Author: brownet

Mara MacLean

BBA ’18

WeListen is a grassroots, campus-based organization bridging the American political divide. We’re bringing together small groups of people with divergent political views — liberals and conservatives — to help them learn what others value and believe. Our aim is to build a movement of listeners across the country willing to change the American political climate. WeListen’s goal is to spark political conversation between students on campus, both liberal AND conservative. We facilitate small-group conversations (not debates!) between people with divergent political viewpoints. We’re looking for students across the political spectrum (Democrats, Republicans, or neither), who are interested in learning why someone might not agree with them.

Library Mentor: Angie Oehrli

Laura Magusson

MFA ’19

I am creating a three-minute video addressing the impact on survivors of public silence surrounding sexual violence. This video, a personal testimonial conveyed through ocean metaphors, will underscore the pain of recovery in isolation. The visual treatment of carefully crafted paper cutouts, brought to life via stop motion animation, will recognize the beauty inherent in healing. The final video will include library materials (digitized maps of the seafloor, audiovisual clips) and underwater footage that I captured in Mexico and Iceland this past summer. This project is intended to serve fellow survivors, proclaiming: you are not alone. It is also an awareness-raising tool for individuals who have not experienced sexual violence. I will share my project through a public event held at a University of Michigan library, to be developed in consultation with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, the Center for Education of Women, and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Library Mentor: Jamie Vander Broek

Gabrielle Peterson

PhD ’23

The purpose of this research is to study Black migration to and integration of Ann Arbor, Michigan schools and neighborhoods. I am conducting case studies of the people and institutions involved in and/or resistant to the process of structural integration. The case studies draw from archival materials, oral history, and interview data in order to evaluate the actors in this process. Many historians and social scientists focus on major cities like Detroit in order to understand social change universally but it is more evocative to study a place people move to specifically for the quality of schools and neighborhoods. The college town of Ann Arbor is the best site in order to contextualize changes and responses to those changes in places like Charlottesville and Ferguson which received more media
attention. These violent outbursts of race relations differ little from the Black/White tensions as Ann Arbor citizens and city officials engaged in the process of integration over 50 years ago. This research serves the Black community who has worked tirelessly to publish books about, and contribute to their Black historical preservation efforts. This work is significant not only for those aforementioned community members, but also at University of
Michigan considering the discussions of diversity and inclusion on campus. This is unique because it utilizes sociological and historical methods in order to recount the story of integration at a very local level, drawing from resources on campus and in the neighborhood.

Library Mentor: Hailey Mooney

Erin Similuk

BA ’18

We are a group of nursing students dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly though reading. We work closely with the Chelsea Retirement Community, and are excited to make reading more accessible to them. Through research, we have found that reading is beneficial to the elderly population and allows them to retain some elements of autonomy. Making reading a tangible option for these residents is critical to their health. We are working to provide more large print novels for residents to incorporate into our library so more options would be available. Having more books can also help us to initiate our “Reading Buddies” program. This program will bring volunteer students of both high school and college ages to the retirement center to read with the residents. Our main goal would be to serve residents that have low vision or are blind, and reading to them.

Library Mentor: Pam MacKintosh

Eric Bastien

BS ’18

Everyday antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria are dumped into Lake Michigan via wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff. Their ecological impact, however, is not well understood. Antibiotics target bacterial cells, thus to understand the impact of environmental antibiotics we must first explore their impact on microbial ecology (the interactions of all single-celled organisms and their viruses with one another and their environments), specifically.

We aim to isolate a novel virus and its bacterial host from Lake Michigan to study phage-antibiotic synergy under model Great Lakes conditions. To understand the dynamics of Lake Michigan and the entire Great Lakes ecosystems, it is essential to better understand the dynamics of microbes and their viruses in light of anthropogenic disturbances, such as unnatural levels of antibiotics. Knowledge of these interactions is of great interest to communities along shorelines and those that depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, as well as the global community that grapples daily with the crisis of multidrug antibiotic resistance.

