19F-Undergraduate Fellows & Scholars

19F Scholars

Vitallia Williams ’22: I am a Dartmouth ’22 with a military background and a queer, mixed-race identity. The various intersections that make up who I am impact my daily experiences and how I move through the world, I was excited to learn that Dartmouth was prioritizing the research of how these particular identities work to inform, impact, and alter the way people move through a system that was not built to include them. I am particularly interested in the study of intersectional identity in the US military and US federal paramilitary organizations like CBP (Customs & Border Protection), the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms), and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). In addition to that specific interest, I am fascinated with collecting, analyzing, and sharing research that may be compelling from a federal and legal standpoint.

Keren A. Valenzuela ’21: Growing up with undocumented parents my initial interest in race and migration stems from close personal reasons. However, throughout my time at Dartmouth, both through classes I have taken as well as the opportunity to participate in community efforts to make the Upper Valley a safer place for immigrants, my interest in the matter has become a lot more well-rounded. I have been able to look at this historically, economically as well as come to understand just how my background is an asset when learning about and researching this. As of now, my research interests focus on undocumented construction labor in Texas.

Sirajum Sandhi ’21: I am pursuing a major in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. I am interested in understanding how colonialism and imperialism shape our understanding of gender and sexuality. I have studied gender and sexuality in relation to transnational socio-political factors, such as religion, caste, race, immigration status and class. As a first-generation, asylee, low-income, queer, Muslim, women, the question of race, migration, and sexuality is not only intellectually intriguing but also personally meaningful.

Jordan McDonald ’21: I am a Mellon Mays fellow studying History and English. My primary areas of interest concern the African diaspora, public history, popular culture, and cultural criticism within an American studies framework. As an academic and as a writer, I am often exploring questions of memory, archival process, and storytelling, all of which I believe to be undeniably informed by matters of race, migration, and sexuality. Through criticism, creative nonfiction, and archival research, I wish to continue exploring these ideas and to reimagine how we might represent our histories of migration (voluntary and involuntary) as they have shaped our historical memory and contemporary representation of the African Diaspora within American visual art, literature, and politics.

Carlos J. Polanco ’21: I am an English major, with focus on the literature of the diaspora–the Caribbean specifically. My research interests are a result of where I grew up: the Dominican Republic. Relations between Dominicans and Haitians are becoming increasingly hostile as the Dominican Republic continues its agenda of ethnic cleansing throughout the island. The barrio (neighborhood) that I grew up in is a microcosm of this. There is a lot more mixture and complexity to race relations especially when broken down across a gender lens in the Dominican Republic than initially perceived, and I conduct research along the border with individuals from both communities to understand how the general public is understanding Haitian migration as well as Dominican migration.

19F Fellows

Jasmine Butler ’21: I’m from Memphis, TN and I study geography here at Dartmouth. I joined RMS to reflect critically about race, migration, and sexuality in my work on the preparation and recovery from disasters in minority communities.

Tiffany Chang ’23: My hometown is Encino, California and I’m an intended sociology major. I’m interested in RMS because I think that it’ll help me create agency in spaces where passivity is the norm.

Uyen Dang ’21: I call both Saigon, Vietnam (where I was born) and Clearwater, FL (where I grew up) my hometown. I am majoring in anthropology. RMS is a way to celebrate, and find meaning in, each other’s and our own identities.

Iliana Godoy ’20: I am from Hilo, Hawai’i. I am currently majoring in Government and minoring in Studio Art with a focus on Printmaking. I joined RMS to meet with a cohort of fellow like-minded peers who wanted to explore academic fields beyond what Dartmouth currently serves, and I hope that we succeed in expanding Dartmouth’s interests and create a foundation for future generations of students.

Erika Hernandez ’22: I’m from Harlingen, Texas, considering a major in anthropology modified with global health and a minor in international studies. I’m interested in learning newly emerging theories about race. 

Maria Teresa Hidalgo Quintana ’22: I am from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and my intended majors are History and Government, as well as an intended minor in Russian Area Studies. I want to be part of RMS because it is a groundbreaking consortium that will have the tools and means necessary to bring topic of conversations that need to happen more on campus, while also fomenting my own research in these disciplines.

Jiachen Jiang ’20:  I am a Computer Science major, Human-Centered Design minor from Los Angeles, CA. I’m excited to work more closely with professors I admire and meet underclassmen passionate about the same things I am.

Audrey Karnan ’21: I am from Woodinville, Wa, a suburb of Seattle. I plan on majoring in Geography modified with Film Studies and African and African American Studies. RMS is an opportunity think about local and global issues, not just through one lens, but a multitude of identities and disciplines.

Alexandrea Keith ’20:  I am a double history and African and African American studies major from Philadelphia. I am interested in RMS because I am interested in thinking about conceptualizations of racial liberation and intersections of marginalized identities.

Kathryn Keyser ’20: I am a Sociology major modified with Hispanic Studies and an English minor from Cranbury, NJ. I am excited to join the RMS fellows and further my study of sociology, particularly my interest in immigration law, in a more intersectional way.

Anastasia Perez Ternent ’22: I’m from Miami, FL majoring in History with a concentration in film and minoring in Romance Languages: Spanish and Portuguese. I joined RMS to be surrounded by people both interested and critical in how the Dartmouth community discusses these topics. Also, I hope to make the community more aware and thoughtful of these topics as RMS becomes an integral part of the Dartmouth academic experience.

Pierce Wilson ’23: I am from Canton, MI, which is between Detroit and Ann Arbor. I’m interested in both Computer Science and Government, and I think I minor in Sustainability. Social justice and equity are important to me on a personal level, and I want to explore Dartmouth’s commitment to these issues. I also want to meet and network with the faculty in the identity-based departments.