This research project aims to investigate the perceptions of physical disability among able-bodied college students, with a focus on how the duration of the disability influences these perceptions. Despite increasing awareness and advocacy for disability rights, stigmatization and misconceptions persist within educational environments, potentially affecting the social integration and academic experiences of disabled students. Furthermore, individuals with permanently disabling physical impairments may experience different treatment than individuals who are temporarily disabled by acute injuries. Though anthropological mixed methods research on the perception of disabilities is not uncommon, my research is focused on the difference in the perception of congenital (e.g. cerebral palsy) or acquired permanent physical disabilities (e.g. traumatic limb loss) compared to that of temporary disabling acute injuries (e.g. traumatic fracture). I hypothesize that there is a difference in the treatment of people with permanent versus temporary disabilities; students with permanent disabilities are regarded as “more disabled” than those with temporary disabilities and are considered “less capable” and “less threatening”, and therefore more likely to receive pity and unsolicited help from abled students. They may also be perceived as “less intelligent” despite having no mental impairment. This study's findings fill the gap in the existing body of knowledge on the effect that the duration of physical disability has on its perception. My research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining anonymous surveys and qualitative interviews to explore the attitudes and beliefs of students at UW regarding their peers with physical disabilities. By understanding how the duration of disability affects perceptions, universities can better address the specific needs and challenges faced by disabled students, promoting a more equitable and empathetic academic community.

Unlawful behavior by both the government and its civilians in Mexico has developed into a crisis of violent crimes and corruption. There is a culture of high disregard of the law that is fueled by distrust in the government, subcultures such as Narco-culture, as well as institutional weakness. The aims of this study are to learn of the experiences Mexican citizens have with unlawful behavior and corruption in their government as well as understand the motivations behind this kind of behavior. For the purpose of this study, unlawful behavior will be defined as any behavior or action that violates Mexican law. Through semi-structured interviews of adult Mexican citizens I will gain insight on their thoughts and experiences. They will be asked questions regarding their participation and experiences with unlawful behavior. Due to travel limitations, the Mexican citizens interviewed for this study will be residents of Washington state. It is Mexican citizens that are facing the consequences of the high crime and corruption which makes it imperative to amplify their stories and understand their experiences and perceptions. The information collected through this research may aid in finding a solution to Mexico's crisis of crime and corruption in hope of providing Mexican civilians with a better quality of life. 

The Kodiak Archipelago in southern Alaska has a rich archaeological heritage that has fascinated archaeologists and local communities for decades. Despite the presence of many archaeological research projects, archaeobotanical remains found during excavation have yet to be analyzed. The archaeobotanical remains recovered from the Kodiak Archipelago have often gone overlooked by archaeologists who considered preservation too poor in the wet climate and focused instead on fauna from shell-midden sites or other cultural artifacts. The Tanginak Spring site on Sitkalidak Island in southeast Kodiak was excavated by University of Washington field schools between 1994 and 2003. It is considered one of the oldest identified sites on the archipelago, dating to 7500-6000 cal BP. Sediment samples taken during these excavations were retrieved, floated, sorted, and identified by the archaeobotany class at the University of Washington. This poster presents the initial results of the analysis of wood charcoal and other preserved plant remains from the site, providing evidence to develop new insights into plant use by Kodiak’s earliest settlers.

Historical archaeologists understand toys in the material record to explicitly mark past activities of children. This project focuses on the play activities of enslaved children on North American plantations through the toys they left behind. We used data from the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) to explore the material evidence for identity formation and socialization of enslaved children based on existing studies on enslaved childhoods. Specifically, we investigated the following questions: what materials and manufacturing techniques were most frequently used in the creation of the toys of enslaved children on North American plantations? Based on the associated costs of these materials, what is the range of expense exhibited by enslaved children's toys? What role might toys have played in enslaved children’s agency or passivity in socialization? To address these questions, we queried the DAACS repository concerning object specifications like material and manufacturing technology for toys excavated from North American plantations. This data was imported into RStudio, where we used programming packages to clean it and create visualizations to convey trends. Our pilot project (48 toys) found that porcelain and a molding technique were most frequently used, materials with varying expenses were present, and some toys exhibited post-manufacture modifications. We now have data on 599 toys from 41 sites on 13 plantations, greatly improving our representation of enslaved children in the material record. In this poster we present the result of our analysis of this large data set and compare the locations. The findings of this research will help to fill in gaps of a larger conversation about the relationship between childhood play and race, and more broadly contribute to archaeology’s attention to past social dynamics.

