2026 Participants
The Effects of Ethnic Identity Belongingness on Defeatment and Entrapment among Queer Asian Americans
Presenters: Mabel Sum, Briana Sangco-Lee
Faculty advisor: Melissa Hagan
A sense of affirmation and belonging to one’s ethnic identity is a strong protective factor against suicidality and associated risk factors; feelings of defeat and entrapment are particularly salient. However, there is limited research on these constructs in ethnically minoritized young adults with intersecting social identities. Aims: This study evaluated the hypothesis that greater ethnic identity belongingness (EIB) would be associated with lower defeat and entrapment (DE) among Asian American young adults, but that this association might be weakened for those who also identify as queer. Methods: Asian American participants (n = 251; 70% Women; 28% Queer Identifying) completed the Multiethnic Group Identity Measure and the Short Defeat and Entrapment Scale. Results: Greater EIB was associated with lower DE (b = -.325, p = .015), and queer identity was associated with greater DE (b = .42, p = .001), but there was no evidence of moderation. Conclusions & Implications: The findings highlight how a sense of ethnic identity belongingness is effective in reducing the risk of developing feelings of defeat and entrapment regardless of differences in social identities.
Hitting the Pavement: An Exploration of the Complex Relationship Between the Built Environment and Skateboarders in San Francisco
Presenter: Mudi Edelberg
Faculty advisor: Sarah A Bakker
Hitting the Pavement is a paper detailing Mudi Edelberg's ethnographic research on San Francisco's skate scene. Inspired by the recent development of U.N. Plaza and Balboa Skate Park, as well as her relationships with skateboarding community members, Edelberg explores the subtle ways in which the city of San Francisco simultaneously accepts and rejects skateboarding. She conducts multiple interviews with long term resident and skateboarder, Filip (pseudonym), as well as in-depth field studies of San Francisco, which she postulates as a city-wide skateboarding pantheon. Her work is driven by the question: How do skateboarders navigate San Francisco, a city that is simultaneously accepting and rejecting them?
Fatness as a Political Identity: The Intersection of Fat Liberation, Desire/ability Politics, and Anti-Blackness
Presenter: Emma Ruderman
Faculty advisor: Şölen Şanlı Vàsquez
Fatness, often framed as merely a physical characteristic, is a deeply contested and marginalized political identity shaped by intersecting systems of oppression. Fatness illustrates how Desire/ability, when combined with white supremacy and capitalism, devalues individuals, rendering them “othered,” “beastly,” “deviant,” and thus unworthy of care, justice, dignity, and, in extreme cases, life. Desire/ability politics is a framework that ties a person’s value to their perceived desirability, specifically, how closely their body aligns with the dominant standards of beauty, which currently can be identified as thinness, able-bodiedness, and whiteness. In this paper, we explore the historical roots of anti-Fatness, critique modern body positivity, propose Fatness as a deeply political identity, and argue that Fat Liberation must be understood as inseparable from the need for collective action against white supremacy, Desire/ability politics, colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism.
In Our Shoes
Presenter: Faith Fabiani
Faculty advisor: George Turner (Project Rebound)
InOurShoes is a digital platform meant to help bridge the gap between services providers and the very communities they are meant to serve. Through sharing our experiences and perspective of what life on the streets is really like and how we ended up their, I hope to foster empathy followed by logical realistic solutions for the communities I serve, InOurShoes also includes an interactive educational game that lets users “walk through” real‑life scenarios based on the experiences of system‑impacted youth. Players make choices, face consequences, and learn how to navigate institutions, advocate for themselves, and recognize red flags. The game is designed to build critical thinking, confidence, and safety awareness in a way that feels engaging rather than clinical. With sponsorship, InOurShoes hopes to add to the app a live GPS‑powered resource map that shows nearby shelters, food banks, crisis centers, drop‑in programs, and other community supports. Each listing includes peer‑generated reviews that tell the truth about what users will actually experience: real hours of operation, staff attitudes, safety concerns, wait times, eligibility requirements, and whether the service is genuinely youth‑friendly. This transparency helps people make informed decisions and avoid retraumatizing situations.
The impact of the expansion of male contraception on sexual health
Presenter: Maddux Eckerling
Faculty advisor: A. Ikaika Gleisberg
Since birth control was first developed, it has focused on putting the burden of usage on the female partner (using a cisgender heterosexual lens). The vasectomy and condoms are currently the only two birth controls that rely on a man to participate in the burden. New research, and nonprofits like Male Contraception Initiative (MCI) that fund projects like ADAM at Contraline and YCT-529 at Your Choice Therapeutics, are trying to expand the current two options men have for birth control. Using an analysis of current studies and information on contraception in general, and male contraception specifically, I will connect the dots between studies to come to a conclusion about what the expansion of male contraception might mean for society and sexual health more broadly. This essay first looks at the 12 current female-controlled birth controls and explains how these can be challenging for many women to use. I then introduce male contraception, starting with the current two options, and then explore the two new options, ADAM and YCT-529, that are currently in human trials. Once I have gone over the options and explored why scientifically new male-based contraception is super exciting, I will explore what this new advancement in contraception can do for society, being guided by the questions: 1) Will men take birth control? Will women trust them to take it? 2) What will this mean, moving the burden of birth control into males’ hands, for trust in a relationship, and could it have toxic side effects?
Opinions are _______ ?: Considering the Meaning/Purpose of Opinion in Modern Society
Presenter: Maurice Chilton II
Faculty advisor: Sarah Bakker-Kellogg
Humanity’s ability to acknowledge opinions is seen as a significant marker in an individual's development; a sure sign of maturity. The notion, while idealistic and possible, isn’t always the reality. Throughout history and currently, opinions have been the cause of intense strife, polarization, and sources of/for stigmatization; often with fatal results. Recent history illuminates the distance between the lack of responsibility of holding and having an opinion and those associated dangers, only predicted to increase in confusion as more ways to express one’s views stands to increase. What has opinion come to mean in today’s societies? Whose views and what voices were important and why? Who oversaw these designations? Who would be responsible for the potential resulting consequences of those who feel their opinion isn’t? Would these new consequences fit?
Past Participants
2023
SURV(IO)LANCE: A Zine on Surveillance, Violence, and Survival
Faculty advisor/course instructor: Katie Manbachi
Entry #1
SURV(IO)LANCE is a creative textual and visual zine that combines personal anecdotes, open source images, and research to explore and critique surveillance as an extension of the prison industrial complex and its commitment to upholding white supremacy, heteronormativity, and ableism. I explore examples where surveillance influences my life, specifically as it relates to my existence of a queer, nonbinary, disabled student. I also pose questions about resistance and what that looks like when we are surrounded on all sides by surveillance by the state, corporations, and individuals. I wrap up by discussing examples where groups have employed survival tactics against surveillance, and finally highlighting local and national organizations who are doing the work both legally and on the ground.