#  Dispatches: Undergraduate Researchers in the Field 

 



 ![A woman with long dyed braids is leaning out of a car and looking down the road toward a sunset.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/wcfia/files/dispatches_feature_-_image_only.png)

 

Sunrise at Akagera National Park, Rwanda. *Courtesy of Rayha Kelly McPherson*Every spring, a select group of Harvard College students receive travel grants from the Weatherhead Center to support their thesis field research on topics related to international affairs. The Weatherhead Center has encouraged these Undergraduate Associates to take advantage of the Center’s research community by connecting with graduate students, faculty, postdocs, and visiting scholars. Four Undergraduate Associates write of their experiences last summer.

   ![Christina Chaperon.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/wcfia/files/portrait-dispatches-cchaperon-300px.png?itok=tbKswRrm) 

 

## **Christina Nehemie Chaperon**

**Undergraduate Associate. Department of Sociology, Harvard College.** ***Research interests: Coloniality of gender; French and British postcolonial territories in the Caribbean; female participation; anticolonial resistance and memory; transnational feminism; and cultural traditions.***

According to the Argentinian philosopher Maria Lugones, "coloniality of gender" posits gender in postcolonial territories as a byproduct of colonization. In essence, many modern-day gender norms and gender structures in postcolonial territories are deeply impacted by colonization practices.

Lugones first used the term to describe the impact of European colonization on Indigenous peoples in North and South America. Still, her theory has been applied to several regions in the world, such as Asia and Africa. For my research, I wanted to extend this concept to the Caribbean—this summer I visited Kingston, Jamaica—and explore the differences between former English and former French colonies.

After my first two interviews this summer, I began thinking more about the mythologization of female revolutionaries in folklore and oral histories in Jamaica and Haiti. One of my respondents mentioned the way Nanny of the Maroons, guerilla fighter and leader of the escaped enslaved people, is remembered in Jamaican culture as a mythical leader who caught British bullets in her buttocks. This narrative with mystical powers reduces the credibility of Nanny as a proper historical figure and leader in the anticolonial fight in Jamaica.

In subsequent interviews this fall, I have heard similar stories of women during the Haitian Revolution possessing mythological attributes and often remembered in legends as opposed to history textbooks. For example, Cécile Fatiman was a *mambo* (Vodou priestess) who was a leader in the Haitian Revolution but is regarded more as a spiritual figure than an actual soldier.

While in Jamaica I visited the National Library of Jamaica, the Institute of Jamaica, and the National Archives of Jamaica. Although the resources in the National Archive didn’t correlate too closely with my topic, it was still fascinating to touch documents from centuries ago and read through interesting primary sources like radio emission transcripts and court documents.

   ![Two women smiling indoors, one wearing a floral blouse and the other a black t-shirt with colorful text.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/wcfia/files/dispatches-cchaperon-winterviewee-1540px.jpg?itok=ORperWOe) 

 

Christina Chaperon and Judith Wedderburn, an advocate in the field of gender and development in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean for over thirty years. *Courtesy of Christina Chaperon*I interviewed three gender activists while in Jamaica. Two of my interviewees were native to Jamaica and more than seventy years old, which means they witnessed Jamaica’s independence in 1962. The other interviewee was in her forties and getting her master’s degree at the University of West Indies. She is originally from the UK, which is also a unique perspective in relation to colonization in Jamaica.

I was also fortunate to visit a Rastafari jazz night with some of the contacts I made. The director of the Institute of Jamaica hosts jazz nights featuring a local Rastafari band at a popular restaurant in downtown Kingston. This evening was so interesting because the blend of brass instruments—trumpets, trombones, and French horns—along with African drums created a uniquely beautiful sound that was foreign to me. I also loved the introduction to Rastafari culture in a musical context, because it allowed me to draw parallels between the performance and traditional Haitian hymns that I’m familiar with. Though the lyrics were in Patois as opposed to Haitian Creole, the rhythms, melodies, and tempos were very similar. This performance was one of the highlights of my trip!

