Culture, Brain & Development Program Spring 2019 Student Grant Awards

CBD’s competitive awards are made twice a year, and make it possible for students to pursue independent projects and summer research internships that support their academic goals. Some students will conduct reseach at Hampshire under the guidance of a faculty mentor, and some will go farther afield, working in the Pioneer Valley and as distant as Ghana.

CBD grants provide pivotal experiences for students as they explore their academic goals and develop their Divisional work at Hampshire. The grants also provide much-needed financial support for the completion of student projects, covering costs related to film, photography, participant studies, lab work, travel, housing and other key expenses.

Chynna Aming will pursue her Division II research on the impacts of adverse childhood experience through an internship at IYANU, a company co-founded by Hampshire alum Madison Campbell. Chynna will assist with a study that will help the company develop an inexpensive at-home rape kit.

As part of their Division II, Gabe Clark will pursue an internship with the cartoon Network to study animation techniques and human image processing in order to learn about the effects that consumerism has on animated shows and film.

Mairin Emerson’s Division III project: “Pudica: Anatomy, Venus & Art,” is an artistic progression of their previous research on the objectification and sexualization of women in medical specimens, collections and photographs, and will culminate in a gallery exhibition of their work.

For her Division III project, Alexandra Garland-Foster developed “Eagle Club: A Critical Pedagogy of Place”, an after-school program at Holyoke High School’s Dean campus. The program provides opportunities for students to participate in hands-on learning experiences through environmental stewardship projects in their community.

Brooke Huguley’s Division II midwifery internship with Projects Abroad in Ghana, Africa will support her research in the work of midwives of color, as well as cultural beliefs and practices around birth.

Aleksander Meyer will pursue their Division II internship with the PATH Project (based at Colley Dickinson Hospital) to research transgender healthcare access in the Pioneer Valley, and examine the relationship between culture, mental and physical health, and healthcare in marginalized populations.

Over the summer Division II student Tori Okabe will intern with Jane Couperus in the Hampshire College ERP and EEG lab to research visual selective attention. Tori is also the recipient of a Sherman Fairchild research award.

The CBD Student Research grant program was founded with support from the Foundation for Psychocultural Research, founded by Hampshire alum, Dr. Rob Lemelson, and other generous donors. The CBD Student Research Fund will continue to ensure that rigorous, creative, interdisciplinary student work at Hampshire is supported, and their next round of grant applications will be in Fall 2019. If you’d like more information about the Student Research Fund, or the CBD program at Hampshire, contact their office at cbd@hampshire.edu, or 413.559.5730.