CPGC's Recognition of Haverford Student Scholars & their Devotion to Publicly-Engaged Research

As an arm of the campus that facilitates connection between the campus community and off-campus communities domestically and abroad, the CPGC advances education for ethical action. In practice, that can manifest in a number of ways. Each year, a number of students in a variety of disciplines engage in thesis capstone projects that investigate or incorporate an area of social (in)justice and questions about peace and global citizenship. CPGC’s spring thesis award then invites nominations from faculty and students for seniors to present their research and research process in consideration for the prize. 

Students are frequently nominated by faculty mentors, though they may also self-nominate and have been nominated by peers too. After nominations are reviewed, nominees present five-minute Ignite talks about their thesis research to an audience of peers, faculty, and CPGC staff members and community partners. 

The Ignite presentation process challenges seniors to communicate concisely about their research to diverse audiences. Following CPGC guidelines for community-engaged learning, prioritization is given to research questions that emerge through relationships with organizations and networks advancing justice. For the past several years, the CPGC has asked the audience to weigh in on each of the presentations by using a survey. The survey feedback is then tabulated and the CPGC Steering Committee makes a final decision, based on the survey data along with faculty and staff discernment. 

In 2019, the inaugural award was presented to Amanda Grolig '19 for her project and presentation, “Restorative Justice Education and Masculine Flexibility: Three Interactional Resources Gained in a Prison Context.” In her thesis research, the sociology major examined the work of restorative justice organization Let’s Circle Up (LCU), begun by incarcerated men at SCI Graterford prison. Grolig, who had volunteered with Let’s Circle Up, successfully produced scholarship that solidified a long-standing partnership between the CPGC students and staff and LCU. 

For much of her time at Haverford, Grolig was involved with Let’s Circle Up and continued work with them during her Haverford House post-bac fellowship which consisted of working as a paralegal with Philadelphia Legal Assistance as well as a community organizer and outreach worker with LCU. She has remained connected with them since transitioning to work full time at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. 

Although COVID-19 briefly interrupted the award recognition process, for the graduating class of 2022, Lulu Obaditch and Pelagia Majoni were co-recipients of the award. 

Obaditch had sought CPGC supported funding to work with the Abolitionist Law Center, a local grassroots organization supporting incarcerated individuals and families along with de-carceral activism. For her thesis question, in “Political Isolation: Long-Term Solitary Confinement & State Repression of Black Radical Dissent,” Obditch sought to understand how the state has used physical and psychological torture in the form of solitary confinement to dissuade activists from organizing in prison and to quell other forms of political dissent. This research advances social justice because it seeks to show that the dissent that the government wanted to put down is connected to liberation politics of black organizers and other groups seeking justice through political mobilization. Her work was not only a historical documentation of how this has occurred but also a project in critical theory that examines the tools of scholarship and research. In other words, it didn’t shy away from intervening on social justice issues in ideology and within academia itself. 

Majoni’s computer science thesis, “Beginners Understanding of Object-Oriented Programming,” identified a set of guidelines educators can use to make Computer Science more accessible to beginners and to marginalized communities who have not always had access to a computer. The results furthered improvement of “TekTose Introduction to Computer Programming and Chicken Rearing Bootcamp,” an initiative that has successfully introduced girls to computers and expanded educational opportunities while strengthening food security. These efforts began in response to many young peoples’ requests as they had expressed need for mentorship and access to educational opportunities. Since then, several students have met with success, gaining access to Computer Science programs at strong higher education institutions, along with securing early career work opportunities. 

For the class of 2023, Natasha Bansal received the award for her thesis work devoted to exploring immigrant-led civic engagement as a catalyst for progressive economic policies in American cities. With support from the CPGC, she was able to travel to San Jose and conduct interviews, observe meetings and a press conference, and even participate more actively  in organizing and canvassing efforts on the ground. Accordingly, the research process directly incorporates her interactions with advocacy groups and labor unions fighting for economic justice on the ground. 