The Aurignacian, a major cultural phase of the Upper Paleolithic, was characterized by remarkable advancement in the social and cognitive capacities of human beings. This period is marked by technical innovations - such as bone tools and weapons, and artistic developments - in the form of cave paintings and portable art. Evidence from this time period also suggests the emergence of social groups spread across Europe. We investigate interactions between these groups by studying the distribution of objects with engraved geometric signs. We use data from SignBase, a large catalog of archeological data from European Paleolithic sites to quantify group areas and site hierarchies, identifying potential ‘checkpoints’ and ‘central places’. Applying seriation, networks analysis, and measures of sign richness and diversity, we examine how the social dynamics change over the four sub-periods of the Aurignacian. We infer patterns of social group boundaries and interactions, improving our understanding of the structure and complexity of Aurignacian social networks.

Load carriage is a human universal used to transport children and other resources (e.g., water). Load placement (e.g., back or side) can vary, which influences an individual's gait. Previous studies have assessed the energetic cost of center-of-mass placement  (COMP) and head-load placement (HLP), but the kinematic changes during combined loads are less understood. Lumbar bending and arm swing amplitude were collected from participants (N=19) using OpenCap as they walked for four load conditions: unloaded (UL), back-loaded (BL), back-loaded-with-empty-bucket (BEB), and head-loaded (HL). All loaded conditions were 7.3kg, approximately 10% of the participant's mass. Conditions were differentiated as COMP (BL) or HLP (BEB and HL). Participants were not habitual head load carriers and used one arm to support HLP (one arm swing). Normal arm swing was maintained for COM conditions. Using a multifactorial ANOVA, COM induces lumbar flexion while HLP induces lumbar extension (p=0.011). Additionally, a difference in arm swing amplitude was found (p=0.058). Normal arm swing (COM) had low swing amplitude while one arm swing (HLP) had a high amplitude, with the highest arm swing occurring during BEB. These findings imply that even when loaded mass is the same, different load positions are associated with kinematic changes that will have important energetic impacts and the potential for changes in skeletomuscular changes particularly via lumbar extension. These data are specifically relevant to understanding the demands placed on individuals around the world who carry water and/or children for long distances, particularly in places experiencing extreme drying during climate change.

Substance use in Indigenous communities remains a significant public health concern for Indigenous communities worldwide, greatly affecting physical, mental, and social well-being. Substance use in Indigenous communities is nearly double that observed in the non-Indigenous population (Geia, et al., 2018). Such prevalence of substance use among Indigenous populations has been a source of stigma greatly related to colonialism. This study examines the prevalence of substance use among Indigenous populations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States identifying patterns within communities and successful intervention strategies to decrease substance use in these communities. A systematic review of literature conducted in the countries mentioned above reveals that Indigenous communities experience high rates of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use. Secondary to trauma and socioeconomic disparities paired with limited access to secular healthcare contributes to the exacerbation of the cycle of addiction (Spillane, et al., 2023). Specific led interventions sculpted around Indigenous culture and various community-driven, utilised participatory approaches show a high chance of decreasing substance use in these communities (Geia, et al., 2018). With such findings, the need for healthcare services that remain respectful to Indigenous culture and overall strengthen community engagement can be put in place to mitigate the prevalence of substance use in these communities and the corresponding risk factors that contribute to such circumstances. My presentation will demonstrate how the high levels of alcohol and substance use can be reduced in Indigenous communities when ethical interventions are implemented that provide long-term care for rehabilitation. This long-term care should include education, harm reduction, and encouragement for partnership between Indigenous individuals and their families and healthcare providers within the programs. The long-term care is to be residential to those struggling with substance use, rather than mainstream outside of reservations, to ensure the patients feel safe.

