Social and Environmental Justice Research Grants

Jesse Ferraioli '23 (advisor: Plunkett)
My research focused on water ethics in North America, specifically regarding how water is governed on indigenous lands in North America. In the past 20 years, the Canadian government has begun to recognize the ethical importance of the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities and how "interjurisdictional collaboration" with them is key for effective political solutions to protecting water resources. In the U.S., economic equity is still the base point for valuing water, whereas in Canada, policymakers are attempting something new. Recognizing the importance of the bias of knowledge that goes into policy can allow policy-makers to avoid the marginalization of Indigenous governance over their own natural resources: something that happens too often in the United States. The philosophical bases I considered were ethics and epistemology, and I used this research grant as a jumping-off point to begin research into a larger project or thesis down the road. The scope of my research combines both of my academic focuses on philosophy and environmental studies.

Anthony Perez '23 (advisor: Plunkett)
The goal of my research will be to learn more about the way that anti-discrimination law plays into current political topics like affirmative action and reparations for African-Americans. First, I considered the legal philosophy question as to how anti-discrimination law interacts with our notions of fairness and equality. In other words, in what ways, if any, should the law be used to promote perceived societal progress? Second, I considered the normative question specifically regarding affirmative action and reparations. I am interested in how greater integration might plays into something like affirmative action since one consequence of affirmative action is, ideally, greater racial integration within certain institutions.

Connor Roemer '23 (advisor: Binkoski)
Environmental justice is the idea that there should be a just distribution of costs and benefits amongst parties privy to environmental issues. Often times, many of the worst ecological and environmental effects disproportionately impact marginalized groups or those in developing countries. Environmental justice can be witnessed on both a local, domestic, and international level. In this period of rapid global change, environmental justice is becoming more important than ever. Additionally, the climate crisis is exacerbating these issues on an unprecedented level, bringing the climate justice to the forefront as well. My research project focused on these issues, as well as the resulting ethical questions. Who has moral duties when it comes to environmental justice? Do we as individuals have a moral obligation to reduce these environmental disparities? Do the United States and other developed nations have a moral obligation to remedy the global inequalities? How can we best go about it?

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John C. Ejiogu '23 (advisor: Kulvicki)
I worked on a research project titled "Beyond Being Black." This research stemmed out of a genuine curiosity to understand the complexities that surround the life of the black person in the United States. And I say genuine curiosity because I realized that my lived experiences, by virtue of the society in which I received formation, a predominantly black society, are fundamentally different from those of the average black person in the United States, the most recent space that I inhabit; a space in which I am faced with new experiences. Drawing primarily on the concept of double consciousness, it's most basic definition being "the sense of looking at one's self through the eyes of others," I sought to understand how the lived experiences of the black person affect both the way they view themselves and the way they interact with other members of the society, black and non-black.

Kaitlyn N. Kelley '22 (advisor: Brison)
With the social justice research grant, I was able to research the question of why many women engage in an internal debate as to whether an encounter should be considered sexual assault or not. This question was important to me in the context of philosophy as it concerns a woman's autonomy in the aftermath of sexual assault. It is up to the victim of sexual assault to determine to report the incident or not; however, we are also socially constituted and are subject to influence from social conditions that might not align with our individual beliefs and desires. Through my research, I was able to delve into historical misconceptions of sexual assault ("rape myths") and potential social repercussions of reporting an incident (e.g. embarrassment, shame). I'm hoping to take what I've learned this summer and use it in my roles on campus as an Undergraduate Advisor and participant in Greek life to support those who have experienced sexual assault.

William M. (Max) Lawrence '24 (advisor: Bumpus)
My research starts with the proposition that universal adequacy and quality in the public school system in the U.S. is a forgotten dream.  From the observation of extreme educational inequity that seems to be a result of the existence of private schools, I considered the option of the national prohibition of private K-12 education.  My final output was a paper which concluded that the federal government ought prohibit K-12 private schools. Overall, the social justice research grant gave me an extremely valuable opportunity to practice and develop my skills in conducting deep and thoughtful research and slowly and methodically forming my thoughts and arguments in the field of education research.  Having the time to research and write over the span of multiple months has opened up aspects of the philosophical research process which were simply not available to me or possible in the conventional class paper timeline of 1-2 weeks.  Because of this, the extended process of proposing, researching, and then writing my final research paper has been one of the most intellectually enriching educational experiences I have ever had.

