����̽̽

Have an inquisitive mind? Then chances are you would (or already do) feel right at home in ����̽̽’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Here, everyone has the potential to be a student scholar, to contribute their own unique thread to the rich tapestry of research that is an essential element of the liberal arts experience. From classrooms to the community, from labs to the library, and from dorm rooms to the dance studio, scholarship is happening wherever you turn! Just listen to these seven CAS undergrads who exemplify the the breadth and depth of the research flourishing within our college community.

Name: Aoi Tischer

Year: Senior

Major/minor: Biology major, anthropology minor

Research overview: “I am assisting Dr. Linden Higgins in her project looking at students' responses to evidence of racism in a forensic science class at a predominantly White institution. First, we evaluated the emotional responses of students learning about both systemic racism and implicit bias. We did this by analyzing students' reflections in anonymized journal responses after they took the Harvard Implicit Bias Test (IBT) and read an opinion piece on the Ahmaud Aubrey killing. We then interpreted these responses based on the theoretical framing of the role of discomfort in learning and growth. We are using Boler's pedagogy of discomfort to explain how students can go from “spectating,” in which are they passively learning about racism and implicit bias, to “witnessing,” in which they are engaged, active, and have possibilities for growth. We found that taking the Harvard IBT and experiencing discomfort from reading Robin Givhan's opinion piece on the Aubrey killing often results in students wanting to seek change. Another student, Naia Watkins, is also working on this project.”

What has surprised her: “I found it surprising how important a role discomfort plays in wanting to seek personal and systemic change. While it is a difficult emotion, it is essential in acknowledging our personal roles in a racist system. I also found it encouraging that a high number of White students used this discomfort to reflect on their personal growth and their roles as allies to BIPOC. As a student planning to pursue a graduate degree in public health after my undergraduate career, I think that race and racism are an extremely significant social determinant of health. The biosocial nature of race makes it a huge factor in the health and wellbeing of BIPOC, and I believe that learning how to teach White students most effectively about implicit bias and racism is essential in improving the health and wellbeing of the BIPOC community, both in academia and beyond.”

What she’s gained: “I am participating in this research because of my passion for health equity and my commitment to being anti-racist. I am personally learning how to confront my biracial identity and the privileges and disadvantages I experience, how to be a better ally to other BIPOC, and the most effective ways in which I can promote anti-racism to my White peers both in the classroom and in the workplace.”

Name: Kat Coyne

Year: Junior

Majors: Psychology and dance

Research overview: “Dance research is different from other forms of undergraduate research. At the beginning comes the more typically ‘academic’ research: considering the current cultural and sociopolitical climate, deciding on topics/themes, finding inspiration, and beginning to generate movement material. Being a dance and psychological science double-major, I find my research in both fields consistently overlaps, and I consider psychology a unique lens through which I create performance work. Last semester, two topics weighed heavily on my soul: how American individualist and capitalist society creates and promotes harm to the self and our international community, and the changing role of human creativity and sexuality in an AI-stricken world. From these topics came two original works, Until a Name and Ether Between Wires, both of which were performed this past fall. In addition, I was invited to include the second work in the dance program’s annual spring showcase, Dancing Uphill, and also performed it at the American College Dance Association’s 2024 Northeast Conference.”

What has surprised her: “The most interesting aspect that has emerged from this research has been the array of different interpretations of my work. Given that every one of us has a different sociopolitical, socioeconomic, cultural, artistic, and personal aesthetic background, a single piece of work can be interpreted to have an infinite number of meanings and implications. It is one thing to discuss this in others’ work, but it has been completely eye-opening and incredibly powerful to hear feedback about my work from friends, family, faculty, and those who do not know me personally. Some cried (sorry, Mom!), some screamed and laughed and cheered, some told me that they were reenergized with hope, fear, or a sense of empowerment, and, of course, some informed me they did not like my work at all. Each person had different interpretations, each one valid, and each due to the differences in their life experiences.”

What she’s gained: “Through this research, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of myself as an artist, scientist, student, teacher, and community member. The most simultaneously rewarding and frustrating part of creating dance is that you will almost always answer a question with other questions—and this is something that has invigorated me with the creative drive and curiosity to continue making work in the future. Professionally, I appreciate the incredible privilege to direct, choreograph, costume, and share my original works with others. Many dancers both in and outside of college programs do not have the chance to create, let alone showcase, original work to this magnitude before trying their hand on the professional circuit. So, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to do this research thanks to the ����̽̽ dance program and Professor Paul Besaw.”

