+ Timeline

There is one round of competition each year. Funds awarded can be expended starting January 1st; all funds are to be expended by December 31st.

For the Fall 2024 SRA, the deadline for applications is November 4th, 2024.

+ Eligibility

All graduate and undergraduate students at the university are eligible to apply, and funds can be awarded for individual projects or collaborative projects involving more than one student. Applications should be timed so that all funds can be expended during the time that a student remains enrolled at The New School. (Final-semester seniors and graduate students in their final semester are ineligible to apply. If a student plans to finish in a time frame shorter than the one-year window of funding, his or her application should detail how the funds will be expended during his or her remaining time as an enrolled student.)

Each project proposal needs to list a formal full-time New School faculty mentor who will be available to provide project mentorship for the entire project period and who can verify commitment to the mentorship at the time of application. Proposals that can demonstrate that projects will be well supported with mentorship will have a greater likelihood of being funded. The full-time faculty mentor can be homed anywhere in the university, including a college other than the student's college. Students who have trouble identifying an appropriate faculty mentor for their projects are urged to contact the Office of Research Support (researchsupport@newschool.edu) as early before the deadline as possible; with sufficient lead time, Office of Research Support staff can help make a good connection.

Applying to the SRA does not make students ineligible to apply for other research support within or beyond the university, and receiving an SRA award does not affect students’ likelihood of receiving other school-level funds they may apply for.

+ Selection

A group of faculty, staff, and students will be invited to form the selection committee by the Office of Research Support. Faculty and staff participants will typically be selected from the membership of the University Research Council, including staff members from Student Success. Student participants will be selected by the University Student Senate and will include at least one undergraduate and one graduate student. The proposed composition of the committee in the first round is five faculty members, one staff member, and two students, but additional faculty, staff, and students may be invited if additional project-relevant expertise is needed or if the volume of applications leads to the need for a larger committee.

Selection criteria may vary in each round depending on the range and number of applications received, but typically about half the annual funds will be awarded in each semester’s competition.

Your description of the proposed project/activities should allow a selection committee to evaluate:

• The project’s goals, including its importance and originality
• The project’s methods, including its rigor
• The anticipated outcomes of the project and its potential for broader impact
• The feasibility that the plan can be carried out in the given time frame and budget as described in this application
• The extent to which the project advances or is consistent with the university’s mission (https://www.newschool.edu/about/mission-vision/)

The committee considers the range of fields that any set of awards represents as they make their decisions, and the range of applications from graduate and undergraduate students. There is no cap on the percentage of undergraduate versus graduate research projects that can be supported in any one round or per year, nor on which disciplines or colleges the work can represent; these may vary in each round depending on how many applications from which students and programs are received. But because this is a university-wide competition, the committee will consider the range of fields that any set of awards represents as they make their decisions, and they will consider the range of applications from graduate and undergraduate students.

SRA Reviewer Rating Scheme:

• Goals: I understand what the applicant(s) are proposing to do and the argument behind this projects importance and originality.

• Methods: The applicant has adequately described the methods to be used and conveyed the project’s rigor.

• Feasibility: The project has a feasibly budgeted work plan or anticipated schedule of key project activities or tasks, as well as access to the needed resources (e.g., lab space, performance slot, equipment, etc.)

• Anticipated outcomes: The applicant has articulated the anticipated results or outcomes of this project, and there is potential broader impact and dissemination of results or outcomes to various audiences/stakeholders

• University mission: The project advances or is consistent with the university’s mission (whether or not addressed directly in proposal)

• Overall merit: The project is, overall, worthy of funding through the SRA program.

+ Faculty Mentors

If you have trouble finding a full-time faculty mentor, please feel free to reach out to researchsupport@newschool.edu as early as possible (not just a few days before the deadline!) for help connecting with a relevant eligible mentor. We're happy to do what we can to help with finding a faculty mentor who's eligible to play that role. To do that, when you reach out to us, we'll need to learn more about what your project involves, and the kind of expertise and mentoring it will need. Please let us know:

1. The topic area (field/discipline, method) and specific topic of the research (as much as you are able to say thus far)
2. Any classes you have taken at The New School relevant to this area and who the instructors were (if there were particular instructors whose expertise or style you were particularly drawn to, that information would be helpful, too)
3. Any more details on what you will need a mentor for in carrying out the project
4. Your degree program at The New School and how far along you are in that program

Mentor role(s):

• Mentors can help with introducing students to the research culture, methods, and most pressing questions in a student's chosen field of study or area of practice. Different disciplines and sub-disciplines can define and approach research differently enough to make the judgment and input of a mentor with specific expertise in an area invaluable.

• Mentors can help students decide how best to organize and conduct their research. What this looks like will vary depending on the discipline, but in most cases there is an important question or problem that has not already been sufficiently addressed in existing scholarly or creative work. Mentors can help navigate the process of reviewing what has already been done and formulating a compelling plan. They can also help with analyzing data, critiquing drafts or first efforts, thinking through interpretations or conclusions, and critiquing research products (conference talks, journal articles, gallery work, performances, etc.). The research process often requires rethinking along the way, which is part of what makes research interesting. Having a mentor with expertise to help navigate all this is important.

What students can expect from a mentor (to be discussed by student and mentor before SRA submission):

• Students should expect mentors to understand that research — however that is defined within their chosen area — is part of students' learning.

• Students should expect mentors to spend time meeting with them to obtain feedback on the discipline-specific research effort: research plan, conducting the research/developing the work, formulating interpretations/conclusions, refining the project outcome (presentation, art work, performance, conference talk, gallery show, publication), logistical advice, meeting deadlines, and any other issues of importance.

• Students should expect that their mentors will help them see the "big picture" of which their work is a part.

• Students should expect their mentors to help them figure out what specific additional training may be necessary for the students to carry out their projects successfully.

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2024

Nothing But Islands: Our Slice of the Black Diaspora - This project is an Afro-Caribbean and Black-artist led workshop series that will culminate into an art installation for and by East New York, Brooklyn-based artists, community stewards and activists to showcase their work with inheritance: what are the objects that ground your understanding of inheritance? Under principal investigator, Sabrina Frometa, SPE, mentored by Amir Husak and Walis Johnson, Founder of the Red Line Archive Project.

MYOG (Make Your Own Garment): Tools for the climate crisis. - Building on the work of the MYOG (Make Your Own Garment) movement, we propose a framework for developing garments that respond to the emerging climate crisis. Progressing on this idea we aim to create an open-source proof-of-concept for democratic access to patterns that pose alternatives to the mainstream apparel industry. Under principal investigator Kishan Tehara, Parsons, mentored by Liliana Sanguino.

Revealing the Colonial Mentality in Korea under the Japanese Occupation through Storytelling - This historical novel explores the themes of cultural erasure, assimilation, colonial mentality, and ethnic hierarchies during the Japanese occupation of Korea, especially in World War II. The narrator is a Korean girl who rebels against the occupation and yet finds friendship and love among the Japanese settlers. Under principal investigator Kristine Salcedo, SPE, mentored by Helen Schulman.

Dark Chambers (working title) - My mother and I gather around the family photo album often now—a ritual spurred by an elusive strain of long-covid. She and I work to both preserve and glean our curated family history against what has since been remembered. But what goes to rot from a digital embalming? Under principal investigator Jordan Salyers, SPE, mentored by Lana Lin.

Wrapping Shadows: In the Absence of Sunlight - This project uses psychogeography as an angle to experience the relationship between shadows, solar access, humans, and non-human inhabitants of the city; it explores alternative perspectives through an embodied-photographic system and machine learning technology to generate and map the invisible city. Under principal investigator Guanhao Zhu, Parsons, mentored by Harpreet Sareen.

Technoference: Reflective Functioning Resilience within Parent-Child Dyads - The project investigates technology use in primary caregivers of 4-to-5-year-old children. We employ semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and observational techniques to explore caregiver technology use, parent-child dynamics, and child development. The study aims to uncover effects of technology use on parent-child interactions and identify related risk and protective factors in caregivers. Under principal investigator Monica Machado, NSSR, mentored by Miriam Steele.

Sustaining community mental health in the Bahamas - Building off of findings from an initial pilot study, this project will aim to continue adaptation and implementation of Problem Management Plus on the Bahamas’ two most hurricane-vulnerable islands: Grand Bahama and Abaço. A training-of-trainers will be adapted and conducted to build capacity to deliver this intervention through community organizations. Under principal investigator Caroline McEneaney, NSSR, mentored by Adam Brown.

Seeing Physics: Does visual attention rely on an implicit model of friction? - Past research suggests people make errors when reasoning explicitly about physical situations. However, we also possess rich implicit knowledge of physics, as evidenced by our competence navigating and predicting the physical world. I propose two experiments to study how visual attention models the force of friction when predicting objects’ movements. Under principal investigator Hong Nguyen, NSSR, mentored by Ben van Buren.

The Politics of Procreation - This project investigates the cultural, political, and economic shifts that have changed our orientation to human procreation. Through an ethnography of the antinatalists movement in Japan, I hope to chart the imaginaries that undergird this cultural shift and imagine what new ways of living are possible when deliberate infertility becomes a Virtue. Under principal investigator Jack Jiang, NSSR, mentored by Abou Farman.

