Undergrads Secure Research Grants
Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy students received 2019-20 Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grants (AYURG) to study everything on issues of identity to the effectiveness of an Argentinian organization that supports women seeking abortions.
Winners include Jolie Boulos, Reena Burt, Emily Coffee, Ronni Hayden, Hayley Krolik, Samantha Milstein, and Caroline Werner.
School of Education and Social Policy students are extremely successful in applying for and receiving undergraduate research grants through the Office of Undergraduate Research. Last year, 90 percent of students who applied received either an undergraduate research grant, a summer research grant or undergraduate research advanced grant, according to the Undergraduate Research Office’s 2018-19 annual report.
Moreover, faculty members like Lilah Shapiro, assistant professor of instruction, are extremely committed to mentoring student researchers. Shapiro worked with six different students last year, including supporting multiple students writing senior theses and helping others get started in research.
Learn more about SESP’s 2019-2020 AYURG winners:
Jolie Boulos is studying how lighter-skinned or white-appearing college students grapple with their identity, find community and interact with racial and ethnic affinity spaces. She hopes her work will provide insight into racial dynamics on college campuses, encouraging universities and affinity groups to bolster their support systems for those who appear white.
Reena Burt’s research study will use an online survey and semi-structured interviews to look at how the idea of community and individualism relates to young adults’ faith in people during their first year of college. “By understanding how first-year students conceptualize social trust and its influences, I hope to provide important data that can be used by universities and future researchers to improve the college transition process,” she said.
Ronni Hayden is building on research she conducted last year using a Summer Undergraduate Research Grant that explored a novel way to decrease anxiety and increase communication for nonverbal children on the autism spectrum. Her goal is to determine whether the MoodBuddy, a stuffed cow that lights up to communicate mood using a four-color scale, can help children communicate independently in a hospital setting, thereby decreasing their anxiety.
Hayley Krolik will be studying the effectiveness of the organization Socorristas en red in Argentina, a group of 39 activist collectives throughout the country that provides support services for women seeking abortions. Their services include in-person workshops offered weekly for women who have previously contacted their hotline and are facilitated by trained Socorristas.
Samantha Milstein will interview current college students who lost their parents when they were teenagers to see how the experience affected their identity, life-story narrative, and self-perception. By looking at how the death of a parent interacts with other developmental processes, “my research will shed light on its impact on an adolescent’s understanding of themselves and the outside world as they transition into emerging adulthood,” she said.
Caroline Werner is examining how riding public transportation intersects with -- and potentially affects -- people’s identities and perceptions of their identities. If cars are the main mode of transportation, how does riding public transportation impact how people feel about themselves? She’ll interview Northwestern faculty and staff who either drive or take public transit to work, focusing on their experiences with public transportation, the ways they have commuted in the past, and their thoughts on their own and others’ modes of transportation.