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Wesley Fink: Exploring Democratic Innovations Through Ranked Choice Voting and Government Internships
Interviewer: Mandy Tang Editor: Selena Perez In this article, Mandy Tang interviews Wesley Fink. Wesley is a senior majoring in Political Science, with a keen interest in examining democratic processes and representation through a comparative and analytical lens. The interview covers Wesley’s research on the impact of ranked choice voting on candidate diversity in San Francisco Supervisor Elections, as well as his experiences with the University of California Washington Program (UCDC) and the University of California Center Sacramento Program (UCCS). Mandy: Could you briefly describe your research project and share what sparked your interest in this area? What were some key findings in your research project? Wesley: Absolutely, I’d be…
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Dr. Panagia: Research in Politics and Aesthetic Theory
Interviewer: Alyssa Schmidt Editor: Selena Perez In this article, Alyssa Schmidt interviews Professor Davide Panagia from the UCLA Political Science Department. Professor Panagia teaches Political Theory, with a focus on courses in contemporary political theory, aesthetics and politics, affect theory, political theory and cinema, political theory and algorithmic cultures, and theories of textual interpretation. This interview features Professor Panagia’s research in aesthetics and politics and how his research process informed his recent publications. Alyssa: “aesthetics and politics” is a very broad topic; how do you narrow down your research to ensure effective contributions to this area of study? Dr. Panagia: The topic almost didn’t exist when I was doing…
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A Day (or Two or Twenty) at the Fowler Museum
Writers: Mugita Kurosaki, Erin KwakEditors: Selena Perez, Samvit Garg, Katherine King, Julia Torres Cultural enrichment is important in a community to understand and appreciate the diverse peoples, cultures, and religions of the world. UCLA is honored to have the Fowler Museum, which demonstrates these values with dynamic exhibitions, publications, and public programs. The museum, open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 PM to 5 PM, is located in the northern part of UCLA, adjacent to Royce Hall and Glorya Kaufman Hall. Admission is always free to the public! In addition, the Fowler provides a quiet place to study. Students are welcome to study in the Elizabeth and W. Thomas Davis Courtyard,…
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Augustine Udukumbura: The Visibility of Asexuality and Asexual Education
Interviewer: Mandy Tang Editor: Selena Perez In this article, Mandy Tang interviews Augustine Udukumbura. Augustine is a third-year double majoring in Sociology and Gender Studies, while minoring in LGBTQ Studies. Their research interest lies in asexuality, with a focus on its social implications. This article highlights Augutine’s research experience in asexual education and their perspective on the intersection of LGBTQ studies and education. Mandy: Can you share your research experience, and the motivation behind studying asexual education? Augustine: Certainly! In the initial phase of my research journey, the main focus was examining the representation of asexuality within gender and sexuality alliance clubs. I aimed to evaluate if/how these clubs incorporate…
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Kayleigh Morrissey: Research in Pop Culture Topics
Interviewer and Editor: Selena Perez In this article, Selena Perez interviews Kayleigh Morrissey. Morrissey is a fourth-year English student at UCLA currently conducting a senior thesis. In this interview, she delves into the unique topic of Morrissey’s research, covering everything from the research process to the social implication of producing an analysis of parasocial relationships. Selena: Could you tell me about the subject of your senior thesis, and what initially drew you to this topic? Kayleigh: Yes! I’m writing about the complexity and the neutrality of Taylor Swift’s star image. Normally, complexity and neutrality wouldn’t be seen as interrelated, but I’m arguing that they are, in the case of Taylor…
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Alejandra Lopez and Sydney Kong: A Look Into DiSH Lab @ UCLA
Interviewer and Editor: Selena Perez In this article, Selena Perez interviews Alejandra Lopez (Lab Manager) and Sydney Kong (Research Assistant) from Dr. Tomiyama’s DiSH Lab. The DiSH Lab conducts research aimed toward understanding the relationship between food and psychology. In this interview, she examines the experience of working at a UCLA research laboratory, including how valuable and at times, challenging the opportunity can be. Selena: Alejandra, could you explain what some of your duties are as a lab manager, as well as how holding this position has been a valuable experience for you as a scholar? Alejandra: Yeah, so some of my duties include grant budgeting (making sure we have…
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Vivian Byeon: How Persistence Opened the Door for Grad School
Interviewers and Editors: Jennifer Chanto, Connie Chen, Selena Yu, Klaus Gomez Stimeder What is your area of research? In this article, we interview Vivian Byeon. As a second-year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at UCLA, Byeon talks about her experiences in research and gives words of wisdom to students pursuing graduate school. I’m interested in organizational factors that impact the adoption and sustainment of evidence-based therapeutic strategies in community mental health settings. How did you become interested in this topic? As an undergrad, I became involved in research during my senior year of college. I worked at a substance use lab here at UCLA, and that made me really interested…
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Writing a Research Proposal: a How-To Guide for You and for Me
Author: Leika Keys Editor: Eva Li My Research Proposal Abstract My name is Leika Keys and I am a fourth-year political science major at UCLA and the outreach coordinator here at Aleph. As the sun sets on my senior year, my long-waited and planned existential crisis can finally emerge out of its nest. In response, I have frantically been searching for a grad program to throw myself in. Somewhere along the way, I found myself writing research proposals to universities in the U.K. and Japan, hoping to continue my educational career. Maybe, you find yourself in the same position as me—desperately trying to figure out your next step before you…
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Sara Wilf: A Journey from Nonprofit Work to Graduate School
In this article, Ishani Desai interviews Sara Wilf. Wilf is in her second year of the Social Welfare PhD program at UCLA’s Luskin School of Social Welfare. In this interview, they cover Wilf’s path to her current research and tips for undergraduate researchers on campus. Ishani: On your CV, I saw you worked in India! What inspired you to travel there and what kind of work were you involved in? Sara: I traveled to India right after I received a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University. I knew I wanted to do nonprofit work internationally— India was a good option because it had a lot of nonprofits that inspired…
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Ari Fahimi: Aleph’s Editor-in-Chief’s Path to Research
Our first interview is with our very own Ari Fahimi, Aleph’s Editor-in-Chief. Ari is a third-year double majoring in Chinese and Middle Eastern Studies. We will be talking about Ari’s path to conducting research, finding a research topic, and his love for Aleph. Can you walk us through your research journey? Ari: So when I first came to UCLA, I actually did not know what I wanted to do, and didn’t know how to get started in research. To get started, I first took the class University Studies 10A, which was not directly related to research but did teach me about how to connect with professors. For example, this class taught…