OjaLáb - I seek to help brands from Latinx enter the US market through a community-building and experiential approach to building relationships, igniting conversations, and activating real business connections. Under principal investigator Camila Ordóñez, Parsons, mentored by Michele Kahane.

My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?) - My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?: Is a multimedia project which explores the complex relationships between religion, gender, and trans experience. Through the reimagining of The Crucifixion of Jesus with a trans body, the stained glass mosaic intends to provide an epistemological opening to foster greater acceptance and minimize the alienation of the trans community. Under principal investigator Lily Kurtz, Parsons, Kate Wolkoff.

Modular Knitwear & Bioremediation with Mycelium - My project explores mycelium as a sustainable alternative to knit-seaming in modular design by creating hybrid knit-mycelium textiles for garment application. Mycelium, the fungal root network, finds application in emerging biodesign fields. The objective is to pioneer mycelium's role in eco-textile development and provide routes to intentional design. Under principal investigator Jing Wang, Parsons, mentored by Anette Millington.

Rebirth - "Rebirth" is a photographic project that envisions the future of Black space in Ghana, uniting water, technology, Afrofuturism, and fashion. It reimagines the journey of Flying Africans who defied slavery's constraints, by seeking liberation through flight. Collaborating with Black fashion designers and models in Ghana, the project will capture powerful and thought-provoking imagery of individuals emerging from and within waters, symbolizing the spiritual act of liberation. Under principal investigator Kimani Worghs, Parsons, mentored by Freya Powell.

FerroFlow - We have designed a line of dynamic objects that are pushing the boundaries of art and personal adornment. Utilizing ferrofluid, they aim to create expressive and changing iconography on the backdrop of thoughtfully crafted leather goods. Under principal investigator Ben Nunez, Parsons, mentored by Oliver Kellhammer.

Yako - Yako is a photographic study of the Akan word for condolence. Through this project I am researching the metaphysical qualities of a mural, and its convergence with folk songs, folk art, and the concept of Black Visual Intonation. Under principal investigator Nadia O’Hara, Parsons, mentored by Colin Stearns.

FESTEJONUEVO! - FESTEJONUEVO! explores the cultural, social, and political significance of Afro-Peruvian dance and the multidisciplinary body as a tool for change-making. FESTEJONUEVO! finds the moving body as a tool of resistance, a living archive, a site of cultural preservation, and a repository of historical knowledge passed down intergenerationally. Under principal investigator Marianna Perlstein, Lang, mentored by Danielle Goldman.

Anlände: Simplifying the Experience for Travelers with Individualized Capabilities - Through research and eventual development, this project will present a platform that simplifies the travel experience for individuals with medical conditions. Today, traveling with various disabilities is a lonesome and anxiety-inducing activity. In understanding the complexities in-depth, this project can deploy support and assistance, offering individualized safety measures. Under principal investigator William Blomquist, Parsons, mentored by Edward Cardimona.

BCI+AR: Augmenting the Physical World using EEG Data - This project aims to construct a hybrid BCI (brain computer interface) paradigm structure as well as creating interactive software applications using EEG data in the context of mixed reality, thus allowing real time biofeedback based augmentation overlapping the real world. Under principal investigator Beilei Chen, Parsons, mentored by Melanie Crean.

Ceremonial Connections - This project is an inquiry in how ritual acts can facilitate emotional processing and human to human connection. Many cultures are rooted in ritual processes, specifically Japanese culture: there are rituals for love, forgiveness, grief and spirit cleansing. As an American raised in a multicultural home of a Japanese mother and American father, I will be embarking on a cultural immersion in Japan. I will look at how Japanese tea ceremony rituals can serve as inspiration for spaces in America to facilitate more meaningful connections. Under principal investigator Hana Jackson, Parsons, mentored by Otto von Busch.

The New School 3D Print Recycle Center - The New School 3D Print Recycle Center will address the waste of 3D printing by reducing, reusing, and recycling excess plastic from failed 3D prints and waste from the supporting structures. I will make a prototype recycling center on campus for research and build a long-lasting sustainable option that will be available for all members of TNS. Under principal investigator Xiaoxiao Long, Parsons, mentored by Professor Simone Douglas and Lacie Garnes, Associate Director, Making Center.

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2023

PROPHET$ PROPHET$ is a multimedia opera-theater work by Calvin Hitchcock, Delilah McCrea, and David Grandouiller which explores a child’s religious experience in American Evangelicalism. By interweaving hymn tunes, Sunday school songs, sacred classical music, children’s literature, and 1950s military propaganda with the parables of Jesus. PROPHET$ lives in the space between the sacred and the profane, challenging binaries, certainties, and ultimately cynicism. Under principal investigator Calvin Hitchcock, CoPA, mentored by David T. Little.

Calling Our People Back Home: Reconnecting to the Tradition of Black Life in Nature The project is a Black artist-led, New York based retreat which explores the tradition of Black life in nature. The retreat will culminate in an art installation held thereafter, with the intention of adding nuance to the singular representation of Black individuals in media. Under principal investigator Chidera ihejirika and Luopu Malakpa, SPE, mentored by Brittnay Proctor-Habil.

Waves: Black women at sea A multimedia research project about the development of the diverse, queer non-traditional seaside town, Brighton, Sussex, from a Afrofuturist perspective, specifically focusing on the healing and transformative inner experiences of women of color living by this seaside town. This is a collaborative and experimental audio visual project taking the final form of a photo book & exhibition, featuring photography and text, recorded audio interviews and film installations. Under principal investigator Belinda Okuya, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas.

Nurturing communication and reciprocity with rivers This experimental film project delves into the relationship-based water management approaches of indigenous peoples in Lenapehoking and the Macizo Colombiano, investigating how the film-making process can be an act of reciprocity with nature and an opportunity to engage in horizontal dialogue with rivers as living entities. Under principal investigators Maria Pulido Velosa and Kayla Franklin, SPE, mentored by Leonardo Figueroa Helland.

Unearthing Tales and Textiles of Barren Island Gathering and mending textiles from Dead Horse Bay, which were left behind by the island’s inhabitants nearly a century ago as they were evicted to make way for Robert Moses’ brutal vision. This project creates textile shrines to honor these displaced people and tell the alchemic story of Barren Island. Under principal investigator Romily Rinck, Parsons, mentored by Maggie M D'Avers.

Shrooes Shrooes are new footwear soles from 3D printed mycelium which explore the potential for customizable, ergonomic and biodegradable shoes. Shrooes will be a proof of concept for the performance and viability of this material which could decouple ourselves from existing unsustainable footwear production. Under principal investigator Jessic Thies, Parsons, mentored by Daniel Michalik.

Our Hearts Are Hurting: Social Isolation Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic and a Protective Psychosocial Resource This dissertation will investigate psychophysiological impacts of Covid-19 among a sample of South African children who are either enrolled in or on the waitlist for Surf Therapy, a trauma-informed, community mental health intervention. Psychological benefits of Surf Therapy will be examined in the context of Covid-19. Under principal investigator Sarah Bearnbaun, NSSR, mentored by Wendy D’Andrea.

The Never-Made films Creating a book about never made, or lost, or abandoned films. I’m preoccupied by the ghosts of our imagination, and the things that lie below the surface. A universe where all these films exist fascinates me; a world of different cultural references, different conversations. Under principal investigator Sophie Brown, SPE, mentored by Robert Polito.

Fair Care: for healthier nanny-parent relationships Fair Care was founded on the belief that childcare workers are a largely undervalued and underappreciated backbone of society. The project aims to address the challenges faced by childcare workers and complex layers of power dynamics. Fair Care seeks to facilitate equitable nanny-parent relationships by designing a service intervention. Under principal investigators Hiroaki Kato, Jungmin Lee, Max Helfand, Parsons, mentored by Lara Penin.

Heartache and Backache An Online Intervention to Better Understand the Link Between Emotional and Physical Pain - To assess the use of a pain psychology and neuroscience exercise and written emotional disclosure task to determine if pain psycho-education and expressing emotions can help to reduce pain and change patient’s beliefs about pain in individuals with chronic back and neck pain. By combining the two interventions together we hope to further illuminate the mind-body connection by bringing awareness and understanding to the relationship between traumatic events and somatic experiences in the body. Under principal investigator Lauren Krulis, NSSR, mentored by Adam Brown.

Charting the Trajectory of Peace: The Politics of Peacebuilding in Colombia and Northern Ireland Examining contemporary peacebuilding narratives developed by the International Peace Institute, peace researchers, and peace centers in Colombia and Northern Ireland, this qualitative study aims to make a novel contribution to sociological peace research by tracking the development of peacebuilding programs across local and international levels. Under principal investigators Zachary Leamy and Francisco González Camelo NSSR mentored by Benoit Challand.