Aside from the research I conducted, this experience helped me feel comfortable and confident in myself because I traveled alone to a country I had never been to before, made great connections, and learned so much. This opportunity was a memorable experience in my overall growth.

   ![Peter Jones.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/wcfia/files/portrait-dispatches-pjones-300px.png?itok=SRc8IFn6) 

 

## **Peter N. Jones**

**Undergraduate Associate. Department of Government, Harvard College.** ***Research interests: Global governance; international development; municipal paradiplomacy; European security policy; Georgia and the Caucasus; separatist movements; and media freedom.***

In the Republic of Georgia, beauty is everywhere, reflecting a rich, perfectly preserved historical tradition. Fourth-century fortresses dot horizons with all the apparent banality of cell towers, nestled in the shadow of the imposing Caucasus Mountains. The food serves as a testament to long ­ago cultural fusions that occurred along the Silk Road (legends attribute the conception of *khinkali*, a classic national dish somewhat akin to a giant soup dumpling, to the thirteenth-century arrival of Genghis Khan's invading Mongol empire). And wine, which many insist Georgia first created, is stored not in screw-top bottles but ancient clay pots, or *qvevri*, which monks bury in the cool, damp earth beneath monasteries.

   ![A person stands on a rocky ledge, facing a winding river that cuts through a valley under a clear blue sky with the sun shining brightly.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/wcfia/files/dispatches-pjones-river-1600px.jpg?itok=tAZuVTg8) 

 

Peter Jones takes in the view from the Jvari Monastery, a sixth-century Georgian Orthodox monastery near Mtskheta, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. *Courtesy of Peter Jones*The country matches its immense beauty with unending political complexity. Political turmoil has plagued the small nation since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Recently, the pro-Western Georgian public has mobilized against the policy of its illiberal central government considered more aligned with Russia.

Initially, I expected to spend my summer researching one instance of this push and pull between civil society and government. But when the government suddenly overrode the wishes of the Georgian public and forced a repressive law into effect—eliciting civil unrest—I knew it was time to pivot. Fortunately, I had a secondary area of interest less likely to be affected by the unfolding events in Georgia. This was subnational diplomacy, a practice carried out largely via sister city partnerships.

Sister cities have always fascinated me, as my hometown of Chicago often pays homage to its dozens of foreign sister cities. The relationships challenge the notion that foreign policy is the sole domain of federal governments, empowering municipal politicians to make meaningful international relationships.

A related puzzle emerged after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When relations between Russia and the West declined, some municipalities chose to echo the condemnations of their central governments and suspend ties to sister cities in Russia and Belarus. Others did not. A host of US cities continued to stand with their Russian sisters, and several major Georgian cities maintained their relationships with municipalities in the invasion-complicit Belarus, at least on paper.

   ![A group of people holding Georgian and EU flags, and signs in a protest, gathered on a tree-lined street.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/wcfia/files/dispatches-pjones-protest-1540px.jpg?itok=Y0GRnSoA) 

 

Georgian students protest the civil-societysmothering Foreign Agents Law. *Credit: Peter Jones*I set out to uncover why. I traveled to Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Khoni, covering the entire length of the country twice—by train, *mashrutka* (shared minivans), and small propeller planes. I saw nooks of small Georgian towns discovered by few tourists, confused more than a few people with my unexpected Americanness, and spent hours in dilapidated municipal buildings evocative of Georgia’s Soviet times. I secured interviews with the top officials responsible for international relations in Tbilisi and Batumi (the country’s two largest cities) and met with the ever-charismatic mayor of Khoni, among other relevant actors in civil society and municipal development.

Within a wide assortment of relevant data, I found the possible existence of an intriguing interplay between municipal- and national-level politics. Several Georgian officials hinted that one reason they have balked at formally cutting off the Belarusian relationships is that it would constitute an “aggressive” move that could enable Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to recognize the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia as sovereign entities.

