Congratulations to the following students on their recent awards! These awards and programs would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and the Provost’s Office. Thank you to our donors, the selection committee members, faculty mentors, staff, and of course the students!
Shivani Bhut, '23 (Biology; Neuroscience)
Identification of Cellular Proteins Involved in Macropinocytosis
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tijana Ivanovic
MJ Ibrahim, '23 (HSSP)
PaperLess (A Resource Database for Undocumented Undergraduate Students)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristen Lucken
Anna Kang, '23 (Philosophy; Politics)
Kant and Our Attitudinal Obligations to Others and Ourselves
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kate Moran
Feigele Lechtchiner, '23 (Economics; Urban Studies - IIM)
Not In My Shul Yard: NIMBYism in Modern Orthodox Jewish Communities and Implications for Community Growth
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Anjaria
Chloe Nolin, '23 (Biology)
Building Undergraduate Research Programs in the Brandeis Human Performance Lab: Assessing Student-Athlete Training and Recovery
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Miara
Fijare Plous, '24 (Biology)
Mechanism of single-stranded DNA template in CRISPR/Cas9 retron based gene editing
Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Haber
Roshni Ray, '24 (Neuroscience)
Biology in Powers of Ten: Quantitative Biology through Estimation Problems
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Melissa Kosinski-Collins
Logan Shanks, '24 (AAAS; WGS; English)
Hoochiemamas, Babymamas, and Strippers: Exploring the interiority of contemporary Black female Archetypes
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anya Wallace
Sasha Soboleva, '23 (Linguistics)
Language Buddy Program
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elena Gonzalez Ros
Jason Walter, '23 (Politics)
The U.S., International Organizations, and the Use of Force
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kerry Chase
Grace Wang, 23 (HSSP; Biology)
Building Undergraduate Research Programs in the Brandeis Human Performance Lab: Promoting health and well-being through physical activity among Brandeis students
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Miara
Yael Perlman, '23
Major: Politics
Title: Senior Thesis- Israeli National Identity: A Study Through the Lens of Immigration
Faculty Mentor: Eva Bellin
Alex Bazarsky, '23
Majors: Anthropology; Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies
Title: Excavation and Ground Verification of Lacanjá Tzeltal Post-LiDAR Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Charles Golden
Jillian Brosofsky, '23
Major: Psychology
Title: A Holocaust Survivor's Surprise Family, and What It Tells Us About the Future of Kin
Faculty Mentor: Neil Swidey
Elinor Eggers, '23
Majors: Education Studies; African and African American Studies
Title: Justice or Just Us: What Racial Justice Means to Brandeisians
Faculty Mentor: Derron Wallace
Kyla-Yen Giffin, '23
Major: Anthropology
Title: Lucid: A Vietnamese-American Family Dreaming in the Diaspora
Faculty Mentor: Howie Tam
Claire Hou, '23
Majors: English; Sociology
Title: Asian- American Visual Media History and Chinese- American Female Creators on TikTok
Faculty Mentor: Dorothy Kim
MJ Ibrahim, '23
Major: Health: Science, Society, and Policy
Title: How Does Being Undocumented Affect One's Experience in Higher Education
Faculty Mentor: Kristen Lucken
Zoe Lacroix, '23
Majors: Health: Science, Society, and Policy; Sociocultural Anthropology
Title: Perspectives on Discrimination through Art
Faculty Mentor: Patricia Alvarez Astacio
Christopher Li, '23
Majors: East Asian Studies; History; International and Global Studies
Title: Slurp! From Working Meal to National Symbol – An Analysis of Post WWII Ramen Through Japanese Literature and Movie
Faculty Mentor: Amy Singer
Eric Liu, '24
Major: International and Global Studies
Title: The Return of Ideology: Wang Huning and China's New "Cultural Confidence"
Faculty Mentor: Professor Chandler Rosenberger
Frank Liu, '23
Majors: Computer Science; Applied Mathematics
Title: Curriculum and Causal GCL Brings More Robustness to Out-of-Distribution Graphs
Faculty Mentor: Chuxu Zhang
Julia Plaisted, '23
Major: Anthropology; Environmental Studies
Title: Analysis of Pipe Artifacts from Croatoan Archeological Site
Faculty Mentor: Charlotte Goudge
Sasha Soboleva, '23
Major: Linguistics
Title: Language Ideology and Identity of Teenagers In Cusco: How Quechua and Spanish Languages Coexist In The Classroom Environment
Faculty Mentor: Patricia Alvarez Astacio
Grace Wang, '23
Majors: Psychology; Neuroscience
Title: The Effect of TikTok on College Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Faculty Mentor: Ellen Wright
The Jerome A. Schiff Undergraduate Fellows Program provides a $2,000 stipend for students to perform an innovative research or pedagogical project under the guidance of a Brandeis faculty mentor. Faculty mentors recieve $500 towards their research.