The resilience of the American household: a joint income-wealth distribution analysis of redistributive policies during Covid-19 Our study compares current and pre-pandemic household data on wealth and net income to shed light on the shift in the distribution of economic resources that Americans experienced during the pandemic. We will research how much the inequality perspective with a joint net income-wealth distribution differs from a joint gross income-wealth distribution. The analysis will be done across the whole population as well as for specific population subgroups (male, female, white, black, Hispanic, Asian). Under principal investigators Andrea Lichtenberger and Cesar Castillo Garcia, NSSR mentored by Will Semmler.

Equitable Learning Environment in Public Schools High-quality public education is a pillar of democracy and an indicator of good governance. Teachers on the frontline of the system create a safe space for students to be fully engaged. Our research is a deep dive into factors limiting teachers’ agency to create equitable learning environments within NYC Public Schools. Under principal investigators Cut Lakeisha Pradhanitya and Rhea Mehta, Parsons, mentored by Jessica Walker.

Systematic Chaos: Horoscopes amongst Microscopes and Telescopes Creating compositions that combine microscopic and macroscopic ecologies and transferring those compositions onto layers of sheer fabric. The fabrics will be layered to create an immersive and ethereal environment. Audiences will move within the created environment, initiating the contemplation of complex and intelligent systems we are amongst. Under principal investigator Ellie Anhalt, Parsons, mentored by Rit Premnath.

Traceability in Movement This project is a convergence of fashion and dance moving together as a device that is gradually peeling the layers of the non human and human animals’ delicate relationship. It will function as an invitation to a discourse questioning the current destructive standard, with the purpose of propelling a change of systems. Under principal investigator Ben Shaul Noga, Parsons, mentored by Radhika Subramaniam.

Sorry for the Inconvenience! Addressing the failure of NYC and the MTA’s decades-long ADA violations must be prioritized. Visual advertisements and artwork featuring QR codes will direct riders to document inaccessibility and elevator outages. This live community-driven data, linked by GIS technology, will allow for real-time route planning and create data points for change. Under principal investigator Avery Camp SPE, mentored by Wendy Xu.

Saint Saint will be a dance theatre show inspired by Audrey Chou’s research method of choreographing through visual languages. She has been constantly researching the gap of image making and movement. She thinks this gap between the image and movement could be shortened, by drafting and systemising a new process of creating and making dance through image. She found interesting connections between symbolism, processes of creation, connectivity of oneness to dance as a ritual practice. Under principal investigator Yi-Han Chou, Lang, mentored by Danielle Goldman.

Prototyping and Evaluating the Cycleau Greywater Treatment System Cycleau is a greywater recycling system that can be retrofitted into households to recycle drain water in order to integrate a point-of-use water treatment system to improve local access to clean water while also reducing the amount of wastewater that is discharged as sewage pollution. Under principal investigator Noemi Florea, Lang, mentored by Jürgen von Mahs.

Musical Album (Working Title: Reason) A musical album of original compositions, reflecting the experience of my first year in New York, and the situation in my home city - Kyiv. Professionally recorded in a studio with the help of (and also featuring) my mentors, some of the best New York jazz players. Under principal investigator Georgii Grydkovets, CoPA, mentored by Steve Cardenas.

Welcome Dance The project addresses the lack of arts exposure, distribution, and communication amongst Black communities by introducing a local and global community of Black children, both of which take interest in arts education and exposure. Through interviews, photographic and videographic field work, and a private exhibition, I aim to celebrate young Black children through the arts and connect them through community engagement. Under principal investigator Nadia O’Hara, Parsons, mentored by Colin Stearns.

Addressing Affirmation as a Form of Resistance Addressing Affirmation as a Form of Resistance is a research project that entails photographic exploration and archival research that aims to investigate how visuality rooted in affirmation is often at the intersection of suppression and resistance. It further explores how New York City has historically been a safe haven for queer individuals who find it difficult to seek full affirmation. Under principal investigator Angelo Capacyachi, Lang, mentored by Ka-Man Tse.

Ghost Hands Paris in the Early 1920's was a hub for aspiring and emerging artist alike. Rapid among that time was "Negrophillia" the fetishization of black art. The research project will be looking at the work that came out of that era and the art made in response - "Negritude." Under principal investigator Janay Davison, Parsons, mentored by Rose Réjouis.

Uncovering the Nazi Behind the Facade This project seeks to raise awareness about the problematic career of an understudied but important sculptor by publishing an investigative piece and releasing archival documents about their life and work. Under principal investigator Daniel Fernandez, Lang, mentored by Abou Farman.

How to Use Stable Diffusion as an Artist; A Series of Ethical Dilemmas Natural language-based image generators have changed the speed and access everyone has to artwork. This innovation is as big if not bigger than the advent of photography. I hope to define a way for artists to Stable Diffusion, one of these tools while minding biased datasets or models trained on copyrighted images. I will define an order of operations for artists to ethically use these tools. Under principal investigator Alican Rowe, Parsons, mentored by Jeongki Lim.

PHILIA PHILIA is an indexical exploration of paraphilias. The series is formatted as an alphabetical categorization of sexual fetishes and fetishistic disorders spanning from A to Z. Each topic is depicted through visual interpretation, and the contents of the images are built on the psychological foundations of their respective sexual fixations. Under principal investigator Lisa Wang, Parsons, mentored by Colin Stearns.

Bless This House Bless This House is a multimedia project that examines the cultural and spiritual significance of kolams, intricate geometric designs created by Indian women on the thresholds of their houses. The kolams, made with rice flour, hold a sacred purpose as they bless the home and its dwellers. My project focuses on the ritualistic aspect of this traditional practice through integration and reinterpretation. Under principal investigator Kelly Han, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas.

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2022

• Repairing the Roundtable, a community collaboration for reparative reframing The project is an artist-led, multi-phase exploration of methods of healing, repair, restoration and transformation. It includes a public visual art exhibition, panel discussion, and teaching workshop which will be archived to produce a catalog of creative approaches to reparative practices, expanding our own existing methods through community engagement. Under principal investigators Katie Chin, Henrik Nordahl, and Nat Peterson, Fine Arts, Parsons, mentored by Catherine Telford Keogh.

• Algal Agency: Participatory Bioarchiving in a Climate Crisis The project creates a collaborative bio-archival sculpture formed through interaction between algae, humans, and climate data. Projected light, biological needs, and algorithmic reflections of human activity determine the biomineralizing algae’s form, creating not only a living data artifact but a technical process that makes tangible non-human timescales of geological change. Under principal investigators Lauria Clarke, Design and Technology, Parsons, and Caleb Stone, Culture and Media, Lang, mentored by Jane Parone.

• Fashion & Border Imperialism We are exploring the relationship between the global fashion industry and border imperialism, its inherent social and ecological violences, and the alternatives people are experimenting with to build a different fashion system. Our research will culminate in a collectively curated small book and exhibit at the New School. Under principal investigators Mel Corchado, Fashion Design and Society, Parsons, and Zainab Coli, Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management mentored by Ben Barry.

• When the Houses Began to Fall: How Coastal Erosion and the Rising Sea Levels are Reshaping Outer Cape Cod When the Houses Began to Fall: How Coastal Erosion and the Rising Sea Levels are Reshaping Outer Cape Cod chronicles the accelerated coastal erosion on the outer eastern shores of Cape Cod exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Through archival imagery, portraiture, landscape photography, and text, this project interweaves the present and the past by exploring the drastic climate impact that has reshaped the outer cape. Under principal investigator Thomas Iacobucci, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas.

• I'll Hold Space For You At the intersection of zero waste fashion, global cultural economy, and supplementary healing measures, this project experiments with bio-technological design processes. Adaptive fashion will be integrated with acupressure therapy through body mapping support aligned with the body’s natural healing points; and is further supported by the development of natural textiles infused with topical medicinal herbs to encourage a natural circulation of mental and bodily healing. Under principal investigator Ahmrii Johnson, Fashion Design, Parsons, mentored by Abrima Erwiah.

• "Thought We Were Writing the Blues, But They Called it Rock and Roll" This project follows the journeys of my ancestors Debby Moore and Rose Marie Mccoy, two black women who traveled to New York City to pursue musical careers in the early 50s/60s. Through interviews, photographs, and found documents this project captures what it was like to be a black woman in the music industry back then. Under principal investigator Yetunde Sapp, Fashion Design, Parsons, mentored by Marie Geneviev Cyr.

• Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Evaluating Paid Sick Leave Access in New York City Through surveys, interviews, and analysis of relevant scholarship, this study will evaluate the degree to which workers in NYC are benefiting from the city’s paid sick leave laws and review possible policy responses to tackle employer non-compliance. Under principal investigator Nikko Bilitza, Public and Urban Policy, School of Public Engagement, mentored by David Howell.

• The Past, Present and Future of Black Liberation in Curacao Looking at two events in Curaçao – the commemorations of the 1795 Tula revolt by the enslaved, and an anticolonial conference – this research project focuses on local articulations of Black liberation. Specific attention is placed on how these articulations are mediated through legacies of the past and visions of the future. Under principal investigator Ramon Louis Constan de Haan, Anthropology, New School for Social Research, mentored by Hugh Raffles.

