Recent Undergraduate Research Projects in the Social Sciences

Elizabeth Baker, 2002: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
"Trade and Trade Systems as Evidenced in the Archaeology of Cerro La Cruz, Peru"

In the summer of 2001, College senior Liz Baker accompanied a team of archaeologists (and fellow College Research Grant recipient Patrick Brett) and cultural anthropologists from Penn to Cerro La Cruz, Peru, for a six-week excavation expedition. Located in the Chao Valley, the site of Cerro La Cruz lies along an important prehistoric trade route between the Peruvian highlands and the coastal region. Liz's research focused on the environmental influences which affected trading patterns during the Bronze Age. Her goal in participating in first-hand excavational research was to observe directly how trade customs are displayed in the archaeological record. For example, the repeated appearance of spondylus shells and other marine artifacts so far inland demonstrates that Bronze Age Peruvian highlanders maintained a reliable trade network with their coastal neighbors. Furthermore, animal remains uncovered during excavation provide clues to the role that the domestication of animals played in the movement of goods. Finally, in addition to revealing the geographic distribution of prehistoric trading patterns, artifacts in the archaeological record can help demystify the social structure of the time period.

Liz's project at Cerro La Cruz gave her a chance to apply knowledge acquired in the classroom in an authentic field research environment. The hands-on experience solidified her understanding of the convergence of theory and practice in archaeology. Her summer research experience paved the way for more advanced research in the form of her senior thesis, a critical analysis of the nature of commerce in antiquity.

Wharton senior Patrick Brett, like Elizabeth Baker, also accompanied the University's archaeology team on their summer 2001 expedition to Cerro La Cruz, Peru. Patrick's project examined the physical and chemical structure of adobe homes in this Andean mountain village, first occupied in 900 A.D.

Because the early Andean peoples lacked a written language, their lifestyle, social organization, and political structure must be inferred from the physical evidence they left behind. Studies of the adobe building style, symbolic markings in the clay, and chemical analyses of the bricks themselves provide a holistic picture of organized, stratified community which produced the houses over one thousand years ago. Patrick participated in a study of adobe structures that had been exposed by a previous excavation; chemical analysis of the bricks was carried out with the cooperation of nearby Universidad Nacional de Trujillo. Upon returning from the seven-week on-site investigation, Patrick analyzed the data collected and synthesized his results in a senior thesis.

Erica Fruiterman, 2001: English, History
"Printing, Binding, and Marginalia: A History of George Herbert's The Temple in the Seventeenth Century"

When English and History major Erica Fruiterman first conceived of the project that would become her senior thesis, she envisioned a massive undertaking on "the history of Renaissance reading." Due to the size and scope of the project, Erica's advisor, English professor Peter Stallybrass, was initially skeptical. Erica persisted with her idea, and honed the proposal into a feasible project without sacrificing the ambitious range of her original objective. Dr. Stallybrass has since likened her work to that of his very best graduate students. Erica's other advisor, History professor Ann Moyer, led the workshop in which Erica synthesized her research into a History Honors Thesis.

Erica's paper, "Printing, Binding, and Marginalia: A History of George Herbert's The Temple in the Seventeenth Century," used Herbert's famous work of poetry as the test case for an analysis of how the editing and publishing process of the time period affected the culture of reading in the 1600s. Herbert's book was published posthumously in 1633, a time when, prior to the mass production and commercialization of literature, the acts of editing and reading were still regarded as fundamental aspects of the production of meaning in a manuscript.

The Nassau Grant enabled Erica to travel to national libraries in England and Wales in order to examine original copies of The Temple and related documents. The library at Cambridge University houses four copies of the text with marginalia -- the original notes, suggestions and observations written by seventeenth-century readers and editors of the original work. Erica used these notes to formulate an impression of how a reader's method of reading, and his physical relationship to the manuscript, empowered him to create his own experience of the text.

Using The Temple as a focal point from which to explore basic changes in the history of reading, Erica's project integrated the larger religious, cultural, and textual backgrounds that influenced the literary culture of the seventeenth century.

Laura Geller, 2002: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
"Nostalgia and the Resurgence of 'Model' Plays in Contemporary China"

Laura Geller is a senior Asian and Middle Eastern Studies major, with a concentration in Chinese and a minor in World History. In the summer of 2001, she put her language skills to work, conducting cultural research during a sojourn in China. Laura's project, "Nostalgia and the Resurgence of 'Model' Plays in Contemporary China," explored the history and current revival of the "model" play -- a political art that presents the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in operatic form.

