The Riecker Undergraduate Research Grant, established in 1994 by the late Ranny Riecker, awards funding to U-M faculty members engaged in gender-related research, making it possible for them to include undergraduate students on their research teams. Faculty members may apply for up to $2,000 to pay the wages of an undergraduate student as part of his/her research team.

This year, CEW has awarded Riecker Undergraduate Research Grants to six U-M faculty members engaged in gender-focused research. Congratulations to all who were awarded Riecker Undergraduate Research Grants this year!

April Bigelow, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Department of Health Behavior & Biological Sciences:  Perceptions and Realties in Health Literacy among Detroit’s Chronically Homeless Population

This study will evaluate the perceptions of chronically homeless adults in Detroit, Michigan and will attempt to evaluate gender differences in perceptions of health, healthcare access, and the ideas of “self-management” of chronic disease versus “self-medication.”

Sarah Rominski, Assistant Professor, U-M Medical School, Obstetrics and Gynecology:  Addressing Gender Based Violence on University Campuses in Ghana and South Africa

A collaborative team made up of researchers from the Universities of Michigan, Cape Coast (Ghana), and Cape Town recently adapted a sexual violence prevention program and are now working to evaluate the program and determine the best way to deliver the curriculum. Gender Based Violence (GBV) is the most pervasive human rights violation in the world, and preventing it has recently become a priority area on university campuses in Ghana and South Africa. This project evaluates the effectiveness of a primary prevention program for GBV reduction in two sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana and South Africa.

Michelle Munro-Kramer, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences:  An Interactive Approach to Gender Based Violence Prevention in Ghana

This study will adapt a pre-existing primary prevention curriculum to be piloted at the University of Cape Coast with a focus on impacting levels of rape myth acceptance, gender inequality, and victim blaming. After the pilot and feasibility testing, this exciting work has the potential to be delivered to the entire freshman class of the University of Cape Coast (about 6,000 students) and could be utilized by other universities within the country. University of Michigan students will also be utilized to train University of Cape Coast students to deliver the revised curriculum using a training-of-trainers (TOT) model. 

Francine Banner, Associate Professor, Associate Professor:  Playing the Rape Card: Sexual Assault on Social Media This research project focuses particularly on the ways in which, although the internet offers the capacity for mass organization to further social justice, the medium often functions as a site of exclusion rather than liberation. Banner is working on a book that focuses on social media discussions about alleged victims and alleged perpetrators in recent, highly-publicized sexual assault cases. Chapters focus on issues such as cyber bullying and trolling, the impact of rape mythologies on socially mediated discourses, and the reciprocal relationship between online discussions and real life legal outcomes. 

Rafael Meza, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology:  Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women in Two Semi-Rural Communities in Guatemala

This research project focused on understanding the barriers and facilitators women face in obtaining screening for cervical cancer in Guatemala. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 women in Santiago Atitlán and Livingston, Guatemala, using a semi-structured interview guide to explore knowledge about cervical cancer and screening practices. Acceptability of self-screening for HPV as an alternative to cervical cancer screening was also explored. Preliminary analysis suggests that economic restraints, a lack of preventive healthcare practices and stigma around reproductive healthcare present barriers to screening. Relationships with female family members and friends and local health campaigns facilitate care seeking behaviors among participants.

Maria Cotera, Associate Professor, American Culture, Latinx Studies, and Women’s Studies:  Chicana Por Mi Raza: Uncovering the Hidden History of Chicana Feminism

Chicana por Mi Raza (CPMR) is a digital humanities project that involves the collection, digitization, and display of archival materials and oral histories related to the development of Chicana Feminist thought and praxis over the long civil rights era. The project proposes both the collection of documents related to this history—photographs, posters, correspondence, written material (both published and unpublished), ephemera—and the development of a flexible web-based user interface that can allow users, both professional and novice, to access these materials through interactive timeline and mapping utilities.

In 2007, Riecker established the Riecker Graduate Student Research Fund which awards up to $1,500 to U-M graduate students engaged in student-designed, student-conducted academic research, with a gender focus, on topics related to CEW’s mission. This fund has increased CEW’s ability to support emerging scholars, enabling them to collaborate with and learn from, experienced researchers.

Congratulations to all who were awarded Riecker Graduate Student Research Grants this year!

H. Yanna Yan, PhD Student, Survey Methodology:  Memory Bookmarking: an Approach to Improve Recall in Time Use Surveys

Angubeen Gul Khan, Graduate Student, Health Behavior & Health Education:  Assessing intimate partner violence and the reproductive health needs of Arab American women in Dearborn, MI, through a culturally and religiously sensitive approach

Sadie Lehmker and Molly Paberzs, Graduate Students, School of Music, Theatre & Dance:  In Performance: the construction of female identities alongside feminist approaches within ensemble improvisation

Sara Abelson, PhD Student, Health Behavior & Health Education:  Mental Health of Transgender College Students from a Diverse National Sample of Colleges and Universities

Jessica Joslin, PhD Student, Women’s Studies:  Student Religious Identity Negotiation at the University of Michigan

Jallicia Jolly, PhD Student, African American & Diasporic Studies and American Culture:  Regimes of Care – Understanding HIV/AIDS and Sexual & Reproductive Health in Jamaica

 

The next application cycle will open February 1, 2017 for summer 2017 funding. Click here for more information.