Last week, the seniors participating in this year’s John Near & Mitra Family Scholar Grant Program conducted salons via Zoom, during which they discussed the results of the months they spent researching topics of their choice. Salons were held over three days, with three students featured on each day, presenting for the community with their mentors present.
Sabrina Zhu, the first of the presenters, examined the columns of Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill and how they served as examples of the new journalism movement that became prominent in the 1960s and 70s. An editor for the Winged Post, Zhu said she has been fascinated with the history of journalism and how it can be a catalyst for social change.
During his time as an AP Spanish student, Alex Lan studied Peru and wrote a review of a Peruvian restaurant as part of an assignment to research a Spanish-speaking country. He then became interested in Peru’s “gastronomic revolution” and how it contributed to greater cultural exchange and the country’s economic recovery after its 20-year civil war.
While ensconced at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michelle Jin began watching the Korean TV drama “Crash Landing on You” and noticed that its two lead characters – one from South Korea and the other from North Korea – were speaking very different Korean dialects. This led her to explore how North Korea’s language reform campaign created differences in the language spoken in the two countries.
Sarah Fathima Mohammed’s original poetry about her experience as a Muslim spurred her to investigate the work of other Muslim poets and how their work was informed by their own identities. She then examined how Kenya-born poet Warsan Shire’s work spoke to the experience of Muslims in Nairobi, whose surveillance led to an internalized gaze that Mohammed compared to Foucault’s panopticon.
Another former AP Spanish student, Isha Moorjani, researched Argentina and Chile for her class assignment and became fascinated with how Indigenous languages impacted each country’s version of Spanish. In her talk, she explained how languages spoken by the Mapuche and Rapa Nui peoples influenced the Spanish spoken in modern Chile, as well as how their influence can be understood by examining the impact of Nahuatl on Mexican Spanish.
Stephen Xia started his story in the present day and worked backward to tell the story of housing activism in San Francisco’s Chinatown and Manilatown, starting with Chinese and Filipino immigration in the early 20th century. The focal point of his talk was the International Hotel, which was the subject of a large-scale protest in the 1960s when real estate corporations made plans to tear down the hotel, which would have displaced the building’s many elderly residents.
Mitra Scholar Emmett Chung explored the rise and fall of the die Republikaner party in Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall, which he became interested in following a family trip to Germany. Chung explained how the party made anti-immigration sentiment a central part of its platform and made an effort to bring far-right politics into the mainstream, following up with their lasting impact on German politics and immigration policy.
Having lived in Japan from ages 2-4, Rahul Mulpuri became fascinated with Japanese culture at an early age and began studying Japanese in middle school. He also became involved in debate, where he learned about critical theory and critiqued the myth of the model minority, which has become a well-traveled stereotype of Asian-Americans. This led him to combine his interests into a research project that how Japanese-Americans interned during World War II helped rejuvenate the traditional Japanese music tradition as well as reignite general interest in Japanese music worldwide.
The final presenter, Austina Xu, contrasted the works of Allen Ginsberg and T.S. Eliot, using Ginsberg’s “Howl” as an example of a poem that expressed many of the same post-WWII anxieties as Eliot while eschewing Eliot’s elitism. She discovered an interest in slam poetry in her sophomore year and also became fascinated with the counterculture movements of the mid-20th century. She then delved into how the poetry of the Beat Generation may have led to the founding of slam poetry or “poetry for the people.”
Late last month, this year’s Near-Mitra scholars held virtual salons, which consisted of a presentation summarizing each scholar’s research followed by a Q&A session. Each of the student scholars was mentored by faculty members who received grants from the Chen Lin Family Endowment. The salons were well-attended, averaging 35 people for each talk and 250 overall.
Salons were held on three separate days, starting on March 22 with Caden Lin’s presentation on the International Monetary Fund’s role in destabilizing Sierra Leone’s economy, which eventually led to civil war. Lin, mentored by speech and debate chair Jenny Achten and upper school librarian Meredith Cranston, began with Sierra Leone’s independence from Britain in 1961. When the country’s initial economic strength had begun to wane, the IMF offered aid, initially with promising results. However, Lin pointed out, IMF also devalued Sierra Leone’s currency and made its exports cheaper, leading to economic disaster over the next two decades.
Three more salons were held on March 24, the first of which featured Michelle Liu, who analyzed American painter Mary Cassatt’s use of techniques inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, a style known as ukiyo-e. Liu, whose mentors were Cranston and upper school history teacher Donna Gilbert, noted Cassatt’s affinity for mother-and-child themes, pointing out the similarities of her renderings of children and those of Japanese woodblock artist Kitagawa Utamaro. Liu also highlighted Cassatt’s use of domestic scenes, which reflected prevailing viewpoints on gender in the late 19th century.
