Barbara A. Yates International Research Award Recipients

Three 2008-2009 RECIPIENTS OF THE YATES AWARD

Emilie Bagby, (Economics) for research on Understanding How Resource-Constrained Households in Developing Countries Make Decisions on Investing in Child Health and Education: Burkino Faso and Ecuador

Emilie Bagby, from the US, is a PhD student in Economics.  She received her Masters in Economics also from UIUC.  In her undergraduate degree she double-majored in Economics and Engineering, with a minor in French.  She has received Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships, and she has co-authored a chapter with Prof. Elizabeth Powers on “Poverty and Inequality in Illinois.”  She spent two summers in Ecuador conducting research and is currently in Burkina Faso to collect household survey data for her fieldwork, and thus is unable to be here today.  She hopes to combine her Latin American research with her research in Burkina Faso to help inform health and education policy in developing countries. 

 

 

Marizel Dávila,(Recreation, Sport & Tourism) for research on Marginalized and Incarcerated Women in Puerto Rico

Marizel Dávila, from Puerto Rico, is a PhD student in Recreation, Sport and Tourism.  She has an undergrad degree in Sociology, Law and Society and a Masters in Leisure Studies from UIUC.  She has written a journal article with Professor Kimberly Shinew that was based on her thesis study of women who have experienced domestic abuse.  She has served within the community as a rape counselor and in the State’s Attorney’s Office as a Domestic Violence Advocate.  She has presented her work at several national conferences, and she has held positions of prestige in her department, most notably as an independent instructor.  She has received numerous accolades for her outstanding ability as an excellent teacher.

 

 

Aidé Acosta,(Anthropology) for research on Latina/o Immigration and Community Formation in Rural Midwest

Aidé Acosta, from Mexico, is a PhD student in Anthropology with a Masters in Anthropology from UIUC.  She has received numerous awards including a National Science Foundation Diversity Fellowship and an Outstanding rating as an Excellent teacher.  She has forthcoming publications in the encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in U.S. History and Culture.  She has made numerous conference presentations and is a community leader in organizing local conferences and student organizations. 

 

 

2007-2008 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD

Batamaka Somé, (Anthropology) for research on Intrahousehold Negotiations and Gender Dynamics of Cotton Production in Rural Southwest Burkina Faso

Batamaka Somé, from Burkina Faso, is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology. He has a BA in Modern Languages and Anglophone Studies and an MA in African Literature, both from the Université de Ouagadougou. He has received several awards and fellowships as well as distinction for excellence in teaching, writing, and international understanding. His most recent major award is a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. He is a former president of the African Students' Organization and co-president of the Graduate Anthropology Student Association on campus. He is proficient in several languages and has published a forthcoming entry in the Encyclopedia of the Modern World.
His research focuses on household relations as they affect the attitudes and interest vis-à-vis cotton growing in Southwest Burkina Faso, and the impact of women's recent organic cotton production on cultural change and social relations. Batamaka also plans to observe the environmental behaviors of randomly chosen women of different farming households and analyze the long-term consequences on land fertility and productivity. He hopes his research will provide tools for impacting polices in rural development and gender equity at national, regional, continental and even global levels.

2006-2007 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD

Karin Berkhoudt, (Anthropology) for research on Nature Conservation, Ethnic Politics, and the Gender Dynamics of Daily Bakigo Life in Uganda

Karin Berkhoudt, from The Netherlands, has a Master of Science degree in Biology and is currently a doctoral student in sociocultural anthropology. She has specialized in African primate research and other areas, including food choice of bonobos, rhesus macaques, and bears and bear trade in Europe, Russia, and India. She has become increasingly interested in the human populations affected by the conservation parks in Africa and human environment relations in such settings. Her research will examine the interplay between nature conservation, ethnic politics, and the gender dynamics of daily lives among people of the Bakiga ethnic group living outside the boundaries of Kibale National Park in Uganda. She will be in Uganda this summer and again next year to gather ethnographic data. She hopes to apply her research results “to formulate policy recommendations that incorporate and adjust to an understanding of the role gender plays and that, as such, may contribute to relieve tensions between the state and local communities as well as between ethnic groups.” Ms. Berkhoudt has received a Fulbright Scholarship and several other grants, and she has published articles in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and other publications. She has co-authored articles and she has also made photographic contributions to publications. She is fluent in several languages and is taking lessons in Bantu.

2005-2006 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD

Eliza Johannes, from South Africa, is a doctoral student in Educational Policy Studies. Her research is on Education for Social Transformation among Nomadic Pastoralist Indigenous Women in Great Lakes Region, Africa. She hopes to confront ambiguities and contradictions that have not explained the uniqueness of nomadic pastoralists and the obstacles inhibiting their access to educational opportunities. Ms. Johannes was a secondary school instructor in Tanzania and also taught African Studies courses in geography, culture and politics at the Evergreen State College, Juvenile Correction Center. She has presented papers at conferences and received a scholarship for outstanding academic achievement.

 

2004-2005 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD

Meera Murthi, from India, is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology. She has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Radford University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Mumbai. She has received several Outstanding Student Achievement Awards from Radford and a UIUC Counseling Psychology Fellowship in 2000. Her research is concerned with communal violence against minority Muslim women in India and the intergroup conflict between Muslim and Hindu communities. The practical application of Ms. Murthi’s research will involve “designing psycho-educational programs that work with Hindu and Muslim youth and adult groups to encourage dialogue that addre sses biases, stereotypes, and myths about gender and minority communities. ”

 

2003-2004 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD

Sibel Cekic, from Turkey, is a doctoral student in Sociology. She received a fellowship from the Turkish Republic Ministry of Education for her graduate studies here. Her dissertation research will analyze the historical development of the women’s movement against gender-based violence in Turkey and its relationship with the state.

 

 

 

2002-2003 RECIPIENT OF THE YATES AWARD