URSP Student Sarah Richart Compares Sylvia’s Unabridged Journals to the Abridged Version Edited by Ted Hughes

I fell in love with Zelda Fitzgerald after reading her biography when I was sixteen. However, every time I mentioned her to people, they only spoke about her mental illness and partying, and ignore her witty writing. Sylvia Plath, my favorite poet, is constantly linked with her suicide, and her iconic poetry and prose is left by the wayside. These women were so much more than their mental illness and I couldn’t figure out why that rose to the top of the conversation over their achievements. `After reading a lot on the two women, it seemed in both cases, their husbands, Scott Fitzgerald and Ted Hughes, had control in the narrative of their lives. 

My research started off vague, just exploring the two different marriages through letters, diaries, and the fiction and poetry both couples produced. After discussing the information and patterns with my mentor, he suggested the theme of plagiarism, not only as stealing work but misrepresenting personality. After finding this focus, I was able to sharpen my lens. A huge part of my research was comparing Sylvia’s unabridged journals, and the abridged version, edited by Ted. When reading about Fitzgerald, most analysis surrounded Scott’s direct seizure of Zelda’s work and his characterization of her in his prose. 

This semester, OSCAR gave me the opportunity to learn more about two of my role models and educate others about them. How Zelda and Sylvia’s respective husbands plagiarized their work and lives has had an impact on how we talk about them. I discovered a passion for revealing the “behind the scenes” of female narrative. This project started out as literary and historical analysis, but by the end, I realize it also has roots in education. If I were to extend this research, I would want to focus on teaching female narratives in secondary education, especially focusing on how the male narrative has often dominated. Coinciding with #MeToo movement, we must empower women to use their voice, but not forget those silenced in the past. 

URSP Student Donna Imadi Studies the Geopolitical Interdependency between Russian Actions in Influencing the Syrian and Ukranian Conflict

Hello! My name is Donna Imadi, I’m a double major in Global Affairs (concentration in Global Governance) and International Conflict Analysis and Resolution. This semester, I have spent my time studying the geopolitical interdependency between Russian actions in influencing the Syrian and Ukrainian Conflict, and the U.S response to these major international security challenges. My research aims to explore foreign policy options in resolving two of the world’s most perplexing conflicts that have come to represent massive challenges to international law and security, in their paving a new frontier into hybrid warfare.

My interest in this topic heightened after working at the U.S State Department these last two summers on foreign policy issues, and after returning from a research trip to Ukraine this Summer 2018 with the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As a result of my broadening perspectives through researching the policy solutions to address emerging sociological and psychological warfare strategies on my trip, I was inspired to utilize my networks in the practitioner realm to conduct in-depth research on pressing political, security, and social issues reflected in the two major global challenges to peace facing the UN Security Council today: the stalemate conflict in Ukraine and Syria. Further, I yearned to find a method to connect my practical “practitioner” experiences to my academic studies—wanting to challenge the gap between theory and practice in the realm of foreign affairs.

On a weekly basis, I read vast arrays of literature on current affairs about the dynamics unfolding in Ukraine and Syria in both energy, military, and political developments. By the end of my term, I am working toward conducting a set of 1-1 interviews with practitioners from U.S govt officials to thinktank academics, in creating the first analysis from a practitioner view point on how policy should be formulated to respond to the international crises within both Ukraine and Syria, while balancing Russian interests.

This semester, I have valued my interdisciplinary approach to research: assessing military, energy, financial, political, and environmental drivers of the current state of affairs. It has vested in me a true appreciation for all disciplines and recognition of how each specialty has immense value in and of itself—but furthermore, demonstrated to me how much stronger policy formulation can be if one brings various academic disciplines within collaboration of each other. Connecting broad concepts and ideas to formulate creative and innovative solutions to complex social problems is at the core of my research. I am thankful for the opportunity that the OSCAR office has granted students in conducting original research on nuanced topics in interdisciplinary fields, such as my own!

URSP Student Janine Gaspari Researches Campaign Donations from the Koch Brothers

My name is Janine Gaspari and I am a senior in the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. I am researching campaign donations from Charles and David Koch’s donor network to Virginia state legislators and those legislators voting records on policies that decrease regulations or resources given to institutions of higher education. This question arose for me while organizing for increased donor transparency with the student-led grassroots organization Transparent GMU. I saw instances of Koch donations coming with strings attached at George Mason University and other universities. Since George Mason University is a state institution, the policies that govern it come from the state legislature. This project will shed light on to what extent the Kochs are involved in higher education policy in the Virginia state legislature. 