Lydia Begag, '22 (Politics, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies)
From Silence to Visibility: UN Security Council Resolution 1820 & the Role of Transnational Advocacy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kerry Chase
Annabelle Fitch, '23 (Psychology, Neuroscience)
The Breathing Brain: Impacts of Mindfulness on Cognitive and Emotional Abilities
Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Howard
Elizabeth Fricker, '22 (History of Science - Independent Interdisciplinary Major, Mathematic)
Relative Time: Analyzing Einstein's Theory of Relativity Through a Social Lens
Faculty Mentor: Professor Wangui Muigai
Abigael Good, '22 (Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Judaic Studies)
Jewish and Christian Claims to Superiority in Writing, Debate, and Online
Faculty Mentor: Bernadette Brooten
Strange Phase Separation Behavior at High Temperature
Faculty Mentor: Ben Rogers
Hannah O'Koon, '22 (English)
Essen und Erinnerungen: Kindertransport Kinder and Memories of Food
Faculty Mentor: Prof. ChaeRan Freeze
Zoe Pringle, '22 (HSSP, Sociology)
Case Study: How hEDS patients and their doctors view their diagnosis experience
Faculty Mentor: Professor Wendy Cadge
Teresa Shi, '23 (Economics, Undeclared)
Can capitalist principles be separated from capitalism economic structures?
Faculty Mentor: Michael Strand
Gabby Tercatin, '23 (Biology, Health: Science, Society, and Policy)
Detecting interactions between radA and radD proteins using a yeast two-hybrid system and a biochemical assay in order to study homologous recombination
Faculty Mentor: Susan Lovett, Vincent Suteta
Katie Ball, '22, Music; Politics, "The Cultural Dynamics of Dvorak's New World Symphony: Appropriation, Legacy, and National Identity"
Amber Bartlett, '22, Theater Arts; Psychology, "Theatrical Therapy Towards Healing"
Sienna Bucu, '22, Fine Arts, "Passing Through Spaces"
Vicente Cayuela Aliaga, '22, Fine Arts, "Juvenilia"
Elizabeth Hilliard, '22, Theater Arts; Music, Senior Thesis
Matthew Kaufman, '22, Fine Arts; Psychology, "Ways of Seeing - The Art of Psychological Disorders"
Tenor Matys, '22, Storytelling and Creative Media Studies
Anya Shire-Plumb, '22, Fine Arts; Psychology, Senior Studio Honours
Marissa Small, '22, Fine Arts; IIM (Biology and Society), "Leaving Marks"
Ashley Young, '22, Fine Arts; Studio Art, "Psychology A Sense of Agency: Addressing the Nude"
Senior Thesis
Vicente Cayuela Aliaga, '22, Studio Art, "JUVENILIA"
Sienna Bucu, '22, Studio Art, "Passing Through Spaces"
Matthew Kaufman, '22, Studio Art and Psychology, "The Art of Psychology: Ways of Seeing"
Ashley Young, '22, Psychology and Studio Art, "A Sense of Agency: Addressing the Female Nude"
The Jane Kahn '77 Fellowship awards up to 2 undergraduates a $5,000 stipend for summer semester research examining current and emerging issues in criminal justice reform and the rights of individuals with mental illness, disability, and socio-psychological factors frequently associated with incarceration.
Adah Anderson, '24 (Undeclared)
Analyzing the Effects of Mental Illness Treatment on Suicide and Recidivism Rates in Federal, State, and Private Prisons in Connecticut, Florida, and North Carolina
Faculty Mentor: Jeffrey Lenowitz
Leah Fernandez, '22 (Psychology and Human Factors)
Investigating Educational Access for Incarcerated Juveniles with Disabilities in Massachusetts
Faculty Mentor: Thomas Shapiro
Caroline O, '22 (English, American Studies)
Podcasting and Theater as Diversionary Programs
Faculty Mentor: Rosalind Kabhrel
The Fori and Robert Kay Undergraduate Research and Creative Collaborations Endowed Fund supports undergraduate partcipation in research and creative colllaborations with faculty mentorship.