The work continued in the US upon my return. I spent August traipsing around the Midwest and conducting similar interviews, even driving out to the Illinois–Iowa border to meet with the government of Dixon, Illinois, and interviewing the mayors of Chicago, Gainesville, and Tallahassee.

I am grateful to have had such enlightening international research experience and look forward to reconciling these distinct cases as I examine this fascinating variation.

   ![Rayha Kelly McPherson.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/wcfia/files/portrait-dispatches-rmcpherson-300px.png?itok=RdZM-Uub) 

 

## **Rayha Kelly McPherson**

**Undergraduate Associate, Rogers Family Research Fellow. Department of Psychology, Harvard College.** ***Research interests: Clinical psychology and psychological treatment as it pertains to minority populations, especially Black Americans.***

In July 2024 I went to Kigali, Rwanda as part of my senior thesis research in psychology. My goal was to set up the implementation of a novel mindful movement-based resilience curriculum that I created for Rwandan adolescents suffering from PTSD or depression. Despite the reading I had done about the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi and the rapid bureacratic and infrastructural developments that have been prioritized in the thirty years following, I did not know what to expect in, or of, Rwanda.

The plan for my senior thesis research was the product of collaborations I fostered in the months prior to my arrival in Kigali. In January 2024 I began Zooming with members of the University of Rwanda Center for Mental Health and two dedicated Rwandan yoga practitioners, Emmanuel Manirarora and Alexis Havugimana, who founded a wellness and community support organization. Together we developed a sixteen-session protocol that integrates Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) with culturally relevant practices. Most concretely, Emmanuel, Alexis, and I used postgenocide, Kinyarwanda-specific constructs to guide the week-by-week theme progressions: *kwihangana* describes patience/perseverance and the ability to withstand suffering from inner-strength; *gukomeza ubuzima* describes acceptance of struggle and a determined continuation of life/health; *kwongera kubaho* describes channelling inner peace as a reaffirmation of life after catastrophe; and *kwigirira ikizere* describes feelings of being capable, purposeful, and optimistic.

In July, the three of us attended a conference on peace, resilience, and transformational justice sponsored by the Aegis Trust, a UK-based NGO. The first day of the conference was held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. This site held personal pain for Emmanuel and Alexis, given the impacts that the genocide had on them as Tutsi children. In the heat of the elegant outdoor amphitheater, we observed NGO representatives and government officials reflect on their humanitarian efforts. We heard from academics about the paths to effective reconciliation and models of restorative justice. We listened to survivors share their memories of witnessing the killings of their family members, neighbors, and friends; their journeys to safety; and the decades of suffering that held them as they sought validation, support, and societal belonging. Emmanuel, Alexis, and I sat with one another. We held hands, we stepped away from our seats to share glasses of tree tomato juice and check in on feelings that arose—or were strangely not arising. We consented to jointly existing in a brokenheartedness that was without judgment or frustration. They thanked me for caring for them, I thanked them for caring for me.

   ![Four people stand smiling behind a sign at Oloolongot Crater Point, showing details about altitude and distance. Mountain landscape is visible in the background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/wcfia/files/dispatches-rmcpherson-mountaintop-1280px.jpg?itok=Jr77gOdf) 

 

Rayha Kelly McPherson (right) poses with former Undergraduate Associate Tom Osborn and friends on Mt. Longonot, Kenya. *Courtesy of Rayha Kelly McPherson*My visit was not limited to Kigali. Once in East Africa, I connected with Tom Osborn—a previous Weatherhead Center Undergraduate Associate—who cofounded the Shamiri Institute with my thesis cosupervisor Katherine Venturo-Conerly. I flew from Kigali to Kenya to stay with Tom, explore the institute and their cost-effective and scalable mental health care models, and receive feedback on my own project. Tom organized a road trip, a hike with zebras, a wildlife-filled adventure through the Nairobi National Park, a boat ride to see hippos, and visits to artisan markets and local museums. We shared delicious and fun dinners (and dancing!) around Nairobi. It was amazing to see how a previous Harvard psychology undergraduate continues to think creatively and has balanced his work life with his personal life.

