The Directed Independent Study Project (DISP) allows you to build upon your language and cross-cultural skills as you form new relationships with members of the host culture and systematically explore an area of special interest in your field of study or major. If you use the DISP period as an opportunity to enhance cultural immersion learning, you can expect to achieve some important outcomes: your language skills are likely to blossom as you tackle more challenging conversational topics with a wider range of people; your process of cultural adjustment will most likely accelerate as you function more fully and independently in the new culture; and your overall confidence will likely increase dramatically as you use your language to forge new relationships and negotiate the many challenges of conducting community-based research in a new culture.
Samples of student projects:
Informed Interventions in the Care of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Palapye, Botswana
-Kate McCalmont, Bowdoin College
The Struggles to Provide Universal Public Health Care in a Poverty-Stricken Nation Facing an AIDS Pandemic
-Ramesh K. Bhagat, Occidental College
Internship in Media: Vision Africa and TM Pictures
-Darren McKay, Pitzer College
The Effects of Botswana’s Elephant Populations on Agriculture and Tourism in Botswana’s Chobe District
-Chris Cook, Pitzer College
Large Carnivore Research Project: Collaring Lions
-Matthew B. Zimmerman, Whitman College
Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre: The Bukakhwe Cultural Conservation Trust
-Joe Amick, Pitzer College
Patterns of Pay: A Study of the Organization and Sustainability of the Basket Weaving Industry in Botswana
-Amy Brisson, Swarthmore College
Wildlife Census and Analysis of the Correlations between Rainfall and Impala Populations in the Santawane Region of the Okavango Delta
-Sarah Hardee, Whitman College
Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Depression: A Comparison of TCM and Western Systems of Health Care
-Rashelle Hakak, Pitzer College
Cultural Relativism in the Practice of TCM in the United States and China
-Cora Forsten, Pitzer College
Affordability of Current Health Care in Beijing for Senior Citizens
-Olubunmi Ajose, Occidental College
Acupuncture in Modern China
-Stephen Duvignau, Swarthmore College
Diabetes in Beijing and New York: Treatment, Education, Awareness, and Advocacy
-Rachel Steinman, Barnard College
The Role of Media in Forming Opinions about the September 11th Terrorist Attacks among Chinese Students
-Aaron Spivak, Davidson College
Who Reads China Daily and 21st Century? - A Study of English Language Press in China
-Chase Thornhill, Pitzer College
Chinese Terms of Address: Linguistic Change as Part of Social and Political Change
-Jessica Batke, Pitzer College
Calligraphy in Today’s China: Brushing Up or Drying Out? A Study of Practice and Place in Modern Society
-Alison Kosinski, Cornell University
Leaf-cutter Ant (Genus: Atta) Colony Distribution & General Ant Biodiversity Baseline study
-Christopher Wheeler, Pitzer College
Baseline Data for Secondary Forest Growth in Barú, Costa Rica
-Elspeth Llewellyn, Scripps College
Community Structure, Resources, and Dynamics in Platanillo, Costa Rica
-Toby St. Clair, Pitzer College
Baseline Research on Butterfly Biodiversity and Community Composition
-Emily Haber, Scripps College
Water Quality and Near-shore Fish Populations in Developed vs. Undeveloped Shoreline
-Gus Porter, Pitzer College
Sacred Places, Nature Deities, and Paradise Legends: Nature Mythology of Sikkim
-Andy Orr, Colby College
Integrated Medicine in Labdang, India
-Neha Mehrotra, Brown University
Why Gods Heal: Buddhist Religious Ceremonies and Holy Places of Sikkim
-David Owen, Swarthmore College
Buddhist Religious Music
-Alison Mathes, Pomona College
Traditional Herbal Medicine Among the Lepcha, Limbu, and Gurung Population of West Sikkim: Application and Cultural Significance
-Julie Law, Brown University
