The Brackenridge fellowship strives to help undergraduate students familiarize themselves with student-led research, scholarship, and creative methodology. What I have found to be the most crucial aspect across my journey so far into this program is the inclusiveity of disciplines. My preconceived association with scholarly research and STEM significantly guided how I have pursued my past academic pursuits. It stunted my ambition at times due to the black-and-white thinking not only I often carried but others projected as well. Yet my various discussions with the other recipients has largely shifted my perspective. Their inclusion and emphasis of important issues that have not historically been the interest of academics or researchers, with many relating to the long-held exclusion of racially, sexually, and economically-disadvantaged folk, has completely dismantled my previously narrow perspective. It is especially affirming for me, as my own project revolves around such similarly avoided topics within the institution.

I hope to learn more about the amazing and intricately layered depths of other disciplines of study from my fellow recipients this summer! Upon reflection of the interactions I have already had with them through cohort activities, I am overjoyed to see the immense value put into diversifying research. The most thought-provoking, inspiring projects are led by my peers in fields across all realms of education, ranging from topics like socio-economic opportunity in urban regions to archival analysis of eighteenth century text. To be a part of this team of young researchers is truly an honor, and I look forward to not only advancing further with my project but with everyone as a collective.

Some similarities I see between my work and other student projects include this acknowledgement of hardships that continue to plague our society, like the marginalization of particular groups. Our research, no matter how deeply we go back in time, all ties to the contemporary issues at hand. My project may focus on the work of Black revolutionaries during the 1960s to 1970s, but the same art created then is being reproduced now for identical issues in response to brutality and supremacy. We see the advancement and sometimes worsening the problems we are researching, which makes our work so much more pressing and important!

Differences I see between my work and others lie in the large range of fields we derive from. Art history, neuroscience, archival studies, and healthcare are merely a few of the realms that recipients study. And that is only covering the distinct education that make us who we are as researchers, while our individual experiences and beliefs largely create the rest. However, I do not see this as a drawback. Part of why we were chosen as honorable candidates is for how drastically different our approaches and topics are, and how much of a great fit we are as a collective for this interdisciplinary fellowship. In our cohorts, we learn from one another and expand our perspective of what research truly is.

A particular project that peaked my interest involves the analysis of how the division of labor between plant species is significantly altered by climate change. It is a topic that is thought-provoking for its discussion of an issue that is widely contested yet so pressing for its prevalent effects on the world we all live in. The project is, within itself, an act of protest in the face of such debate. In this aspect, it connects to the idea of community and response that resonates so intimately to my own project. This is the most important benefit of working alongside people from vastly different disciplines – there is always common ground. What I have found is that this commonality lies in community and response to the ways in which systems affect us as a society. Some obstacles to this, of course, come from how different our backgrounds are from one another. Our methodologies of conducting research and personal attitudes will always play into how each of us prevail our work, and I am looking forward to seeing the final products of our research at the end of our shared journey!