Speakers

Image of LEAP 2024: Interdisciplinary Research: Laying Foundations and Creating Connection - Abstracts

LEAP 2024: Interdisciplinary Research: Laying Foundations and Creating Connection - Abstracts

Panel 38: Interdisciplinary Research: Laying Foundations and Creating Connection

This summer, each of our panelist focused on interdisciplinary research in understudied areas of knowledge. The four of us examine the connections between various fields, each developing a nuanced and unique research experience with a global perspective. Rose will present on developing a foundation for long-term research, as well as the connections between mental health, public health, and urban planning. Yanran will share how traditional medical practices contribute to postcolonial public health knowledge. Katherine will describe the process of visualizing intergroup communication through social network analysis and its importance in connecting data science and social justice. Naomy will present how they center their decolonial methodology in archival research, integrating Indigenous Studies, anthropology, and history to critically reframe established historical narratives. Through our work, we’ve expanded on our MHC education by engaging with the wider world, building foundations for future research rooted in meaningful connections.

Connections in Conversation: Social Network Analysis Rooted in Equity
Katherine Delamere ’25, Sociology and Spanish double major

Decolonizing the Archives: Reframing Spanish Conquest Narratives in Yucatan
Naomy Poot Ibarra ’25, Politics major & Critical Race and Political Economy minor, certificate in Native American and Indigenous Studies

GreenME: Researching Public, Mental, & Environmental Health
Rose Fitzgerald ’25, Environmental Studies & Gender Studies

Bridging Pathways to Decolonize Global Health
Yanran Zhou ’25, Environmental Studies and French double major & Culture Health and Science five-college certificate

Speaker name: Rose Fitzgerald
Title: GreenME: Researching Public, Mental, & Environmental Health
This past summer, I worked at the Autonomous University of Barcelona on the GreenME project, an international study on the intersection of public health, mental well-being, and environmental sustainability. During my presentation, I’ll discuss aspects of my internship such as translating and transcribing information, qualitatively coding and analyzing data, drafting and editing documents for publication, and working to lay the foundations for long term research projects. I will also share my experiences with finding an internship, working in an international setting, and how I plan to grow from this experience as I move forward in my academic and professional careers.

Speaker name: Yanran Zhou
Title: Bridging Pathways to Decolonize Global Health
“This presentation focuses on the result from an interdisciplinary summer research assistantship. Through the 2-month internship focused on how traditional medicine plays a role in decolonizing global health research, Yanran explored ways to make health research more inclusive. By inserting a sense of cultural humility to the current scheme of health research, medical knowledge from Global South will be more valued, and the epistemic injustice that exists in academic global health will be challenged.”

“In this presentation, there will be a brief introduction of what a hybrid internship feels like, followed by an overview at the daily work and the final project that Yanran helped contribute to.”

Speaker name: Katherine Delamere
Title: Connections in Conversation: Social Network Analysis Rooted in Equity
I deeply believe that we are all connected to everyone and everything. This summer, I investigated these connections through social network analysis (SNA). I researched the history of social network analysis, wrote a literature review, and reviewed syllabi of other collegiate social network analysis courses – simultaneously teaching myself the core concepts and crafting a preliminary syllabus for future Mount Holyoke students. I then dove deeper, analyzing the communication networks of a filmed interracial dialogue. Through centrality measures, I was able to visualize inequity in the conversation structure. Communication is an essential element of connection, and I am now building on my Lynk experience by investigating conversational equity further in my Sociology Honors Thesis.

Speaker name: Naomy Poot Ibarra
Title: Decolonizing the Archives: Reframing Spanish Conquest Narratives in Yucatan
This presentation explores the Spanish conquest of Yucatan in the early 16th century, focusing on the colonial policies implemented by Spain and their impacts on Indigenous Maya communities. Drawing from archival research, including the Ruben E. Reina Papers, I analyze primary documents such as letters from the Spanish crown and conquistadors, approaching them from a decolonial perspective. This work seeks to reclaim a more nuanced understanding of the period by challenging dominant historical narratives. The project serves as the foundation for a year-long research endeavor aimed at contextualizing the beginnings of settler colonialism in Yucatan while also reflecting on the process of conducting research within a colonial institution as an Indigenous Studies scholar.