Machu Picchu is an archaeological site in Peru that is an important source of information about the Incas. In the middle of the 15th century, Machu Picchu was established as an ancient city by the Inca Empire. However, their lives were disrupted by Spanish contact and disease. Smallpox spread from 1519 to 1520, which killed the emperor of the Inca Empire, Huayna Capac. Spanish contact in 1532 forced the Inca people to abandon Machu Picchu. My research investigates whether there may have been epidemics before Spanish contact and how they may have affected the Inca people. I applied survival analysis statistics to the raw data on human remains and compared the results to a known plague population from Europe. I also analyzed radiocarbon ages to detect epidemics in earlier time periods. The skeletal data analysis did not find strong evidence of pre-contact epidemics. The radiocarbon analysis suggests potential depopulation due to epidemics. I encourage future scientists to investigate with more data and a bigger range of periods before and after Spanish contact to further explore possible past epidemics in this region.

Despite advances in modern medicine in the United States, maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes continue to decline due to the social determinants of health (SDOH), resulting in poor health outcomes and death for mothers and babies. However, community-based models (CBM) of maternal and child health care have been identified as effective interventions that mitigate these negative outcomes by addressing the SDOH. Existing literature identifies CBMs as effective interventions using quantitative methods and analysis. However, my research focuses on qualitative methods and their human-centered real-world applications of CBMs. The goal of my study is to highlight the role that communities play in influencing maternal and child health outcomes and understand the effect of CMBs on participants. To investigate the impact of community-based models on MCH outcomes, I am using two questions to guide semi-structured interviews with expectant families, parents, and community health workers. My research questions are, 1) What are the experiences of providers and recipients of community-based models of maternal and child health care? and 2) Do Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and White communities in King County experience gaps in maternal and child health care services, and, if so, how do these gaps differ among communities? I am recording demographic data from participants for coding after interviews have concluded. This study will help create a more comprehensive understanding of CBMs of MCH in the field. These narratives will help further legitimize the practice of community care in traditional Western medical spaces as an effective tool to improve maternal and child health outcomes in the United States.

Scientists, journalists, and policymakers frequently compare large-scale disasters to nuclear events in an effort to convey their magnitude to the public. These comparisons, which I define as nuclear benchmarking, use nuclear events—such as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—as frames of reference or units of measurement to describe the magnitude of non-nuclear events. While nuclear benchmarking is frequently used in pop culture, journalism, and scientific communication, it has largely gone unexamined. Through critical discourse analysis of news media and scientific communication, I identify several primary categories of nuclear benchmarking. These include natural disasters, single man-made events, sustained man-made events, and environmental benchmarking. Examples include the widely used Hiroshima Equivalent unit of measurement and comparisons to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. While often intended as a communicative tool to help the public understand and contextualize overwhelming events, nuclear benchmarking nonetheless shapes popular perceptions of nuclearity by both normalizing its presence and obscuring its impact. In this study, I build upon the work of scholars such as Carol Cohn and Holly Barker, who examine the language of nuclearity both within the nuclear realm and in popular discourse, to argue that nuclear benchmarking obscures the long-term consequences of nuclearity. By abstracting the harms of the nuclear realm into units of measurement, these comparisons risk minimizing the generational biological, environmental, and psychological consequences of nuclear policy. In doing so, I aim to contribute to the broader study of nuclearity by interrogating how language and discourse reinforce dominant narratives and advocating for a more critical approach to nuclear discourse.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture currently holds approximately 140 presumed-to-be Samoan textiles called Siapo, a majority of which are kept in outdated materials from six years ago. There is a need for these pieces to be pulled, rewrapped and sorted by island for improved care and access for community members. Using catalog cards as a guide, I investigate if these pieces that are cataloged as Samoan are truly from Samoa? Culturally, Siapo are made in community, so in respect to that legacy, the unrolling and care of these pieces is done with Pacific Islander undergraduates, graduate students and community members. I use resources in the Burke’s Oceanic library collection to build my knowledge on the identifiers for the respective islands and better place the Siapo pieces. In addition, I coordinate online meetings to speak with master Siapo maker, Reggie Meredith, to work through any pieces that are difficult to accurately identify. Expected findings include the correct placement of pieces to their respective islands and the re-organization of the housing of these pieces. In addition to that, this project may provide increased knowledge for students and community members of Burke Museum pieces. There is a need in our community for cultural immersion but a lack of information on where to access this. I intend to use my knowledge from this experience to create a curriculum that continues to integrate Siapo cultural practice into learning experiences with the hopes that future generations can know how to identify Siapo pieces themselves.