Once considered an extreme form of Communist propaganda, the model plays have re-emerged -- as have Mao badges, buttons and other memorabilia -- as more benign emblems of nostalgia for Maoist China. As part of her research, Laura attended numerous stagings of modern model plays, as well as traditional performances by the Beijing Opera. She also completed a Mandarin language immersion program in Beijing, which facilitated her ethnographic research. At the conclusion of each performance, Laura interviewed the performers, producers, and members of the audience. Supplementing her interviews with photographs, programs from the performance, and materials collected from museums and foundations, Laura presented a view of life in contemporary China that synthesizes art, literature, history, and philosophy.

Ana Maria Gomez Lopez, 2003: Anthropology, Philosophy
"'Ser Macizeno': The Role of Cultural Discourse in a Colombian Social Movement"

After completing the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship Program, a two-month summer academic program at Penn, College junior Ana Maria Gomez Lopez spent the remainder of the summer of 2001 working on her independent research project, "'Ser Macizeno: the Role of Cultural Discourse in a Colombian Social Movement." Ana MarÌa conducted an ethnographic field study of the Macizo movement, a socio-political solidarity organization. The Macizo achieved international recognition in November of 1999, when they staged a 25-day blockade of the Pan-American Highway in the Colombian region of Cauca. The protest, which demanded that the government sponsor social development programs for human rights and issues of ecology, health, and welfare, was the largest in Colombia in over a decade. Of particular interest to Ana Maria's research, members of the Macizo movement identify their organization as a culture unto itself, instilling a strong sense of community in all those who participate in the struggle for social change.

After gathering extensive background information in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and the libraries of several universities in Colombia, Ana Maria constructed the history of the Macizo movement from contemporary newspapers, journalistic publications, political handouts, and public petitions. She then settled in Popoyan, the capital of the Cauca region, to conduct interviews with community leaders, social activists, and other participants in the Macizo movement. Ana Maria concluded that the identification of the macicenos as members of a distinct culture has been critical to the success of the movement. The Macizo organization unites a variety of social figures in the common goal of representation and agency in Colombian politics.

Sam Hui, 2002: Applied Science in Computer Science
"Internet Advisory Environment for Emerging Chinese Enterprises"

Sam, a student in the Management & Technology program, saw a problem he wanted to address with his research. The Chinese economy, which is undergoing significant changes due to government deregulation, the removal of trade barriers, and the reintroduction of capitalism, suffers from a lack of technological and managerial expertise.Sam's project was to design an Internet-based system to offer Chinese companies solutions and information about the market and technology. This work was part of a Wharton School initiative that provided access for struggling entrepreneurs in China to the Wharton Entreprenurial Program.

Eric Lomazoff, 2001: Political Science
"Analyzing the Politics of Student Governance at the University of Pennsylvania"

Using the methods and analytical tools of political science, Eric began an analysis of student participation in the governance of a complex educational institution: the University of Pennsylvania. He focused in particular on the Undergraduate Assembly (UA), the formally recognized undergraduate "student government" at Penn. Eric analyzed the UA not as a "government" per se, but rather, as an on-campus interest group that attempts to influence high-level decision-makers at the university. He attempted to analyze the current structure and function of the UA, aiming to determine if the institution is operating as effectively as possible. The purposes of the project were a) to apply the methods and tools of political science to a real-world (and extremely localized) political environment, and b) to provide the UA with an outsider's perspective on its own operation, along with respectful suggestions on ways to improve the influence of the UA on Penn's campus.

Lindsey Mathews, 2002: PPE, History
"Evaluating Whether the Way That the Mature Global Economy Interacts WIth Emerging Economies is Appropriate"

History and PPE major Lindsey Mathews traveled to the Philippines in the summer after her junior year to conduct field research for her paper, "Evaluating Whether the Way That the Mature Global Economy Interacts With Emerging Economies is Appropriate." Prior to her departure, Lindsey prepared herself by working arduously to craft a coherent and manageable research proposal. Working with feedback from her advisor, Legal Studies Associate Professor Philip Nichols, Lindsey refined her line of inquiry to focus on one country and one level of interaction. She also developed a research methodology that drew from sociology, history, economics, and in particular the work of Robert Putnam, author of the book "Making Democracy Work."