Senior Dawson Chen, mentored by Cranston and upper school history teacher Katy Rees, analyzed the films of documentarian Pare Lorentz and their impact on documentary filmmaking. Famously known as “FDR’s filmmaker,” Lorentz made several films to promote then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Chen demonstrated how in works such as “The Plow that Broke the Plains,” Lorentz documented the over-farming that eventually led to the Dust Bowl, powerfully advocating for the restoration of the land.
Under the mentorship of upper school history teacher Chris Gatto and library director Lauri Vaughan, Riyaa Randhawa’s presentation covered the role teachers played in establishing the public health system during the American occupation of the Philippines. Filipino students, Randhawa explained, had a unique relationship to the teachers in the American schools they were required to attend, which led to greater knowledge of public health measures. Nevertheless, schools often enforced racial hierarchies by teaching students that their culture and customs were inferior, and education was designed to only qualify them for low-level jobs.
The final group of salons took place on March 28, beginning with Nicole Tian’s presentation on the Brandeis Brief’s influence on law practice and lawmaking in the progressive era, and how it furthered the idea that legal decisions should consider their societal impact. Tian also connected the brief to widely held beliefs about women at the time, particularly that women were the virtuous and moral center of the American family, while men provided economic stability. Lawyer Louis Brandeis successfully argued in Muller v. Oregon that 10-hour workdays for laundry women threatened the nation’s moral character. Tian conducted her research with the mentorship of upper school history teacher Carol Green and upper school librarian Amy Pelman.
Alina Yuan, mentored by Vaughan and upper school English teacher Beth Wahl, covered the work of Japanese author Osamu Dazai, whose work was a cornerstone of the buraiha (“decadent school”) literary movement that became popular in post-World War II Japan. Following the shock and horror of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the subsequent societal transformation that took place due to heavy American influence, Dazai depicted the struggle of adjusting to post-war Japanese society Dazai also became admired for his decadent lifestyle, another sign of shifting cultural attitudes.
Finally, William Zhao, whose mentors were Pelman and upper school history teacher Byron Stevens, compared and contrasted the development of liberal democracies in Spain and Portugal in the 20th century. The fall of Spain’s authoritarian Francoist regime and the subsequent transition to democracy, Zhao said, was the result of a top-down process by which opposition and reformist forces in the government dismantled the Francoist political infrastructure. Portugal, by contrast, experienced a coup d’etat by a military fed up with prime minister Antonio Salazar’s insistence on maintaining colonial operations in several African nations.
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2020 issue of Harker Magazine.
By Marla Holt
Simar Bajaj, a Harker senior with dual interests in history and medicine, spent a large part of his senior year researching and writing about the complex impacts of the “The Flexner Report” of 1910, a landmark paper that established high standards for today’s four-year medical school system while also nearly eliminating the path to medicine for women, African Americans and the working class.
“The report’s most harmful effect was to make the medical profession the domain of white middle- and upper-class men,” said Bajaj, who conducted much of his research at Stanford University’s Lane Medical Library, pouring over countless journal articles and books related to the history of medicine.
Seniors Kathy Fang and Ellen Guo also were hard at work conducting independent research on topics about which they are passionate.
The three students and five of their classmates were this year’s participants in Harker’s Near/Mitra scholars program, which is celebrating its 10th year. The program supports eight to 10 seniors in pursuing academically rigorous, independent research on a topic of their choice in U.S. history, literature, art, music and the social sciences. The student scholars are selected in the spring of their junior year, after which they work with one or two faculty mentors and a librarian to refine their research topics. The majority of their research is conducted over the summer, with additional research and writing continuing through the fall and winter. Their lengthy papers, similar to a college thesis, are published by Harker and presented at a reception in April.
Fang spent last summer at the University of Cambridge, the National Archives in London’s Kew Gardens and the Folger Institute in Washington, D.C., examining the portrayal of women and gender roles in Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare in light of the advent of actresses in public theaters. Her research led her to conclude that “women’s status in the public sphere was degraded by playwrights who created oversexualized female characters,” she said.
Meanwhile, Guo focused on examining bisexuality in the queer theory canon. She conducted a close read of Eve Sedgwick’s “Epistemology of the Closet” and then applied modern theorizing about bisexual identity and experience to the author’s theses. “This project has expanded my thinking beyond binary-isms and the limits of naturalized, Western thought,” she said.