• Rubble, Post 2008 Rubble post-2008 is a creative and research based visual intervention within the dominant narratives of residential demolition (and the discontinuities therein) in Cleveland, Ohio after the 2008 foreclosure crisis. The project will analyze the ways in which narratives frame and inform the landscape of demolition. Through visual intervention, Rubble seeks to highlight the seams and fractures endemic to the formulation of urban landscapes. Under principal investigator Abigail Dring, Urban Studies, Schools for Public Engagement, mentored by Robert von Mahs.

• The underground activism of queer women from Post-World War II to the aftermath of the Stonewall riots The queer organizations and communities that formed in the era between WWII and the Stonewall riots were instrumental in establishing the groundwork for the modern gay rights movement. Queer women and trans people were especially instrumental in this work, though their contributions have often been overlooked. Under principal investigator Jillian Eugenios Dring, Creative Writing, Schools for Public Engagement, mentored by Luis Jaramillo.

• The underground activism of queer women from Post-World War II to the aftermath of the Stonewall riots The queer organizations and communities that formed in the era between WWII and the Stonewall riots were instrumental in establishing the groundwork for the modern gay rights movement. Queer women and trans people were especially instrumental in this work, though their contributions have often been overlooked. Under principal investigator Jillian Eugenios Dring, Creative Writing, Schools for Public Engagement, mentored by Luis Jaramillo.

• Experiences of Embodiment and Alienation in Sex Workers Sex workers will complete interviews and questionnaires to characterize how they think and feel about their bodies over the course of their life and in the context of sex work. Factors hypothesized to contribute to or protect against alienation (attachment pattern, self-objectification, interoceptive awareness, work type) will be explored. Under principal investigator Ella Goffi, Psychology, New School for Social Research, mentored by Miriam Steele.

• Tripping Together, Healing Together This two-part, multi-method study examines psychedelic use in two distinct, naturalistic group environments – ceremonies/retreats and dance music events – to determine whether group-based psychedelic use is associated with psychobiological improvements among adults with childhood trauma. It also investigates which psychological and social/interpersonal factors during the psychedelic experience predict long-term benefits. Under principal investigator CJ Healy, Psychology, New School for Social Research, mentored by Wendy D'Andrea.

• Transnational Solidarity and the Other This research project investigates transnational solidarity work by Indigenous and migrant rights groups. Through analysis of their aims and organizing strategies, this research will establish their progress towards gaining substantive access to rights, and the potential implications for domestic and international institutions and the state. Under principal investigator Paloma Griffin, Politics, New School for Social Research, mentored by Anne McNevin.

• Fruit from the Garden: An investigation into the psychic and physical spaces that southern Black queer men occupy This project explores the intricacies of southern Black queer male life through an investigation into the aesthetic, cultural and communal spaces they occupy. Through the use of archival research, photographs, and interviews I seek to uncover the connection between Black male queer bodies and the construction of environments surrounding them. Under principal investigator Sean Manuel, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas.

• I see you seeing me seeing you ISYSMSY is a short film that will be projected within an installation. It is a surreal short (appr. 5 min.) based on a study, “ Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975) from British theorist and filmmaker, Laura Mulvey. The short film together with the installation will draw attention to how the battle for the possesion of tha gaze has lost it's momentum thanks to the greater dangers that are approaching us, as humans not selecting in gender or any other form of differentiation. Under principal investigator Lili Nagy, Media Studies, Schools for Public Engagement, mentored by Melissa Friedling.

• UR On Stolen Land UR On Stolen Land is a photographic, participatory activism project that focuses on the erosion of First Nations’ sovereignty through revocation of water rights and profiteering by the fossil fuel industry. Referencing environmental vandalism and climate change, this project investigates how the genocide against Indigenous peoples has continued across centuries. Under principal investigator Ben Rybisky, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas.

• “Red” Fashion Revolution Under principal investigator Wang Zhaohui, Fashion, Parsons, mentored by Preeti Gopinath.

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2021

• The Impact of an Autobiographical Memory Self-Efficacy Induction on Reducing Levels of Fear Related to COVID-19 Research is needed to identify processes that can mitigate the negative mental health impacts of COVID-19. Participants will be randomized to a self-efficacy induction or control condition. We hypothesize that treated individuals will exhibit lower levels of fear on an implicit measure of emotion following exposure to COVID-19 stimuli. Under principal investigator Samantha Bakke, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Adam Brown

• Aspirational Black Homes: An Aesthetic Analysis of Domestic Interiors in Ebony Magazine, 1959-2009 This project explores domestic interior design practice as an extension of Black identity, using photographs published in Ebony magazine as a point of entry. Through content analysis, it seeks to develop a theory of Black home-making techniques as a culturally unique design typology and aesthetic. Under principal investigator Teah Brands, Interior Design, Parsons, mentored by Jonsara Ruth

• Imagining Queer Futures: Queer publics in digital space, the case of MyKali MyKali is the Arab World’s only openly queer webzine. This project is concerned with how a mediated queer regional imaginary has found a home online, through MyKali. I explore how digital media has given platform to nonnormative sexual explorations and a queer futurity in the SWANA region and diaspora. Under principal investigator Aryana Ghazi-Hessami, Anthropology, NSSR, mentored by Shannon Mattern

• The Disciplining and Resistance of Plantation Workers: Black Bodies and Movements, Now and Then This project draws an ethnographic comparison between the disciplining and resistance of the bodies and movements of enslaved African plantation workers in the Antebellum South and that of migrant African plantation workers in contemporary Southern Europe. It critically examines the ways the labor regime among enslaved Africans is similar and different from the contemporary market-centered regime based on wages as experienced by African migrants and how each has been physically resisted against. Under principal investigator Bettine Josties, Sociology, NSSR, mentored by Carlos Forment

• Hay There: Hay as an Ethical and Economical Solution for Central Texas Farmers The history of hay in the US is grounded in the present through its intersection with issues of drought, sustainable farming, environmental repercussions, poverty, and racism. Hay There is a photography and text project showing the myriad of ways hay impacts sustainable farming and the relationship between farmers and their land. Under principal investigator Eliza Newman, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas and Joel Towers

• Zooming in: A comparative study of the effects of Zoom and Mirrors on body image concerns COVID-19 has led to widespread use of Zoom video conferencing, however, it is distinct from in-person interactions as it prompts us to see ourselves on screen. This study will measure the mental health consequences of increased time spent on Zoom by comparing it to the experience one has in the mirror. Under principal investigators Marissa Pizziferro and Anthony Boiardo, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Miriam Steele

• Emotional Relief in the Time of COVID: Self-Care Ear Seed Acupressure for a Nickel or a Quarter Practitioner-administered ear seed acupressure can offer relief for trauma and anxiety. Here, we propose to investigate the efficacy of self-/home-administered ear seed acupressure. If proven effective, this self-care approach can offer relief to everyone, especially the vulnerable population, at a highly affordable cost of 5 or 25 cents per treatment. Under principal investigators James Tee and Emily Weiss, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by McWelling Todman

• Hotshots: Wildfires and Cultural Burning on Indigenous and Federally-controlled land This project will explore the relationship between wildland firefighting, indigenous cultural burning and government policies in Northern California. Archival research, documentation and interviews will create a multimedia project. It will highlight the historical context for Indigenous cultural practices and need for more government resources. Under principal investigator Isaiah Winters, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Simone Douglas

• Young Artivists: The Journey from Artist to Activist A group of artivists from South Texas reveal the power behind artivism as a key for socially engaged art. Inspired by their Latino roots and the Chicano art movement, these artivists lay the foundation for both their artistic growth and their commitment to social justice. Would their art make a difference? Under principal investigator Guillermina Zabala Suarez, Media Studies, SPE, mentored by Sumita Chakravarty

+ Student Research Awards Fall 2021

• Double-edged Dopamine: Addiction’s Impact on Learning Research is needed to identify processes that can mitigate the negative mental health impacts of COVID-19. Participants will be randomized to a self-efficacy induction or control condition. We hypothesize that treated individuals will exhibit lower levels of fear on an implicit measure of emotion following exposure to COVID-19 stimuli. Under principal investigator Ali Revill, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by McWelling Todman

• Uses of the Lenticular: The Lenticular as Power Through a critical analysis into lenticular printing technology’s approach towards obfuscation and its ideological relations to the history of computing’s rule of modularity, this body of research seeks to foreground an alternate imaginary of temporality drawing upon Black, Indigenous and other non-Western ways of being. Under principal investigator Zainab Aliyu, Design and Technology, Parsons, mentored by Mev Luna

• Classical Macrodynamics and Real Competition in Latin America from 1980-2020 Based on a real economics analysis, this project aims to explain the behavior of the aggregate rates of profit in Latin American economies from 1980 until 2020 and to analyze the impact on the main macroeconomic variables (economic growth, rate of accumulation, among others) caused by this behavior. Under principal investigators Armando Alvarez and Ricardo Hernandez, Economics, NSSR, mentored by Anwar Shaikh

• Theatre of Partheneia This project investigates the civic practice of classical theatre in ancient Greece and the role of teenage girls in Greek classicism in order to create a framework for my capstone project, which will consist of a conference/performance on using radicalized practices of classical theatre to centralize the voices of young women. Under principal investigator Olivia Buntaine, Arts Management and Entrepreneurship, CoPA, mentored by Gwen Grewal

