Student Research

Twenty Hamilton students have been named recipients of the 2012 Emerson Summer Grants. The students receive a stipend and spend the summer working collaboratively with a Hamilton faculty member, researching an area of interest.

Hamilton was well-represented as 12 students presented the results of their research at the New York 6 Undergraduate Research Conference this month at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

A combination of social oppression, poverty and discrimination has kept Mayan women in Guatemala from raising their voices and using their full potential. Deaf women in particular are stripped of their rights and made to believe that they have no worth. This summer Mariela Meza ’13 interviewed Guatemalan women in the highland community of Nahuala in an effort to prove that they can be valuable contributors to their community. Meza’s work was funded through an Emerson Summer Grant.

In impoverished countries such as Guatemala, education and other opportunities for women and girls could help substantially in improving the state’s overall economic health. However, Guatemalan women, particularly those belonging to the Mayan tribe, are all but ignored when it comes to proper education and healthcare. Rebecca Ross ’14 spent the summer in Guatemala, analyzing the conditions facing Mayan women and studying the concept of battling poverty through gender equality.

Public schools, and particularly the teachers who staff these schools, play an integral part in shaping the future. Marcus Sesin ’13, a recipient of a 2011 Emerson Summer Grant, is studying the recent changes in tenure acquisition procedures in NYC public schools. Through interviews and research, Sesin hopes to understand the effect of the new procedures on teachers.