I spend a majority of my time digging through online databases looking at bills on the Virginia Legislative Information System and looking at campaign donations on the Virginia Public Access Project. A majority of my time is spent reading through bills and analyzing the policy implications they have on institutions of higher education and their students and employees. My OSCAR experience has taught me that independent research is rigorous and takes patience, experimentation, and discipline. I feel prepared for what I hope will be a lifetime of research-based advocacy with grassroots advocacy organizations and/or within academia.  

USTF Student Nora Malatinszky Studies the Link between Cheating and Cultural Corruption from Post-regime Change in Hungary

Throughout the past semester, I have been conducting an individualized study in which I researched the cultures of corruption. I wrote an academic paper concerning a case study on the link between cheating and cultural corruption in the case of post-regime change Hungary. While completing this work, I organized a panel of academics to present their work beside mine at the International Studies Association Northeast conference. I included a professor from James Madison University, a professor from Drexel University, a senior visiting scholar of George Mason University from the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and a PhD candidate from the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. In addition to my role as panel organizer and moderator, I successfully presented on my paper entitled, “Setting Up for Failure: Comparing Patterns of Cheating to Rooted Corruption in the Case of Post-Regime Change Hungary.” The conference also gave me the opportunity to view other panel presentations on topics such as global health and the role of gender in the international discourse of modern society. It was great to have the opportunity to dip my feet into the field of academia, which is where I hope to work at some point in the future. Overall, the ISA-NE conference was an exciting and educational experience for me.

URSP Student Jessica Rauchberg Investigates Neurological Disability and its Influences on How We Communicate our Performances of Gender and Sexuality

I always knew I was interested in research and really wanted to apply to OSCAR, but I was a bit unsure of where to start. As an active member of the university’s nationally ranked Forensics (competitive public speaking) Team, my junior year, I competed with an argumentative, performance based speech discussing the stigmatization of disabled performances of sexuality and intimacy, inspired by my own personal experiences. I linked together several different styles and pieces of literature to create my performance. During that time, I also took Feminist Research Methods with Dr. Angie Hattery in the Women and Gender Studies program. I told Dr. Hattery about my speech, and after a bit of discussion, she encouraged me to apply for an OSCAR grant to explore this topic through an autoethnographic project. Essentially, using threads of personal narratives, narrative analysis, and more traditional objective styles of academic writing, I am using this project as an investigation on how neurological disability (in my case, a non-verbal learning disability) influences how we communicate our performances of gender and sexuality.

I usually meet with my mentor, Dr. Rachel Lewis, at least once a week. I carve out at least an hour every day to write, edit, or continue my research. This semester, I’ve especially concentrated on learning how to write evocative narratives and manipulate more creative styles of academic writing to work with how I’m constructing my project. It has definitely been a challenge since all my knowledge on autoethnographic writing is self-taught, but I think the effort has been worth it thus far. I’m hoping to extend funding for this project to next semester, as my mentor and I are planning on doing a research symposium and staging an auto performance of the narratives. Additionally, I plan on submitting the written portion of the autoethnography for journal publication in graduate school. Post-graduation, I hope to continue autoethnographic, performance, and gender research. I would also love to eventually receive my doctorate and work in a university setting.  

URSP Student Samantha Parsons Researches if Programs Funded by USAId Facilitates the Opening of New Markets in Post-Conflict Countries

With my research, I am seeking to understand whether or not programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development and their private partners facilitate the opening of new markets in post-conflict countries where the United States has influence over public policies and whether or not that allows USAID’s private partners to financially benefit from resources in those nations. I became interested in this project after reading literature on the conflict resolution field and the question of empire. I found that there was literature grounded in theory about this question, but the question was supported by little empirical data. This project relates to my long-term goals of finding ways to empirically study the question of empire and understanding the ways in which it operates within the conflict field.

