II students, faculty, and staff gathered in room 555 of Weiser Hall on Wednesday, April 8 to meet with MIRS students and engage with their compelling and innovative work. Five students were selected to make a presentation on their research or experiential learning, including but not limited to internships, intensive language programs, or practicum.
The MIRS program combines an interdisciplinary curriculum, deep regional/thematic expertise, rigorous methodological training, and international experiences to help students approach world issues in the context of culture, history, geography, politics, sociology, and economics. The cohort is currently made up of 52 students across eight specializations.
Student Presenters:
Marion Awino
African Studies
Second Year
Presentation Title: How Language Barriers Affect the Socio-Educational Integration of Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya
In the future, Marion would like to build a research career focused on addressing inequality and improving socio-economic outcomes across African countries, particularly through work on migration, development, and refugee integration.
Baktygul Chynybaeva
Russian, Eastern European, Eurasian Studies
First Year
Presentation Title: A Year of Becoming: Searching My Voice as a Scholar
Baktygul’s academic interests include the history of Stalinist repressions in Central Asia and historical memory. On a personal level she would like to read and learn more.
Larissa Liao
Chinese Studies
Second Year+
Presentation Title: From Fellowship to Frontline: Building an International Journalism Career through MIRS
Larissa's research interests focus on education, family, social policy, and authoritarian politics. After graduating, she plans to work in journalism and policy research.
Josh Lyon
Chinese Studies
Second Year
Presentation Title: Three Sides to Every Story: Experimental Ethnography in Chinese Medicine
As a current adult primary care nurse practitioner student, Lyon would like to utilize auto-ethnography to understand the practice of Chinese medicine and explore emergent issues and means by which Chinese medicine can be used in his future practice as a clinician in biomedicine. He plans to keep clinical practice at the heart of his career and work in endocrinology after graduating and passing the NP boards.
Sama Totah
Russian, Eastern European, Eurasian Studies
Second Year
Presentation Title: The Persistence of Place: Circassian Diaspora and the Abkhaz War Effort
With academic and research interests in diaspora, migration, repatriation, civil war, kinship, genocide memory, Toah hopes to become a sociocultural anthropologist or return to working in UN agencies/NGOs on migration.
