Social Sciences – Page 2 – UROP Summer Symposium 2021

Social Sciences

The Activist Backgrounds of Congressional Candidates in the United States in 2020

This research seeks to understand the role of protests in the functions and dysfunctions of American democracy, particularly the connection between protest participation and the success of congressional candidates. The key working hypothesis is that social movements are able to use protests as a testing ground for quality candidates and that helps candidates to be more successful in communicating their messages to the public. Thus, candidates who are involved in protests are more likely to be victorious in electoral contests, other things equal, than are other candidates.

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Mental Health in Islamic Texts: Putting an end to the Stigma

Growing up in Dearborn’s largely Muslim community, the idea of mental health was extremely stigmatized and was believed to bring great shame to an individual or family involved in it. When the topic of mental health is brought up, I would often hear people say “as long as I have my religion, I do not feel any emotional or mental challenges” or “anybody who experiences emotional or mental turmoil is being punished by the almighty for not having a strong Iman (faith)” or is simply told that they should pray more. When we analyze original islamic texts though, we find that these diseases should not be treated as punishments for weak iman but as a simple bump in the road. Prophet Muhammad stated in the Sahih Al-Bukhari hadith collection, “There is no disease that Allah has created, except that he also has created its treatment” (Hadith 582). Given that disease is a natural part of life, why is it that people tend to stigmatize mental health? This paper will analyze primary and secondary sources on Islamic mental health. This will allow us to integrate contemporary methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and bring about ways to develop a more culturally competent therapy for people within the muslim community struggling with mental health and eliminating the stigma surrounding it.

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Impact of COVID-19 on Latinx Households

COVID-19 has impacted individuals in many different ways. In this project, we focus on how the pandemic has impacted the Latinx community. Oftentimes it is difficult for individuals in Latinx households to follow procedures such as social distancing or staying home as many come from low-income families and need to keep working, thus highly increasing the risk of spreading the virus. These living arrangements are associated with communalist cultural values such as familism. Within this project, the goal is to understand and explore how familism has impacted Latino’s individual beliefs.

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Representations of ‘Sexlessness’ in Japan

Adrian Beyer Pronouns: He/Him/His UROP Fellowship: WAGSFP Research Mentor(s): Anna Wozny, PhD Candidate Research Mentor Institution/Department: College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Department of Sociology Presentation Date: Wednesday, August 4th Session: Session 2 (4pm-4:50pm EDT) Breakout Room: Room 2 Presenter: 1 Event Link Abstract For privacy concerns this abstract cannot be published at this

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Assessing the Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Consequences of Men Recognizing Subtle Gender Bias Against Women in STEM

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) frequently encounter gender bias (e.g., questioning of their STEM ability, assignment to secretarial roles). Given the subtle and ambiguous nature of contemporary sexism, people vary in their likelihood of recognizing subtly sexist interactions. Past research demonstrates that women are more sensitive to gender bias and more likely to perceive it. However, there remains a dearth of research related to men’s experiences in witnessing bias. In the present research, we ask: what are the (1) affective, (2) cognitive, and (3) behavioral consequences of perceiving subtle gender bias during group tasks?

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Wicked Solutions Domain

Data visualizations such as the John Hopkins COVID-19 Map, has become an impactful way of presenting updated health information to stakeholders such as policy makers and the general public. This pandemic dashboard has become a precedent for developing platforms that help provide useful information for issues with which our society is struggling. Using design thinking and participatory mapping, the WISDOM research team led by University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor Audrey Bennett aims to create an equitably accessible Wicked Solutions Domain for networked collaboration and knowledge exchange of existing data and research resources in relation to wicked problems such as food, poverty, and sustainability.

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Protest in the Streets

Since Donald Trump’s election into presidential office in November 2016, the United States has seen a huge increase in protests on the streets of cities nationwide. With protests like the Women’s March (2017, 2018,2019), the March for Our Lives (2018), Families Belong Together (2018), and the Global Climate Strike (2019), millions of people have participated in rallying and using their voices for what they believe in. Protest is used as a communication tool by citizens to communicate views, concerns, or feelings of misrepresentation to their government. In this project, I set out to answer the following question: Why do people attend events and protests and how do individual’s motives differ from city to city?

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