Grand Prize: Upper Division, Thesis
Gabrielle Lundquist
Advisor: Kyle Haddad-Fonda
The Exclusivity of Trauma: Psychiatric Care of Colonial Soldiers in the French Empire, 1914–1945
I argue that during the period of 1914-1945, the French government worked with its imperial medical establishment to establish a biological social hierarchy that continuously supported colonialism, particularly for North and West Africans. To do this, I synthesized governmental documents and concurrent medical journals while focusing upon the work of one particular psychologist named Dr. Antoine Porot. In Porot’s ideological framework, North and West Africans were biologically incapable of formulating genuine trauma responses like their European compatriots and instead could only simulate mental illness. By doing this, Porot was able to encourage Africans’ immediate reincorporation into the French Army, emphasizing the interconnected relationship between the imperial government and the medical field. The French government helped support these various systems of oppression in response to the changing social environment and with the goal of continuing imperial subjugation.
Jacob Krell
Advisors: James Gregory & Charity Urbanski
Through Different Eyes: Alexander M. Wade and the Deaf Experience
Alexander Milton Wade (1872–1912), a deaf working-class man from western Washington, kept a daily diary for nearly twenty years. The entries (sometimes written in cipher) offer firsthand accounts of a range of subjects, from working conditions in the lumber mills to sexual abuse at the state school for the deaf. My thesis uses this unique and previously unexplored source to draw broader conclusions about three aspects of Wade’s world: deaf education, labor, and the social networks that deaf Americans formed. Building on recent work by several scholars, I seek to fill a frequently noted gap in the field of deaf history, which has often prioritized institutions, macro-level factors, and elite experiences over the “ordinary lives” of everyday deaf individuals. I also draw on scholarship from Pacific Northwest history and labor history.
Zoe Stylianides
Advisor: Scott Lemieux
Rehabilitation or Retribution? A Comparative Study of Juvenile Justice in the United States, Italy, and Sweden
This thesis, Rehabilitation or Retribution? A Comparative Study of Juvenile Justice in the United States, Italy, and Sweden, examines how different liberal democracies approach juvenile justice, focusing on whether systems prioritize rehabilitation or punishment. Through case studies and interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals and criminal justice professionals, the research compares the punitive American model to Italy’s welfare-based system and Sweden’s justice-oriented framework. Special attention is given to the use of transfer laws, solitary confinement, and privacy protections, with analysis grounded in international standards like the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The findings show that Italy and Sweden emphasize rehabilitation, social reintegration, and the developmental needs of youth, while the United States maintains harsher punitive measures, often failing to protect juveniles’ rights. The thesis argues for reforms in the U.S., advocating for a shift toward rehabilitation, the elimination of solitary confinement, and stronger privacy protections for young offenders.
Grand Prize: Upper Division, Non-Thesis
Arshia Batra
Advisor: Shelby House
Becoming-inanimate, Becoming-human, Becoming-animal: The Objectification and (de)Familiarization of Captive Animals in Photography
To explore how photographic archives “animalize” or “humanize” captive animals, I analyze the compositional and technical choices of several photographers and a taxidermist. I interrogate animal/animalized and human/humanized conflations by reconceptualizing “animalization” as objectification—that we are not afraid of being animal, but occupying their attached social position—and “humanization” as the reverse. Typically, animals are problematically humanized through anthropomorphism (familiarization), which is why I propose what I call “humanization through defamiliarization”; drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of “becoming-animal,” this entails a direct addressal of the animal that bypasses its appropriation for aesthetic or symbolic means. Inspired by photographer Britta Jaschinski, I present my own photography of “becoming-animal” created of animals from the Woodland Park Zoo. Finally, I discuss the politics of looking at captive animals, and decenter the very medium of sight to perhaps make space for the multisensorial encounters our bodies (human and other-than-human) are capable of.