Archaeology offers a way to understand the lives of people in the past. By analyzing the material that people left behind, we gain insight into their lives and behavior.  Here, I present investigations into ochre grinding technology from the Tanginak Springs site, in Kodiak, Alaska. The Tanginak Springs site dates to the earliest (Ocean Bay 1) culture-historical period on the Kodiak Archipelago. As is typical of sites of the time, there are several red ochre “floors,” along with the tools used to manufacture the ochre pigment in the archaeological record. There appears to have been a significant ochre manufacturing industry during the Ocean Bay 1 period, although the specifics of that industry are not well understood. I analyzed the tools that people used to produce ochre pigment at Tanginak Springs, looking for patterns of continuity and change through the site’s 1,500 year occupation. The grindstones show the amount of use at the time that Alutiiq ancestors stopped using that specific tool. Using the size of the marks on the grindstones, I describe changes in the intensity of ochre grinding across the stratigraphic record of the site, correlating to change over time. Understanding the ways that Alutiiq ancestors produced ochre has potential implications for our understandings of the ways that they understood and used their landscape, as well as the function of red ochre in their lives.

I am interested in how different educational communities understand, discuss, and teach about the history of the Hanford Nuclear Testing site in Washington state and its impacts on Indigenous communities in Washington. Shannon Cram maintains that the Indigenous body was sidelined in favor of “Jane,” a prototype of a human designed to live in a post-cleanup Hanford site. The “boundaries and biologies” of nuclearity at Hanford are directly connected to Colleges across Washington State, specifically, the students and professors that work toward environmental justice (Cram 2015). Since the Fall quarter of 2024, I have been spending time each week exploring the 238 Hanford Litigation Office archive boxes through the Special Collections program at the UW Libraries. My research applies Cram to the culture of Hanford through the UW Archives and other Washington colleges, and the ways that archives contribute to how colleges perpetrate, reformat, or challenge nuclear propaganda, knowledge about Hanford, and the nuclear-technoscientific future. Back in December 2024, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Whitman College for Holly Barker's Popular Culture of Nuclearity class and interview the Whitman community about Hanford. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, Interview Analysis, and Participant-Observation methodology, I created an informal documentary and opened up conversations surrounding nuclear justice and the Hanford site. This research matters because nuclear justice cannot be obtained without archival-based education or creating conversations in higher education spaces surrounding critical perspectives on nuclearity. In addition, university and college archives are not always accessible to the public, yet they contain information essential for nuclear justice education regarding collegiate connections to Hanford, and how Hanford displaced and caused long-term health effects for local Indigenous communities. This project will be presented via oral presentation, as creating conversations around archival material is necessary for community-building and grappling with the emotionality of nuclear and environmental justice.

In December 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved a State Innovation Waiver under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), allowing Washington State to provide health and dental insurance coverage to all its residents, regardless of immigration status, from 2024 to 2028. The goal of the Section 1332 waiver is to decrease the number of uninsured, minimize the cost burden of healthcare on individuals and the government, improve health outcomes, and address health disparities. Health insurance navigators, who help people select, enroll, and use health insurance coverage, are charged with implementing this policy change. Their contributions to improving access to health insurance for vulnerable communities are often undervalued, even ignored, but will be crucial to ensuring migrant, refugee, and undocumented individuals are able to enroll for health insurance. This project presents key insights gained from interviews with navigators working in public health departments, community-based organizations, non-profit hospitals, and health clinics across the state, as well as, policymakers and activists focused on expanding healthcare access for immigrant communities. Using semi-structured interviews with insurance navigators, I explored their responsibilities and tasks, the process of enrolling immigrant communities for health insurance, and training and resources that support navigators. Additionally, I analyzed official documents used for the section 1332 waiver application to examine the motivations and narratives used to justify this insurance access expansion. My research shows how navigators deal with punitive immigration policies, xenophobic political rhetoric, financial uncertainty, cybersecurity concerns, staffing inadequacies, and high demand. This project advances our understanding of the systemic constraints, decision-making processes, and discretionary power that shape access to and use of healthcare and will inform policies that aim to codify health equity for immigrant communities.

