Hi there! I’m a 1st year, soon-to-be 2nd year BSc Psychology student at Durham University. “Why does sad music make us feel better sometimes?” pretty much sums up my interest in music and psychology. On a deeper level, I will investigate how international students interact with music to make themselves feel better in different contexts. It is important to investigate cross-culturally as our world becomes more globalised. Moreover, I believe music can transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, as it seems to have such a profound effect on everyone, regardless of where they’re from. Not only may music connect us all, but it can also connect us with ourselves. The National Health Service in the United Kingdom has been struggling with high demand for mental health services, thus resulting in long waiting lists and inaccessible help when people need it most. I hope to advocate for music as a non-invasive, accessible, and sustainable facilitator of emotional regulation, thereby reducing the overwhelming need for pharmacological treatment. Outside the Laidlaw Programme, I’m also a part of a youth Advisory Group for the ORIGIN project, which involves developing online cultural and art mental health interventions for underrepresented young people experiencing depression and anxiety. Please feel free to drop me a message if you’d like to participate or know more. ORIGIN is always looking for interested people! Ultimately, my involvement in research builds onto my future career aspirations; I aim to be a Clinical Psychologist while encouraging the integration of arts and culture into mental health interventions. I’m deeply interested in the interdisciplinary nature of music and psychology; however, I’m also excited to hear how other academic disciplines may interact and merge. Likewise, I enjoy multiple hobbies like playing the piano and ukulele, singing, cooking, crocheting, and reading. I think being a nerd about your interests is really cool, so if you’re like-minded, I’d love to chat with you!

Hi all! My name is Kirsten Trevino, and I am a rising senior at Barnard College majoring in Sociology and Human Rights. My interests in identity, sexuality, and sociology led me to research the coming-of-age experience and identity formation practices of white lesbian elders who came of age during the post-WWII, Cold War period in Detroit, Michigan, during my first summer.  In my second summer, I am currently volunteering with the organization Rainbow Faith and Freedom to further their mission of securing affirmation for 2SLGBTQIA+ by ending religious-based homophobia and transphobia 🌈 

Hi everyone! I'm a rising junior at Barnard College of Columbia University, where I am double majoring in Political Science and Human Rights, and minoring in French. This summer I'm researching about art reinstitution and its ethical and legal components. Some of my other interests include social work, human rights, and law. Please feel free to reach me at cd3442@barnard.edu

Hi everyone! I'm Clara Tobin, an English Student in Trinity College Dublin. My research examines the source material of William Shakespeare. In particular, I am attempting to identify a publication of the Middle English poetry found in the 'Allegory of Death' mural in the Stratford-upon-Avon Guild Chapel that may have influenced Shakespeare. Although the murals were covered during his lifetime due to laws around religious iconography during the Reformation, the resemblance between the murals and Shakespeare's work is uncanny and has not been studied in depth - until now! Aside from literature, I enjoy ballet, classical and jazz music (I play piano and saxophone), travelling and going to the theatre. Feel free to reach out for a chat about my research or anything else that interests you!

I'm majoring in sociology and minoring in feminist/intersectional science and technology studies! My project is about the (social) experiences and perspectives of long term survivors of HIV regarding the AIDS epidemic and COVID pandemic. Through my interviews, I hope to learn about collective response and risk distribution as experienced by vulnerable/marginalized populations, particularly as public attention and precautions wane. 

I am a 3-year BSc Natural Sciences student, majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. I am interested in pursuing a career in brain-imaging and neurotechnology. I want to participate in projects devoted to innovating new ways to support people who live with neural conditions, and help share their stories through documentary film-making. I believe that providing more and better ways to cultivate understanding for one another can bring more compassion and kindness to our world. I think these two elements are often overlooked and under-practiced, and yet have a profound impact when integrated into our work and our lives. With this idea, I really love to travel and get involved in new projects and experiences to learn more about myself and other humans and their stories. 

Reese Taylor is a rising junior majoring in Philosophy, History, and Human Rights on a pre-law track. As a Laidlaw Scholar, she spent her first summer researching the role of labor in the economic and social uplift of Black Americans in the wake of Reconstruction. She was selected to present this research at Johns Hopkins University, The University of Pennsylvania, and the Global Laidlaw Scholars Conference. In her second summer, Reese founded The Voices in Action Initiative which is a program developed to empower and mobilize youth voices by providing them skills and practice in speech and debate. She enacted the program in Nassau, Bahamas with sponsorship from both the Laidlaw Foundation and The Kiwanis Club of Nassau.

I am a junior at Columbia University, majoring in Urban Studies with a specialization in Public Health, and a 2024 Laidlaw Scholar. My first summer research was with the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning Mapping Historical New York Initiative. I digitized historical maps and census data, contributing to a digital atlas of early New York settlements, focusing on Queens and the Bronx. For my second summer, I worked with WeCanMake, a community land trust, on a mixed-use housing microsite in the UK.