Class of 2024

Student Name | Title of Capstone Thesis

Zelalem Amenshowa | A Technology Development Plan for the “GeoGuardian” Device

Alexis Amos | Healing in Hospitals: Embracing Relational Approaches to Promote Comprehensive Care for Patients and Support Networks

Benson, Maya | The Prolyfyck Run Crew

Grace Blum | The Manipulation of Empathy: How NGOs Exploit Aid Recipients Through Fundraising

Tina Chen | The Unknown Intersection Between Daycare and Child Healthcare

Cady de la Cruz | Pachakuti: Ancestral Cosmology and Andean Futurism of the Diaspora

Philip DiMeglio | A Call to Cooperate: Investigating the Social, Economic, and Environmental Implications of Co-op Grocery Stores

Grace Gray |A Call to Cooperate: Investigating the Social, Economic, and Environmental Implications of Co-op Grocery Stores

Teresa De Jesus Domingos-Kioza | Ò SÉ GÊN GBÉ A? LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE AMID DIASPORA

Asher Friedman-Rosen | Who can Develop?

Reagan Nicole Fryatt | A Defense if Appalachian Folk Medicine: the History Behind Natural Medicine and the Biochemical Processes in Which They Function

Kyla Guillaume | Black Girlhood and Cyberfeminism: Breaking Away from Patriarchal Norms and
Lifestyles

Mansi Gupta | Choice Neighborhoods: Cultivating Participatory Democracy in the Market System

Jakobe Kroyer | Teacher-Student Burnout, Stress and Trauma Awareness, and Potentiality

Autumn Jeter | Disrupting the Plantationocene: Reproduction, Ecology, and Resistance

Mina Kim | America Must Separate Religion and Government

Tenzin Lodoe | Happiness and Leadership

Olivia Mangini | A Critical Examination of United States Medical Care: American Individualism as a Constraint to Development and Rethinking Universal Health Insurance Coverage

Sofia Marrero | Art as Resistance and Decolonization: The Cases of the Muxe and Quariwarmi

Frances Montevilla | “Experiencing Tinkuy in Global Spaces”: Empowering Diaspora Youth Travels Through Andean Methods

Leonela Morales-Morales | A Community-Led Approach to Gendered Violence in Ciudad Juárez

Benjamin Raffier | Power and Decision-making in Charlottesville’s Housing Policy Ecosystem

Benjamin Ross | Elimu Mpya: Tracing the Impacts of Kenya’s Colonized Educational past, on Learners in Kenyan Today

Harper Stallard | #UsToo: Incorporating Intersectionality in the #MeToo Movement: Learning through Black Lives Matter, the Iranian Women’s Rights Movement, and LGBTQ+ Movements

Eden Weisbrodt | Healing-Centered Community Transformation: Lessons and Creative Opportunities for Global Development

Class of 2023

Student Name | Title of Capstone Thesis

Rofiat Abubakar | Through The Lens of Time: Revolutionary Storytelling in Family Photo Collections as a Means of Cultural Preservation

Betsy Opoku Agyeman | Return Migration to Ghana

Abena Sekum Apppiah-Ofori | The More The Merrier: The Economical Impact of Increased Migration to The Basque Country

Aayushma Bastola | Feminist Institution Building After Women’s Suffrage in America: The Role of Choice in Sexuality, Gender, and Community

Elizabeth Brandberg | Placemaking Through Street Art: Case Studies of Collaborative Murals in Charlottesville & Richmond, VA

Denise Brookman-Amissah | Nollywood and Neocolonialism: Film as an Act of Resistance and Power

Kimberley Castano | Movimiento a través del cuerpo: How Music and Body Politics Fostered Radical Expressions of Culture in Cartagena

Floyd Cornett | All About Land: Play and Black Liberation

Hansa Doppalapudi | Impact of Abolishing the Devadasi System in India: Colonial Perpetuation of Gender-based Violence and the Patriarchy

Jimmy Flood | How Settler Colonialism Shaped Ireland

Garvey Goulbourne | Defining Colonies 

Julius Greenburg | Connected Isolation: An Investigation of Queer Spaces within the Rural South