Emily Huynh
Advisor: Annie Dwyer
Proximity to Porcine, Closeness to Canine: US Federal Animal Welfare Laws Examined
Industrial animals often endure conditions unimaginable for pets, yet U.S. federal welfare laws treat them differently based on proximity to humans. This study examines disparities between legal protections for companion dogs and commercial pigs, focusing on housing, transportation, and healthcare standards. Through analysis of federal statutes and case law, supplemented by interviews with animal-law experts, I identify how anthropocentric categories of “companion” versus “industrial” privilege certain species. The research highlights ethical and legal gaps in current legislation and proposes policy reforms to challenge these biases and advance equitable welfare protections. Though centered on dogs and pigs, the findings provide a framework for reforming laws governing other animal categories, such as those in laboratories and zoos.
Riley Hull
Advisor: Jennifer Dubrow
Scribes and Spatiality: A Comparative Study of Colophons in Gandhāran Buddhist and Arabic Manuscripts
This paper comparatively analyzes colophons found in Gandhāran Buddhist and Arabic manuscripts as a way of examining written traditions from two distinct South Asian cultures. Known broadly as publication statements, colophon symbols have been primarily studied in a Western context, despite their prevalence in South Asian manuscripts dating back to the third millennium BCE. As the oldest extant South Asian manuscripts known today, Gandhāran Buddhist birch-bark scrolls date back to at least the 1st century BCE and prioritize religious allusions. In contrast, Arabic manuscripts have much more variance in terms of time and location of creation, and as such contain colophons that are incredibly diverse in both content and form. Through a syntactical analysis of the content and form of various colophons found in Gandhāran Buddhist and Arabic manuscripts, a more thorough understanding of South Asian manuscript culture and the diverse place of the scribe is developed.
Grand Prize: Lower Division
Madeline Tsai
Advisor: James Lin
A Diplomatic Speech: Politics Under the Table
In this paper I examine the underlying motives and impact of a speech by UN Ambassador Liu Chieh in early July 1971. As a Republic of China diplomat, his words were impactful in the months leading up to the passing of Resolution 2758 in October 1971, which expelled the representatives of Taiwan and restored the UN seat to the government of the People’s Republic of China. The speech aims to persuade the UN to continue recognition of the ROC rather than the PRC by arguing that the PRC’s values and actions do not align with the UN. Yet, using newly available government archives, I uncover the ongoing political moves happening under the table, presenting the true strategy of the ROC.
Micaela Jackson
Advisor: Megan Callow
Nourishing the Future: Addressing Health, Sustainability, and Human Rights through Food Justice
This introduction takes a multifaceted approach regarding the issue of food justice through the lens of public health, environmental sustainability, and human rights. It highlights the disparities faced by marginalized communities living in food swamps, the environmental degradation caused by unsustainable agricultural practices, and the systemic barriers that Indigenous communities and farmworkers face in trying to reclaim food sovereignty and secure fair wages and safe working conditions. The narrative of food justice connects these scenes through vivid examples – from urban farms to food-insecure workers – all of which reveal the structural inequalities embedded within our food system. Grounded in a holistic definition of food justice, this introduction calls for a systemic change that ensures equitable access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods for all, sustainable agricultural practices, and a promise of safety to those who grow the food on our tables.
Salena Rodriguez
Advisor: Megan Callow
Eating like Kings is not how it used to be: How the availability of nutrient-dense foods have impacted restaurant prices
Throughout this paper, I explain how the decreased availability of nutrient-dense foods are leading restaurants to increase their prices. Due to the public choosing more convenient options, producers are straying away from growing nutritious foods. The decrease in demand for said foods results in higher food prices for those you want them. With the higher quality foods becoming more expensive, restaurants must reevaluate their own management strategies in order to combat these rising prices while also keeping their customers satisfied. There are ways to reduce this event from impacting consumers, like cutting back portion sizes, reducing food waste, and/or switching suppliers to meet their budgets, however sometimes it is out of a person’s control.
