Olivia Medeiros-Sakimoto, Individualized Major in Ethics through Film, Design, and Human-Computer Interaction
“The Generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) Landscape at Swarthmore”
This project investigates the implementation, impact, and ethical implications of generative artificial intelligence tools in higher education, using Swarthmore College as a case study. We identified campus practices, policies, and paths forward using evidence from 1:1 interviews with community members and related literature. Further research collected through an anonymous survey also aims to understand how AI technologies are currently used, regulated, and integrated within Swarthmore’s liberal arts pedagogy that bridges disciplinary perspectives. A creative installation in May will illustrate real data, evidence, and feedback from the Swarthmore community regarding artificial intelligence technologies in academia.
Vanessa Amsinger, Special Major in Visual Ethnography (Anthropology, Sociology, Film & Media Studies)
“Law in Bloom: The Roots of Legal Consciousness and Negotiation in Philadelphia Community Gardens”
This project examines legal consciousness, how governance and community belonging take shape in everyday life, through the case of the Southwark Queen Village Community Garden in South Philadelphia. Through ethnographic fieldwork and documentary filmmaking, I explore how informal hierarchies and unspoken power dynamics shape access to land in a space that presents itself as inclusive. Although the garden operates with an 8+ year waitlist and little turnover, no formal rule prohibits plot reassignment. The ongoing stagnation reveals how whispers, memory, and tenure influence decision-making. My findings suggest that urban commons like community gardens can quietly reproduce exclusion, particularly in gentrifying neighborhoods.
Leo Rosaz Shariyf, Special Major in Psychology and Education
“Talking Tech: Family Conversations and Conflict About Screen Time Rules”
Screen-based devices like phones, tablets, and computers are everywhere, from school and the workplace to home. These devices are necessary for day to day life, but they also have potentially harmful effects on health and wellbeing. Parents face the additional challenge of preparing their children to navigate rapidly evolving technologies they didn’t grow up with. My project uses survey data and recorded conversations to learn about how families talk to each other about technology, compare their screen time with others to determine what’s normal, and navigate conflict about screen time rules. We hope to use our research to develop conversational strategies for families that promote open communication about technology and reduce conflict.
Lauren Martindale, Special Majors in Disability Studies and Neuroscience
“Disability Inclusion and Accessibility in Biomedical Research”
Disabled people are the largest minoritized group in the United States, but there are few openly disabled scientists. Despite the fact that many disabled people rely upon treatments developed through biomedical research, this work is predominantly led by non-disabled people. This lack of inclusion, at best, leads to gaps in scientific and medical knowledge and, at worst, causes active harm. The dearth of disability representation can be addressed by collaborating with disabled communities to identify and dismantle access barriers. I interviewed biomedical researchers with disabilities about the access barriers that they have encountered throughout their educational and career journeys. Through these interviews, I found that many access barriers manifest in two areas: cultural expectations and physical inaccessibility.
Malavika Eby, Special Major in Medical Anthropology, Minors in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Psychology
“Misogyny in Medicine’s Margins: Patients’ and Physicians’ Conflicts, Challenges, and Camaraderie in Endometriosis Care”
Endometriosis is a painful disease that predominantly affects women and takes nearly a decade on average to diagnose due to limited research funding/education and gender bias in medicine. There is no cure for endometriosis, creating a challenging and uncertain reality for both patients and the gynecologists who treat them. I spent a month observing appointments with endometriosis patients and gynecologic surgeons at a large urban academic hospital and interviewed 38 patients and physicians in the US to learn how they navigate complex relationship dynamics and conflicts. Notably, I found that patient-physician relationships are undermined by misogyny in medicine because both groups experience their credibility, authority, and knowledge being called into question due to their gender, making encounters more contentious and stressful. Moreover, as I focus on in my talk, profit-driven systemic factors cause gynecologists to be saddled with rushed, overbooked schedules while being undervalued and undercompensated for their labor, resulting in burnout and inadequate care.
Trelstad, Education and History Special Major
“War in the AIDS community’: Investigating Philadelphia Community Responses to the AIDS crisis”
In conversation with community archives, and personally conducted oral history interviews I ask how Philadelphia, on a community level, responded to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. Studies of three separate, but linked, organizations that all existed within this time period show the variety of approaches to this public health crisis. I argue that these organizations ultimately were a part of a larger movement and connected in many ways. Additionally, these organizations beg further questions about what it means to be engaged in community protection as well as public agitation.
Kevin Meng, Political Science Major, Educational Studies Minor
“Lessons from Educator-activists at the Margins of Beijing”
My ethnographic research looks at how volunteers from non-profit groups work with teachers at schools for migrant children in Beijing. One big challenge they face is that they come from very different backgrounds, which can lead to misunderstandings. Another challenge is that migrant schools and non-profit volunteers deal with government pressure in different ways since volunteers have more power and knowledge to resist. Amidst these challenges, the non-profit shows great promise, using digital platforms to organize their work, mobilize more people, share ideas, creating spaces of innovation, advocacy, and solidarity beyond government control.
Avishai Greenberg, Political Science and Computer Science Major
“(Mis)calculated Risk’: How Israeli policy promoted a more popular, powerful, and violent Hamas between June 15th 2007 and October 7th 2023.”