Living and working in Kigali as a non-Kinyarwanda-speaking outsider presented challenges that required me to act with flexibility, patience, and generous listening. Doing so allowed me to learn in a way that is only possible by exploring openly—and sometimes uncomfortably—in a new environment.

   ![Samir Duggasani.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__100x100_scale/public/wcfia/files/portrait-dispatches-sduggasani-300px.png?itok=nIEdc4PS) 

 

## **Samir Duggasani**

**Undergraduate Associate, Rogers Family Research Fellow. Departments of Government and of Computer Science, Harvard College.** ***Research interests: Political disinformation; AI in elections; content governance; technology policy; multiethnic democracies; identity politics; and modern South Asia.***

This summer, I spent three-and-a-half weeks in Hyderabad, the capital of southern India’s Telangana state. A major tech hub for India, Hyderabad is also a highly competitive political atmosphere where major national parties compete alongside regional ones and the campaign spend is among the highest in the country. My plan was to conduct interviews with political consultants, politicians, party workers, artificial intelligence (AI) media firms, journalists, and civil society groups to get a sense of the use of political deepfakes in campaigns this election cycle.

In my interviews, I asked to join public political WhatsApp groups to eventually quantify the presence of generative AI content circulated on the platform and to understand how outreach activities are organized on the platform. It turns out that while there were a number of instances of high-profile deepfakes and novel uses of generative AI, the technology was not so widespread as to play a large role in campaigning this year. A consistent pattern in my first week’s interviews brought me to another interest to which I would shift my attention: internet influencers and how political parties mobilize them for vote-getting.

   ![A stone structure with an arched entrance reveals a painted rock and stairs inside. Trees are visible in the background.](/sites/g/files/omnuum8891/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/wcfia/files/dispatches-sduggasani-temple-1540px.jpg?itok=AlIakUq9) 

 

A Hindu temple dedicated to the Goddess Kali within Golconda Fort. *Credit: Samir Duggasani*The second week was much more successful and one of my meetings was a two-hour interview with an Indian National Congress social media organizer. Last minute, she invited me to a social media mobilization event the party was conducting for two candidates in the Kodad Assembly Constituency, which a government vehicle took me to early the next morning. On the three-hour ride there, I got to talk with the party’s national social media mobilizer, who was in town for the event.

The event sought to educate party workers on how to use various social media platforms to advantage the party and its agenda. Eager party workers flooded a large event hall where they were encouraged by leadership to follow, like, and repost all party content on WhatsApp, Instagram, X, and Facebook. I conducted informal interviews with some of these grassroots party workers in Telugu and learned just how intentional they were about engaging voters on social media. I was also amazed at the celebrity surrounding party leadership—most notably demonstrated by the hordes of party workers surrounding our vehicles.

My last week in Hyderabad continued to be just as fruitful, securing interviews with party workers and political consultancies—this time talking to people from India Political Action Committee, India’s largest and first major political consulting firm. By this point, I had a much clearer idea of the kinds of strategies political parties employed to reach voters on WhatsApp: working through local figures, obtaining numbers (often illegally) from phone providers, and grouping voters by polling station.

From my interviews, I gained access to twenty WhatsApp groups across four states and six political parties. I am now building a scraper to analyze the content in them, which will hopefully give me novel insights into the issues discussed, the tone of messages, and the presence of hate speech.

Outside of research, I reveled in exploring a city I had a lot of ties to but never really had been able to immerse myself in. I used my free time to gorge on authentic Hyderabadi biryani, tour famous landmarks built by Hindu and Muslim rulers, and witness the insanity of a South Indian movie on opening night. Safe to say I learned a lot this summer and laid the foundation for my senior thesis.



 

##  More from this issue 

 



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 See also:- [ Centerpiece: Fall 2024 ](/newsletter-issues/centerpiece-fall-2024)