Submissions for the “Undergraduate Research Highlights” feature of the Fall 2015 issue of the CUR Quarterly on the Web are being accepted until June 15, 2015. Highlights consist of brief descriptions of recent (past six months) peer-reviewed research or scholarly publications in scholarly journals, book and book chapters, web-based publications, and juried performances. These publications must be in print and must include one or more undergraduate co-authors. To be considered for publication as an Undergraduate Research Highlight, the following information must be submitted:
-Title of the article and full journal citation (inclusive pages).
-A brief description (3-5 lines) of the research and its significance.
-Title and department or program affiliation of the faculty member.
-A brief description of the student co-author(s). Include the year of study in which the student(s) undertook the work, the opportunity through which the work was undertaken, (independent study project, summer project, REU program, senior thesis project, etc.), and the current status of the student (graduate school, employed, still enrolled, etc).
-The source of funding for the work.
Find out more here!
Tag: Research
Race and the Culture of Breastfeeding [SURE Stories]
The following post was written by UHP student and SURE Award winner Laura Schwartz.
This year, I’ve been working on an original research project in the anthropology department on culture, race, and breastfeeding. I spent two years working as a work study employee at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington. While I worked there, I learned a lot about the culture surrounding breastfeeding – it’s a whole separate world that most people know nothing about. But it’s also a complicated world. To people who have never been parents, the idea that breastfeeding is more than just baby + breast = successful feeding might be completely foreign. Lactation support is a hugely important area that combines aspects of peer assistance with the health care industry. The Center, and other organizations like it, provides both supplies (such as breast pumps, nursing clothing, etc.) and appointments with lactation consultants, who are certified medical professionals who specialize in breastfeeding. Though it’s still off the radar of many, the field of lactation support is both crucial and growing.
Unfortunately, not all mothers have equal access to breastfeeding support, and that’s what my research is all about. Although breastfeeding rates in the US have been rising in recent years as more evidence comes out about breastmilk’s health benefits for babies as compared to formula, there are still many mothers who are not breastfeeding. In particular, African-American mothers’ breastfeeding rates are significantly low compared to other mothers in the US. I’ve spent the past six months asking mothers of all races at the Breastfeeding Center about their breastfeeding experiences in surveys and interviews. I’ve paid special attention to African-American mothers and whether the factors that lead to their decisions to breastfeed are different from those at play for mothers of other races. Within my (small) sample, it looks like there are some differences, particularly involved with the degree to which breastfeeding is normalized within different communities. There may also be differences in level of access to resources such as peer support. In addition, I’m examining insurance coverage of lactation support, which have recently been expanded under the Affordable Care Act. Finally, I frame all of these results within the wider culture of breastfeeding, which is extremely interesting to analyze from an anthropological perspective.
The UHP SURE Award was instrumental for me, even though everything I needed funding for was pretty unglamorous. With the UHP’s help, I was able to pay for photocopying of multi-page surveys to administer at the Breastfeeding Center. I also purchased a paper shredder to protect the privacy of my participants. Although these expenses seem minor, it would have been really tough for me to cover them myself, so the fact that the UHP Sure Award covered them for me was a huge deal as I was trying to get my study off the ground. I’m really proud of my original research, and I’m grateful to the UHP for all the help they’ve provided, both in the form of the SURE Award and otherwise!
UHP Research Showcase This Thursday!
Join #TeamUHP this Thursday to celebrate the research of your peers at the University Honors Program Research Showcase!
Enjoy brief, casual talks and ask questions this Thursday, April 30th from 1pm to 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 a risk in order to contribute and disseminate original work as active scholars! It’s going to be beautiful.
The Eckles Prize for Freshman Research Excellence
If you’re a freshman who likes free money, I highly encourage you to keep reading.
The Eckles Prize for Freshman Research is an annual prize recognizing students who produce a research project in their freshman year that demonstrates significant and meaningful use of library services and collections at the George Washington University.
First year students are encouraged to submit a research project of any length or format, along with an essay summarizing how they used library resources to complete the project. Students should submit the one project that reflects their best work of the year. Prizes will be awarded for the top 3 submissions:
- 1st Place: $500
- 2nd Place: $300
- 3rd Place: $200
Deadline to Apply: The application deadline for the 2014-’15 academic year is Friday, May 15. Click here for more info.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow [SURE Stories]
The following post was written by UHP student and SURE Award winner Michelle Stuhlmacher.
Late in April hoards of geographers will descend on Chicago, Illinois to share their research, attend plenary sessions, and generally revel in the wonders of geography. The annual meeting is hosted by the American Association of Geographers (AAG) and, thanks to money from the SURE award, this year I will be joining them!
I will be presenting research that I conducted as part of the Hollings Scholarship Program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This summer I worked at the National Centers for Environmental Information (one of the NOAA branch offices) in Asheville, NC. My mentor had created an index for snowfall that is like the Enhanced Fujita Scale for tornado or the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The scale is called the Regional Snowfall Index and my job for the summer was updating the way it incorporated census data.
