Research Portfolio

This is a draft of my project which is a memo written to advisors of individuals with invisible disabilities. I envision this as offering advise to professionals who work with individuals with disabilities. For example, Syracuse University has individuals assigned to work with people that have disabilities to help their transition to the University as well as work with them on whatever adjustments are needed.

Let me know what you think.

WRT-205-Draft-Final-Project-Furcinito Download

Project Proposal – Tim

My project will be examining why the academic field of history is lacking in ethnic diversity as well as the range of global history taught in secondary education. In terms of the employment of ethnic minorities in academia in the field of history, I wish to understand if the employment today reflect the reality of the population demographics of the West. For example, this project aims to discover the historical education curriculum in places such as Great Britain, and how much of it reflects the nation’s colonial past and the diverse populations that played a major part in the trajectory of the country’s modern history. A closer example would be the United States, and how much of the historic content taught in classes are spent outside of the domestic issues and the Second World War. This study will also look into the benefits of a more diverse employment of ethnic minorities who can shed new light on their experiences as well as their respective ethnic group’s contributions to the history of their adopted homes. Another topic this project will look into is how the history curriculum can change to adapt to a more diverse America today. Perhaps through this project’s research, I can present a better reflection for the field of history.

Research Plan: Tim

What question is guiding your research?

The main question that I am focusing on for my research is why there is a lack of observable diversity in the field of historical education, both the educators themselves and the content taught in classes. My research will look into how historical education and the employment of ethnic minorities in said field will change based on current information.

Why this question?

There are a few reasons I picked this specific topic, given that I am very interested in the field of history and have already begun creating content which aim to increase general interest in this field and expand the availability of niche parts of history to a larger audience through media. And having experience attending both secondary school and university-level courses related to historical education, I realized that the representation of minorities in that field is not very visible and that there needs to be an improvement in the diversity of topics (especially related to history outside of the West, e.g. Africa, Asia and Oceania).

How will your professional/internship/organizational/course work inform your inquiry?

Certainly my experience within the field of history allowed me to see for myself the lack of ethnic minorities within the field. Although I have spent most of my life in Hong Kong and it is only natural that most of the other students are of Chinese descent, but it was during my trip to Virginia for an international history bowl competition where I discovered that the vast majority of participants in the US were white, and not indicative of the statistics of the ethnic makeup of the country. While I am not blaming academia or anyone for this reality, I do hope that more of the ethnic minority population of the states can become interested in the wider scale of history, and not be limited by the narrative of a nationalistic viewpoint that began in 1776.

What fields matter most in your inquiry?

Almost definitely the field of history. However, I will also like to look into fields related to that such as archeology and museum studies. In a wider view of things, I will also like to touch upon the diversity of educators in academia since it will certainly be related to my area of interest.

Project Proposal-Caitlin

My project will focus on the stigma behind men’s mental health and the stereotypes that deter men from reaching out for help. The reason I want to research this issue is because throughout this class, I have mainly focused on how sexism affects women because it is something I can relate to, but I want to research men’s mental health and show that it is also very important too and a topic that needs to be talked about more. This issue is commonly ignored due to stereotypes such as men don’t cry, need to ask for help, or show emotions is incredibly harmful and untrue. It creates a more toxic scenario in which the person struggling refuses to ask for help resulting in the problems festering and getting worse. There is a reason why almost two-thirds of all suicides are by men. This is the first time throughout this class that I am looking into this problem so I currently do not have any sources, but I am sure that the Syracuse Library Database has many promising articles, and I plan on looking for informative TEDtalks that go further in depth on men’s mental health because I am sure some exist. Through this research, I want to show people that they are not alone in their struggles and that there is no shame in asking for help. No one deserves to struggle alone. I think my intended audience would be men in their late teens and early twenties who might not have had the courage to ask for help and still believe that there is something wrong with needing help.

Project Proposal

My project will be examining the experience of women in the workplace. I am going to narrow my focus in on the discrimination and sexual harassment women endure every single day. I then would like to include information about BIPOC women and how that changes the experience even more. I hope to not only educate people on what this is but provide further information on how to identify it and how to not be a bystander. In other words, I would like this to do more than list off facts.

I want to present my information on an infographic because they are very informative and easy to read. However, space is limited so I will have to identify the most important sub-areas to cover. Since I did not cover this personally in Unit 1 or 2, I have to start from scratch with my sources. I want to include quotes of first-hand accounts as well as statistics to strengthen my argument. My audience will be young people entering the workforce.

As a woman, I think this topic is important to discuss because it affects our ability to feel safe, comfortable, and perform at our highest abilities. For some reason it is 2021 and this is still a daily issue.

Project Proposal- Julia

For my project, I will be examining the reasoning behind why female underrepresentation in STEM exists. To accomplish this, I will be evaluating various elements that may cause female underrepresentation. I will be using different sources to help me analyze my subject, mostly from my research portfolio that I completed at the end of unit two. These include popular sources, scholarly/academic articles, media such as TED talks, along with anything else that I may stumble upon that may be relevant to by subject. These sources will then translate into a paper which is written in a popular article format, such as a magazine. It will be around two pages typed, in length.