Suzette Alancheril
Advisor: Megan Callow
The Impact of Soil Contamination in Urban Gardens on Nutritional Quality of Food and the Communities that Use Them
This paper discusses the impact of soil contaminants in urban gardens and their effect on the nutritional quality of crops and on the communities that rely on these gardens. The essay looks at types of soil contaminants, contaminant impact on nutritional quality of crops and human health, socio-economic impacts on low-income communities, and remediation and mitigation techniques.
Honorable Mention: Upper Division, Thesis
Caroline Hale
Advisor: Sasha Johfre
The Role of Social Essentialism on Motivating Transgender Double Consciousness
Essentialist beliefs conceptualize being transgender as an inherent aspect of an individual, whereas other perspectives emphasize social construction and fluidity of gender identity. These contrasting beliefs about gender identity are meaningful, as they shape the attitudes and behaviors among and towards trans individuals. I conduct 12 semi-structured interviews with students enrolled at a public university on the West Coast who identify as transgender and/or non-binary, analyzing how specific assumptions, expectations, and worldview perspectives impact experiences and identity formation through a double consciousness framework (Du Bois 1903). Double consciousness is an instinctive social awareness to uphold two identities, one that is “true” to oneself, and one that is constructed to conform to societal expectations in an act of self-protection (ibid). My data support that assumptions about transgender individuals motivate trans people to uphold a double consciousness to anticipate how cis people will react to their identities under the cis gaze.
Kirin Yadav
Advisor: Purnima Dhavan
The Sultan and the Empress: How Perceptions of Gender in 1960s Contemporary Films Shaped the Historical Memories of Nur Jahan and Mahmud of Ghazni
An analysis of how perceptions of gender in 1960s Pakistani and Indian films affected the legacies of 16th-century Empress Nur Jahan and 10th-century Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Discussing how these two polarizing figures, remembered very differently throughout time, are reworked completely in the 1960s, specifically for the purpose of new national identities being created in both Pakistan and India. This work focuses on how the examples of these two figures and the ways in which their historical legacies are changed showcase how visual media can be manipulated for nation-making in a post-colonial context.
Honorable Mention: Upper Division, Non-Thesis
Fal Efrem Iyoab
Advisor: Jasmine Mahmoud
Familiar Strangers: Black Artists Haptic and Embodied (Re)turn to Family Photos
The title of this project references Stuart Hall’s memoir, Familiar Strangers and encapsulates the experience many artists have when portraying family members they have never met but feel like they know through photographs. Drawing from Tina Campt’s definition of the haptic, how viewers touch or are touched by family photos, this research and curatorial project investigates how Black artists activate family photos to express their relationship to family, diaspora, memory, and history. I identify common themes among individual artists’ approaches to family archives through artist statements, academic articles, and arts writing pieces. The featured 19 artists span the African diaspora, and Safia Elhillo’s home is not a country serves as a framework to situate the varied socio-political contexts of their work. By putting these artists in conversation with one another, this work aims to guide future exhibitions and expand the conversation of family photography in Black visual culture.
Terisa Schooley
Advisor: Rebakah Daro Minarchek
From Sea to Supper: The Hidden Microplastics In Our Food
Every meal from the ocean—whether shrimp, tuna, or sushi—now comes with an invisible ingredient: microplastics. These tiny plastic particles, shed from packaging, clothing, and industrial waste, drift into the sea, where fish like lanternfish mistake them for food. As a key link in the seafood web, lanternfish pass these plastics to larger fish—and ultimately, to us.
Microplastics don’t just stay in the water. They carry harmful chemicals and move through the food chain, reaching our plates and our bodies. Scientists warn of health risks like hormone disruption and inflammation (Emenike et al., 2022). This Story Map follows the journey of microplastics from lanternfish to humans, revealing the hidden risks in our food and the urgent need for action.