Rine Uhm '22 (advisor: Cruise)
I researched how notions of justice, equality, and family have been theorized in the Western canon as part of an effort to better understand the canon upon which John Rawls formulated his theory of justice. Second, I engaged with some of the feminist critiques of Rawls, and specifically those given by Susan Moller Okin. I'm interested in the politics of gender, family, and sexuality, and wanted to know more about how Okin and some of her feminist contemporaries theorize these concepts, and in particular how their theories align with or challenge the views that we find, implicitly or explicitly, in Rawls and the tradition in which he was working. Third, after getting clear on the shape of this debate, I turned to several questions: How might Rawls (or a Rawlsian) respond to his feminist critics? Is feminist theory consistent with Rawls's theory of justice? To what extent is liberalism a useful political philosophy for a feminist agenda?

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John J. Cho '22 (advisor: Plunkett)
For the Social Justice Research Grant, I am interested in studying the intersection of philosophy of race, Rawlsian theories of justice, and political representation. The research question I will look at is: what type of political representation does Rawl's theory of justice demand in forming the basic structure of society, especially concerning racial minorities? I envision my project interacting with two broad fields in political philosophy. First, I will look at the theory of justice as fairness by using Rawls and various Rawlsian philosophers. Additionally, I will also look at theories of political representation, especially focusing on issues of descriptive representation. Although both theories of justice and political representation are foundational ideas in political philosophy, they often do not interact. I hope to investigate ways in which these not so disparate fields can reinforce each other.

George S. Gerber '23 
Historically, education has been a scarce resource reserved for the privileged and powerful; it has not even been 70 years since the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. Given that educational injustices exist, this research intends to study distributive justice and its intersection with educational equality. The project will also serve as a significant foundation for my data science research during the winter term. Through this research, I intend to accomplish three primary objectives. I want to learn about the context and history behind educational inequality for certain groups, familiarize myself with various theories of distributive justice that may offer a solution to these problems, and understand how these theories of distributive justice practically apply to the case of educational inequality.

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Blake Yang '23 (advisor: Rosenkoetter)
For the social justice grant, I will research on poverty and explore the argument that absolute poverty is a matter of injustice. My approach to the question will be two-fold: on the one hand, it might be argued that absolute poverty is inseparable from other forms of injustice, such as racial, gender, and religious oppression, thus making it unjust. Through the lens of intersectionality, I will explore how these forms of injustice interact and reinforces each other. On the other hand, one might argue that absolute poverty is unjust in itself. I will undertake a Kantian approach to examine the plausibility of this argument. Through this research, I hope to gain a better understanding of poverty and its correlation with other forms of injustice, which will shed light on our understanding of systemic injustice that takes place in our society today.

Aaron Rosenthal '23 (advisor: Binkoski)
My research focused on the relationship between racial injustice and moral encroachment, the thesis that the epistemic rationality of a belief is partly a function of moral factors. The theory of moral encroachment raises a pressing question for epistemologists: If a racial assumption is statistically well-supported, is this assumption only morally wrong, or is it epistemically wrong as well? In exploring this question, my paper was specifically concerned with radical moral encroachment, the thesis that "Whether a person's belief that p is rational can depend on moral facts about her belief itself (where these facts are not merely derivative of facts about her actions or options)—including even moral facts that do not bear on whether p" (Fritz & Jackson, 1390). Ultimately, I defended the plausibility of this theory against counter arguments presented by James Fritz and Elizabeth Jackson in their 2020 paper, "Belief, credence, and moral encroachment." I contended that although Fritz and Jackson are right that high credences, like beliefs, can cause moral harm, they neglect how high credences cannot be quite as morally objectionable. And because they neglect this, they seem wrong in their assertion that radical moral encroachers cannot allow for high credences that stem from racism-based evidence. So, I argued, if someone forms a high credence based on racism-based evidence, radical moral encroachers can allow that this person is epistemically justified in forming their credence as long as the credence is lower than it would be if it were based on the evidence alone.

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Anders Knospe '23 (advisor: Plunkett)
(project description pending)

Ignacio Gutierrez '25 (advisor: Walden)
(project description pending)

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•  No Awards

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Katie Glance '23 (advisor: Binkoski)
The project aims to highlight the importance of Indigenous Māori ecological knowledge, particularly regarding plants, and its role in the management of New Zealand's natural resources. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things, sustainable use of plant resources, and conservation practices. Additionally, the project addresses the social justice issue of climate change, as it disproportionately affects Māori communities, impacting their cultural practices, health, and rights. The project calls for recognizing Māori rights, supporting community adaptation, and collaborating on policies to address the root causes of climate change. (supported by Irving Institute)

