Student Spotlight – Lilly Angel

/in /by

Meet UCLA undergraduate researcher Lilly Angel!

Lilly Angel majors in American Literature and Culture and minors in Chicano/Central American Studies and is in our Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF)! The title of her project is “Radical Love & Solidarity: Reading the Families of the Incarcerated.” She focuses on how her research will help change the way society looks at the incarcerated and the practices within the prison industrial complex. Her best piece of advice is to do what sets you off, not what people “think” you should do.

How did you first get interested in your research project?

Through AAP’s summer transfer program; shout out to Professors San Juan and Huehls.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

Seeing it come to life. I went from thinking I could never do research or even understand HOW research in English could exist to now slowly create connections and applying it to a project close to my heart.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

How non linear it truly is! I’m use to having things set up in a plan, but I’ve had to learn to be comfortable with not knowing and enjoying the process.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Do what sets you off. Follow that path, don’t go for what people “think” you should study.

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

I hope my research in addition to being the basis for continuing into graduate school will help change the way society looks at the incarcerated and their incarcerated in addition to the practices within the prison industrial complex.

Student Spotlight – Desiree Eshraghi

/in /by

Meet UCLA undergraduate researcher Desiree Eshraghi!

Desiree Eshraghi majors in Psychobiology and minors in Disability Studies and is in our Undergraduate Research Fellows Program (URFP). The title of her project is “Disability and Heat: Physiological and Social Disparities in Regards to Heat Exposure.” She hopes to expand people’s perspective of disability by providing insight into the complexity of the subject. Her best piece of advice is to pursue what interests you!

How did you first get interested in your research project?

Growing up in the sunny San Fernando valley can be tough. Constantly sweating, the inescapable threat of sunburn, and burning hot asphalt. Heat in California is undoubtedly a serious public health issue. However, even as a child, I distinguished the difference in experience and needs my brother, who is autistic and epileptic, had in response to the heat compared to mine. Overt exhaustion, especially heat exhaustion, could trigger a seizure.

I was reminded of these stark differences in heat protection and thermal comfort between my brother and I when joined Dr. Venkat’s Heat Lab. There, we seek to explore the interdisciplinary ways heat interacts with community health such as through physiological means, sociological means, etc. As I decided to pursue my minor in Disability Studies, I also chose to pursue this research topic in the Heat Lab.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

Seeing just how interconnected my research is to so many fields is beyond exciting, let alone the real-world applications to improving heat protection guidelines to better protect the disability community. Research regardless of field is so interdisciplinary and interactive, ever-expanding in unexpected and exciting ways!

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

It has surprised me to what degree disability is obscured or euphemized in research – making it quite more difficult to find relevant disability research. “Comorbidities”, “Pre-existing conditions”, “rehabilitation”: all these words refer to some form of disability (even temporary) yet are not often considered so by the general population or advanced search engines. This revealed to me the precision and determination needed to seek out relevant literature in regards to my research topic.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Pursue your interests and in time, you will find how it applies to your career field. As an aspiring physician, it may be surprising to see me become an Undergraduate Researcher Fellow through HASS, but it’s been an undeniably profound experience so far that is sure to aid me in my future medical career. Everything interconnects, and my research into the disability community and community health in general will surely prepare me in better understanding the backgrounds and special circumstances of all my future patients. Similarly, if you find yourself going against the grain in regards to your career field pathway, be sure to explore it the fullest!

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

I hope my research will push our Bruin and LA community at large to be more inclusive and accessible to all members of their community. Furthermore, I hope this research expands people’s perspectives into how we see disability and that it is much more complex than a straightforward medical diagnosis or as only a response to our built environment.

Student Spotlight – Maggie Dent

/in /by

Meet UCLA undergraduate researcher Maggie Dent!

Maggie Dent majors in Global Studies and minors in Global Health and is in our Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP). The title of her project is “Gendered Care Work Migration: Nursing and Globalization.” She focuses on what it means to be a care worker in our globalized world. Her best piece of advice is to take your project one step at a time!

How did you first get interested in your research project?