Khalila Karefa-Kargbo | Road to Resilience: Exploring the Intersection of Transportation and Crisis in Sierra Leone

Raman Kaur | Indian Sports and Gender Inequality

Jacquelyn Kim | Carceral Violence at UVA: A Walking Tour

Sarah Haneul Kim | Charlottesville’s Restaurant Industry : A Possible, Sustainable Future for Workers and Residents

Seongmin Kim | Tracing Spatial Manipulation: Uncovering the Implementation and Utilization of Colonial Spaces in Korea

Susana R. Kuhn | Examining Theater for Social Change from the Streets to the Stage

Raghda Labban | Gender-Based Violence Prevention, Response, and Support in Syrian Refugee Communities: Existing Vulnerabilities to Violence and Recommendations for Institutional Reform in Lebanon and Other Host Countries

Jane Lyons | Global Development, Corruption, and Incarceration Systems

Jackie Morales | Liberation Theology on The Ground In El Salvador During the Civil War 

Olivia Nguyen-Dillon | Conflicting Conceptions of Democracy in Vietnam

Naomi Nkan | “Global!”: A Comparative Analysis of Juvenile Justice, Protection, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Nigeria, Brazil, and the United States

Natalie Del Carmen Nuñez | Dominican Migrant Women, Ciguapeando and Theorizing in Traditional & Natural Dominican Beauty Shops

Udhedheoghene Ojile | Exploring the Kanju Spirit: Harnessing Hustle Culture for Promoting Growth and Development in Nigeria

Melanie Saravia | A Puerto Rico for Who? Disaster Capitalism, Displacement, and Resistance on The Island of Enchantment

Margot Seidel | Operationalizing degrowth: A mandate and blueprint for the paradigm shift

Nayeli Valdez | The Promise and Peril of Habitat for Humanity's Southwood Redevelopment Project: An Examination of Community Development and Home Equity

Tahi Wiggins | Liminality, confluence, assemblage, and emergence: An exploration of coastal philosophy

Alyce Yang | Collective Dreaming and Organizing in Film Spaces

Priscilla Yoon | Art Activism as a way-out! for Collective Liberation Through Disability Justice

Yingyi Zhu | The Development and Interaction of Confucianism and Feminism in China

Class of 2022

Student Name | Title of Capstone Thesis

Natalie Abbie | Alternative Interventions to Domestic and Sexual Violence

Abeba Amenshowa | Rape as a Weapon of War

Sarah Basham | Educational Disparities in Charlottesville and Localized Solutions

Lora Becker | The Promise of the African Century and the Devastation of conflict resources: an Inherent Contradiction

Louise Brosnan | Repatriation: Indigenous Activism and Global Involvement

Gabriella Chu | The Right to the City in Our Memory: Negotiating urban justice in and out of the
museum

Milla Ciprian | Woke Sports

Halinta Diallo | “Global Realms”: the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Human Rights Sector

Rosie Eldridge | Journalism Under Threat: How Do We Protect the Most Vulnerable of Journalists?

Ned Flanagan | Addressing the “Root Causes” of Migration: Evaluating Development Aid as a Tool in U.S. Immigration Policy

Vanessa Frimpong | Ghana, the International Monetary Fund’s Success Story: A Case for the South-South Cooperation

Bryn Galumbeck | Microfinance in South Asia: What are the Real Profits & Losses? Financial
Sustainability vs. Women’s Empowerment

Fatima Hassan | The Ramifications of War: An Introspective Study of the Market Systems in Sudan

Ben Hazelton | A Decolonizing Approach to Reimagining Special Education

Benjamin Hill | The Formulation of Asian American Christian Theology and Community
Development Through Faith-Based Organizations

Mila Ho | Identities in Motion The Vulnerabilities of Male Refugees during Migration

Valencia Lagbo | Black(er) Ecologies: An Exploration of the Relationships African Americans have
with Space and Place

Aira Matin | “This is Getting Manipulated, Man!”: Manifestations of Racism and Narratives of
Otherness at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Sabrin Mohammednur | Current Events with Sabrin: A look into what makes A crisis well known

