University News Release—July 1, 2009

Nine undergraduates awarded Stanley Scholarships for International Research

Nine University of Iowa undergraduate students were granted the Stanley Undergraduate Awards for International Research. The awards, ranging from $2,000 to $3,000, are awarded to outstanding UI undergraduates who conduct small-scale research or fieldwork projects on international topics.

The awards are made possible by the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization and are the UI's premier awards for international study.

For more information on the Stanley awards, contact the UI International Programs Grants Office at 319-335-2823.

The office is part of International Programs, which enables UI students, faculty, staff and the public to learn from and about the world. Its offices, degree programs and events provide life-changing opportunities on campus and abroad, heighten intellectual and cultural diversity, and give all university constituents access to vital international knowledge. For more information, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/ or call 319-353-2700. International Programs is part of the UI Office of the Provost.

Scholarship winners are listed alphabetically by hometown, with Iowa hometowns first.

Iowa

BELLEVUE: Lindsey Knake, a sophomore biomedical engineering major in the UI College of Engineering, is traveling to Spain this summer to compare and contrast Spain's universal health care system to the health care system currently in affect in the United States. Knake will focus on the quality, availability and affordability of Spain's health care compared to the U.S. Her research proposal is titled "Universal Health are in Spain." Knake's project adviser is Karim Abdel-Malek, a UI professor of biomedical engineering.

DAVENPORT: Jessica Nelson, a junior international studies major in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), will travel to Beirut, Lebanon this winter to research how current postwar reconstruction efforts have affected the local population's sense of territorial and cultural identity in the aftermath of the 1975-1990 Civil War. Nelson's research proposal is titled "Uncovering Social Identity in Post-War Beirut." Her project adviser is Ahmed Souaiaia, a UI assistant professor of religious studies.

DENISON: Paul Worrell, a senior journalism and mass communication and international studies major, is traveling to South Africa this summer to research the changing role of traditional healers and ethno-medicine in an urbanizing, modernizing, globalizing South Africa. His research proposal is titled "The Best Muthi." Worrell's project adviser is Julie Andsager, a UI professor of journalism and mass communication.

IOWA CITY: Katherine Sorofman, a junior anthropology major in CLAS, will travel to Japan this summer to examine ritualism and etiquette within Japanese martial arts schools in the United States and Japan on a micro level through an ethnographic comparative study. Sorofman hopes to better understand the effects of globalization and transnational identity. Her research proposal is titled "The Dojo as an Indicator of Globalization." Her project adviser is Sonia Ryang, a UI associate professor of anthropology.

MARION: Brian Buh, a junior political science, religious studies, and international studies major in CLAS, will travel to South Africa this summer to find out what effects Zulu nationalism has had on the Nazareth Baptist Church of Shembe in a post-Apartheid time. The project will look at the historical role Zulu identity has played and how that plays out for Shembe followers today. His research proposal is titled "Finding Ones' Zuluness: Post-Apartheid Shembe." Buh's project adviser is Ralph Keen, a UI associate professor of religion.

MOUNT VERNON: Christopher King, a junior physics major in CLAS, is traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, this summer to work at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) laboratory. While there, he will assist UI professor of physics and astronomy Usha Mallik's research group with the calibration of the silicon pixel detector for the ATLAS experiment. This device will "see" the particle collisions and any new particles created by the collisions of accelerated particles within the LHC. King's research proposal is titled "Calibration of the Silicon Pixel Detector for Atlas." His project adviser is Mallik.

Minnesota

EDEN PRAIRIE: Michelle Gin, a junior international studies and science education major in CLAS and the College of Education, respectively, will travel to Costa Rica from August to December 2009. Gin will research amphibians to evaluate the trends of amphibian disappearance in Monteverde Cloud Forest. By understanding competition between species, one can possibly predict which species will die out and environmentalists could predict the outcomes and prepare for them. If accurate predictions could be made significantly ahead of time, groups could deter the loss of species and preserve the world's biodiversity. Her project is titled "Amphibian Decline in Monteverde Cloud Forest." Gin's project adviser is Linda Gerhold, a UI lecturer in biological sciences.

Wisconsin

VIROQUA: Megan Felt, a senior Spanish and anthropology major in CLAS, will travel to Colombia this summer to examine the space of death and existing option to life, spaces of emotions and reality that those living amongst the violence in Colombia encounter daily by focusing on one specific resisting population. By exploring the successful grass roots resistance model of the humanitarian zones of Curvaradó in Chocó, Colombia, Felt hopes to edify how and why campesinos (small-scale farmers) of this region resist and carry the constant presence of violence. Her research proposal is titled "Culture of Resistance in the Humanitarian Zones of Curvaradó, Colombia." Felt's project adviser is Laura Graham, a UI associate professor of anthropology.

Spain

ALGEMESI: Javier Vendrell, a junior history major in CLAS, is traveling to Germany this summer to research primary source archives on gay and lesbian popular periodicals during the Weimar Republic. Vendrell's research proposal is titled "A History of Private Life: Gay and Lesbian Popular Magazines during the Weimar Republic." His faculty adviser is Elizabeth D. Heineman, a UI associate professor of history.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 371, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500

MEDIA CONTACTS: Kristi Fitzpatrick, UI International Programs, 319-335-2823, kristi-fitzpatrick@uiowa.edu; Lois Gray, 319-384-0077, lois-gray@uiowa.edu