Creative assignments like zines are accessible forms of knowledge that challenge traditional barriers to information, narratives, and histories of marginalized people. In my work, I helped craft a class that gave undergraduate students the opportunity to produce research on women from the Pacific Northwest whose stories deserved to be heard. Combining multiple disciplines like art, poetry, and videography, students were able to connect their work to their own personal narratives in meaningful and lasting ways. Based on their reflections, employing non-traditional forms of knowledge production like that of zines strengthens connection to course material and empowers students to see themselves as both a researcher and subject.

Many universities do not have separate language courses for heritage language (HL) learners and second language (L2) learners, and over the last decade, an increasing amount of HL students have been enrolling in the same language classes as their L2 peers. How does the same heritage language learner engage in Spanish classroom pair work activities when working with a heritage versus a second language learner? Student engagement drives learning. If one population shows low engagement, it is detrimental to their learning. In this project, we are analyzing engagement as a multidimensional construct which includes the branches of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social engagement. The participants in our case studies are HL and L2 learners taking equivalent upper level university Spanish courses, the former in a course designed for HL students, and the latter in one for L2 students. I hypothesize that a heritage language learner will be most engaged when working with another heritage language learner. Their skill levels will be the most similar, so they will have a level of ease and comfort with each other, and will relate to each other more. I am tracking behavioral engagement by number of words, number of turns, overlapping speech, and latched speech, in which there is no pause between the speakers’ turns. Emotional engagement appears as turns including laughter. Lastly, I am marking social engagement through content-related and language-related questions, co-construction of ideas, and repetition of ideas, which may include an error correction. My research will contribute to understanding of interactions between matched and mixed dyads, which is important information for language teachers and the teaching practice.

Tribal Research Review Boards (TRRBs) assert the sovereign rights of tribal nations by requiring internal approval of research activity conducted within their jurisdiction. The requirements for research approval are often poorly understood by researchers. Expanding on a previous study, we locate and describe the information available for TRRBs in the U.S. with a systematic examination of federal registrations, online presence and documentation, and information requests. Through online keyword searches, we located TRRBs with an active online presence and gathered all documentation relating to their board’s administration, tribal research codes and bylaws, and research application processes. Our preliminary results suggest that entities with active and deactivated federal registrations both have TRRBs with active online presence, however, those with an active IRB (Institutional Review Board) registration were more likely to show a strong online presence. Although limited TRRB data and documentation is accessible online, the most common documents we found were research review board policies or guidelines, research applications, and tribal research codes. Our next steps include submitting information requests to each active TRRB and completing a comprehensive analysis to deepen our understanding of the overall information landscape of these important tribal entities. With this study, we seek to support both researchers and tribal communities as they develop a deeper understanding of these boards, furthering ethical research in tribal communities.

Historically, the dominant culture in fraternities and sororities has been heteronormative. Prior studies have found members of the Greek system have higher levels of intolerance towards those in the LGBTQ+ community than those outside of the Greek system. There is little data about the effectiveness of educational initiatives on LGBTQ+ literacy, awareness and acceptance in the Greek system. Thus, we set out to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention to promote LGBTQ+ literacy and attitudes among new fraternity and sorority members at the University of Washington. To do this, we administered surveys to incoming fraternity (n=383) and sorority (n=208) members to assess literacy, awareness and acceptance before and after a standardized presentation on LGBTQ+ issues developed with content experts from Seattle Children’s Hospital. Post-intervention, significantly more participants reporting knowing that there are more than two genders compared to thinking there are only two genders or feeling unsure. More participants correctly defined the acronym LGBTQ after the intervention than before, and significantly more understood the distinction between gender and sex. More participants understood the definition of heteronormative, pansexual and had an improved understanding of the difference between transgender and cisgender post-intervention. Participants’ level of anxiety about their own sexuality did not change from pre- to post-intervention, but after the intervention, participants rated the Greek System as more inclusive of LGBTQ+. After the intervention, participants reported feeling significantly more prepared if a friend approached them to reveal that they are LGBTQ+. In conclusion, an educational intervention resulted in an increase in LGBTQ+ literacy and self-reports of awareness and acceptance of LGBTQ peers among incoming Greek system at a large public university. Further research can determine if this intervention would be similarly effective in different geographic regions, private university settings and potentially help with academic success and wellbeing.

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex neurodevelopmental condition affecting one in 59 individuals and is characterized by repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and challenges in social communication. Recently, post-secondary institutions have seen a rapid increase in enrollment of students with autism. The college graduation rate of U.S. students with autism is 20 percent (compared with 59 percent of college students overall), but research exploring the experiences and difficulties of this population is relatively limited. This study examined the perspectives of 13 college students with autism enrolled in a peer mentorship program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted; participants were asked about their general college experiences, including relationships, academics, and supports. Participants also completed surveys about their sensory and executive functioning. Qualitative and quantitative data were examined using a mixed-methods approach. Major themes of the interviews included academics, navigation of campus resources, living situation, on- and off-campus activities, and social interactions. The results suggest that college students with autism: face considerable challenges in social situations; feel isolated and misunderstood; struggle to access appropriate resources; have challenges related to executive function; and are most comfortable in sensory-friendly environments. These findings suggest that post-secondary supports for college students with autism may be warranted to ensure their continued success.

How do social scientists determine what to study? Social scientists agonize over methodological considerations, but rarely is the relationship between the individual and topic choice examined empirically. Previous research by sociologists of science has applied this scrutiny to the natural sciences, but the same lens has not been applied to social scientists themselves. In this study I will examine both how individual researchers develop a personal interest in research, as well as how they grapple with external constraints on the topics and subjects of their research. I examine these questions through qualitative interviews with Sociology faculty at the University of Washington. Through interviews with both sociologists-in-training and established faculty, I will gain perspective on the factors influencing topic choice, and how standards of topic choice are reproduced or changed. As sociologists seek to evaluate their own practices, and policymakers increasingly turn towards evidence based practices, my results will allow us to understand not just what that evidence says, but how it is produced.