Student Research

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Senior Capstone Project and Honors Thesis

Design and carry out your own research project focused on your study-abroad country.

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Undergrad Research Journal and Conference

Publish your work in an academic journal. Present your research and share ideas with other students.

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Student–Faculty Research

Get hands-on experience with faculty led research projects: locally or abroad.

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Senior Capstone & Honors Thesis

As an International Studies major, you will learn to design and carry out your own research focused on your study-abroad country. If you enroll in the International Studies honors program at SU, you will have an additional quarter to develop your research, and the opportunity to present your research at an academic conference and work towards publishing your research in an academic journal.

Previous capstone and honors projects have explored women’s rights in France, educational access in Seattle for adult refugees from Africa, social media and activism in Chilean social uprisings, among many other topics.

Interested in learning more about the type of work that INST Honors students do? You can download their Honors theses from the library website.

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Undergrad Journal & Conference

Every spring quarter, Seattle University holds the SU Undergraduate Research Association Conference (SUURA)Journal Covers for SUURJ-SUURAAs an International Studies major you have the opportunity to present your research and share ideas with other students across campus. In addition, you can submit your research for publication in the Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal (SUURJ). See the list of International Studies majors who have published in SUURJ.

Graduation Year Name Article Name and Link
2020 Colleen Cronnelly At Home in King County: Educational access in King County for Adult Somali Refugees.
2020 Monica McKeown Entry Point for assessing Sustainability in Ecotourism: Insights from Costa Rica
2019 Austin Nelson The Rise of Neo-Nationalism and the Front National in France.
2019 Isabeau J. Belisle Dempsey Framing the Center: Belize and Panamá Within the Central American Imagined Community.
2018 Genevieve Jesse The French Intervention in the 2012 Malian Conflict: Neocolonialism Disguised as Counterterrorism.
2018 Anne-Celine Jeffroy-Meynard  Obesity, Food Swamps, and the Youth of Guatemala City.
2017 Laura M. Bogart Trends of Migration and their Effects on Youth in Nicaragua
2016 Emily Kawahigashi Mega-Development Projects in Chile and Nicaragua: Social Costs and the Future of Indigenous and Human Rights
2016 Cilia J. Jurdy Failures of US Foreign Aid: Jordan and its Unique History of Refugee Absorption

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Student–Faculty Research


Professor Audrey Hudgins, with students Hallie Evans and Craig Verniest, collaborated with Fundación Esperanza de Mexico (FEM) on a Community-based Participatory Action Research (CBPR) project in the 2020-2021 academic year. Published this month, the report, titled “A Study on Empowerment in the Fondos de Ahorro para Vivienda (FAV) of Fundación Esperanza de México (FEM),” contributes to organizational understanding of the role empowerment plays in their work of community development across the colonias in Tijuana, Mexico.

Audrey Hudgins Hallie Evans

The project was funded by a College of Arts & Sciences Student Assistantship. This assistantship also supported the development of a resources list for the organization which will enable connections to US-based organizations that have the capacity to support its work, which has suffered significant setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. 


Nova Robinson (INST/HIST) is the co-editor with Bonnie G. Smith of the Routledge Global History of Feminism. This forty-essay anthology, which is under contract with Routledge, is the first volume to compile articles from leading experts on feminism as an idea, a practice of everyday life, and a political undertaking across the globe. In creating the index of the book, my student research assistant will have a hand in shaping the reader’s experience with the text. A good index can enhance a reader’s experience, especially of an edited collection. Conversely, a bad index can impede a reader’s access to information. Indexing this volume will give my student research assistant a front-row seat to how the academic publishing world works. The student selected for this research assistantship will walk away from the project with increased professional formation on several fronts, but especially project management and teamwork/collaboration.


Serena Cosgrove in GuatemalaPhoto credit: Serena Cosgrove, INST

Serena Cosgrove (INST) travels regularly to Guatemala with SU students to carry out research with Dr. Ana Marina Tzul and students from the Universidad Rafael Landívar about women’s leadership to end gender-based violence.  This picture was taken in Santa María Chiquimula, a small town in the highlands of Guatemala.

 


Felipe Murtinho (INST and IPS) and Tanya Hayes (EVST and IPS) traveled with four Seattle University students to the Andes of Ecuador. As part of an NSF-funded research project, students learned about the livelihood needs in the context of climate change, and critically assess programs that aim to conserve the environment by combating poverty and supporting community development. In Ecuador, the students worked with Murtinho and Hayes to conduct community-driven workshops on climate change, land-use, and ecotourism.

Dr. Hayes and students

Photo credit: Felipe Murtinho, INST

Alumni Stories

"I learned to respectfully relate with people from other cultures, while adapting to their social norms." Ruth Yohannes '19

Contact Us

Felipe Murtinho, PhD
Director
Casey 310-18
206.296.2088
murtinhf@seattleu.edu

Reine Mages
Administrative Coordinator
Casey 310
206.296.2487
magesr@seattleu.edu
 


Student Executive Council (SEC) Representative
INST-SEC@seattleu.edu