RESEARCH PROJECTS
To be continued
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To be continued...|
To be continued...
2021 McNair Summer Research Project
Research Topic: Unpacking eurocentric Thinking & Definitions of Knowledge: How Colonial Undertones in Knowledge Affect Black & Indigenous Communities
Abstract:
Language shapes our views and perceptions about the world. “Language is a living being that grows and dies… it is the beginning and end of what makes us human” (Yako, 2019). How humans utilize language shapes how human societies come to define what constitutes knowledge. Eurocentric thinking and definitions of knowledge have long dominated the validity of what is considered “true” knowledge (Clemens, 2020). As a result, there has been insufficient space within the scientific field committed to the exploration of the multiplicity of knowledge in Black and Indigenous communities. Instead, knowledge is often framed as emerging exclusively from the” West” and only valid from a colonial lens. This literature review examines how the domination of Eurocentric thinking and definitions of knowledge leave little room for other non-colonial worldviews of knowledge in scholarly discourse. This article also explores how Eurocentric knowledge affects Black and Indigenous communities.
Keywords: Eurocentric knowledge, traditional knowledge, colonialism, colonial mentality
2020 McNair Summer Research Project
Research Topic: How Mass Incarceration Affects Heart Health For Black Women
Abstract: Black women are disproportionately impacted by heart disease in the United States compared to any other race (OMH, n.d.). Although factors such as economic status, education, and access to medical care do contribute to heart disease, it is equally important to review practices, events, and social systems such as slavery, segregation, and violence against Black women that contribute to heart disease of Black women. Mass incarcerations originated after the abolition of slavery in the United States, and many of its laws and practice, such as Jim Crow Laws, Black Codes, Stop and Frisk Laws, and Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws mimic slavery, segregation, and oppression for Black women. This paper investigates how slavery and post-slavery practices and laws, within the criminal justice system, contribute to stress, anxiety, and heart disease of Black women.
Keywords: Black women, heart health, the criminal justice system, mass incarceration.