Research Interest

Cultural Assimilation, Social Identity Theory, Diversity, Contextual Approach

My research so far is mainly centered around the issues of assimilation from a historical and sociological viewpoint. It often branches out into issues of defining one’s identity through race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or culture. I’m particularly interested in ongoing struggles between two (or more) belief systems, depending on if the arena of war involves the individual vs. society, community vs. community, or individual vs. themselves.

Gender-Diverse Youth

To be Defined or Not to be? Addressing Internal Question in the Online Community for Gender Diverse Youth

This research was published and presented at the international conference, IDC 2021 (Interaction Design for Children). I also presented this research at the Sigma Xi student research competition.

Publication

Female Mystics

Female Mystics and the Body, Marriage, and Gender Performance

This piece portrays the quandary presented to Middle Ages female mystics to define themselves and their philosophies using their own terms. Many relied on male companions and male scribes to be their mouthpieces to the world, despite having such grand and powerful theories about God, personhood, and gender that they could not be measured by words on a page alone. They had to be “performed.”

The Rani of Jhansi

The Rani of Jhansi: the Untold Story of the Implications of "Mutiny" to the Rani

Although the Rani was once a real, breathing person, she is memorialized more as a folk legend in India, with the Rani’s more errant qualities and actions being erased and manipulated within the narrative if she does not “fit” into her heavily propagandized, patriotic, modern image. Who was she, really, before her fateful sacrifice on the battleground?

NGOs in Africa

Humanitarians or Modern Imperialists? Examining the Position of Humanitarian Aid on African Societies

This paper examines the complicated history of the relationship between religious, third-sector organizations (NGOs in the modern day) and the African communities they serve. It has a focus on public health and the implications of short-term public health work vs. long-term enhancement of communities, as well as the long-term effects of colonization on language, culture, and routine in African communes.