Pardee Center Celebrates 2024 Graduate Summer Fellows
On October 8, the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, a Center of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, hosted its annual fall reception, where the 2024 Graduate Summer Fellows presented the outcomes of their 10-week summer research projects.
The Pardee Center’s Graduate Summer Fellows program provides an opportunity for BU graduate students across disciplines to engage in future-oriented, interdisciplinary research. This year’s cohort of eight Fellows represented seven different academic departments, tackling a wide range of topics with implications for long-term human development.
“One of the highlights of the fellowship for me was the insightful conversations with other fellows,” said Si Wu, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science. “It was fascinating to learn about the cutting-edge research happening across various disciplines like philosophy, art history, emerging media studies, literature, and more. It was eye-opening to see the parallels between these fields and how they can inspire and inform research in political science.”
Si’s research examined the long-term economic and political consequences of the end of China’s one-child policy.
“My broad research interests aim to connect Arctic security to global geopolitics. I want to understand how actors pursue their interests in our complex world through international organizations,” said Jonathan R. Martin, a Ph.D. student in Political Science. “The interdisciplinary approach of the fellowship was particularly useful because there is a tension in Western and Indigenous worldviews that is like the tension in philosophical approaches scholars engaged in interdisciplinary work must deal with.”
“My research explored college students’ longitudinal trustworthiness of generative AI tools across different educational contexts,” said Dongpeng Huang, a Ph.D. student in Emerging Media Studies. “I was interested in the summer research fellowship at the Pardee Center because of its strong focus on interdisciplinary research.”
Ph.D. student in Philosophy Pol Pardini Gispert challenged the common assumption that disinformation only involves spreading false information. “In my paper, I argue through a case study that the common assumption that malign actors only disinform by spreading false or decontextualized information is misguided,” said Pardini Gispert.
The other 2024 Graduate Summer Fellows and their research topics included:
- Tijana Cupic (Hispanic Language & Literatures): Exploring the potential of storytelling in shaping immigration policies
- Edima Ottoho (School of Public Health): Exploring the underrepresentation of women in global health leadership
- Bright O. Olunusi (Earth & Environment): Exploring human-bear interactions in Massachusetts
- Ana María Sanchez Lesmes (History of Art & Architecture): Considering the role of museums in fostering societal healing
“What excites me most about my research so far is the fresh perspectives I have gained through rich interactions with other fellows, scholars, and Directors at the Pardee Center that broadened and enhanced the quality of my work,” said Ottoho.
More information about the program can be found here.