• Interspecies Collaborative Garment Exploration, featuring Bombyx mori and Serratia marcescens. This project will explore slow fashion, biogenic methods to produce a unique biodegradable garment or a series of garments. Live silkworms will help create a raw silk garment from a homemade mold using an innovative way of silk production that does not require their extermination. Synchronously, bacteria will imprint their color on silk material as they reproduce. Under principal investigator Anna Cain, Integrated Design, Parsons, mentored by Jessica Walker

• On Finding Roots in Ventura, California The applicants estranged mother died in 2018 before they ever reconnected. This project involves travel to Ventura, California to meet/interview the applicants maternal half-siblings to learn more about their mother so they can continue their thesis project¬–a memoir about their upbringing and the impact of addiction on families. Under principal investigators Heather Domenicis, Creative Writing, SPE, mentored by Honor Moore

• Feasibility Study of Remote Problem Management Plus (PM+) Adapted for College Students at The New School To address long waitlists at college counseling centers by examining the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of remote Problem Management Plus (PM+), a low-intensity, manualized, 5-session intervention, delivered by non-specialist college staff to students at The New School. PM+ is a promising and scalable approach to train a large cohort of college staff to directly support student mental health and build surge capacity to decrease time spent on waitlists. Under principal investigator Dashawn Ealey, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Adam Brown

• Undoing algorithmic bias in computer vision: Addressing gendered, sexualized and racialized harm via participatory action research using speculative and co-design principles Through a fundamentally biased process of ‘seeing, naming, and knowing,’ computer vision helps perpetuate algorithmic harm. Using participatory action research and speculative and co-design principles, this community-based project convenes sex workers from marginalized groups most impacted by algorithmic bias to collectively reimagine equitable, healing, and liberatory forms of machine sensing. Under principal investigator Livia Foldes, Design and Technology, Parsons, and Sarah Epstein, Psychology, NSSR. mentored by Panteá Farvid

• Addressing the moral injuries of the climate crisis: pathways to collective action The moral injuries of the climate crisis, betrayals of "what’s right" by oneself or another, may inhibit action and community resiliency. The aim of our experiment is to identify motivations for those prepared to act yet hindered by debilitating anxiety and mixed messages concerning causes and paths towards climate solutions. Under principal investigators Evan Henritze and Sonora Goldman, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Samuel Winer

• Sultana's Dream A public intervention in an interpretation of the 1905 Bengali feminist utopian story by Begum Rokeya, 'Sultana’s Dream', where women occupy public spaces and men are restricted indoors. Looped videos will be projected onto public walls in central Karachi, Pakistan, for a single night. These projections will feature community videos of women as they wish they could exist, performing actions they don't feel comfortable doing in the streets of the city. It’ll be held on the 14th of August 2022. Under principal investigators Zahra Mansoor Hussain and Tessa Woodyard, Art, Media and Technology, Parsons, mentored by Catrin Morgan

• The Block Party Collective The Block Party Collective is an organization at The New School that is committed to uniting students identifying as Black Indigenous People of Color. This collective will create networking opportunities between creative students, and create a space for the work of BIPOC students to be recognized at The New School. Under principal investigators Aleyana Mitchell, Photography, Parsons and Leah Hornsby, Curatorial Design, Lang, mentored by Ka-Man Tse

• Undercurrents of Supply: Mapping Worker-Solidarity Networks Between Global Ports, as Histories of Interrupted Time This research project aims to produce a map of allyship between port-workers unions around the world, making visible how the networks of solidarity draw alternative cartographies from those of the supply-chains. In doing so, this project will also map out historical moments of supply chain interruption as a worker's history of negative time. Under principal investigators Ashlee Moniz, Fine Arts, Parsons, mentored by Anthony Aziz

• Undercurrents of Supply: Mapping Worker-Solidarity Networks Between Global Ports, as Histories of Interrupted Time This research project aims to produce a map of allyship between port-workers unions around the world, making visible how the networks of solidarity draw alternative cartographies from those of the supply-chains. In doing so, this project will also map out historical moments of supply chain interruption as a worker's history of negative time. Under principal investigators Ashlee Moniz, Fine Arts, Parsons, mentored by Anthony Aziz

+ Student Research Awards Fall 2020

• “Freedom is a Place”: Worldmaking with Principles of Mutuality and Care Ecologies This project will explore and document the ongoing placemaking processes embedded in mutual aid initiatives and networks of community care in New York City, framed as prefigurative politics in practice. In the wake of joint crises, this investigative mapping and archival process will gain understanding of the ecologies of abolition that act in response to gaps in services with hopes of building and sustaining long-term infrastructures based on mutuality. Under principal investigator Daniela Castillo, Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons, mentored by Evren Uzer

• Resilience at the Boundaries: “Island Mode” on a Puerto Rican Micro-Grid Through document analysis and interviews, this project aims to explore responsibility, equity, and politics of resilience around the design, installation and maintenance of solar micro-grids in the informal settlement of Caño Martín Peña in San Juan, Puerto Rico, located along the banks of a flood-prone and polluted tidal channel. Under principal investigator Bart Orr, Milano Public and Urban Policy, mentored by Michael Cohen

• Nothing ever goes away (mahogany) This short film explores the hidden histories of slavery in many family heirlooms. One of a series of films, this project pays particular attention to mahogany felled by slaves in 19th century Belize. Using visual, material and somatic research methods, it will be developed under the interdivisional guidance of Victoria Hattam (Politics) alongside Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby (Parsons). Under principal investigator Macushla Robinson, NSSR Politics, mentored by Victoria Hattam

• Seeing culture: How fashion expertise affects the categorical perception of “in” versus “out” fashion trends Fashion is seen near-universally in most any human interaction, yet the differences in this visual experience are seldom researched within psychology. This research will investigate whether an individual’s fashion expertise affects their tendency to perceptually distinguish “in” versus “out” fashion trends, through a psychophysical study of categorical perception. Under principal investigator Silas Choudhury, Parsons Fashion Design, mentored by Ben Van Buren

• Network of Embodied Archives: Participatory Research of Visayan Islands Cultural Festivals through Moving Media Arts This project engages festivals of Philippine Visayan islands as complex sites of cultural heritage. In an archipelago long exposed to climate change, cultural memory and creative ecology remains largely embodied and ephemeral. Through participatory media research with cultural workers applying digital storytelling methods, this project explores possibilities for community-based archives. Under principal investigator Mary Alinnney Villacastin, SPE Media Studies, mentored by Abou Farman

• Cultivating the Children's Literature Market in Uganda Children's literacy in Uganda faces hindered growth due to the low supply of culturally relevant, age-appropriate children's literature. This project investigates how to catalyze a home-grown solution so that children in Uganda and other land-locked countries in the Global South have access to the written word. Under principal investigator Kellie Ojeda, Parsons Strategic Design and Management, mentored by Rhea Alexander

• African Immigrants’ Reparation Discourse and Practices in Postcolonial France This ethnographic research project investigates how the discourse of reparation for colonialism is articulated by North and West African immigrants living in continental France, and how this discourse materializes into individual practices. It seeks to reckon with African migrants as fully conscious actors of a collective political undertaking of reparatory justice. Under principal investigator Lea Bernier-Coffineau, NSSR Anthropology, mentored by Miriam Ticktin

• Making Themselves Queer: An Oral History of Southern Life This project explores the historical, political, and social world of queer life in the American South, through ethnographic interviews, archival research, social media analysis, and the construction of an original archive regarding the life of an Alabama drag queen. Under principal investigator Sarah Chant, NSSR Anthropology, mentored by Miriam Ticktin

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2020

• Black Mobilities: Heritage Justice in the Gullah-Geechee Corridor This exploratory research will help us develop an understanding of black mobilities through the lens of environmental and racial justice as it relates to black coastal communities and heritage landscapes in and around Charleston, South Carolina. Through fieldwork we will identify mobilities and networks of resilience that present insights for further inquiry and collaboration. Under principal investigators Mary Amron Lee, Design and Urban Ecologies, and Jazsalyn Nachelle, Design and Technology, Parsons, mentored by Evren Uzer