Bobbi Morris | ASL Garden NonProfit

Eden Olsberg | The Intersection of Transitional Justice and Displacement: Incorporating
Reparations and Restitutions into Palestinian Refugees’ Future

Juan Periquet | Dynasty Politics: the 2022 Philippine Election

Bryden Sandifer | The ‘Good’ Mother: How Cultural Conceptions of Motherhood Impact Maternal
Health Outcomes in Guatemala

John "Avery" Shivers | Manufacturing Resistance: Labor Organizing as a Mode of Resistance Against Economic Colonization and Racial Capitalism in the Rural South’s Automotive Manufacturing Industry

Eva Sirotic | A Truth Universally Acknowledged?: Understanding Austen in a Global Context

Samantha "Sam" Solomon | A Bright Future for Indian Country: An Explorative Research Paper into the U.S. Indigenous Economy with a Focus on Development within Southeastern Nations

Laila Stone | Postcolonial Feminist Theory and Practice" Aurat Marches and Western Influences

Payton Stredler | Needing  ore Than a Band-Aid Solution: The Intersection of Foreign Aid and Public Health

Mansi Suresh | Evaluating the Impact and Practicality of Educational Technology in Third World
Countries

Renée Swager | A Universal Cure-All: The Shortcomings of Economic Development as a Means to Promote Social Progress, a Case Study in India

Enrique Unruh | Fabricating History and Controlling National Memory: A Case Study of Francoist
Textbooks in Legitimizing Fascist Regime

Sophie Wagner | ‘From Below and to the Left’: Zapatista Influence in the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers’ Fair Food Program

Catherine “Cat” Zontine | From Genocide to Gender Equality: The Role of Women in Rebuilding Rwanda Post-Genocide through Political Participation and Community Organizing

Class of 2021

Student Name | Title of Capstone Thesis

Roma Chitko | Race, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the School to Prison Pipeline: The Intersection of Systemic Inequality and Criminalization of Youth

Andrea Dilao | Rodrigo Duterte’s “War on Drugs”: a Critical Analysis of the Relationship Between Philippine Security and Development

Bethanie Fletcher-Perez | The Role of Information and Ideas in Reshaping the Narrative in Venezuela: How Venezuelans Maneuver the Maduro Regime’s Seized Sectors of Society to Reclaim Their Voices Through Acts of Resistance

Jennifer Flores | Latinx Urbanism: An Analysis of Contributions, Support, and Hindrances

Oliver Gerbig | Oliver's Opinions: Covid 19 in Taiwan and the US (Podcast)

Annie Heath | Combatting Obstetric Racism

Charlotte Houghton | Education in India and Bangladesh: A Comparative Analysis

Jieying Huang | The Asian American Experience then and now: as seen through the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II and anti-Asian sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic

Zhuang Lin | Social and Cultural Reproduction through the Lens of Racial Segregation and Economic Disenfranchisement in Charlottesville

Francine Mananzan | Museums, Objects, and Discourse: Rethinking the Space Between Artists and the Public

Jasmine Mao | Today and Tomorrow and the Day After: Creating Spaces of Care and Wellbeing in an Uncaring Place

Sonya Pandey | A Closer Look at Domestic Workers in Nepal: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Melissa Perez | The Effect of Eugenics on Black Women (Essay and Podcasts)

Sara Rizvi | Gentrification and the Changing D.C. (Website)

Nyles Rome | Reforumulating Reparations: The Underdevelopment of Black Bodies in the Unites States

Noor Samee | When the Soul Speaks: a Music Activism Album

Lillian Saunders | Social Determinants of Health as Barriers to Preventative Care for Migrant Populations in Harris County, Texas and Hennepin County, Minnesota

Walter Sharon | What Do You Stand For: Cultural Development Theory and Models of Public Monumentalism

Clarissa Shelley | Revolutionizing American Public Education: Incorporating Social Justice and Non-Traditional Pedagogy

Payton Souders | Disposable: The Intersection of Solid Waste Management and Gender in India

Sydney Suarez | Saving White Cubans in Service of Civilization: Racialized Capitalism and Moral Politics of Death in US-Cuba Relations

Dina Tekaalem | Mental Health and Awareness within the Eritrean Diaspora

Katie Timothy | FOOD INSECURITY AND CULTURE: UNDERSTANDING THE NEED FOR CULTURAL SECURITY IN PLANNED REFUGEE CAMPS

Frank Valdez | Reimagining Community: Centering Impacted people in knowledge making (Multi-media website)

Morgan Wolf | To what extent and under what conditions can community-building partnerships benefit local residents?

