2024-25 PURI Award Recipients Announced

November 7, 2024 - Emily Jodway

The MSU College of Social Science recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Provost’s Undergraduate Research Initiative (PURI) awards. Partnered with the Office of the Provost, the college awards funding to exceptional undergraduate students to support their research endeavors and gives them an opportunity to work closely with faculty mentors on their scholarly projects as well. These students typically work one-on-one with a faculty member or as members of a research team including both faculty and graduate students. Many have gone on to deliver conference papers, share authorship of published articles, or present work at the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) based on the research they have conducted as part of this program. 

This year, 37 students across nine disciplines were awarded funding for a range of projects. One such project was a partnership between students Erin Willcock and Reece Walker with Dr. Stacey Camp, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the MSU Campus Archaeology Program. This group worked this past summer on the excavation of the foundation of MSU’s first campus observatory, a project that ended up being highlighted nationwide . Another project, this one a joint endeavor between Human Development and Family Studies student Sainab Alsalihi and Dr. Sarah Douglas, utilized the use of sensor technology to measure the social interactions of children with disabilities. Dr. Douglas is a faculty expert in the realm of special education, assistive technology and autism.

A few more examples of this year’s research topics are listed below:

  • Issues Beyond Words: Creative Cultures, Visual Dialogues and Social Justice (Isabelle Richard, Elizabeth Drexler, Anthropology)

  • The Gang Resistance and Education and Training Project (Quincy Zhou, Chris Melde, Criminal Justice)

  • Economics PhDs in North America over the last 120 years (Son Vu Hoang Le, Harrison Kubicki and Hanzhe Zhang, Economics)

  • Race and the Politics of Executive Appointments (Tomas Feldmann Tonelli, Alexander Hubbs and Ian Ostrander, Political Science)

  • Addressing Racial and Socioeconomic Healthcare Disparities in Women’s Perinatal Healthcare Experiences (Amaya Elliott, Alytia Levendowsky, Psychology)

  • Parenting Workshop on Social Service Use for Families with Young Children (Hyujin Song, Kyunghee Lee, Social Work)

  • Policy Solutions to Support Women in Skilled Trades: A Partnership with the Michigan Women’s Commission (Das Prachurjo, Delaney Cram and Heather McCauley, College of Social Science)

To learn more about the PURI program and other scholarship opportunities within the College of Social Science, click here .