The fitness industry actively influences how people define health, shaping their actions and self-image. My qualitative research examines how University of Washington students navigate fitness messaging in gym culture, social media, and advertising, analyzing its effects on self-perception, mental health, and behaviors. Since Winter 2024, I have used ethnographic methods, including semi-structured interviews with 30 consenting individuals and participant observations at the IMA gym, with IRB certification for ethical compliance, to identify key trends. This research focuses on four objectives: analyzing fitness industry messages around body image, exercise, and diet; investigating how these messages shape student perceptions and behaviors; examining intersections with public health, media studies, and psychology; and evaluating the ethical implications of these narratives. Preliminary findings reveal that while fitness and nutrition can improve health, commercialized messaging often leads to the opposite. Without evidence-based guidance, individuals accept and internalize health narratives that may not align with their needs, which can be detrimental. My research has revealed fitness culture reinforcing societal pressures, creating confusion about health, and leaving young adults vulnerable to misinformation, with some experiencing serious health consequences from extreme regimens promoted online. The emphasis on aesthetics often overshadows long-term well-being, contributing to over-exercise, disordered eating, and supplement misuse. This presentation will initiate critical dialogue on how fitness industry messaging impacts health behaviors and inform strategies for public health, policy, and education to address these issues. It will also raise awareness of the urgent need to evaluate health messages critically, empowering individuals to make informed decisions. I want to ensure that fitness is used as a tool for sustainable health rather than a driver of harmful standards. As I prepare for graduate studies in medical anthropology and global health this work is a critical step in my commitment to addressing health disparities.

Medical debt is a significant burden with fourteen million Americans owing at least $1,000, and the U.S accumulating at least $220 billion (Rae & Rakshit, 2024). Researchers have developed the concept of financial literacy to help patients understand health insurance and apply this newly-acquired knowledge to actively manage their medical bills. Our research challenges the portrayal of medical debt as the patients’ fault for lack of financial literacy and reframes it as a structural problem that purposefully blocks people’s access to financial aid resources. We conducted seven semi-structured interviews with healthcare workers, representatives from non-profit organizations, and financial counselors who help with medical debt. In the interviews we asked about their work, challenges they may face, and recommendations for improving access to financial aid. We recorded these interviews on Zoom, transcribed, and coded them with qualitative analysis software, Dedoose. Our interviews showed that hospitals mandated to have financial aid policies do not help patients access these policies. The documents contain excessive jargon and lack uniformity across hospital systems. Because of this obscurity, many patients are unaware of financial aid opportunities, unable to understand their eligibility and end up with exorbitantly high medical bills. Furthermore, we discovered that healthcare providers are unable to navigate these policies, leaving patients without adequate support. Our results show that policies solely focusing on improving financial illiteracy among individual patients fail to address that hospitals and insurance companies block patients from resources that mitigate medical debt. We advocate for widespread user-friendly financial aid guides, health financial literacy curricula for healthcare staff, and the public dissemination of financial aid resources across clinical settings. Addressing financial illiteracy as a systemic instead of an individual problem helps create a more equitable and accessible health system that enables patients to prioritize their well-being over managing their medical debt.

Tattooing is an ancient practice with many different significances and cultural meanings across time and space. However, there has been a lack of research on the relatively common themes of transformation and healing that emerge from the ritual of tattooing. This presentation is part of an ongoing research project investigating how tattoos are part of transformative healing processes. By conducting literature review and qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with participants who had tattoos they identified as healing, I identified three (3) frameworks of tattoos that commonly hold healing significance: 1) biomedical tattoos, (such as those used for radiology treatment), 2) paramedical tattoos, including scar camouflage and decoration (for example those after mastectomies), and 3) those that promote abstract healing, focusing on mental health and grief. This research thus shows how tattoos contribute to a transformative healing journey, and how these frameworks of tattoos differ in their symbolism and healing significance. I argue that tattoos of all types are inherently transformative, though the subjective dimensions of such transformation varied immensely. I also found that each recipient’s healing journey is personal, specific, and complex. Furthermore, the process of receiving, healing, and wearing a tattoo indexes healing cosmologies and practices, demanding self-reflection, agency over one’s body and life, undergoing physical pain, self-care, and ultimately, transformation. 