Gabriela Mendoza Cueva, '22 (HSSP, Anthropology)
The Experiences of Latinx Parents with Pediatric Cancer Care: An Anthropological Approach
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Lamb
Summer Provost's Undergraduate Research Fellowships are $5,000 stipends to support undergraduates conducting a research or creative project with the mentorship of a Brandeis faculty mentor.
Kimika Arai, '22 (Physics, Math)
Piezoelectric Tube Actuators as a Fiber Positioner
Faculty Mentor: Jim Bensinger, Kevan Hashemi
Natalie Chin, '23 (Biochemistry)
Pandelia Establishing the mechanism by which YqeK contributes to biofilm formation and antibiotoic resistance
Faculty Mentor: Maria-Eirini
Felicia Deng, '22 (Biochemistry)
Pandelia Insight into the function and structure of the human antiviral SAMHD1 protein in plants and its negative effects on plant health
Faculty Mentor: Maria-Eirini
Annabelle Fitch, '23 (Psychology, Neuroscience)
The Breathing Brain: Impacts of Mindfulness on Cognitive and Emotional Abilities
Faculty Mentor: James Howard
Kristina Fricker, '22 (History of Science (Independent Interdisciplinary Major); Mathematics)
Relative Time: Analyzing Einstein's Theory of Relativity Through a Social Lens
Faculty Mentor: Wangui Muigai
Jacob Gehtman, '24 (undeclared )
Spatial and Temporal Localization of Aging-Related circRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster
Faculty Mentor: Sebastian Kadener
Ashley Moushegian, '23 (Psychology)
Differences in Co-Brooding and the Impact on Internalizing Symptoms Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Hannah Snyder
Hannah O'Koon, '22 (English)
Essen und Erinnerungen: Kindertransport Kinder and Memories of Food
Faculty Mentor: Prof. ChaeRan Freeze
Zoe Pringle, '22 (HSSP and Sociology)
Case Study: How hEDS patients and their doctors view their diagnosis experience
Faculty Mentor: Professor Wendy Cadge
Achara Schroder, '23 (Undeclared, Intended Politics and Economics)
Archiving Diversity in Asian Diaspora: Southeast Asians in Massachusetts and the Model Minority Myth
Faculty Mentor: Soham Patel
Parker Thompson, '23 (History)
Substance in the Shadow
Faculty Mentor: Muna Guvenc Ospina Leon
Jason Walter, '23 (Politics)
Legitimacy and the Kosovo War of 1999
Faculty Mentor: Professor Kerry Chase
Kathryn (Katie) Ball, ‘22
Major: Music
The Cultural Dynamics of Dvorak's New World Symphony: Appropriation, Legacy, and National Identity
Faculty Mentor: Erin Gee
Vicente Cayuela Aliaga, ‘22
Majors: Fine Arts and Film, TV, and Interactive Media
Biological Burdens
Faculty Mentor: Catherine Della Lucia
Matthew Kaufman, ‘22
Majors: Fine Arts, Psychology
Ways of Seeing - The Art of Psychological Disorders
Faculty Mentor: Joseph Wardwell
Marissa Small, ‘22
Majors: Fine Arts, IIM Biology & Society
21st Century Futurisms
Faculty Mentor: Peter Kalb
Joelle Galatan, ‘22
Major: Health: Science, Society, and Policy
The Experiences of People with Endometriosis in Receiving non-Endometriosis-Related Gynecological Care
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Lamb
Academic Year Award
Amy Schroeder, ‘23
Major: Politics
Archiving Diversity in Asian Diaspora: Southeast Asians in Massachusetts and the Model Minority Myth
Faculty Mentor: Howie Tam
Senior Thesis Award
Maria Aranibar, ‘22
Majors: Sociology, International Global Studies
How Gentrification is Ruining our Public Schools: A Somerville Case Study
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Mayorga
Kristi Ho, ‘22
Major: Social Justice and Social Policy
The Mental Health Impacts of Community Gardening and Urban Farming in a Diverse, Urban City
Faculty Mentor: Thuy Lam
Savannah Jackson, ‘22
Majors: Sociology, International Global Studies
Mediating Authenticity: Interpretation as a Social Process
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Mayorga
Mariah Lewis, ‘22
Majors: Psychology, Sociology
Interrogating Safety: How College Students Navigate Resources in Times of Need
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Mayorga
Luochen Liu, ‘22
Majors: Biology, Neuroscience
Investigating the molecular mechanism of translation regulation through ribosome heterogeneity using rpL40 as a paradigm
Faculty Mentor: Kene Piasta
Simona Shuman, ‘22
Major: Sociology
Food Insecurity in Two Neighboring Cities During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Faculty Mentor: Wendy Cadge
Eric Blum, '22
CLAS, with Joel Christensen
"Greek Particles: Creating a Learner-Friendly Database of Contemporary Scholarship"
Haley Brown, '22
AMST & FILM, with Daniel Breen
"A Useable Past? New England Flirtations with Disunion, 1812-1815, and 1850-1861
Hunter Kessous, '22
BIO & HSSP, with Keridwen Luis
"Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Knowledge and Attitude Amongst Volunteers"
Richard (Quinn) King, '21
SOC & ENG & WGS, with Tom King
"Generations of Impactful Scholarship"
Luochen Liu, '22
BIOL & NEURO, with Amy S. Lee.