Cristina Zarhloul | Maternal Death Rates in the United States (Podcast)

Class of 2020

Student Name | Title of Capstone Thesis

Johntrell Bowles | Myopic Planning: Assessing the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program and Spaces for Community Action

Charlotte Brake | Exploring the Significances of Sexual Assault Across Cultural Contexts: Lessons for Engaging in International Development Work

Anna Brotman-Kras | Domestic Fantasy, Disguised as Attainable Truth: Performance in Activism & Domestic Labor

Sarah Carter | Rojava, Radical Agriculture, and Anarcha-Feminism in the Middle East and North Africa: Women’s Role in Decolonizing Agriculture in the Face of Climate Change 

Kristina Colevas | STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE IN AID: A MULTIAXIAL APPROACH TO EXPLAINING THE CURRENT OCCUPATION OF HAITI

Chandler Collins | Reclaiming Attention in the Attention Economy

April Corwin | In Defense of Public Education:A Personal Reflection & Comparison of Social Movements Against Privatized Education in the United States and Chile

Mercer Craighill | A Simple, Yet Wicked, Problem: Homelessness in Charlottesville

Ariana DeLaurentis | Unearthing the Global Food Struggle Through a Place Based Politic: The Need for Food Sovereignty at Bellair Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia

Julia DiFabrizio | Decolonizing Education: How We Can Begin to Reimagine and Subvert the Classroom to Include All Students

Maame Esi Eghan | Change and Continuity: Assessing the Past, Present and Future Implications of Pre and Post Colonial Land Tenure Systems in Ghana

Mahlet Haile | The Progression of Women’s Health and Safety In East Africa. A Comparative State Case Study Analysis: Evaluating Public Health Policy Proposals In The Region Over The Last 50 years.

Blake Hesson | Communities of Care: A Cross-Cultural Study of Indigenous 2SLGBTQ HIV/AIDS Health, Healing, and Community Prevention

Renae Meana | Asian Americans in the Liberal Arts: Livelihood vs. Passion The Privileges, Sacrifices, and Compromises Behind Studying What One Wants to

George Moss | Sustainability, viewed by a 21-year-old college student: how to proceed in a world where it is not a subject, yet essential to continue living as a species

George Perry | The New Wave: Healthcare Technologies and Their Impact On Development

Iqra Razzaq | A modern pandemic, a global prison: Tracking the Geopolitical Life and Narrative of COVID-19 from China to the Rest of the World

Natalie Romero | Land, Deceit, and Development

Ruth Rosenfeld | The Neoclassical Model of Immigration: A Battle between Capitalism and Nationalism in Immigration Policy

Charlotte Scharfenberg | Native Youth, Public Schools, and Trauma: Exploring the Potential of School to Heal

Marwah Shuaib | Digital diasporas and desi identity: examining artistic explorations of bi-hemispheric belonging 

Veronica Sirotic | GENDER DISCRIMINATION, LABOR, AND LAW: How judicial policymaking in the mid 20th century defined the body

Carlin Smith | Arts, Culture, and Transnational Solidarities as Vehicles of Change Collaborative Development between Makhanda, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia

Clara Sophia Camber | Reviving the American Chestnut: Intersections of Ecological Intervention

Alex Spratley | The Fundamentally American Project: Settler Colonial Violence Against Indian Women

Kelvin Thukha | A Case for Benevolent Dictatorships:  Installing Soft Authoritarianism & State-led Economy in South East Asia using the Singapore Model

Madeline Walker | IMAGINING FUTURES: DECOLONIZING THEATRE PRACTICE AND THEATER BASED TECHNIQUES IN PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA

Makayla Whitehurst | Lessons on Education Quality, Access, and Equity: An Exploratory Look at Uruguay’s Schooling System