• Legally white, socially brown: An embodied intersectional approach to Iranian-American identity and well-being Iranian-American identity exists in a liminal, and often fluid, space between white and non-white, a contradiction that has been termed a “racial loophole” (Maghbouleh, 2017). This study will adopt an embodied intersectional framework to identify the ways in which Iranian-Americans negotiate their identities and the impact on their psychological well-being. Under principal investigator Maryam Omidi, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Howard Steele
• In the Ruins of the Olive Grove: Slow Violence and Shifting Geographies of Care in southern Italy This project explores the rapid destruction wrought by the xylella fastidiosa bacterial pathogen on southern Italy’s olive ecosystems as a point of entry into global histories of economic marginalization, human and more-than-human mobility, and environmental destruction. This research will culminate in an ethnographic essay and multimedia digital exhibition that explores the slow violence that produced the crisis and the geographies of care emerging in its wake. Under principal investigator Angelica Calabrese, Anthropology, NSSR, mentored by Shannon Mattern
• Chico leather: From natural, for nature “Chico” is a leather-like material created with the aim to work as a sustainable alternative instead of synthetic vegan leather and animal leather. By using waste from seafood shells and coffee grounds that are already present as a resource to make a new material, we can give value to something that is seen as useless. This material is 100% biodegradable and would not only solve plastic problems but it would also move seafood and coffee productionb into a better ecosystem platform. Under principal investigator Uyen Tran, Textiles, Parsons, mentored by Annette Millington
• Experiments in Universal Healthcare: Pharmaceutical Pricing Reform in China This project investigates the mechanisms by which China experiments with strategies to reduce pharmaceutical prices as part of a series of ambitious health reforms toward building a viable universal health care system. The project seeks to further our understanding of the actual practices and contested nature of contemporary healthcare reform. Under principal investigator Leila Lin, Anthropology, NSSR, mentored by Janet Roitman
• The Impact of Mexico's PROSPERA on Poverty Among Former Urban Women Beneficiaries Mexico’s conditional cash transfer program—PROSPERA—was a cornerstone of the nation’s poverty reduction policy for over twenty years. The program’s recent dissolution provides a unique opportunity to take stock of its impacts on the nexus between gender and poverty. This dissertation research project analyzes data from Mexico's 2018 Social Mobility Survey and interviews with former urban women beneficiaries to explore the program's impact on their ability to escape poverty. Under principal investigator Rita Sandoval, Public and Urban Policy, SPE, mentored by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr
• Distorted Vision and the Industrial Landscape: Research for a New Translation of Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea This project is a new English translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s first novel, Nausea, which I expect to complete by December 2020. This summer, I will be conducting an in-depth study of the work through the University of Cambridge’s Pembroke-King’s Programme, where I will examine how vision—specifically distorted vision—functions in the novel, looking at its historical, philosophical, and literary contexts as well as the psychological effects of war and industrialization. Under principal investigator Julia Curl, Literary Studies, Lang, mentored by Val Vinokur
• American Dreams / Czech Nightmares: A Theatrical Exploration of Societal and Cultural Differences This project is part of an interpretive comparative study of art activism in New York and Budapest. Through interviews and ethnographic work in Budapest, it investigates artists' understanding of how art activism changes the meaning of art. It will contribute to broader explanations of how the meaning and definition of art is changing. Under principal investigator Kristina Szilagyi, Acting, CoPA, mentored by Stephen Brown-Fried

+ Student Research Awards Fall 2019

• Diasporic Counterpoints: Music, Performance, and Identity in Cabo Verde This project will collect data in the form of folk music structures and styles and their associated choreographies as primary sources for investigating the musical genres that are foundational to the identity of the Cabo Verdean diaspora. This research into musical genealogies pertaining to Cabo Verdean music is largely overlooked within the study of Afro-Atlantic music, yet this small island offers a rich case study in far larger phenomena which is how music serves as a surrogate for homeland. Under principal investigator Julian Apter, The Arts, Lang, mentored by Professor Evan Rapport.

• "Playing the Game": French Activists, LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers, and the Discursive-Production of Selves This project investigates how LGBTQ+ refugees in France are compelled to adopt narratives and perform identities that are not theirs in order to be granted asylum. It interrogates, specifically, how immigration activists contribute to a discursive-production of “worthy” selves unaligned with the reality of LGBTQ+ refugees’ individualities. It seeks to uncover involved activists' role in maintaining this regulating system and to create a space of reflection on how it can be disrupted. Under principal investigator Clara Beccaro, Antropology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Ann Laura Stoler.

• TikTok: Gender and Class in Emergent Digital Cultures This project explores the counterintuitive digital culture produced by social media app TikTok in Pakistan. Using mixed methods, I investigate the app’s unique popularity among working-class users, how it reconfigures norms of gender and sexuality, and why women experience less misogyny on TikTok in comparison to other similar apps. Under the principal investigator Sidra Kamran, Sociology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Shannon Mattern.

• Peeling Back the Layers: The Hidden Hazards of the Walls Around Us This research examines how design choices and the use of antimicrobial products in the built environment impact human and ecosystem health. Our particular focus is on the potential of these products to exacerbate the current problem of antimicrobial resistance. Under principal investigator Molly Metz, Interdisciplinary Science, Lang, mentored by Professor Davida Smyth.

• Counter-Mapping Development in Mumbai: A Community-Led Analysis of Housing Production The project will investigate counter-narratives to the current state-led development in Mumbai that is leading to slow ecological violence on the island city. By creating maps of lived experiences in native coastal communities and ‘informal’ settlements, I will respond to the urgent need for new knowledge that brings legitimacy and representation to its most vulnerable communities. Under principal investigator Aditi Nair, Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons, mentored by Professor Sharon Sutton.

• Economic Inequality and the Belief that Life is Zero Sum This research examines the influence of economic inequality on the belief that life is a zero-sum game, where one person’s gains are inevitably balanced by another person’s losses. In doing so, it deepens our understanding of the psychological effects of economic inequality, a defining issue of our time. Under principal investigator Martino Ongis, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor William Hirst.

• Resilience and the Politics of Imagination: Planning for the Future of Puerto Rico Post-Maria The project aims to explore the idea of the "Resilient City" as a planning paradigm enacted through specific policies and projects intended to use the post-Maria period of recovery and reconstruction to better prepare Puerto Rico for future catastrophic events, specifically looking at how foundations, experts, and local organizations are coproducing and reimagining a shared future. Under principal investigator Bart Orr, Public and Urban Policy, Schools of Public Engagement, mentored by Professor Michael Cohen.

• Fashion under a microscope This project explores dyeing and printing fabric using genetically modified Escherichia coli. It uses 431 times less water than what is consumed by synthetic dyes. This bacteria is harmless to its wearer and makes decomposition of the fabric easier once in landfills. In addition to this, the project explores growing fabric, hats and suitcases from Mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus) Mycelium acts as a fertilizer, is as strong as concrete, is resistant to water and fire and can be grown on byproducts. Under principal investigator Aradhita Parasrampuria, Fashion Design, Parsons, mentored by Professor Jane Francis.

• Farm to Felt: Soft textile interiors made from responsibly sourced wool Farm to Felt (F2F) is a system of modular textile tiles made from responsibly sourced wool. F2F uses biodegradable felted fiber from Alpaca farms in the US and wool indigenous to the Indian Himalayas. It demonstrates an alternative model of production for architecture and interiors that is circular and sustainable. Under principal investigator Sagarika Sundaram, Textiles, Parsons, mentored by Professor Preethi Gopinath.

• Beyond cultural stigma to cultural understanding: Social support in a multicultural world Emotion-focused psychotherapy is less effective among East-Asians than Americans, which is explained as resulting from East-Asians suppressing their emotions. Our research will challenge this interpretation in showing that Chinese adopt goal-oriented strategies in social support that involve downplaying the importance of emotion expression, but that have been ignored in psychotherapy. Under principal investigator Zhenlan Wang and Hong Nguyen, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Joan G. Miller.

• Introducing Willis: Race, Gender, and Agency on the Minstrel Stage In this research I explore how the story of Willis Gauze, a female impersonator from the 1890s, challenges existing minstrelsy scholarship. In an American theatrical tradition, Gauze was Canadian; in a genre full of blackface, Gauze was Huron and wore white makeup; when most female impersonators humorously burlesqued themselves, Gauze was serious and convincingly female. This project challenges extant minstrelsy and drag histories with someone for whom there seems no fitting historical category. Under principal investigator Jeremy Witten, Historical Studies, NSSR, mentored by Professor Claire Potter.

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2019

• You Can’t Deport a Movement: Accompanying Immigrants Through Injustice, Non-Recognition and Mass Deportation Every week, New Sanctuary Coalition accompanies over 60 people to immigration court, where detained immigrants are often alone for one of the most consequential decisions of their life. Through participant-observation, the experience of being accompanied/accompanying is evaluated to inform solidarity training, minimize harm, and increase the benefits of this practice. Under principal investigator Jordan Dunn, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Doris Chang.

• From ‘Arabs’ to ‘Afro-Turks’: Race in the Making of Hegemonic Turkishness
  This research examines how the newly emerging Afro-Turk identity stands in the broader topography of identities in Turkey. Drawing on archival material, in-depth interviews with the Afro-Turk community, and participant observation, I seek to understand the role of race as an integral yet, subtle, element in the making of Turkishness as the dominant ethno-national identity. Under principal investigator Aysegul Kayagil, Sociology, NSSR, mentored by Benoit Challand.

• The intersection of identity-based discrimination and trauma: an examination of psychobiological stress and mental health outcomes This project investigates how identity-based harassment and discrimination (henceforth “discrimination”) impact psychophysiology and specifically the psychophysiological and emotional manifestations of trauma. For example, how does navigating the world as a traumatized LGBTQ person differ from traumatized heterosexual? These findings will contextualize trauma treatment which rarely considers identity. Under principal investigator Scott McKernan, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Wendy D'Andrea.