"Investigating the ribosome-specialized translation of vesicular stomatitis virus using rpL40-binding nanobodies"
Yoo Ra Sung, '23
HIST & IGS, with Yuri Doolan.
"Uncovering the Intergenerational Effects of Trauma on Korean and Korean American Women Through Oral History"
Isaac Rose-Berman, '22
POL, with Lucy Goodhart.
"The American Media's Role in Altering Issue Salience"
Angela Self, '22
ANTH & REL, with Wendy Cage.
"Is Christianity in Decline in the United States?"
Leah Trachtenberg, '22
NEJS & WGS, with ChaeRan Freeze.
"Bunnies and Nachasim: Jews in Playboy Magazine"
Amy Wang, '21
PSYC & BIOL, with Teresa Mitchell.
"Are Soft Sciences Theories More Easily Rejected than Hard Science Theories?"
Senior Thesis Research Support
Lauren Komer,'21, Theatre Arts “Lulu: Challenging the Portrayal of Female Sexuality and Ambition Onstage”
Wanchen Zhao, '21, Psychology, Philosophy, & Neuroscience “The influence of culture on boundary extension: how culture and semantic consistency interact”
Academic Year Research Support
Alex Bazarsky
Major: Anthropology
Excavation and Understanding of the Sak Tz’i’-Lacanjá Tzeltal Marketplace
Faculty Mentor: Charles Golden
Hannah BenDavid
Major: Biology
Optimizing CaMPARI: Activity and light dependent marking of active neurons
Faculty Mentor: Gina Turrigiano
Stephanie Brody
Major: Biology
Role of Bud14 in polarized growth and cell morphology in S. cerevisiae
Faculty Mentor: Bruce Goode
Amanda Cao
Major: Chemistry
Effects of Obstructed Growth on Pattern Formation
Faculty Mentor: Irving Epstein
Yuezhu Chen
Major: History
The Influence of Orthodox Russian on Harbin Society in 1920-1976
Faculty Mentor: Yuri Doolan
Billy Frankel
Major: Sociology/PAX
Peace Room Mural
Faculty Mentor: Gordon Fellman
Lucy Frenkel
Major: Psychology
Are Child Sex Offenders, and their Subtypes, Really a Different Kind from Extrafamilial Child Molesters?
Faculty Mentor: Raymond A. Knight
Prabu Gugagantha
Major: Physics
Uncovering the Causes of Discontinuous Shear Thickening via Computational Models
Faculty Mentor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Jake Havelas
Major: History
When Ottomans Came to Boston: Armenian, Greek, and Syrian Migration to the Greater Boston Area, 1890-1940
Faculty Mentor: Amy Singer
Ben Helzner
Major: Philosophy
Responsible Actors: Compatibilism, Identity, and Moral Agency
Faculty Mentor: Kate Moran
Han Kang
Major: Neuroscience
Carbon Fiber Electrode Project
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Van Hooser
David Qi
Major: Biology
The Development of Methods of Testing the Effectiveness of Hidden Markov Models
Faculty Mentor: Paul Miller
Yancey Thomas
Major: Physics
Comparing the Radio Structure of Quasars at high redshift (young universe) to those at low redshift (old universe)
Faculty Mentor: John Wardle
Iria Wang
Major: Physics
Simulation for the New ATLAS Tracking Detector at the LHC
Faculty Mentor: Gabriella Sciolla
Max Weinstein
Majors: English and Math
Percy Shelley: Romantic Attitudes Towards Mathematical Truth and the Sublime
Faculty Mentor: William Flesch
Senior Thesis Research Support
Academic Year Research Support
Margaret Lynch
Director of Undergraduate-Faculty Research Partnerships
margaretlynch@brandeis.edu