Since 2007, Hamas and Israel have fought 5 wars against each other, and engaged in dozens of more minor violent interactions. The current war has been by far the most lethal with over 1,700 Israelis and over 50,000 Gazans killed. Although the current war is unparalleled in its levels of casualties and destruction, its underlying causes are far from being new. My thesis tackles the question of how we have arrived at war once again. By examining Israeli policy towards Hamas from 2007 to 2023, I uncover an incentive structure that explains why the two parties are trapped in a seemingly inescapable cycle of violence.
Mei Ingrita Prasetio, Special Major in Computer Science and Educational Studies
“Mental Health, Identity, and Belonging in Computer Science”
This project examines the intersection of computer science education, Asian American identity, and mental health by centering the experiences of Asian American CS students living with mental health conditions. Drawing from open-ended survey responses, this research explores how cultural stigma, academic pressure, and racialized expectations shape students' ability to seek support, speak openly, and feel a sense of belonging. It also critiques the often impersonal and hyper-competitive culture of computer science classrooms, where vulnerability is discouraged and students are expected to perform resilience. I argue that mental health must be treated as a systemic issue, not a personal failing, and that student well-being should be central to inclusive CS education. When we create learning environments that reflect students’ identities and lived realities, we move toward a vision of computer science grounded not just in technical excellence, but in care and community.
Elsa Toland, History Major, Minors in Mathematics and English Literature
“Shaping the Fabric of Society: Middle Class Women as Imperial Consumers of Calico in Pre-Revolutionary America”
Over the course of the eighteenth century, imported calico cloth from India became increasingly popular in Britain’s North Atlantic colonies. Middle class consumers used calico to express their purchasing power, refined taste, and social identity — especially middle class women. As the main consumers of calico, women directed purchases of luxury textiles for their households in order to shape their families’ identities as members of the middle class. Ultimately, calicoes became increasingly gendered items over the course of the eighteenth century, linking middle class women in the colonies with British imperial trade.
Abdullah Ali, Special Major in Computational Biology
“How TrisQO Binds to TET25: Insights into DNA Folding and Cancer”
DNA can adopt a variety of structures beyond the well-known double helix. One such structure is the G-quadruplex (GQ), a configuration formed by the stacking of guanine-rich sequences in single-stranded DNA. These GQ-forming sequences are enriched in specific regions of the human genome, particularly in telomeric DNA, which plays a key role in chromosome stability and has been implicated in cancer development. My project focused on a small molecule ligand called TrisQO, which is designed to bind and stabilize telomeric G-quadruplexes. Using a combination of biophysical techniques and X-ray crystallography, I investigated how TrisQO interacts with telomeric DNA to induce GQ formation. By solving the structure of the DNA-ligand complex, this work lays the groundwork for optimizing TrisQO as a potential therapeutic agent aimed at halting cancer progression by targeting telomeric G-quadruplexes.
Charlie Salinas, Spanish and Neuroscience
“When Urban Space Speaks: Place and Selfhood in La plaza del Diamante”
Urban spaces act as more than a mere backdrop for our daily activities: at any given time, they intimately frame and reflect how we move, think, and feel. Yet, when critically examining not only literature, but also our own actions, we often take for granted the role these spaces play in shaping our identity and perspective. My project examines this dynamic in Mercè Rodoreda’s La plaza del Diamante through the lens of 1930s Barcelona, Spain—an era typified by its rigid social norms. I argue that space becomes a physical extension of what the protagonist cannot express; when words fail, the city itself speaks, almost adopting the role of a character. In exploring this interplay between space and selfhood, I highlight the power of urban environments to influence personal and collective narratives, encouraging us to rethink how place shapes human experience both in literature and in life.
Julia Stern, Biology and Environmental Education Major
“Cultivating Connection: Fanua and Environmental Stewardship in Samoan Youth”
This study explores how the concept of fanua is cultivated in Samoan youth. Fanua can be simply defined as land, but the term more deeply encompasses the inherent and reciprocal connection between Samoans and their natural environment. In a world increasingly disconnected with the natural world due to technology and globalization, Samoans have been able to maintain a strong connection with their environment. This study looks at the family, the formal schooling system, and other lived experiences of Samoan youth as mechanisms through which fanua is taught and learned. Eleven talanoa sessions were conducted with teachers, parents, and Samoan youth over the age of 18 regarding fanua. Classroom observation was also utilized. The study found that cultivation of fanua is characterized by familial oral transmission of environmental knowledge and traditions, unstructured playtime in nature, and a strong connection between land and ancestry as a result of Samoa’s customary land system. The idea of nature as a sacred teacher was found to be an overarching theme across interviews and observations. Future research could interview children directly, study the differences between rural and urban villages in Samoa, or study the Samoan diaspora and how a loss of land affects one’s understanding of fanua.
Nathaneal Brown, History and German Major
My research focuses on the memory of the eviction of Malaga Island, a Black community off the coast of Maine, at the beginning of the 20th century. Using a Memory Studies lens, I will explore how the lives of those evicted have been memorialized in fiction and what specific narratives have emerged. I have drawn from contemporaneous primary sources created by institutions such as the State of Maine, newspapers, and the body of fiction telling the story of the eviction. Malaga Island occupies an important place in the history of Black Maine, and the intersection between History, Literature, and Memory Studies allows for multiple vectors of inquiry.