Spoken, written, and body language are the media through which we interact with our social world. Formalized in the 20th century and owing to the work of anthropologists like Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, and Benjamin Whorf, the theory of linguistic relativity posits that the language we use influences our thoughts and our perception of the world. Linguistic practices like code-switching point toward an intricate relationship between language use and social setting. As new technologies proliferate alongside evolving patterns of migration around the globe, it is likely that multilingual ability will increase. However, a knowledge gap exists regarding the role of bi- or multilingualism (hereafter encompassing bilingualism) within linguistic anthropology. Given the cultural origin of identity and the interlinked nature of culture and language, my research question asks if multilingualism can grant individuals greater latitude in the expression of their discrete identities. This literature review examined multilingualism in diverse contexts, including psychotherapy, postcolonialism, and stand-up comedy, to better understand how linguistic flexibility affects our interpersonal lives and intrapersonal conceptions. Despite the aforementioned knowledge gap, a broad scope of answers from the literature suggests that multilingual ability uniquely shapes how people interact with the world around them. Multilingualism provides benefits to both multilingual individuals and the communities and social networks in which they live. The ability to communicate in one more than one language or dialect can afford a more complete sense of identity, maintain connections to cultural roots, and open new avenues for self-perception. As political rhetoric veers towards xenophobic and jingoist tendencies, the question of how people who live and communicate at the intersection of two or more cultures becomes more relevant, both for the self-conception of those at the margins and for the perception of this population by the dominant culture.

Northern Australian landscapes are dominated by termite mounds, raising questions about how these insects might have bioturbated local archaeological sites. In this research we aimed to investigate termite bioturbation at Madjedbebe, Australia’s oldest archaeological site, located in the Northern Territory. We analyzed stone artefact data from Madjedbebe to investigate possible clustering of artifacts, which could have been influenced by termite activity. Specifically, we explored the following questions: Do mass distributions of lithic materials within each of the phases at Madjebebe reflect a non-uniform redistribution associated with termite bioturbation? How does this affect the reliability of the earliest occupation date of Australia? To address these questions, we visualized trends in artifact location and mass in the strata to evaluate artifact size-sorting in each phase as well as within excavation squares B2, C2, and C6. We contextualized our findings using previous experimental and observational research on termite bioturbation to robustly assess the extent of disturbance caused by termites at Madjedbebe. On both site-wide and excavation square levels, we did not find any significant trends that reflected clustering patterns. Thus, we found that mass distributions do not corroborate size sorting at Madjedbebe. This research will contribute to our broader understanding of termite effects on sites in Northern Australia and help with assessments of the validity of dated artifacts at Madjedbebe, enriching our knowledge of the earliest known human activity in Australia.

Lithic artifacts are global phenomena that prevail throughout the archaeological record. Unretouched lithic flakes, though highly abundant, are often ignored as diagnostic parts of an assemblage. However, a recently developed method, FLEXDIST by Will and Rathmann (2025), handles mixed, correlated, incomplete, and high-dimensional data and so is ideal for revealing detailed information from unretouched flakes. We apply this FLEXDIST method to an assemblage of lithic artifacts from Nguom Rock Shelter in Vietnam to understand how people adapted their technology to climatic changes of the Last Glacial Maximum. During the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 3, to Marine Isotope Stage 2 (Last Glacial Maximum), the climate became cooler and drier. Our results suggest that this shift in climate resulted in people adjusting their lithic technology to make longer, heavier, and thicker flakes. We interpret this as a strategic reduction of mobility, perhaps using the Nguom Rock Shelter as a refuge during the peak glacial conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum. Our application of the FLEXDIST method to a novel dataset validates its use as an analytical tool on unretouched flakes and encourages more investigation into what can be learned from this abundant and under-studied component of the archaeological record. In addition, we hope that the application of this method to the Nguom dataset will further our understanding of not only how ancient humans adapted to climate change, but how modern humans might adapt to our changing climate both in the present and in the future. 

