S-CAR Students Tackle Independent Research

When you say "research" to most undergraduate students studying the social sciences, they usually react in one of two ways: 1) They assume research is limited to hard science, with experiments being conducted in laboratories with elaborate machinery and/or white mice and therefore doesn't concern them, or 2) they understand the concept of research in these fields but grimace with fear. However, S-CAR's undergraduate program boasts three women who shatter these stereotypes. Catherine Dines, Krystal Thomas, and Gabriella Porcaro have all voluntarily developed research projects related to their coursework in the Conflict Analysis and Resolution major and have each received funding to support their research through the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP), sponsored by the Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR).

Catherine Dines, a senior from the Buffalo, NY metropolitan area, discovered a gap in the services provided by the United States for deaf refugees in comparison to the EU programs for this population. She learned about the situation while studying abroad at Oxford her junior year. From her experience working for nonprofits, she understands the importance of statistical data and its impact on funding and, therefore, developed a proposal, with the help of her mentor Dr. Patricia Maulden, to conduct research to fill the knowledge gap on deaf refugees.

Junior Krystal Thomas draws from her personal experiences growing up as one of the few minorities in Charles Town, WV as she explores interpersonal conflict that occurs when an individual feels disconnected with societal expectations for his or her identity group. Krystal, who is working with Dr. Leslie Dwyer, is interviewing black women about their experiences with race and identity with the hopes of expanding the social perception of what it means to be a black woman today.

Gabriella Porcaro is using her role on campus as a Resident Advisor to develop her research regarding nonviolent communication on college campuses. A junior from Warwick, RI, Gabriella initially became interested in preventing violence in high school and has furthered her knowledge about the subject through coursework on multiculturalism and identities. After Arthur Romano, her professor for CONF 330: Community, Group, and Organizational Conflict Analysis and Resolution, saw her interest in the topic, he suggested applying for the URSP to conduct research to create a training program on preventative nonviolent communication.

All three students have experienced challenges in conducting their research, from narrowing the scope of the project to securing buy-in from participants to just being able to communicate with their subjects. Their journeys, however, have been overwhelmingly positive. When asked what advice they would give students considering research projects, their resounding collective response was, "Go for it!" With the support of their faculty members and the community of scholars created by the URSP, Catherine, Krystal, and Gabriella all presented at the Third Annual Undergraduate Research Conference on Thursday, April 19 on the Fairfax campus, and they plan to continue their research. We look forward to these three women continuing the tradtion of scholarly inquiry at S-CAR while proving that research isn't such a scary prospect after all.