I first encountered the idea of gendered care work migration in my Introduction to Global Studies class during my Sophomore year. It was an idea that stuck with me because I immediately related to the idea, yet I had never had a term to describe the concept. As I looked more into it, I became enthralled with how relevant it was to my everyday life, yet it was so overlooked. Nurses, nannies, cleaners, sex workers: these are all care workers and many of them are immigrant women. As a Global Studies student I wanted to explore how larger patterns of interconnection have fostered the growth of a so-called “care economy” and the ethical dilemmas that come with extracting care from other countries. My interest in Global Health led me to focus on nurses as care workers and how the Global North has come to rely on foreign-born and foreign-trained nurses to run our healthcare systems.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

The most excited aspect of my research has been reading the vast amounts of literature on different migration patterns throughout the world. I’ve read articles from the Philippines, Italy, Georgia, Latvia, China, the United Kingdom, and the US who all have something unique to say about care workers migration. I feel like I have learned so much from these authors and truly gotten a global view on the issue. It has been an amazing experience getting to dive so deep into one issue and see the nuances and criticisms it has drawn. Reading others research has made me a better writer and scholar.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

One thing that has surprised me is how supportive the research community can be. I was very nervous to embark on my research project because it was such an independent assignment, but actually I have gotten so much help from the people around me and it has made it feel way more manageable. My advisor, the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, and my fellow students have always been so helpful to me and truly want me to succeed which makes the process not only easier but also more fun.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

My main piece of advice for future UCLA student researchers is to take your project one step at a time. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about a year long research project, but working with your advisor to create a schedule and timeline will really help to break down the process and make it super manageable! Also remember that there are so many other student researchers having the same struggles that you are and you aren’t alone. Reach out to them for help!

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

I hope that my research can help to shed light on a truly important migration phenomenon taking place around us. Oftentimes care workers are overlooked because their labor is undervalued or deskilled. In fact, they are some of the most important workers in the labor force and they are not recognized for the amazing work that they do. Immigrant women are doing jobs that few native-born workers want, but they are doing it while being exploited, underpaid, and disrespected. I hope that my research will make people think about what it means to be a care worker in our globalized world.

Student Spotlight – Amy Vandyken

/in /by

Meet UCLA undergraduate researcher Amy Vandyken!

Amy Vandyken majors in Political Science and minors in Disability Studies and Education and is in our Undergraduate Research Fellows Program (URFP)! The title of her project is “Incorporating Accessibility into Critical Media Literacy Curriculum for LAUSD Ethnic Studies courses.” She focuses on how Ethnic Studies educators can fuse both Critical Media Literacy and Accessibility education. Her best piece of advice is to not conform to arbitrary standards of “typical research.”

How did you first get interested in your research project?

During fall quarter of my third year, I took an EDUC 187 titled, “Introduction to Critical Media Literacy.” The class focused on analyzing media representations, questioning the process of “normalizing” dominant ideologies, and creating counter-hegemonic media texts. The class was actually taught by Professor Jeff Share, who is now my faculty mentor (as well as an amazing human being)! Then, this past Fall Quarter, I took DESMA 171: Disability, Design, and the Web, which focused on universal design, assistive technology, and disability justice. I hope to merge the knowledge I acquired in both of these courses and in my outside experiences to develop a mock curriculum/base guidelines on how Ethnic Studies educators can fuse both Critical Media Literacy and Accessibility education in order to question the power of the word, image, and sound bite to represent social injustice.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

My faculty mentor, Jeff Share, is one of the biggest advocates for Critical Media Literacy education to be a required part of LAUSD’s general curriculum. I am excited to contribute to this work, and push for disability studies to be included in this development. Additionally, it’s been an honor getting to work with so many educators (I want to be a teacher in the future), Critical Media Literacy experts, and Disability Studies experts.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

I’ve been surprised with how much autonomy, and in turn, individual responsibility, I have as a student researcher. I honed in on my research question, developed my own research timeline, and cold emailed various experts in the field, with support/guidance from my faculty mentor, but not oversight. It’s been interesting finding a balance between meeting all the deadlines but also recognizing that you can also afford yourself some flexibility.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Don’t conform to arbitrary standards of what “typical research.” Also, there will always be people out there who care about your work – make the first person yourself!

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

Disability/Access is often left to the wayside when it comes to social justice topics – however, it is intricately interwoven with other injustices facing vulnerable communities. I hope for my research to be the first step in my lifelong journey of incorporating disability advocacy and uplifting disabled voices in practice, research, and theory.