Name: Logan Sands

Year: Senior

Major: Biological science

Research overview: “The research I have been doing has been focused on the tumor suppressor gene STK11. I have been working on two projects, both with Ph.D. student Shannon Prior, in the Deming Lab. The first is the role of STK11 in breast cancer, as recent research has shown that it can actually worsen cancer prognosis if localized to a certain cellular location. We have mainly been focusing on how STK11 affects non-genomic signaling in breast cancer cells, as well as the downstream effects this would have, such as invasion, migration, tumor metastasis, and others. The second project is looking at the effects of STK11 loss in lung cancer. More specifically, we are interested in how the metastatic potential of cells lacking STK11 is altered when deprived of glutamine (which usually fuels growth), and we aim to identify the role(s) STK11 plays in this process.”

What has surprised him: “For me, the most interesting aspect of our research has been the ability to connect what I am learning in my classes with what we are doing in the lab. Being able to understand why we are performing an experiment and the physiological process behind it because I’ve already learned about that process in class is one of the most exciting things. It makes the research you are doing—and the classes you are attending—feel purposeful on an entirely new level. It also shows you firsthand that what you are learning in class is in fact very applicable to the real world.” 

What he’s gained: “From my research I have gained an appreciation for the scientific process and an understanding of just how much work these discoveries take—and how important research is to the scientific community and beyond. I have also learned a lot more about patience. Most of my time in the lab is spent planning, preparing, and performing experiments in order to get a result. After weeks spent on a single experiment, the result could be not what you were expecting or even invalid. This has happened countless times and each time it is heartbreaking and leaves you with little desire to spend many more hours repeating the same experiment. However, you learn to bounce back, learn from your mistakes, and persevere. And when you finally do get an intriguing result, it makes it all worth it. After I graduate, I hope to attend medical school, and I hope to continue research both in medical school and afterward.”

Name: Annabelle Collins

Year: Senior

Major/minors: Anthropology major with global health concentration, psychological sciences and health and society minors

Research overview: “I am doing mixed-methods quality improvement research for COTS, an organization that serves individuals experiencing homelessness in Vermont. As a staff member at COTS myself, I have learned that the administration is interested in the issue of vicarious, or second-hand, work-related emotional trauma among COTS staff. My research project seeks to examine if COTS staff consider themselves or their coworkers to have experienced this kind of trauma from their work at COTS. I am also looking at individuals' use of coping resources, some of which are provided by the COTS administration. My research has consisted of conducting interviews with staff members and administering a survey to gain further insight into staff experiences and opinions. The final product will be my thesis as well as an executive summary for the COTS administration. It will contain recommendations derived from my data analysis on how to improve or add resources for COTS employees.”

What has surprised her: “Something that has greatly surprised me in my research is how effective compassion is at suppressing fear, burn out, and fatigue. For the majority of employees participating in my research, working directly with clients is what keeps them in their jobs and motivates them to show up for work. Another thing that has surprised me is that most of the participants have experienced adverse life experiences themselves, such as homelessness, addiction, poverty, etc. These experiences show the resiliency of the staff members and how they are able to use these adverse experiences to become more approachable, genuine, and compassionate employees.”

What she’s gained: “As someone who wants to conduct clinical research in graduate school, this has been a great opportunity to demonstrate that I have experience conducting independent research. I recently accepted a job as a clinical research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital, and I am confident that my thesis research set me up for success in obtaining that position! It has given me extensive experience navigating institutional review boards and literature reviews, conducting research, and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. Also, working with COTS as a staff member has been such an incredible experience and my coworkers have been amazing support systems. In a way, I feel like this research, which I’m conducting to benefit my coworkers with better resources from the administration, is my thank you to them for all they have done for me.”

Name: Iain Pless

Year: Senior

Major/minors: History major, religion and Italian studies minors

Research overview: “My research began with an analysis of the Italian Resistance movement during World War II, with an eye toward rethinking the timeframes traditionally applied to the movement (September 1943-April/May 1945). My advisor, Professor Buchanan, is engaged in a historiographical wave, alongside many other leading historians, to rethink what we deem the “war” and the “post-war,” so my research quickly expanded to approach varying aspects of the Italian theater as distinct yet interconnected entities, and thus with distinct “wars” and “post-wars.” I’ve broken down the Italian experience during World War II into 3 categories, or “levels,” through which the timeframes, or “temporal boundaries,” of the conflict can be re-examined. The war was, in fact, many wars, fought by many people with incredibly diverse hopes and experiences. I hope that my research can allow for further historiographical debate surrounding World War II’s complex timeframes and regional variance.”