The skills and lessons Near/Mitra scholars learn are varied, said library director Lauri Vaughan, who co-directs the program with history teacher Donna Gilbert. Overall, students strengthen their critical thinking, writing and reading comprehension skills through high-level interdisciplinary research. They also become more tenacious and resilient.
“We don’t give the Near/Mitra scholars a roadmap, so they undertake a big, messy process of truly organic research,” Vaughan said. “It becomes a personal journey of exploration.”
High-Level Research Support
Launched in 2009, the Near/Mitra scholars program is managed by the history department with support from the library. The John Near Excellence in History Endowment, founded in 2009, and the Mitra Family Endowment for the Humanities, added two years later, provide small grants to students to cover research expenses, such as travel costs, book purchases, and archive and library fees. The funds also have allowed Harker’s library to expand its student access to electronic databases essential for higher-level research. The first Near scholars were from the Class of 2011, making this the 10th year of senior research papers. Mitra scholars began submitting papers in 2012. Near/Mitra scholars can enjoy the comfort and privacy of the John Near Resource Room in Shah Hall, which is available to them as a study space.
John Near was a beloved history teacher at Harker until his death in 2009. His career spanned 31 years as a middle and upper school teacher, coach and department chair. His parents, Jim and Pat Near, together with his wife, Pam Dickinson, director of Harker’s Office of Communication, and his daughter, Casey Near ’06, established the Excellence in History Endowment according to John’s wishes.
“John’s vision was to promote professional development and pedagogical excellence in history education,” Gilbert said. “John wanted students to build research skills through a deeper dive into history.” To that end, she and former library director Sue Smith developed the scholars program, engaging librarians to guide the students in research skills and information literacy, as well as faculty members to serve as subject matter advisors.
“That first year, we worried no one would want to do it,” said Smith, noting that Near/Mitra is a research program with a level of rigor not often seen at the high school level. “But Harker being Harker, we have amazing students who have always embraced the love of learning.”
Six students were selected as Near scholars in the first two years of the program, completing papers on such topics as the suitability of military justice during the Vietnam War and Sino-American economic relations from 1972 to 1989.
In 2011, an endowment established by Harker parents Samir and Sundari Mitra expanded the program to include support for students who wished to conduct research in the humanities, including literature, art, music and the social sciences. The first Mitra scholar was Sarah Howells ’12, who wrote about Winston Churchill’s efforts to unify Britain from 1940 to 1941. Her paper won first place at the 2012 Churchill Research Paper competition at the University of Minnesota.
“This program transforms students from those waiting for teachers to take the lead into students who take the reins of their learning,” said upper school librarian Meredith Cranston, who has advised Near/Mitra scholars since 2011. “It’s so rewarding to see the delight in their eyes as they make discoveries and connections. The rise in their intellectual confidence is amazing to watch.”
The program emphasizes the process of conducting rigorous research and writing a lengthy paper; therefore, Near/Mitra scholars are not graded on their work, nor is there any monetary prize awarded to them.
“Because the program operates outside of the normal high school evaluation process, our students don’t have to focus on having achieved what they may think is success or failure based on a final grade,” said history teacher Damon Halback, who has mentored nine Near/Mitra scholars. “It’s more important that they learn what serious advanced academic scholarship looks like and achieve a level of critical thinking they can carry with them lifelong.”
Wide-Ranging Research Interests
Sixty-one Harker students have participated in the Near/Mitra scholars program in the first decade of its existence, and the research topics they’ve chosen have been as varied as the students themselves.
“As the program grew, we saw a rise in interdisciplinary interests,” said Smith, who retired from Harker last year. “That reflects students’ thinking that solving problems isn’t siloed in a singular field.”
Some Near/Mitra scholars have gone beyond expectations for their research. For example, Mitra scholar Shivani Mitra ’13 – the daughter of program benefactors – wrote a paper on artist Frida Kahlo. She traveled to Mexico City to visit museums and archives and communicated with one of Kahlo’s relatives. Near scholar Leon Lu ’19 talked his way into the Library of Congress to study the original works of his research subject, jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus.Lu, a first-year student at Columbia University, said access to those materials was pivotal to his research.
“I got great perspective into Mingus’ temperament and how he approached writing music, including that every note he placed on the paper had meaning. It also gave me a portal into the Civil Rights era during which he was writing,” Lu said.
Mitra scholar Elisabeth Siegel ’16 wrote an algorithm to help her examine how news organizations used language to portray Palestinians during the summer of the 2014 offensive in Gaza. She then drew connections to an existing scholarly system about the impacts of colonialism.
“It was my first in-depth and focused look at Middle East politics,” she said. “I gained a lot of knowledge about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that I was able to bring with me to college.” She is a senior international relations major at Yale University and her Mitra paper was published in the university’s Review of International Studies in March 2017.