Bansal shared the results of her thesis work with the college community and the entire group of incoming CPGC 2023 summer funded fellows; many of the fellows noted that senior thesis presentations were a highlight of their day. 

Publicly-Engaged Thesis Award Nominees & Thesis Titles (2019-2023)

2019

Isaac Kahan '19; "The Herd or the Shepherd? Understanding and Comparing the Effects of Exposure to Norms and Leader Positions on the Political Attitudes of Social Group Members"

Han Mahle '19; "Investigating the Impact of Medical Tourism Growth on Access to Healthcare and Healthcare Cost in Bangalore, India"

ShuMin He '19; "Historical Memory of Chinese Railroad Workers in America"

Vanessa Morales '19; "Chismoses a Través de las Fronteras: Exploring Chisme as a Tool Of Intimacy, Community-building, and Survival"

Bradford Morbeck '19; ‘That’s why I always come back here:’ Cosmopolitanism, belonging and touristic spaces in post-apartheid Windhoek"

Paloma Paez-Coombe '19; "Interracial Intimacy and Race-making in post-World War II Los Angeles"

Liana Shallenberg '19; "Do You Believe You Can Change Your Prejudice?"

Talia Scott '19; "The Emergence of a Prosecutorial Reform Movement"

Sophia Silver '19; "Catherine Parr, Anne Askew, and the Female Spaces of the English Protestant Reformation"

Rachel Silverman '19; "Imagining a Pluralistic Judaism: A Study of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah"

Elom Tettey-Tamaklo '19; "Exploring Citizen Rebellion in Post-Colonial Nigeria; The Case of Fela Kuti"

Michael Weber '19; "Desire and Reconciliation at an LGBTQIA Church in an Individualized Religious Landscape"

2021 and 2022: 

• Noorie Chowdhury ‘21; for the thesis, “Building a Framework for Studying Urban Informality.” 
• Frances Condon ‘21; for the thesis, “What Can Bloom? An Abolitionist Study of Policing at Haverford College.” 
• Chris Conrad ‘21; for the thesis, "Why Goliath Sometimes Wins: Explaining the Outcomes of Extinction Rebellion."
• Erica Kaunang ‘22; for a Zine project & thesis that amplifies Southeast Asian communities’ stories and histories entitled “All that we are We Carry with Us; Stories and Possibilities of Southeast Asian Organizing"
• Collin Kawan-Hemler ‘22; for contributions to The Ticha Project, including a co-authored chapter, “Caseidyneën Saën: Learning Together: Colonial Valley Zapotec Teaching Materials.” 
• Pelagia Majoni ‘22; for ongoing work in Africana Studies and Computer Science contributing to expanded access to computer and science education in Zimbabwe; thesis entitled: “Beginners Understanding of Object Oriented Programming” 
• Lulu Obaditch ‘22; for the thesis “Political Isolation: Long-Term Solitary Confinement & State Repression of Black Radical Dissent.” 
• Hannah Yeakey ‘21; for the thesis “School Climate and Disability Inclusion: An Exploration of Determinants of School Climate and Its Impacts on Best Practices.” 

2023

• Natasha Bansal ‘23 (Political Science/Spanish Major); “Collaboration is Key: The Impact of Immigrant-Led Grassroots Activism on the Passage of Progressive Redistributive Policies in San José, California”
• Anna Garrison-Bedell ‘23 (Spanish Major); "Desde Filadelfia hasta California sureño: los huertos comunitarios migrantes como sitios para la preservación y la reproducción cultural mexicana"
• Natalie Masetti ‘23 (Psychology Major); “Talking About Race: Discussions of Whiteness in Parent-Child Dyads.” 
• Rubí Rivas ‘23 (Biology/Spanish Major); “¿Se puede hablar de lo cuir en comunidades kichwa? Un análisis de cuatro obras de arte kichwa con un enfoque en el género y la sexualidad”
• Naren Roy ‘23 (Anthropology Major); “Existing Between Two Worlds: Haverford College Students and the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship Negotiate Social Justice Work”

                                                                                                                                                                                 — Naren Roy '23