Nadine Lorini Formiga '25 (advisor: B. Thomas)
My research project explored a concept I theorized: the 'epistemic rift.' Its aim was to identify the gap between Western/white and Indigenous ways of knowing and relating to nature, considering the historical and colonial power dynamics that have fostered a rupture between Western and Indigenous epistemologies. The findings of my research revealed that this rift stems from a fundamental antagonism regarding distinct understandings of sovereignty and the value of nature. Additionally, it became evident that the implications of this rift are far-reaching, as they result in the neglect and violation of Indigenous rights, particularly in relation to land and resource exploitation. The research underscores the necessity for further investigation into the philosophical implications of the epistemic rift and how it can be addressed, beginning with the recognition of the importance of understanding this phenomenon. (supported by Irving Institute)

Rhea Karty '25 (advisor: Rosenkoetter)
(PHIL project summary pending)

Maria Cristoforo '24 (advisor: Brison)
My research concerns how stereotypes and discrimination related to race, class, and gender can be perpetuated and spread by algorithms, and subsequently how to best inform and educate college students about relevant tech ethics and algorithmic bias issues. As part of this research, I compiled and wrote several case studies about specific instances of harm caused by algorithmic bias and data privacy issues in industry, interviewed students to assess their current thoughts and concerns related to tech ethics, and then combined insights from both of these steps to design and prototype a few solutions to help facilitate discussions of tech ethics and algorithmic bias among college students.

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Rachel Kahng '25 (advisor: Binkoski)
This term I researched the scope and meaning of "self-determination" as a right of a people, focusing on its moral justifications. I first turned to several preliminary questions: How do we define "a people"? How critical is historical rootedness to a place? Does self-determination imply borders of a new nation-state? I then explored the contemporary understandings of self-determination and how historical and political factors intersect to form them. Drawing from Indigenous Studies scholars, historians, and other philosophers, I sought to understand why its meaning fluctuates as well as the strengths and weaknesses of its various moral justifications. I also considered international law, how self-determination is communicated through it, and the ways in which current international practice remains inconsistent with the moral justifications of self-determination. I hope to utilize this project as one of the philosophical foundations for future research in racial solidarity, Asian-Indigenous relationalities, and movements in Hong Kong, Guahan, and Okinawa.

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Eve Wening '24 
I began my research by trying to understand what 'she/they' and 'he/they' pronouns mean. However, as this project evolved I realized that the issue I had in understanding these pronouns wasn't that they hadn't been defined, but that I thought they should be. The extent to which gender is socially constructed makes it impossible to define any gender identity except in reference to other socially constructed characterizations. Thus, while 'she/they' and 'he/they' pronouns can't have an exhaustive meaning, they do recognize that social constructions of cisgender identity needn't be a default state; there's no prerequisite to rejecting implicit categorization. Nevertheless, in the context of identity politics, pronouns are interpreted as signals toward concretized identities. For an identity to be socially accepted, it must be ontologically validated. In progressive circles, this is fulfilled by self-assertion: "Everyone's identity is valid." But without further conversation it becomes difficult to describe what these identities are, and harder to imagine widespread social validation on such generous grounds. My research ultimately focuses on how the context of identity politics misconstrues rebellion against a nonsensical entity (the traditional gender binary) as a spectrum of distinct, yet undefinable identities. This misconstrual compromises the mission of deconstructing the gender binary; many struggle to understand what people are identifying as and why they would identify as such. This is not to say that identity politics is ineffective in other spaces, or cannot be harnessed in a more evolved way to this end, but rather, that the notion of 'identity,' as primed by identity politics, is incompatible with gender beyond the binary.

Joseph Miles Opulauoho '26 
My research project initially aimed to analyze and hopefully provide a solution to a specific racial based phenomenon in the US, namely that people with parents and grandparents of differing racial backgrounds are labeling themselves as one race at a very high rate. I considered this problem urgent, given both America's history of upholding the one drop rule and that mixed race persons are the fastest growing racial demographic. 
 
As part of this research I read Naomi Zach's book Race and Mixed Race, as well as excerpts from Micheal Hardimon, Philip Kitcher, Thomie Shelby, W.E.B. Dubois, Ron Mallon, Cornel West, and Linda Martin Alcoff. These authors and their works touched on various aspects of race, from its metaphysical and normative problems, to political theory. 
 
As I continued to read I was particularly influenced by Micheal Hardimon and Ron Mallon. It was Hardimon who first keyed me into the subtle distinction between race as a concept and a conception, and it was Ron Mallon's work that descriptively laid out some of the various phenomenon a constructionist account of race should address, namely: Passing, where a person of one race is identified as being of another race, that the race of an individual (their internal and external identification) changes where they are and what time they are in, and third the reality of race (that the social construction of race has real impacts on people and can both formulate and explain true, non accidental generalizations).
 
This research project has laid an excellent foundation for my further studies and has challenged me intellectually. I hope to continue this research and keep on testing new accounts for understanding race. 

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