Population Health Award Winners ($250)
John Wang
Advisor: Fiona Spencer
Cryogenic Vortex Transport
This work characterized the effect of vortex generator implementation in liquid nitrogen flow aerospace applications to enhance heat transfer rate. The stream-wise vortices in a flowing fluid produced by these generators can disrupt the insulating vapor layer in the annular film-boiling regime to improve liquid-wall contact and promote multiphase flow mixing. Our research focused on using vortex generators to achieve dynamic pressure and turbulence flow mixing for effective vapor layer disruption. We performed the study on three different angles of attack to the flow direction and analyzed the temperature difference measured by the thermocouples placed before and after the test section. Controlled runs without VG installation were compared with VGs implementation runs by studying the convective heat transfer coefficient rate. We observed the reduction in chill-down times and drastically changing temperatures using VGs. This study contributes to the advancement of more efficient cryogenic fuel systems for aerospace applications.
Zanqi Liang
Advisor: Siddhartha Srinivasa
Toward Performant and Robust Autonomous Race Car Navigation
This project focuses on developing a vision-based navigation system for an autonomous racecar operating in dynamic environments. The primary objective is to enable the racecar to perceive its surroundings, adapt to real-time changes, and accurately reach a series of marked goal positions. Leveraging advanced instance segmentation techniques and foundational models such as the Segment Anything Model (SAM), the system identifies and localizes objects within cluttered and unpredictable scenes. These perception outputs are integrated into a motion planning framework that allows the vehicle to avoid obstacles and navigate efficiently. The project combines computer vision, robotics, and machine learning, emphasizing real-time performance, adaptability, and robustness. Extensive research was conducted using academic resources provided by the UW Libraries, including access to recent publications, datasets, and software tools. This work contributes to the growing field of autonomous systems by demonstrating how cutting-edge perception models can be adapted for high-speed, task-driven navigation.
Sofia Sumon
Advisor: Tommy R Wood
Inducing a Valsalva-like Response as a Neuroprotective Strategy in Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from a blow to the skull that causes shearing forces in the brain. Elevating intracranial pressure (ICP) at the moment of impact may protect the brain from TBI by stiffening the brain tissue and decreasing shearing. When they expect an impact, humans naturally brace and perform a Valsalva maneuver (exhaling against a closed airway), which momentarily elevates ICP. In a ferret TBI model, we conducted abdominal compression using a blood pressure cuff to induce a Valsalva-like response (VLR) and determine whether VLR resulted in neuroprotection. The ferret model was chosen for its gyrified brain structure and white to grey matter ratio that closely resembles the human. TBI was induced using a CHIMERA (Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration) device, which is designed to deliver high-energy, controlled skull impacts. A total of 36 adult ferrets of both sexes were randomized into three groups: (1) a sham control group exposed to isoflurane with a cuff but no compression, (2) a TBI group with a cuff but no compression, and (3) a TBI group with a cuff and abdominal compression. Baseline behavioral assessments were conducted one week prior to injury. Post-injury behavioral testing, using the same assessments, was performed at 24–48 hours and 8 days post-TBI to evaluate functional outcomes. On day 8, brain tissue was collected and assessed for neuropathological outcomes. We hypothesize that abdominal compression will mitigate deleterious TBI outcomes. If these findings are supported, this intervention could improve the lives of those at risk of TBI and contribute to ongoing research in the field.
Ran (Richer) Zhao
Advisor: Jeffrey A. Riffell
How ingestion of histamine and pyrilamine, affects the neurochemical composition of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes
Malaria remains a major global health challenge, and understanding the biology of mosquito vectors is key to disrupting its transmission. My project investigates how ingestion of histamine and pyrilamine affects the neurochemical composition of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. Using LC-MS, we quantified changes in neurochemicals across mosquito tissues and examined whether pyrilamine, an antihistamine, could modulate these effects. Preliminary results reveal that histamine ingestion alters neurotransmitter levels and that pyrilamine can counteract some of these changes. These findings suggest that mosquito behavior and parasite transmission potential may be influenced by small molecules encountered during blood feeding. This work lays the groundwork for novel, behavior-based intervention strategies using targeted chemical cues to reduce malaria risk.