Darjeeling Tea: Historic Significance and Contemporary Difficulties
-Sebastian Dettman, Pitzer College
Women and Development in Bung Busty, Kalimpong
-Jenny Lawson, Brown University
Road Culture of Darjeeling District and Sikkim
-Evan Blair, Pomona College
Thou the Range of Speech Transcending: The Role of Sound in Buddhist Pujas
-Alison Mathes, Pomona College
El Sistema Educativo de la Guardería “Tierra de Hombres”
-Kristina Becht, Occidental College
Los Niños Pobres de Quito y las Organizaciones que les Apoyan
-Heather Fishman, Colby College
Entre la Inclusión y la Exclusión Un Caso de Estudio de La Coordinadora Política de Mujeres: Rompiendo el Silencio con las Manos Negras
-Oluakemi Balogun, Pomona College
La Opresión Histórica, un Estudio sobre el Machismo en el Ecuador
-Jennifer Hall Taylor, New York University
El Valor de los Cambios Dentro de la Iglesia Católica: La Teología de la Liberación
-Brian Hennessey, Wesleyan University
La Representación del Movimiento Indígena Ecuatoriano desde el Punto de Vista del Sector Blanco/Mestizo
-Chris Strunk, Wesleyan University
El Cuidado de la Salud y la Educación al Interior de la Guardería Fundación Niñez y Vida
-Jessica Hooton, Claremont McKenna College
La Píldora Anticonceptiva de Emergencia (PAE) Y El Sistema Médico-Legal Ecuatoriano. Cambios y Obstáculos
-Samuel Morrison, Wesleyan University
Developing Tourism in La Calera and Puerto Lopez
-Kendra Manton, Pitzer College
The Role and Function of Indigenous Andean Music in Ecuadorian Society
-Megan Bartges, Swarthmore College
The Effects of Migration on Ecuadorian Communities
-Brianne Davila, Pitzer College
Manifestations of Beauty in Quichua Women of the Sierra
-Wendy Van Wagner, Pitzer College
Conceptions of Poverty: A Comparative Study of the Three Regions of Ecuador
-Liz Sheehan, Pitzer College
Environmental Issues in Ecuador
-Michael Hon, Pitzer College
The Socialization of Children in Ecuadorian Prisons
-Nicole Brams, Pitzer College
Paradise or Time Bomb: The Impact of Ecotourism on the Community of Mindo
-Sonia Vallabh, Swarthmore College
Tourism, Development and Economic Stability in Ecuador
-Catherine Ambler, Williams College
Education as a Form of Integration: Education and the Immigrants of Parma
-Aurora Ignacio, Pitzer College
Partigiani and the Resistenza in Parma: 60 Years Later
-Elisabeth McCaffrey, Bowdoin College
Rising from the Ashes of Genoa: A Look at the No Global Movement
-Karina Nagin, Pitzer College
Italian Teenagers and Their Families: A Modern Approach To Understanding The Italian Family
-Lauren Healy, Pitzer College
Wiligelmo’s Genesis: The Communicative Capacity of Romanesque Art
-Melissa Nitti, Occidental College
The Jewish Community in Parma:
The Disappearance of a People
-Molly Weinstein, Pitzer College
Roman Mosaics: Creation and Restoration
-Annie Phare, Occidental College
Il Sistema Delle Cooperative: The History of Growth of the Cooperative System in Emilia-Romagna
-Susannah Volpe, Swarthmore College
Life in the Piccionaia: The Loggione in Parma and an Apprenticeship in Opera
-Julie Gregorio, Swarthmore College
From Images to Words: The Life and Satirical Works of Giovanni Guareschi
-Erika Fairman, Pitzer College
The Struggle for Equality: Women in the Portering Industry
-Natalie Au, Occidental College
Challenging the Caste System: A Look at Intercaste Marriage in Nepal
-Alison Gray, Pitzer College
Urban Nomads: The Street Children of Kathmandu
-Catherine Welch, Colby College
What if the Help Comes too Late? A Study of Child Health Care in Nepal
-EmmaKate Friedlander, Wesleyan University
The Process of Sarangi: Traditional Caste Musicians of Nepal
-Jannette Vanderhoop, Pitzer College
The Experience of Women in the Bhakteswori Saving and Credit Cooperative, Ugratara, VDC
- Jessica L. Martin, Swarthmore College
The Kumari: Nepal’s Living Goddess
-Louise Weed, Tufts University
Sustainable Energy Use in the Solu-Khumbu Region Focusing on the Impact of Tourism in the Sagarmatha National Park
- Robert Smith, Pitzer College