Reina Chano '09 Wins ASA Award for Thesis on Northern Ireland Reconciliation
Reina Chano '09 Wins ASA Award for
Thesis on Northern Ireland Reconciliation
by Alex Weintraub '11
6/21/10
Reina Chano '09 is the winner of an award for her honors thesis in peace and conflict studies, "Youth in Northern Ireland: The Role of Narratives in Promoting Reconciliation." The Elise M. Boulding Undergraduate Student Paper award, given by the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section of the American Sociological Association, recognizes the best undergraduate paper in any topic related to the sociology of peace, war, military institutions, or social conflict.
Chano '09, who graduated as an honors history major with a minor in peace and conflict studies, based her thesis on research she conducted during her semester abroad with Swarthmore's Northern Ireland Program. She later adapted her thesis into the paper she ultimately submitted to the competition.
The semester in Northern Ireland offered Chano a chance to meet with local leaders of the Northern Ireland peace movement, as well as work with the Verbal Arts Centre, a community organization promoting peace. She currently works as the program assistant for Opportunities Industrialization Centers International, a non-profit organization that works to help disadvantaged individuals in developing countries through skills development, conflict management, and microenterprise development.
The Boulding Award is named for Elise Boulding H'77, a Quaker, sociologist, and one of the creators of the peace and conflict studies discipline. Her husband, economist and peace studies scholar Kenneth Boulding, served as Swarthmore's first Lang Visiting Professor for Issues and Social Change in 1982-1983.