Nepali migrants play a significant role in India’s workforce, facilitated by the open-border policy established under the 1950 Indo-Nepali Treaty of Peace and Friendship. However, they face numerous challenges in accessing healthcare, particularly those employed in informal sectors. This research paper examines the healthcare barriers experienced by Nepali migrants in both North and South India, including overcrowded public hospitals, legal restrictions, language barriers, and work-related health concerns. Using a literature review and qualitative exploratory research based on interviews with Nepali migrant adults aged 20-45, the study highlights how, in North India, the high concentration of Nepali migrants places additional strain on healthcare infrastructure, while seasonal migration disrupts continuity of care. In South India, key challenges include social isolation, language difficulties, and dependence on costly private healthcare. Findings reveal significant policy gaps, such as the absence of a bilateral healthcare agreement between India and Nepal and the exclusion of Nepali migrants from India’s national health insurance programs. To address these issues, this paper proposes solutions, including employer-provided health insurance, mobile clinics, language-inclusive healthcare services, and cross-border cooperation modelled on successful approaches from Thailand and Germany.

Initiated in Spring 2024, I wanted to answer the question of why oral histories and community engagement are imperative to the cataloging process in museums. My findings assert that these factors lead to a richer understanding of the value of belongings in the collection. My interest in this work began with a personal connection to Punjabi artifacts, as my family hails from Amritsar. A visit to the archives with my mother showed me the vital role oral history plays in understanding the value of artifacts often disregarded as insignificant. Given my family’s displacement during the Partition of 1947, this visit also developed my own goal of connecting the South Asian community with material heritage. As the only South Asian student to conduct comprehensive research on this collection, I have developed a methodology that combines archival studies with community-based knowledge gathering. I have conducted my research through museum visits and interviews with community members, using the collections as my field site. I record or note the knowledge shared during these visits, and this data has informed my findings. Indrani Chatterjee’s methods of knowledge gathering in the book, Unfamiliar Relations: Family and History in South Asia, have been my main inspiration. My  research emphasizes ethics such as cultivating respect for cultural artifacts and looking to communities as the chief source of knowledge. Through this work I have learned that the material culture can only be properly cared for if communities have access to history that is rightfully theirs. This research is important in helping decolonize collections and create spaces where marginalized voices are respected in academic and museum contexts.

I aim to uncover the impact of mass graves on indigenous populations, particularly focusing on how such atrocities contributes to the dehumanization and cultural erasure of these communities. Throughout history, colonization, genocide, and systemic violence have led to the forced removal and killing of indigenous people. When examining these sites, I hope to illuminate how the existence of mass graves strips indigenous populations of their humanity, undermines their grief and cultural practices, and perpetuates cycles of trauma. This research also integrates the concepts of necropower and necropolitics to further understand the dynamics surrounding mass graves and their implications. Necropower refers to the ways in which political power determines who is allowed to live and who must die, thereby shaping life through the control of death. Within this framework, mass graves are not merely sites of death; they symbolize a historical and ongoing exertion of power over indigenous bodies, reflecting systemic oppressions that dictate the value of life within these communities. Similarly, the concept of necropolitics will be explored to analyze the ramifications of governmental and societal decisions regarding the recognition, treatment, and memorialization of mass graves. Necropolitics involves the regulation of populations and life through the lens of death, revealing how political authorities often manipulate narratives around mortality to control and marginalize indigenous peoples. By investigating the political implications of mass grave sites, this research will illuminate the struggles for justice and recognition faced by indigenous communities. Questions that will be explored: How is the relationship between state policies and indigenous rights reflected in the treatment and acknowledgment of mass graves, and what are the potential paths toward justice? How do indigenous communities respond to the existence of mass graves? What strategies do they employ to resist the narratives of dehumanization and cultural loss?