My research focuses on a single project that is being implemented in Africa. Due to my inability to travel to Africa this semester, my research concentrates on analyzing project reports, legal documents, and electronic media sources on my topic. On a weekly basis, I search through these documents—a very time consuming task—and analyze the implementation of projects, determine whether or not the projects sought to change public policies in the countries I am studying, and analyze the reaction of civil society to the implementation of such projects. As I find this information, I utilize a process-tracing technique to effectively tie together all of these components to provide a basis for causal inference.

This week, and every week since developing this project idea, I discovered that completing academic research that involves analyzing the actions of private companies, even when they are partners with public organizations, is very difficult. This is because oftentimes data and reports on projects conducted by private partners are not always easily accessible. While this has highlighted the limitations of certain types of research, and made completing my project challenging, it has also made me more excited to continue exploring these difficult questions.

URSP Student Jessica Gasvoda Researches Mediated Agreement Success

I am currently researching Mediated Agreement Success with Dr. Pamela Struss of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. This is continued work that Dr. Struss has done in the past. Mediation is the process of a third party intervening in a dispute in the hopes to reach a resolution. I am studying the courtroom mediation process in the State of Virginia. I am looking at the success rate of mediation agreements in four jurisdictions for the years of 2014 and 2015; Alexandria General District Court, Prince William General District Court, Harrisonburg/Rockingham General District Court, and Amherst General District Court. I am measuring whether an agreement was fully satisfied, or if an agreement failed, based on whether the two parties carried out the agreement completely. If a case was satisfied, it would have been dismissed whereas a failed agreement would result in a judgment.

I became interested in this project after taking a Mediation Certificate training course with Dr. Struss last semester. I was interested in becoming a mediator and the course allowed me to learn about courtroom mediation and the processes of this in relation to the legal system. Dr. Struss told our class about her past research on mediation agreement success in the State of Virginia for the years 2012 and 2013. She was interested in continuing this research and I became very interested as well. I thought it would be beneficial to apply what I was learning in the classroom to a real life setting. I also thought this would allow me to analyze the mediation process in the courts and if there needed to be changes made to ensure a higher success rate.

On a weekly basis I have been visiting the different courts and collecting their mediation data from 2014 and 2015. I then take that information and use the Virginia General District Court Online Case Information System to determine whether a case has been satisfied or failed. I have also been looking at current courtroom mediation processes, and how they can potentially be improved to result in a higher agreement success rate. This week I finished analyzing the Prince William General District Court agreement success and failure rate. I found that Prince William has a higher rate of mediation agreement success than Alexandria. I still need to collect the data for Harrisonburg and Amherst in order to compare the numbers of these districts as well. After all the data is collected, I will conduct a phone survey with a random sample of mediation participants in these districts to determine why some agreements are satisfied while others fail. I have been approved by the IRB to conduct this survey.

URSP Student Christina Mathews Researches if the Efforts of Humanitarian NGO's in the Dominican Republic are Wasted

     For the past three summers I have had the opportunity to go on ten day service trips to the Dominican Republic near the border of Haiti. During these trips, I interacted with several humanitarian NGOs who were working to eliminate human rights violations. Their main strategy for achieving this goal was to work on improving negative attitudes and removing ethnic hatred of Dominicans towards Haitian immigrants. I remember one NGO trying to persuade a school to allow the children of Haitian immigrants to enroll by promoting the idea of racial equality to its teachers. Yet, as the NGO quickly realized, at the core of this issue was not racial discrimination, but rather the fact that these children of Haitian decent did not have Dominican citizenship, and thus could not officially be enrolled in the school. 

      This experience influenced me to question NGOs’ lack of attention to and monitoring of the Dominican government. While I believe it is important for NGOs to foster better relationships between Dominicans and Haitians, I am researching whether or not they would be more effective at eliminating discrimination and bringing humanitarian aid if they put a much higher priority and focus upon interacting with the government. This research project resonates with my future goal to work with humanitarian NGOs in Latin America to improve human rights conditions and empower marginalized groups. Seeking an answer to a research question is similar to building a jigsaw puzzle. This semester I have spent countless hours reading through books, articles, and NGO reports as I work to collect the “pieces” to my puzzle. 

      Recently, I found an article with potential- perhaps even a central piece to my puzzle! The article accuses American NGOs of perpetuating rights violations in the Dominican Republic by failing to monitor the allocation of money and other resources they have given to the government. While I have yet to find and assemble the rest of the pieces, I am hopeful that the finished product will contribute to the peace building capacity of the local NGOs.