Near/Mitra scholars agree that what makes the program so successful is the expertise and guidance of their faculty mentors and librarians.
Near scholar Andrew Rule ’17, a junior studying comparative literature and Chinese at Williams College, examined the coinciding of the increase in published Native American literature with the rise in activist movements between 1968 and 1978.
“My mentors taught me how to effectively construct and write an advanced academic argument,” he said. “I felt well prepared for comparative literature courses in college and had the expected ability to digest dense literary criticism, since I’d already done that in high school.”
Near scholar Kelsey Wu ’19, a first-year student at Harvard University, wrote about the role culture plays in the challenges faced by first-generation Chinese-American parents of autistic children. Her paper was awarded the Best Manuscript Award in the fall 2019 issue of The Harvard Undergraduate Research Journal.
Wu’s mentors were her “most valuable resources,” she said. “Beyond a deeper knowledge of my topic, I learned how to properly cite sources, how to avoid plagiarism and how to use keywords effectively to find the exact sources I needed. These are research skills I’m using in college.”
The gratitude for the program goes both ways, with mentors equally relishing their work with students. “Most teachers and librarians would say Near/Mitra is an incredible opportunity to work one-on-one with students,” Smith said. “That’s something we could never have foreseen when we began this program in 2009 – that it would become such a joy for faculty. It’s so rewarding to see that it’s blossomed into an amazing experience for everyone involved.”
The reception began with opening words by the co-directors of the programs, upper school history chair Donna Gilbert and upper school librarian Lauri Vaughn, who commended the students on their hard work and intellectual curiosity in creating this year’s papers. Joe Rosenthal, executive director of strategic initiatives, then recapped the history of the endowments and announced the Chen-Lin Family Inspiring Faculty Growth in the Humanities Endowment, a new professional development opportunity for Harker faculty.
Following an introduction by Harker advancement director Kim Lobe, each of this year’s scholars and their respective mentors spoke on the experience of creating their research projects.
2019-20 Near Scholars:
Simar Bajaj, mentored by Katy Rees, Mike Pistacchi and Meredith Cranston: “Wealthy White Men Only: Examining the American Medical Association’s Use of ‘The Flexner Report’ as Propaganda to Reform Medical Education”
Ellen Guo, mentored by Donna Gilbert and Meredith Cranston: “Bi Means of Queer: A Bisexual View of Sedgwick’s ‘Closet'”
Madison Huynh, mentored by Julie Wheeler and Amy Pelman: “Door Half-Open: Postwar American Legislation’s Failure to Support Vietnamese Assimilation”
Kalyan Narayanan, mentored by Pauline Paskali and Lauri Vaughn: “’We’ve Got to Fight the Powers That Be’: Discourse and Disobedience in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing”
2019-20 Mitra Scholars:
Prerana Acharyya, mentored by Roxana Pianko and Lauri Vaughn: “Dancing into Propaganda: Nazi Appropriation of Ausdruckstanz”
Kathy Fang, mentored by Beth Wahl and Lauri Vaughn: “’But a Woman’: Reassessing Portrayals of Women and Sex in the Restoration ‘Tempest'”
Jeffrey Fung, mentored by Byron Stevens and Meredith Cranston: “Take Up the Cross: Pagan Elements in Lactantius’ De Mortibus Persecutorum” Anya Gert, mentored by Amy Pelman, Damon Halback and Trish Ludovici: “Squatters and Their Street Art: How the Counterculture Undermined Sanctioned Artwork in Occupied West Berlin”
Last week, seven of this year’s Near-Mitra scholars – seniors Andrew Semenza, Amy Jin, Derek Yen, Emily Chen, Nirban Bhatia and Jackie He – visited the Stanford Humanities Center, which sponsors research into human history, arts, philosophy and culture. The students received a tour of the facility and met with the Hume Humanities Honors fellows. Each year, eight Stanford seniors are selected for the year-long fellowship.
Donna Gilbert, upper school history department chair, said the trip was made “to foster and facilitate a conversation and collaboration between our two programs.” Gilbert also identified a desire to discover how the fellows and Harker’s scholars have had similar experiences during their research and use those experiences to develop “best practices” in humanities research.
The idea to have the students meet with the Hume fellows was spurred by upper school English teacher Beth Wahl, who worked at the Stanford Humanities Center for several years. “It made sense to try to connect Harker’s Near-Mitra scholars to undergraduates doing humanities research and set up a conversation about research methods, the range of projects that fall under the humanities and the value of a humanities major,” Wahl told Harker Aquila.