What has surprised him: “I am surprised by how much my project has expanded over the last two years. I was originally solely interested in the Italian Resistance and did not believe it possible for me to tackle something as daunting as reconfiguring the Italian post-war, but here we are! I am honored to have had the opportunity to take on such an awesome challenge and have received an unbelievable degree of support from the community of academics at ����̽̽. Professor Buchanan in particular has encouraged me to go above and beyond my original scope, and I was lucky enough to attend a conference alongside him in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer hosted by the Second World War Network.”

What he’s gained: “My goal is to pursue my academic career as far as I can take it. I hope to get my Ph.D. and receive a fellowship and eventual tenure at a university or college, but as long as I am able to continue nurturing and feeding my curiosity and love for history, I don’t think I can go wrong. I was lucky enough to be accepted into master’s programs for modern Italian history at both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge for the 2024-2025 academic year, so my next steps are fairly clear at the moment—although I haven’t yet made up my mind where to go!”

Name: Nora Sissenich

Year: First-year

Major/minor: Health and society major, statistics minor

Research overview: “This semester, I’ve loved working as a sociology department research assistant, where I collaborate with Dr. Jennifer Lai to research the social role of rural libraries. Specifically, we look at how libraries function as crucial social infrastructure in rural communities in Vermont. We use qualitative coding methods to study the ways that people view and describe the libraries in their communities, as well as how recent library digitization efforts—most notably those introduced in the Vermont State University system—threaten the role that libraries play within our social infrastructure. In this role, I use qualitative coding methods to code interviews, produce analytical memos, and write research reports. I’ve learned a lot about qualitative methodologies in social science. I will also attend and present my work at the American  Sociological Conference’s 2024 conference in Montreal this summer.”

What has surprised her: “In wake of the growing crises of homelessness, substance use, and social isolation, as well as insufficient funding for social services in the U.S., libraries are being forced to shoulder many burdens. Far more than just places that hold resources for information and education, libraries have become sites for social connection, daytime shelter for those experiencing homelessness, and safe spaces for vulnerable populations like queer youth and the elderly. Increasingly, librarians must also take on roles like dispensing Narcan, resolving conflicts, and providing resources to homeless patrons. This has been one of our key findings and something I find fascinating. I’m also really interested in the research methodologies themselves—coding and other aspects of qualitative analysis are much more complex processes than I initially realized!”

What she’s gained: “This experience has been incredibly valuable in exposing me to new social science research methods as well as allowing me to continue to develop my skills in scientific writing. Through this experience, I’m gaining crucial skills in qualitative analysis, organization, research design, and scientific writing, and I know that it will continue to benefit me as I pursue graduate school (and eventually doctoral study) in the social science field. I’m so grateful for Dr. Lai’s dedicated mentorship throughout this process, as she has helped me learn so much about research methods, sociology as a discipline, and career pathways in the social sciences.”

Name: Sabina Ward

Year: Senior

Major/minor: Art history and museum studies major, studio art minor

Research overview: “My research work is to assist Dr. Sooran Choi in exploring post-World War II art in Vermont, with a particular focus on avant-garde art, politically engaged art, and unconventional display locations and practices. We are looking into global connections and how art and conceptual ideas travelled around the world through counter-culture movements. I started with broad overview of the topic, then began delving into the most relevant specific topics I found. Some of my research has been done in the photo archives of the Vermont Historical Society. I’ve also looked at the Billings Library’s Special Collections, which houses many primary source documents on art collectives like Bread and Puppet Theater, and I am working with the Fleming to look at their past exhibition archive. Dr. Choi, Meg Brennan (the other assistant), and I meet regularly to discuss our findings.”

What has surprised her: “The most interesting part of this research so far has been discovering the diversity of the art that was being created in and around Vermont during this time and just how cutting edge some of it was. For example, Bread and Puppet has been doing politically engaging performance art since the ‘60s. I have also found some painters down in Bennington who were doing minimalist color field painting during the same time period, when it was en vogue to do this type of color experiments.”

What she’s gained: “From this research I hope to gain a better understanding of Vermont art movements. I have also been learning how to conduct archival research, because my search has taken me into the archives of the Fleming Museum as well as the Special Collections in the Billings Library. I hope this experience and practice will be useful to me in later scholarly pursuits.”