Kolten Conklen, a double major in East Asian Languages and Cultures and Global Studies, is one of 16 students nationally awarded the Beinecke Scholarship. Valued at $34,000, the Beinecke award supports graduate study in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Kolten plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Sociology to highlight rural communities’ identities and explore their relationship with urbanized centers. You can read Kolten's story from the Illinois News Bureau:
https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/1709003077
Kolten is also selected to present at the 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS). The title of his project is "Diseases Don’t Care About Your Politics: Xenophobia and Global Responses to SARS and COVID-19."
- Abstract: During pandemics, it is critical that policy makers and scientists work hand-in-hand to quickly mitigate the pandemic's effects. However, science and legislation has a long history of racism. This project explores how xenophobia tangibly and intangibly weaves itself into global responses to pandemics. The 2002-2004 SARS Outbreak and the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic are used as case studies for a comparative analysis of the relationship between xenophobia (i.e., Yellow Peril, Sinophobia, anti-Asian sentiments) and responses to pandemics.
His presentation will be on display to the campus community from April 26 to April 30, 2021. Please use the link below to access the 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium: