I am a/an:
University
Laidlaw Cohort Year
Research Topic
I am from:
I speak:
My hobbies/interests are:
I am open to participating in mentoring/buddy programmes
Influencer Of
Popular Content
Topics
Channels contributed to:
Medicine & Health ResearchRooms participated in:
Columbia UniversityDetails
-
Email
Online Elsewhere
-
LinkedIn
Experts Like Priyanka Mathews
Recent Comments
Can't believe I missed this! This is a perfect combination of so many of your interests; I'm so excited to see this project unfold!
I would love to take a motorcycle to work! This seems like such a great opportunity to appreciate a non-Westrn undestanding of something like mental health, which (in limited experience) is something very different than what I've seen in the US.
I need to come by and learn about the chocolate!
I visited the British Museum after the conversation we had at the Oxford Natural History Museum, and I was struck by the dedication to more thoroughly equitable presentation of artifacts. I particularly enjoyed a display they had that juxtaposed the concept of divinity amongst various historic cultures by utilizing ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Greek statues. Though I might say that that's the least they could do; I was shocked to enter the Parthenon room, where half the artifacts from the temple are displayed (with only the other half being in Greece.)
As someone who loves museums, I have always been scared of approaching them from this more critical perspective, however necessary it is. I admire you for doing this work! I have also loved seeing displays centered on colonialism's role in exhibits in here museums here, which makes me feel like you found the perfect place for this work.
What new ideas, challenges, or other issues have you encountered with regard to your project (this might include data collection, information that contradicts your assumptions or the assertions of others, materials that have enriched your understanding of the topic or led you to change your project, etc.)? How have these ideas or challenges shaped the bigger picture of your research? Has the scope or focus of your topic changed since you began this project? If so, how?
One of the big challenges I encountered during my project was determining a proper scope for my research. I started off with a very broad focus, which was the relationship between Chinese immigration and literature and film. I was not able to find a lot of resources in terms of film and literature for the time period I was looking at, so I decided to change it to a later and longer period. Another change I made was that I was originally planning to look at multiple films and literature, but in the end I decided to do a more in depth analysis of a single film and bring in the ideas from my readings. Overall, the scope of my project changed in that the time period became longer but the bodies of work studied became less.
What research resources have proven particularly useful to you as you continue your research?
Reading bibliographies was a very helpful research tool for me. I highlighted many things I found interesting in books and articles that I read, and going back through and reading the sources where the information came from helped me figure out the similarities between things I highlighted. This ultimately helped me to narrow focus of my project and find what I was particularly interested in.
Using bibliographies as a sort of guide for relevant research is a great tactic, one that I need to start using more during literature reviews. It’s interesting that your project shifted in scope and timeline while remaining focused on the same core idea, and I’m sure that brings a new level of understanding of the topic at hand.
My biggest challenge over the past couple of weeks has been coming to terms with how slow and (sometimes painfully) tedious biological research can be. Since I am starting a new protocol for the lab, me and my lab partners have done countless trials that we have had to scrap in pursuit of a consistent protocol. In fact, I would go so far as to say my project centered more on the development of protocol than collection of the data that the protocol will (eventually) garner. While I initially felt this was pretty bleak, I’m beginning to see that this is also an important part of the research process that is to be expected.
I think my most helpful resource have been the discussions me and partners have had with my PI. Over the course of our project, one of us will often come to a question that leads us to him. We will then talk through how this may impact our research. I have loved working with my partners, as they have questions that I myself would never have thought of that improves our science.
As I've been thinking about this question for the past few weeks, I've finally decided that my confirmed deliverable for this project in addition to the poster for our presentation will be a literature review. At first, I wanted to write a paper but I will need months longer of research in order to write a cohesive research paper on the topic. I want to continue on the research during the school year and especially next summer when I am not doing the second component of the Laidlaw Leadership Program.
My research matters because there are is not enough academic scholarship related to the Haitian Diaspora available to the public. Being the first Black republic in the world, Haiti is rich with history on leadership, politics, and human rights. Additionally, this position has also put a target on Haiti's back. Colonial/Imperial powers such as the United States and France have taken advantage of Haiti's resources and vulnerable position. My research question explores how the United States attempted to change Haiti's education system during their occupation of Haiti. This is significant because it's another example of how Haiti has lost autonomy to the abuse of power by other governments. In Haiti's case the United States isn't the only perpetrator but I used them as an example due to prevalent hypocrisy and false narratives within the United States government. This is a way to hold them accountable.
I think you make an excellent point about how your work can hold the United States accountable for the role they had in Haiti’s loss of autonomy. I would hope that research like this can prevent incidents like this from happening again, but I fear that may be too naive! Regardless, it is important that the public be made aware of issues like this, as it is truly the only way for to improve the US’s treatment of foreign nations.