
Clare Platt, Kaly Moot, Lacy Myrman
Moderated by Luci Prosapio, Graduate Student Mentor
12:00 to 12:30 pm
Transnational Terror in the West
Helen Christy Powell, Seth Harrison
Moderated by Daniel Schwartz, Graduate Student Mentor
12:40 to 1:30 pm
Development, Investment, and the New Economy
Nicholas Johnson, Jiahui Lin (Joyce), Margaret O’Connor, Cindy Zhang
Moderated by Andrew Arveseth, Graduate Student Mentor
Congratulations to our SURE Award Winners!
Congratulations to winners of the UHP SURE Award for the spring 2017 semester! Students who win the Sigelman Undergraduate Research Enhancement Award use the funds to further their own research under faculty supervision.
These UHPers will be sharing more about their research experiences toward the end of the spring semester, so keep an eye out to learn more about their work!
- Scott Barnes, “Collaborative Robotics Optimization,” mechanical engineering
- Danielle Cohen, “Can Women Have It All? An Experiment on the Challenges of Running for Office with Young Children,” political science
- Rose Lieberman, “Mitomycin C affects the migration of Human Corneal Limbal Epithelial Cells,” biology
- Lacy Myrman, “Shared Identities and Displacement: Rwandese Perceptions of Burundian Refugees,” international affairs and Africana studies
- Maggie O’Connor, “Fair Trade: Successes and Shortcomings for Indigenous Peoples,” international affairs
- Emily Richard, “Subclinical Eating Disorder Traits as Correlated with Cortical Structure,” psychology
Dancing on the Seine – Winning the Luther Rice Fellowship
The following blog post was written by Linda Ryan, a CCAS junior studying dance and exercise science.
The year was 2015. It was eleven-thirty PM. I was in my room, holding a can of Pringles in one hand and scrolling through my Luther Rice Research Proposal on my laptop with the other. My faculty mentor had sent her recommendation a few days earlier, I was finished proofreading, and it was time to click “Send.”
Jump ahead a few months to April – the third floor of Gelman. Finals were nigh. I was writing a paper in my pajamas. And I had just received an email saying that GW was giving me a grant to do research in England and France that summer.
Fast forward a couple times more and you’d see me choreographing in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum; taking notes on the doorknobs in King Louis XIV’s bedroom; dancing outside of Tube stations, on the banks of the Seine, and all over the Chateau of Versailles; and now preparing to present that choreography in GW’s MainStage Season later this month.
It’s a weird story – but it happened to me. And (something like) it can happen to you too, if you apply for a Luther Rice Research Fellowship. The Rice Fellowship offers a unique opportunity to execute a funded, high-level, independent research project during your undergraduate career. You decide what to study, where to go, how to do it, and what the product will be. GW provides the means to make it happen.
My Rice Fellowship sent me on a solo trip to Europe – where will yours send you?
2016 Research Showcase Recap
Last week’s Research Showcase saw presentations from original research performed by UHPers this year.
Eliza Goren‘s research stemmed from her research assistantship with Prof. Josef Przytycki from the Mathematics department. They spent the semester create a program based in knot theory. She helpfully explained knotting and unknotting through DNA transcription, drawing from an interest in DNA that begin with her Scientific Reasoning and Discovery class with Prof. Hammond!
Ben Helfand presented the findings of his senior thesis, researched through the Enosinian Scholars program. Advised by Prof. Nathan Brown, Ben researched the incorporation of human rights laws in constitution and domestic legal system of Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution. He even travelled to Tunisia with the help of the SURE Award!
Eileen Emerson compared local and national TV and newspaper coverage of the 2015 Baltimore protests after death of Freddie Gray in police custody. Advised by Prof. Kim Gross, she wanted to find out which coverage was more racialized, sensationalized, legitimizing or delegitimizing through language and images. Eileen also is a SURE Award winner!
Pooja Shivaprasad worked on her senior thesis with Prof. Hossein Askari comparing the migration of refugees to oil rich and oil poor countries. Despite the frustrating lack of available data, Pooja found that oil rich countries take in fewer refugees, and that shared borders are more significant than shared language in refugee intake.
Eva Martin considered the UN’s treatment of human trafficking. Advised by Prof. Ingrid Creppell (Deputy Director of the UHP!), Eva developed an ambitious proposal for a dedicated UN Office on human trafficking, combining the resources of various offices on crime and human rights to greater effect.
Congratulations to our presenters for completing an incredible year of research!
