SRI 2022 - Student Bios

SRI 2022

Undergraduate Researchers

How do migration and labor intersect in Los Angeles?

Claudia Carr (she/her)

Major: Political Science, Latin American Studies

Project Title: "Migrant Domestic Labor: a Consequence of American Imperialism"

Claudia Carr is a rising sophomore double majoring in Political Science and Latin American Studies. She is researching the influence of American imperialism on the migration of South American domestic workers in Los Angeles. Claudia is an international student from Peru. Growing up in South America showed her the negative consequences of the American regional hegemony on the politics, economics, and societies of Latin America. This project is a consequence of those experiences. Immigrants working in informal industries, like the domestic industry, have to navigate multiple layers of colonialism that begin from the moment that they decide to migrate to their life in the United States. In her paper, Claudia argues that American colonial practices forced the migration of South Americans into cities like Los Angeles, where migrants are forced into the domestic industry to survive and pay for their bills.

Luis Garcia Chavez (he/him)

Major: Political Science, Labor Studies

Minor: Public Affairs

Project Title: "A Perpetual Struggle: How Immigration Rates Affect Unionization and Why"

Luis R. Garcia Chavez is a incoming Senior at UCLA and is majoring in Political Science & Labor Studies, minoring in Public Affairs, and holds aspirations for graduate school. The research project tests the effects of immigration on unionization in Los Angeles through a comparative study with San Francisco and explores how the difficult situation of immigrants (such as fear of deportation) may be used by employers to block unionization efforts through a quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Amanda Tang (she/her)

Major: Sociology

Minor: Education

Project Title: "A Historical Mapping of Cambodians in Long Beach, California"

Amanda Tang transferred to UCLA in Fall 2021 from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California where she received her Associate’s degrees in Business Administration, Economics, Sociology, Liberal Studies, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is now a Senior majoring in Sociology and minoring in Education. For the Summer Research Incubator program, she is researching how migration and labor intersect for Cambodians in Long Beach, California. What made her interested in this topic is because of her family’s past. It has always been a sore topic, so she learned at a young age to not ask about it. All she had known was that her parents and their families immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s as refugees due to the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. In recent years, she had also learned something shocking: her great-uncle on her mom’s side, Ted Ngoy, is considered “The Donut King” and that he was credited with both inspiring and creating a major ethnic niche in Southern California with Cambodians and donut shops. Her hope with this research project is to learn more about her family’s history and about Cambodian-Americans in general which is a topic that has been neglected in academia. After graduation, Amanda plans to eventually earn her Master’s in Nonprofit Management and continue working with organizations that serve children and youth.

How does social media support, enhance, or challenge contemporary social justice concerns in North America?

Jennis Kang (she/her)

Major: Pre-Cognitive Science

Minor: Asian American Studies

Project Title: "The 'Inhale and Exhale': Instagram Art for Asian American Healing"

Jennis is a UCLA undergraduate majoring in Pre-Cognitive Science and minoring in Asian American Studies. Her interdisciplinary research interests in social justice and wellness are rooted in her lived experience as a first-generation Korean American woman. In her free time, she is a lover of all arts: crocheting, painting, or playing guitar—the works. Her present project analyzes the work of Yumi Sakugawa, a Japanese American female artist, who shares her artwork on Instagram. Jennis argues that Sakugawa's artwork serves as a wellness intervention for Asian American female audiences within the sociopolitical climate of the pandemic and the concurrent rise of anti-Asian sentiment, all of which is facilitated by the unique Instagram sharing format.

Karla Ramirez (she/her/ella)

Major: Anthropology, Sociology

Project Title: "The Revolution Will Be Posted: Community Organizing, Burnout, and Social Media"

Karla Alejandra's commitment to social justice and her endless curiosity for the complexities of interpersonal relationships led her to major in Anthropology and Sociology. As a first-generation student, first-generation immigrant, and community organizer, the focus of much of her research has been ethnographical work on marginalized communities. Her current work for the Summer Research Incubator uses an ethnographical methodology to explore how social media affects community organizers who experience burnout. Scholars have written about community organizer burnout and social media separately, yet there is a lack of scholarship on how social media affects community organizer burnout. The general presumption is that social media adds to the feelings of burnout for community organizers due to the demanding nature of maintaining an online presence or the often overwhelming constant flow of information that needs to be processed. However, through in-depth interviews with different community organizers, Karla Alejandra has found that social media can also alleviate some of the feelings that burnout can cause, such as isolation and loss of connections with others. Her research places three community organizers' experiences in conversation with each other to provide a multifaceted look at what it means for a community organizer to be burned-out and online.