• Out of ivory towers and into refugee camps: providing refugees with accessible resources on the biological and psychological effects of forced migration Responding to the need for interventions fit for large-scale implementation with refugees, we test the effectiveness of delivering psychoeducation on the science behind stress related symptoms through metaphor and storytelling. We aim to use the language of biology to explain and normalize mental illness and decrease stigma among refugees. Under principal investigator Vivian Khedari DePierro, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Wendy D'Andrea.

• Heterogeneity in Stress Response Trajectories: The Role of Event Controllability in Perceived Coping Self-efficacy This experimental study aims to shed light on the complex interaction between perceived coping self-efficacy beliefs and event controllability in a controlled laboratory setting in order to refine our understanding of the impact of these critical individual and situational factors on stress response trajectories. Under principal investigator Kendall Pfeffer, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Adam Brown.

• The Revolution and the Tropics: Chinese Architectural Aid Projects in Africa during the Cold War The project examines how Chinese socialist architects traveled to Africa for aid construction, understood the tropical environment and reconstructed existing forms of knowledge and techniques within the “Tropical Architecture” paradigm established by former colonial architects, supporting decolonization and anti-imperialism efforts during the1960s-80s in the Cold War. Under principal investigator Ye Liu, School of Design Strategies, Parsons, mentored by Miodrag Mitrasinovic.

• Building Inequality: People, jobs, and public transit in Mexico City This application is intended to fund a 6-week field research trip to Mexico City for my dissertation at the Public and Urban Policy doctoral program. The project researches the political economy of the role of the state in urban infrastructure provision and the socioeconomic implications of such a role. Under the principal investigator David Lopez Garcia, International Affairs, School of Public Engagement, mentored by Michael Cohen.

• "Returning" 400 Years Marking the 400 year anniversary of the Transatlantic SlaveTrade, this work explores the history and migration of a people returning to the African homeland. The film narrative follows an African American woman as she traces her lineage to Ghana. It aims to share history and embodied experience of migration and self discovery. Under principal investigator Laurel Richardson, Fine Arts, Parsons, mentored by Andrea Geyer.

• Closing the Plastic Waste Stream in Science Laboratories The project investigates ways to reduce plastic waste coming from science spaces (classrooms, research labs, and commercial labs) through decontamination, recycling, and 3D printing. The protocols developed will be available for free for any laboratory space seeking to become more sustainable. Under principal investigator Marcus Banks, Lang, mentored by Davida Smyth.

• “Where do I belong?” An Empirical Study of the Urban Adaptation and Social Identity of Urban-Rural Migrant Children in China This project aims to investigate the impacts of education policies on migrant children’s life experiences and the process of urban adaptation and social identity construction in urban China. The project will employ a mixed methodology to present the educational inequality experienced by migrant children, and illustrate how policies can make a difference in the complex adaptation and construction process in which migrant children’ identities are established, challenged, denied and re-established. Under principal investigator Xia Li, Economics, NSSR, mentored by Ying Chen.

• The Sound of Sign: is LIT How could an instrument be adapted so non-hearing individuals can compose and perform music? By retrofitting a theremin–the first electronic instrument played by “sculpting” electromagnetic fields through hand movement–with a colored light output, calibrating a set of hand movements base on ASL (American Sign Language), and reinforcing how the music is represented with a color-based notational system. Under principal investigator Robyn Bohn, Interior Design, Parsons, mentored by Cotter Christian.

• Mapping resiliency efforts in the wake of the São Paulo drought crisis: a study on post-disaster socio-spatial inequalities This project examines social, spatial and environmental inequalities by revisiting the communities hit by the São Paulo water accessibility crisis of 2015. By comparing the physical and social infrastructure of these communities in 2015 and 2019, I will learn about their resiliency efforts and their distribution patterns throughout the city. Under principal investigator Ana Corrêa do Lago, School of Design Strategies, Parsons, mentored by Evren Uzer.

• Relational Utopia: a vision of warm associations within conditions of control, analysis, and endless work Salesforce, the world's first cloud based customer relationship management software empowers organizations to grow by strengthening relationships with their customers. Through a historical analysis of corporate reports, business archives and oral interviews, I aim to demonstrate how Salesforce's boundless accumulation of public data and unrelenting compulsion to intensify human productivity contradicts the utopian vision centered on trust, equality, and innovation which it so heavily promotes. Under principal investigator James Tompkins, Historical Studies, NSSR, mentored by Julia Ott.

• Murder She Wrote: An Exploration of Women in Southern Hip-Hop The South has been forgotten in hip hop histories in favor of the much more prominent East and West coast rivalry of the 80s and 90s. Out of the spotlight, the South became a haven for groundbreaking female rappers asserting their femininity and coexisting with their male counterparts in hyper-masculine ways through the reappropriation of explicit themes and lyrics. This project highlights these lost female voices who revolutionized hip hop within the unique socioeconomic structure of the South. Under principal investigator Jade Gomez, The Arts, Lang, mentored by Evan Rapport.

+ Student Research Awards Fall 2018

• Behind the Mirror: Cross-Cultural Examination of Childhood Trauma, Self and Body Representation, Emerging Psychopathology and Resilience in Adolescence The project aims to show the impact of childhood trauma in the emergence of psychopathology in adolescence, and identify risk and resilience factors through a unique methodology, The Mirror Interview. The project will compare American, Turkish, Tanzanian and Danish samples to inform cross-cultural intervention modalities. Under principal investigator Koret Munguldar, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Miriam Steel.

• Vibrant Cells Vibrant Cells is a educational curriculum and online resource for making DIY solar cells. The curriculum is based off Ana’s journey designing a stained glass window made up of sustainably sourced, functional solar cells. By cataloguing methodologies and materials, Vibrant Cells showcases the variety of forms solar cells can take. Under principal investigator Ana Remnis, Environmental Studies, Eugene Lang, mentored by Professor Bhawani Venkataraman.

• Fashioning Accessibility: Industrial Production of Bespoke Attire Despite rising to the challenge of dressing billions of people, the mass production of clothing fails to serve people who are outside of the rigid and arbitrary concept of a standard body type. The limits of industrial production are most acute when it comes to professional and formal dress. The proposed methodology seeks to demonstrate the capability of computer aided production methods to create bespoke clothing with a speed and cost efficiency that is comparable to mid-market ready-to-wear. Under principal investigator Nicholas Paganelli, Design and Techonology, Parsons, mentored by Professor Melanie Crean.

• Lack Babel Lack Babel is a micro-powered radio station and sound-art gallery space. It uses radio-waves to distribute content in a performative, ephemeral setting and will move throughout New York City via bicycle as it creates site-specific disseminations that bring to the front community and collectivity and that exists outside of datamined communication structures. Under principal investigator Rae Lavande Pellerin, Fine Arts, Parsons, mentored by Professor H Lan Thao Lam.

• Language Production Deterioration: An Understudied Symptom of Early-Stage Multiple Sclerosis An insufficiently studied element of early-stage multiple sclerosis is its effect on language production. My dissertation project combines the use of neuroimaging technologies and behavioral testing to investigate this phenomenon. This entails examining the effects of damage to the language neural network on cognitive processes responsible for word retrieval. Under principal investigator Victoria Lindstone, Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor William Hirst.

• Counting Sheep Human production and consumption have a large impact on biodiversity. The wool industry directed the rise of the Merino sheep breed and led to the endangered status of other sheep breeds. Counting Sheep documents different sheep breeds with their wool properties, proposing methods and new purposes to create a diverse and sustainable production and consumption of wool. Under principal investigator Juliette Stephanie Van Haren, Industrial Design, Parsons, mentored by Professor Gyungju Chyon.

• 2Spirit Faces, Places, and Truths The True "American" Spirit is a photo-documentarian work with the purpose of preservation and celebration of queer livelihoods. It is an anthology of interviews and portraits documenting 2Spirit identifying persons through a journey across the North American landscape. An essential preservation of underrepresented queer narratives that ties to the modern political and social conversation of LGBTQ+ realities. Under principal investigator Carter Schneider, Photography, Eugene Lang, mentored by Professor Jaskiran Dhillon.

• The Unrepresented Effects of the Holodomor on Ukrainian women in Kyrgyzstan This research project aims to represent the forgotten minority of Ukrainian women in Kyrgyzstan who have survived through the aftermath of the Holodomor. The lack of historical evidence, most of which has been destroyed by the USSR, leads this project to use primary sources. Nelya Afonasevna, a survivor of the famine in Kyrgyzstan, will lead this research as both its main subject and as its historical provider. Under principal investigator Regina Ryjih, Photography, Parsons, mentored by Professor Noelle Flores-Theard.

• Home-Making as Insurgency: How Repatriated Afghans fight for Gendered Segregation This project will analyze how and when gendered segregation is invoked by the different actors in Afghanistan during the process of developing housing for repatriated refugees. Relegated to the formerly military district of Pul-Charkhi, limited in resources, how does a population shaped by conflict and displacement imagine sanctuary? Under principal investigator Hala Habib, Anthropology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Abou Farman.

