Each student spoke for several minutes and presented a project summary on a large video screen on the Lewis Family Auditorium stage.

Kenzie Kaplan ’25

Kaplan traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Moises Ville, Santa Fe, Argentina to investigate the immigration of Jewish people to Argentina before and during the Holocaust, seeking understanding of an immigrant journey in which her family participated. During her travels in Argentina, she explored historical artifacts, journeyed over history-rich land, and engaged with historians and residents. She collected photographs that depict the resilience and richness of Jewish culture in Argentina and plans to create a photo book showcasing these elements.

Talluri explored the lived experiences of Taiwanese individuals who engage with Mandarin on Mainland China in both local and cross-strait contexts, advancing research previously limited to an examination of cultural and linguistic differences. Her project addresses the role of identity construction, interactional dynamics and language attitudes among Taiwanese speakers by examining the linguistic perceptions and attitudes of Taiwanese individuals towards both Guoyu (Mandarin in Taiwan) and Putonghua (Mandarin in Mainland China), and how exposure to Putonghua affects Taiwanese self-perceptions.

Lippey traveled to Bath, Maine, to explore of the efficacy of intergroup dialogue in combating increased polarization. He participated in Seeds of Peace, a summer camp in Maine that invites students from the Middle East and South Asia to engage in fully immersive intergroup communication; there he studied various dialogue strategies and methodologies and met like-minded peers from around the world. He also interviewed professors and scholars to add academic research and methodologies to his first-hand experiences. His ultimate goal: developing a dialogue group at Ransom Everglades to bridge division and engage in important conversations.

Lindemann examined gestational surrogacy, a twentieth-century scientific advancement in parenthood options (the process in which an egg donor’s eggs and a father’s sperm are inseminated into a surrogate, a female who carries the baby and is not the egg donor). She studied this contemporary scientific phenomenon against the backdrop of the traditional nuclear family, considering sociological, cultural and legal questions related to how societies define a family, a parent, lineage and kinship. Her goal is to assemble a creative nonfiction narrative essay that weaves personal experiences with academic research to explore how modern-day science and cultural thought might challenge or reinforce the family stereotype.

James’ research project explores the nuanced experiences of Vietnamese Amerasians growing up in post-war Vietnam, focusing on how the historical fiction medium has represented their identities. She homed in on Vietnamese-Amerasians who remained in Vietnam after the Vietnam War, and their stories of trying to fit into Vietnamese society while being considered as outsiders for their mixed-race heritage. Through analyzing five key historical fiction novels, engaging with numerous Vietnamese Amerasian oral histories, and traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, she strove to uncover the broader influences of historical fiction upon the internal and external perceptions of marginalized identities. 

Jagodzinski traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas, to study how the town’s German-American community has worked to preserve its cultural heritage amidst contemporary challenges and opportunities. He conducted a combination of archival research and fieldwork over the course of five days in Fredericksburg; visiting museums and archives, collecting oral histories from community members, city officials, and volunteers; and analyzing original documentation and firsthand accounts at the Pioneer Memorial Library’s “Texas Room” archives. He also attended and co-hosted a monthly German-language class. Through his research, he gained insight into how the declining population of Texas Germans has maintained its identity.

Sullivan researched and hiked the Appalachian Trail, which runs 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, in the hope of understanding the changing motivations of the “thru-hikers” – those who have attempted to conquer the entire trail. After reviewing historical literature and primary accounts dating to the creation of the trail in the 1930s, he embarked on his own hike, interviewing about 25 hikers and connecting with many others on the trail. He discovered evolving motivations of thru-hikers over time, even as he identified commonalities such as self-discovery, a desire for personal challenge, and a search for connection with nature and others.