For my analysis I will be focusing on something different than when I emphasized the gravity that biological factors have in unit two. For this unit, I would like to dig deeper into some of the social factors that may influence female underrepresentation. The sources that I gathered in unit two focused on these factors (social), so I look forward to sharing them more with the class. After presenting my evidence, my analysis will lead the reader to understand that various factors lead to underrepresentation. Although certain factors may not be controlled, many are determined by our own choices.

In order to be successful in conveying my thoughts surrounding the reasons behind the underrepresentation of women, it is crucial to determine my target audience. For this project, I will be targeting college students. I believe college students are a great audience to target because many often have preconceived notions surrounding the reasons why something is the way it is. I think being able to present information to my peers in a concise manner would be beneficial not only to the audience to learn more about the topic but also for myself. I think it would be great to understand how to convey a message that is important but also engaging with people my age.

I look forward to exploring this subject further and cannot wait for the end result.

Project Proposal – Sherri

My project will be examining what it means to have significant and purposeful equity and inclusion for Black people in the workplace. I’ll be working with sources that are first-hand accounts of experiences of Black employees as well as scholarly sources that provide historical context on how misperceptions about Black people in society at-large leaks into the workplace. I’ll also be using data that shows higher levels of inequitable treatment of Black workers versus most other ethnicities as well as how initiatives that work for other underrepresented groups may not work for Black employees, despite the reverse being true. Additionally, I will speak to several of the criticisms that some people will surely have regarding this topic. I plan on building a case for there to be objectives and policies put into place that address the unique needs of Black employees and why this might benefit an organization. Ultimately, I hope to offer concrete solutions on how to meet those objectives. My intended audience will be company leaders and executives because as we’ve all learned as a class, without the buy-in of those at the top, meaningful change to company culture will not happen.

Project Proposal-Ed

My research project encompasses a topic that benefits me both personally as well as in this class. The first unit we studied involved topics on hiring individuals with disabilities as well as their contributions to organizations which intrigued me. Some disabilities are obvious, while others are well hidden and only discoverable if the individual discloses them. I envision my research to take the form of memo to advise professionals as well as individuals about the advantages and disadvantages involved in disclosing invisible disabilities. I have worked with or known people that worked with agencies such as ACCES-VR (ACCES-VR assists individuals with disabilities to achieve and maintain employment and to support independent living through training, education, rehabilitation, and career development) and ARISE (Advocacy and accessibility focuses on changing policies and removing barriers people with disabilities face in their everyday lives. It’s about working with companies, organizations, and government to support initiatives and legislation that would benefit people with disabilities.). I envision drafting a memo to help these professionals advise their clients on how to handle situations. The situations involve: (1) what are advantages and disadvantages of disclosing invisible disabilities in the work environment? Pre and post-employment; (2) are there factors of influence resulting in a positive outcome of disclosure? I have interviewed individuals in these organizations and will include information on how they currently advise their clientele. I plan to include examples whenever possible since they provide concrete information that is relatable to specific situations. I think the readers would be likely to engage in text that presented data backed up with research. The expectation is that I would have sources cited to give an authoritative and persuasive tone to my memo. My goal is to provide easy to read yet research backed information that will help individuals determine the best course of action for their particular situation. My research project encompasses a topic that benefits me both personally as well as in this class. The first unit we studied involved topics on hiring individuals with disabilities as well as their contributions to organizations which intrigued me. Some disabilities are obvious, while others are well hidden and only discoverable if the individual discloses them. I envision my research to take the form of memo to advise professionals as well as individuals about the advantages and disadvantages involved in disclosing invisible disabilities. I have worked with or known people that worked with agencies such as ACCES-VR (ACCES-VR assists individuals with disabilities to achieve and maintain employment and to support independent living through training, education, rehabilitation, and career development) and ARISE (Advocacy and accessibility focuses on changing policies and removing barriers people with disabilities face in their everyday lives. It’s about working with companies, organizations, and government to support initiatives and legislation that would benefit people with disabilities.). I envision drafting a memo to help these professionals advise their clients on how to handle situations. The situations involve: (1) what are advantages and disadvantages of disclosing invisible disabilities in the work environment? Pre and post-employment; (2) are there factors of influence resulting in a positive outcome of disclosure? I have interviewed individuals in these organizations and will include information on how they currently advise their clientele. I plan to include examples whenever possible since they provide concrete information that is relatable to specific situations. I think the readers would be likely to engage in text that presented data backed up with research. The expectation is that I would have sources cited to give an authoritative and persuasive tone to my memo. My goal is to provide easy to read yet research backed information that will help individuals determine the best course of action for their particular situation.

Category: Research Portfolio