Adding insights from her own historical and empirical research, Lindsey applied Putnam's methodology -- which he presented in his study of social capital and the success of democracy in modern-day Italy -- to her study of the Philippines. A part of the "Asian Miracle" in the early 1990s, the Philippines have been affected economically and socially by their emergence into the global economy. After an initial period of rapid growth, the country's economy was undermined by the currency crisis that swept Asia in the late 1990s. As the Philippines and other nations struggled to recover from the crisis, their difficulties exposed flaws in the global infrastructure.

Lindsey's project examined the way that the mature global economy interacts with emerging economies, to determine whether the global institutions are compatible with the existing social capital and fabric of countries such as the Philippines. She spent a month and a half conducting fieldwork, in the form of written surveys administered to contacts at the Asian Development Bank, personal interviews, and general cultural immersion. Lindsey's work in the Philippines gave her invaluable cultural insight and perspective, as well as important practice in the craft of taking a research proposal from the realm of theory into the field.

Emily A. Mok, 2004: Individualized Major: Applied Science
"Game Theory Modeling and the Study of Deception in Negotiations"

In a two-phased research project, Emily studied the effects of induced emotional affects in business negotiations. During the fall semester, she focused on the application of game theory in the analysis of the decision to utilize deception in negotiation. After extensive research on various economic game theory models, she found that the Ultimatum Game was the perfect framework for the analysis of bargaining situations. The Ultimatum Game was used to analyze the behavior of subjects (undergraduate and MBAs at the Wharton School) who underwent an induced positive affect. After a thorough investigation of past significant research in the field of induced emotional affects and a statistical analysis of experimental data from the research project, there seemed to be strong link between induced emotional affects and different levels of risk-taking behavior. Initial experimental results from Emily's study show that different forms of emotional affects result in certain levels of risk-taking behavior, which as a result would trigger the decision to use deception in a negotiation situation. In the second phase of Emily's research, she will be continuing her investigation of induced emotional affect and studying different frameworks to analyze these staged bargaining situations. She will also be conducting research on other possible links that cause deception in negotiations after an induced emotional affect.

Suzanna Urminska, 2001: Anthropology
"The Photography of Louis Shotridge"

The Nassau Grant funded Suzanna Urminska's two-week trip to Alaska, where she conducted a firsthand ethnographic study of the Tlingit Indians.

The Tlingit Indians inhabit Southeast Alaska. In the early twentieth century, their culture was chronicled extensively by eminent anthropologist Franz Boas. However, it was Louis Shotridge, himself a member of the Tlingit tribe, who produced the most comprehensive and compelling photographic record of the ethnic group. From 1912 to 1932, Shotridge worked for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, which now houses over one hundred of his photographs documenting early-twentieth-century Tlingit life. Unfortunately, the archived photographs are identified only by their region and the year they were taken.

Suzanna traveled to Alaska in the hopes of identifying the subjects in the photographs. She met with native Tlingit informants recommended to her by University Museum curator Judith Berman, who previously worked with the Tlingits to identify several of Shotridge's photographs. Drawing on their recollections and family photo albums, Suzanna worked with living members of the Tlingit tribe to reconstruct the history of their ancestors in visual images.

Suzanna's work contributred to an exhibit at the University Museum, and was preserved along with Shotridge's photographs in the Museum Archives for future generations of natives and scholars.

Eileen Weinstein, 2002: Anthropology
"Patronage Patterns from the Revolution to the Empire as a Reflection of the Relationship of Time, Place, and Art"

Eileen, a senior anthropology major, traveled to France with her College Research Grant. She studied the re-creation of time as an aftereffect of the French Revolution. The leaders of the revolution declared a new Jacobin calendar, repudiating the Christian Gregorian calendar. Eileen examined this event in the context of the establishment of the new power regime in France. Specifically, she looked at patronage of the arts during the time of the revolution and used that as a barometer of power and allegiance to the leadership. She found that the painter David was the only major artistic figure who thrived in both the pre-revolution and post-revolution eras.

Eileen took an integrated view of the French revolution, combining Art History, Anthropology, and French literature to create her perspective on this period. She began in American libraries, compiling a literature review of relevant books and articles on the topic. She then flew to Paris, where she searched the National Archives to see who commissioned paintings in the late 18th century. Following that, she reviewed the archives of the prominent French newspaper from the time in an attempt to learn about the pressís treatment of art. She concluded her study by a first-hand examination of the art of David and other painters of the time at the Louvre.