Library Mentor: Scott Martin

Emily Vargas

PhD’ 18

Federal law mitigated overt forms of racism and sexism in organizations with the implementation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, social scientists have identified modern forms of discrimination that do not violate law, but reinforce racial and gender workplace disparities. One form of this discrimination is incivility. This low-intensity conduct, which lacks clear intent to harm, includes nonverbal behaviors, rude language, interruption, and condescension (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). While plenty of research has examined the consequences of remaining vigilant in the face of major forms of discrimination, almost no research has examined the consequences of remaining vigilant toward potentially being a target of incivility. This is necessary to investigate, because incivility is the most common form of discrimination, and it currently a legal form of discrimination.
We plan on running a series of experiments to examine a.) if anticipated incivility impacts perceptions of the organizations (e.g, perceptions of the leader), how it impacts women and racial minorities’ engagement with the organization (e.g., intentions to apply into an organization), and their projected career success (e.g., ability to become a leader).

Library Mentor: Hailey Mooney

D Wang Zhao

BFA ’18

I’m creating a modular garment for trans, non-binary, agender, non-conforming folx* that can be adjusted by the wearer based on how they wish to present throughout the day. As a trans and gender non-binary person, I am constantly aware of how my presentation changes other’s perceptions of my gender, how they should/can interact with me, and which spaces I can/can’t have access to

As federal protections for trans folx are being rescinded by our current administration, I hope to offer at least one solution for them. I want to conceptualize a way for folx to feel comfortable in the clothing they have on and give them the tool to change their presentation with just what they have on.
Through my in-person interviews with other trans folx, key issues that were addressed included the respectability politics of dress and style, as well as the decision to wear validating outfits vs to dress to be more “passing*” or “safely”.

Library Mentor: Rebecca Price

Claire Gregory

BS ’18

The Great Lakes (which account for about 20% of the world’s surface freshwater) are at risk of pollution from an expired pipeline that runs through the Mackinac Straits. A team of 10 undergraduate Graham Sustainability Scholars and myself, all inspired by last year’s team of scholars who took action against the Dakota Access Pipeline and spread the word about water injustice, have decided to document local perspectives and potential risks involved with this risky pipeline only four hours away from our campus: Enbridge’s Line 5. Our hope is to educate our Ann Arbor community about the pipeline and offer tools to take effective action.

Library Mentor: Lori Tchirhart

Christina Vallianatos

PhD ’19

Michigan DNA Day is an extension of National DNA Day, which was created to commemorate the discovery of DNA’s double helix in 1953, and the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. Our mission is to build a bridge between Michigan’s leading research institutions and high school science classrooms to promote and enhance science education in our state. This is facilitated through matching a MI scientist with a MI high school science teacher and creating an opportunity for the scientist to share their experiences and passion for science with that teacher’s classroom. Our program allows high school students to learn about important scientific issues and spark interest in scientific research and potential scientific careers. Our vision is to reach as many schools across Michigan as possible with an emphasis on serving those that have limited exposure to career scientists. It is our pledge to focus our efforts toward cultivating the minds of the next generation of scientific leaders for the benefit of the local and global community.

Library Mentors: Diana Perpich & Marci Brandenburg

Catherine Daoud

BS’18

Founded in the winter of 1978, Elegance Fashion was established in the effort to promote cultural expression in the face of many racial discriminatory acts and injustices against minority students. Our mission is to break down societal stereotypes with an annual show, in which all proceeds will go to a charitable cause and participating students are given the opportunity to display our campus diversity to the public. Through our many representations of different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and backgrounds, we hope to show that beauty has no standard and that it is not a necessity to conform to the norms of society. The Elegance Fashion Show has now become an annual event to celebrate the beauty of the diversity on the University of Michigan campus and is the most anticipated, action-packed fashion show of the year. We strive to incorporate fashion with theatrical elements and cultural diversity to educate the community on the importance of intercultural bonding.

Library Mentor: Jamie Vander Broek