• (Re)settle This project focuses on engaging refugees and citizens in the design process to reimagine the refugee resettlement process, break down the stigma around the perception of refugees and help refugees to better integrate into society. Under principal investigator Yuxin Cheng, Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons, mentored by Professor Jamer Hunt.

• Visualizing, analyzing, and measuring “space-use intensity” in informal settlements This research designs and applies a new video-based tool to study “space-use intensity” in informal settlements. Following recent advances in time-use studies focusing on multitasking, the use of video-based technologies will help visualize, analyze, and quantify how spatial multitasking intensifies the use of space. Under principal investigator Maria Carrizosa, International Affairs, School of Public Engagement, mentored by Professor Jilly Traganou.

• Highlighting the Successes and Challenges of LGBTI Grant-Making In Nigeria and Ghana Over the Last Decade; What We Can Do Differently This project will analyze LGBTI grantmaking methods and history over the last 10 years in two West African countries (Nigeria and Ghana), from mainly a grantee perspective. Through qualitative research, the project will collect information from LGBTI gatekeepers and heads of LGBTI organizations in five major cities, informing the conversations around improving LGBTI grantmaking in the region. The project will disseminate findings through the donor and activists networks and LGBTI conferences. Under principal investigator Oliver Anene, Global Studies, School of Public Engagement, mentored by Professor Alexandra Delano Alonso.

• Examining Chinese Rural Governance: Landownership and Public Goods Provision in Ningbo, Zhejiang This project examines the effect of landownership on rural governance in China. Through the lens of public goods and services provision, it explores basic grassroots politics with an emphasis on micro-processes. It uses village-level qualitative analysis through a micro perspective on villagers in Ningbo, China. Under principal investigator Yang Allen, Politics, NSSR, mentored by Mark Frazier

+ Student Research Awards Spring 2018

• 3 Works for Piano and VideoThis work enlarges audiences’ perceptions of interdisciplinary performance. The conventional piano recital follows strict Romantic norms limiting the bodies of the performer and the audience. In our reimagining of the piano recital, we use film to highlight the centrality of the moving body, celebrating the musician as dancer and the dancer as musician. Under principal investigator Audrey Vardanega, MM/Certificate Classical Music, CoPA, mentored by Professor Tanya Kalmanovitch.

• Altered Threat Responding in Adults with Childhood Polyvictimization: A Multi-Method InvestigationThe aim of this study is to investigate how childhood polyvictimization might alter threat responding in ways that may make such individuals vulnerable to repeated victimization across lifetime. This study will assess risk perception and attention biases toward threatening stimuli in a sample of adults with varying degrees of trauma exposure in childhood; additionally, concurrent physiological reactivity and pupillometry will be measured to provide a multidimensional view of threat responding. Under the direction of principal investigator Sarah Herzog, MA/PhD Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Wendy D’Andrea.

• The Design of Community Participation: Decision-making and Control over Resource Provision in New York City and LagosThis project investigates the role of community participation in controlling access to resources and infrastructure in the context of a growing trend of community participation in planning and policy in global cities. Under the direction of principal investigator Anze Zadel, PhD Public and Urban Policy, SPE, mentored by Professor Miodrag Mitrasinovic.

• Entre Dos Mundos (Between Two Worlds) This multimedia projects revolves around first-generation immigrants living in the United States and the homes of people left behind in the mother country in the pursuit of the “American Dream.” Subjects range from whole families to individuals, documented and undocumented. The project will touch on identity, home, assimilation, memory, vulnerability, familiarity, politics, history, and the American Dream. Under the direction of principal investigator Luis M. Diaz, BFA Photography, Parsons, mentored by Professor Colin Stearns.

• Going “Home”This project looks at changes in the system of production in China and focuses on emerging patterns of re-migration of industrial workers back to their home villages. This research is designed to shed light on 1) their lives after coming back to their hometowns, 2) how re-migration affects local village society, 3) the connections between the urban and the rural, and 4) production activities in the village. Under the direction of principal investigator Na Fu, MA/Phd Politics, NSSR, mentored by Professor Victoria Hattam.

• Invisible Borders: The impacts of security intervention policies on the lives of marginalized women in Rio de JaneiroThis research project will address the impacts of the current military intervention in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro through women’s perceptions. Under the direction of principal investigator Ana Paula Barreto, MA/MS International Affairs, SPE, mentored by Professor Michael Cohen.

• Ludic and Urban Strategies of Remembering: A Spring for Public Memory in ChileThis multimethod project reveals how public memory has changed in post-dictatorship Chile by analyzing how young Chileans are creatively remembering the 1973-1990 dictatorship. New forms of remembering allow movement from traumatic representations to joyful ones, which help stimulate democratic participation and the development of policies through which to come to terms with a difficult past. Under the direction of principal investigator Manuela Badilla Rejevic, MA/PhD Sociology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Robin Wagner-Pacifici.

• A March Against Homophobia in Olive Green: Sexual and Gender Difference in Post-Revolutionary CubaAn inquiry into identity construction and strategies of resistance used by same-gender-loving and gender-non-conforming Cubans. This project will combine literature survey, interviews, and field research as modes of study in the production of zines, essays, and articles used in a cross-border conversation about queer identity and pink capitalism. Under the direction of principal investigator Cyd Monroe, BA/BS Liberal Arts, SPE, mentored by Professor Gabriel Vignoli.

• Marghera City of MakingThe Marghera City of Making design competition is aimed at exploring urban schemes envisioning the re-articulation of manufacturing areas in the territory between Mestre and the Marghera industrial area. Parsons has been invited to participate in this competition and exhibition at the Venice Architectural Biennale. The main objective for our participation is to engage in developing design solutions demonstrating a contemporary and innovative approach to urban regeneration of complex areas. Under the direction of principal investigators Ann Le and Alexander Guerra, MArch/MFA Architecture and Lighting Design, Parsons, mentored by Professor Brian P. McGrath.

• Open Sourcing Cello Technique This project is designed to combine the use of motion-tracking software and traditional cellistic pedagogical concepts in order to create an innovative method of teaching musical technique and to provide greater accessibility to an art with a historically high barrier to entry. Under the direction of principal investigator Julie Kim, BA/BS Classical Music, CoPA, mentored by Professor Kyle Li.

• Our Home on Stolen Land: Settler Colonialism and National Identity in Canada This multimedia research project examines how settler colonialism persists in Canada today. By focusing on Canadian national identity and the relationships of settler Canadians to the occupied land they call home, this project provides a deeper understanding of the forces behind settler colonialism and the possibilities for decolonial futures. Under the direction of principal investigator Katherine Nixdorf, BA/BS Global Studies, Lang, mentored by Professor Jaskiran Dhillon.

• People, jobs, and transit infrastructure in Mexico City: Assessing the effects of spatial and transportation mismatches on inequalityThis project is aimed at evaluating the effects of spatial and transportation mismatches on inequality and their implications for transport policy in Mexico City. Under the direction of principal investigator David Lopez Garcia, PhD Public and Urban Policy, SPE, mentored by Professor Michael Cohen.

• The Political Economy of Palestine: Class and Functional Distribution of IncomeThe overarching objective of this project is to model the way in which functional distribution of income has influenced economic activity in Palestine. By investigating this underlying current, it will provide an in-depth understanding of how political and institutional factors, such as the Israeli occupation and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, have transformed class in Palestinian society. Under the direction of principal investigator Ibrahim Shikaki, MA/MS/PhD Economics, NSSR, mentored by Professor Mark Setterfield.

• Race, Colonialism and Urban Planning: Lessons from Saint-Denis and the 2024 Olympics A short documentary film exploring the interplay between race and urban development in France’s preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games in the community of the Parisian banlieue Saint-Denis, a long-neglected ethnic enclave in a nation that pursues a policy of “color blindness.” Under the direction of principal investigator Manon Vergerio, MS Design and Urban Ecologies, Parsons, mentored by Professor Miguel Robles-Duran.

• Tibby and Vim Dolls What if a doll could experience changes alongside the child who plays with it? And what if that doll one day died? Could a toy prompt honest conversations between parents and children about life’s transitions? Tibby is a doll with an expansive, customizable story arc designed to explore this concept. Under the direction of principal investigators Hannah Roodman and Time Clem, MFA Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons, mentored by Professor John Bruce.

• Trauma’s Effects on One’s Social World This collaborative project is aimed at demonstrating how trauma affects intimate relationships, exploring its effects on the ability to connect with others. We aim to identify the role the body plays in that process. Our unique methodological approach will inform new ways of helping people heal from trauma. Under the direction of principal investigators Nadia Nieves and Erin Stafford, MA/PhD Psychology, NSSR, mentored by Professor Wendy D’Andrea.

• Unruly Politics: An exploration of the role of digital activism and direct public action in Zimbabwean political discourse In this research project, alternative forms of political contestation in typically authoritarian states are examined. It is aimed at exploring what counts as political, who matters as a political subject, and where exactly the public sphere exists in an increasingly digital era. Zimbabwe serves as a case study. Under the direction of principal investigator Jacquelin Kataneksza, PhD Public and Urban Policy, SPE, mentored by Professor Sean Jacobs.