How are schools addressing disability as a component of social justice?

Ale Jimenez (they/he/she)

Major: Pre-Sociology

Project Title: "Sex Education for Students with Intellectual/ Developmental Disabilities"

Ale Jimenez is a rising second year at UCLA planning to major in Sociology and possibly minor in Global Studies and/or Theater. Their research project looks at the various barriers that special educators face in delivering comprehensive sex education to students with intellectual/ developmental disabilities. Specifically, Ale explores the research question of what are the current teacher education practices for future special education teachers to learn about delivering sex education for students with intellectual/ developmental disabilities. Ale hopes to address what further efforts professionals in the field of special education can implement to prepare special education teachers to prioritize agency in sex and relationships for individuals, while also promoting self-determination.

Monique Sims (she/her)

Major: Sociology

Minor: Disability Studies

Project Title: "Medical Professionals vs. Deaf Perspectives on Deaf Issues"

Monique Sims is an upcoming fourth-year student majoring in Sociology and minoring in Disability Studies. Her project is dedicated to examining the similarities and differences between the deaf community and the medical community in terms of what they believe and where those beliefs come from. She is looking into the need for cochlear implants, American Sign Language, and other tools to figure out what tools support deaf people the best. She also wanted to look into biases the two communities may have as well as their beliefs on the capabilities of deaf people and what they believe they can accomplish.

Alexis Wince (she/her)

Major: Sociology

Project Title: "Misdiagnosis in School-Age Children "

Alexis Wince is a rising senior student at UCLA, majoring in Sociology with hopes of getting her MA in the related field. Passionate about further academic studies such as independent research at UCLA, Alexis plans to take on much more projects. As a woman passionate about many interests and work fields in the future, Alexis sees herself working as an educator with side work of helping marginalized communities such as lower-income areas and schools with access to food, clean water, medical care, and an educational basis in Southern California. Alexis's current research project is on disability studies containing Misdiagnosis in School-Age Children. With the ongoing crisis of elementary children receiving a misdiagnosis with a specific disability, Alexis plans to investigate and examine the factors of the cause and give resolutions to solve it.

What can representation in visual media do for queer politics?

Enyi Emuki (they/them, he/him)

Major: Geography, Gender Studies

Minor: Geographic Information Systems and Technology

Project Title: "Mediating the Body: Tattoos on Trans of Color as Reclaimed Bodily Capacity"

Enyi Emuka is a third year undergraduate student double majoring in Geography and Gender Studies with a minor in Geographic Information Systems and Technology. Enyi’s interests lie in conceptualizing radical ways of existing, alternative to oppressive structures, which has led them to research inquires regarding Queer futurity, Mutual Aid, and the resiliency within Trans of Color embodiments. Enyi’s current SRI project involves investigating the meanings that extend from Trans BIPOC’s process of self elaboration in becoming a tattooed body; extremely relevant in this social atmosphere where various racialized and transphobic policies of body regulation have emerged. Enyi hopes to utilize the skills gained from SRI to pursue further scholarly engagements including a senior thesis and graduate education.

Austin Nguyen (he/him)

Major: English, Pre-Psychology

Project Title: "Jockstrapped Asians & Jane Austen: Race & Queer Sociality in Fire Island"

Austin Nguyen is a third-year student majoring in English and Psychology. His SRI project analyzes Andrew Ahn's film Fire Island as a critique of how social bonds within the gay community are predicated on sexual desirability while positioning romance as an alternative form of relationality that expands what forms of queer sociality exist and who has access to them. More specifically, he draws from queer theory (José Esteban Muñoz) and Asian American studies (David Eng) to articulate how gay Asian American men formulate their queer subjecthood.

Victoria Williams (she/her)

Major: Human Biology and Society

Minor: Public Affairs

Project Title: "How Queer Representation in Visual Media Impacted the 1980s AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco"

Victoria Williams is a third-year at UCLA pursuing a degree in Human Biology and Society, with a minor in Public Affairs. Victoria has an interest in exploring a career in policy and legal advocacy, with specific focus on how the intersectionality between public health crises and public policy impacts disadvantaged populations. Her current research focuses on how visual media covering the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the 1980s impacted queer politics in San Francisco, California. After graduation, she plans to attend law school and pursue a career in advocacy for equitable healthcare-based policies and laws.

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