Global Studies Capstone
Global Studies Student must complete a Capstone paper or
project. Here are some examples of their work:
My goal in writing this research paper was to show that
China's integration into the global market has had influence
on policies. I studied the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a case
study of how China reacts to international pressures. The
Chinese cleaned up Beijing because they stood to receive
financial gain as well as international attention. China
simply moved its polluting factories outside of the city
instead cleaning them up. I am not saying that the sole reason
that China has participated in positive environmental
practices was to either look good in front of the world or for
financial gain, but these were important factors that made
several positive environmental changes in Beijing leading up
to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
— Brittney Relerford, Senior
The Dominican Republic is well known for its baseball and for
its AIDS epidemic. My project educates athletes on HIV/AIDS to
de-discriminate against people living with HIV/AIDS. To do
this requires analysis of Dominican constructs of gender norms
and inequality. Interviews of Dominican sex workers and
surveys of Dominican youth males will be used to understand
HIV epidemic through a personal experience. The surveys and
interviews will assess behavioral patterns in regards to
condom use and knowledge of HIV transmission modes. In light
of our findings we will train team captains to become Peer
Athlete Educators, to guide their teammates to better
understand susceptibility of HIV/STI/UP and skill development
of preventative behaviors. The main goal is to create
community behavioral change in gender awareness and increased
condom usage. The background research of this project will
assess the psychosocial and environmental structural factors
that contribute to the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the
Dominican Republic.
— Rivkah Cohen, Senior
In the Global Studies Seminar, I chose to write my final paper
on the conceptions of Jewish-ness in the American Diaspora.
There are arguments of how Jewish an individual may be since
being Jewish implies two different notions of memberships. To
be Jewish is to have membership in an ethno-religious group.
The ethno portion derives from the cultural history of the
Jewish people. The history is informed by a genealogical
notion of the group. Thus, the state of Israel builds on the
idea of the Jewish people as a "race." "Being Jewish" is also
associated with particular beliefs and religious practices.
Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements interpret practice
and Jewish-ness differently. My research on the children born
of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews highlights these
differences and leads me to propose conditions of variable
belonging.
— Wendy Chow, Senior
Each day 25,000 people die of hunger. 820 million people
suffer from chronic hunger. Many of these people live in Sub-
Saharan Africa. The aim of my research was to understand why
Africa is particularly affected by hunger. By all measures,
Africa has been marginalized in every area conducive to
development and progress since the era of colonialism. Due to
marginalization, Africa has not been able to grow
economically, politically, and socially. Even though it would
seem that economic growth would be the first step to solving
this problem, I argue that it is primarily social change in
order. Social transformation will be instrumental in Africa's
efforts to escape the poverty trap. With positive social
change will come empowerment, which will lead to self-reliance
and independence.
— Hanna Bar-or, Junior
In my thesis I call attention to the ineffectiveness of our
Capitalist system to adequately provide better living and
wages. I concentrate on the women who work in the
maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. I aim to
draw out the ways in which these women are exploited and used
for their labor in order to provide greater wealth to the
Global North and use that as a foundation to speak out against
Capitalism more generally.
— Nicole Regalado, 4th yr