To do this I used ArcGIS and programmed scripts in Python. I learned so much over the summer and did some extra analysis on the new Regional Snowfall Index calculations. This analysis, and what it says about our society’s vulnerability to future snowstorms, is what I will be presenting at AAG.
Elliott School Undergraduate Scholars Program
The following blog post was written by Jenny Hamilton, a senior in the Elliott School of International Affairs and an Elliott Undergraduate Scholar.
Would you like the opportunity to spend winter break in Haiti or Bosnia? Do you want to probe the minds of top US diplomats on the potential for an embassy in Iran? Would you jump at the chance to present original research at a conference in Chicago or on Capitol Hill?
If you answered yes to any of these questions (and are going to be an Elliott junior or senior spending all of next year here in Foggy Bottom), you might be a good candidate for the Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Program.
The Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Program provides extensive support to a small cohort of students pursuing independent, original research every year. Through the program, you will have the opportunity to:
- Work with a faculty adviser and graduate student mentor.
- Receive a $500 research stipend with the opportunity to apply for additional funding
- Learn about research methodology and the writing process from top GW faculty
- Provide and receive intensive peer review of paper drafts
- Present and publish your research through the Elliott School
Participating in the Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Program was one of the best decisions I made during my four years at GW. Through the program, I am studying the impact of popular definitions of democracy on democratic legitimacy using African public survey data – in plain terms, I’m investigating whether citizens’ varying conceptions of democracy affects whether or not they believe it is the best form of government. If democratic consolidation isn’t your cup of tea, that’s okay. This year, scholars are studying topics from Liberian land reform to Chinese cybersecurity threats, from Argentinian waste management to Russian immigration policy. Every week, I learn from them as they unveil amazing discoveries and make substantial contributions to their field of international affairs.
If you are considering the Elliott Undergraduate Scholars Program, a few things to keep in mind:
- Although it counts for your honors thesis, this program is NOT your typical senior thesis. It is a substantial time commitment, so with that being said…
- Make sure to choose a topic you love! If you are passionate about your topic, your year will be amazing. If you are not, it will be miserable.
- Put time into your proposal! If you do not have considerable previous experience with the topic, you will need to take time to do research.
- Make sure you find a faculty advisor with whom you can work well.
The application is due April 13 and has several components, so make sure to start it soon! You can find more information about the application process and the program on the Elliott website here. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jham93@gwmail.gwu.edu. Best of luck!
2015 Strasser Winners Announced!
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Strasser Writing Prize competition! We have one first place winner, and two runners-up!
1st Place:
Jacob Greenblatt
Freshman
“Buddhism & Environmental Ethics”
Written for Origins with Prof. McManus
Runners Up:
Brooke Talbot
Senior
“Memorializing Disease: The Public Contribution to the FDR Memorial Wheelchair Statue”
Written for Prof. Gamble’s Epidemics in American History class
Lacy Myrman
Sophomore
“’Us’ and ‘Them’”
Written for Prof. Dworkin’s Individualism class
The first place winner will receive a $100 gift cards and the runners up will each receive $50 gift cards. Congratulations!
UHP 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 Thursday, April 30th from 1pm to 3pm in the Club Room of the Honors Townhouse. Let your fellow UHP’ers 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 Friday, April 3rd to be included in the program!
Sustainable Gardening in Brazil [Research Stories]
This post is written by Honors student and UHP SURE Award winner Haley Burns.
I used the SURE Award to help fund my research on sustainable agriculture feasibility while in Brazil.
As part of my research, I lived in a tent on a property where a man is attempting to build a house using only the resources he has on the property. His goal is to have a self-sustaining garden, with a permaculture design – meaning the garden beds are made from places that are already there so that the landscape is not changed too much. I helped create a couple of the garden beds, separate seeds from dried plants, start and water seedlings, and plant pumpkin plants.
The land is situated close to the park Chapada Diamantina, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places on earth. The views every day were stunning! Because of the heat, we only worked in the mornings. There were no showers or electricity, so we bathed in the nearby river, and had only one lightbulb from a single, tiny solar panel.
In conclusion, the work on sustainable projects, even this tiny, is incredibly difficult and energy draining. To bring this to largescale agriculture on such and extreme level of sustainability would be nearly impossible. The takeaway, though, is that we could apply some of the methods on a large scale without being extreme. Compost, permaculture, and seed collection could all be implemented in larger conventional farms to make the system a little better for the world.
Honors Contracts Due in 2 Weeks
If you’re taking a contract course, make sure to get your Honors Contract complete.
How do you know if you need to complete an Honors Contract? If any of these apply to you:
- Internship for Honors credit,
- Undergraduate Research,
- Research Assistantship,
- Senior Thesis (Not the same as Special Honors in your degree — that’s a different form found here)
Get the RTF-EZ here and the Contract Form here. Don’t forget your proposal!
You’ve got until COB Friday, September 12th, 2014.
Confused? Make an appointment.
