Student Research

Grants Awarded

Sarah Kutten, Carson Grant, 2008
Ghana's New Bonding Measures: Is Nursing a Ticket Out?
Sponsor: Joyce Millen

Emily Johnson, Carson Grant, 2007
Inequalities within the Women's Healthcare Delivery System in France
Sponsor: Joyce Millen

Carolyn Burns, Carson Grant, 2006
The Role of Family in Mental Health Care in Oaxaca, Mexico
Sponsor: Peter Wogan

Mara Hansen, Carson Grant, 2006
A Critical Examination of Medical Pluralism in Rural Guatemala
Sponsor: Joyce Millen

Steve Malick, Carson Grant, 2006
Gender Identity and Jesus: the Masculinities of Christian Men
Sponsor: Rebecca Dobkins

Susanna Bee, Lilly Grant, 2006
Foot and Soul: A Study of Contemporary Chinese Reflexology
Joyce Millen

Katie Johannsen, Lilly Grant, 2006
Shaped by Music: Everyday People and Community Orchestras
Pam Moro

Jennifer McKenzie, Lilly Grant, 2006
Painting Bridges: Empowerment of Youth Through Murals and Willamette's Past Revisited
Rebecca Dobkins

Jennifer Johnson, Lilly Grant, 2005
For the Sake of the Call: Women Missionaries and Self Perceptions of Vocation
Pam Moro

Beth Phillips, Carson Grant, 2004
Beth researched children and domestic violence, focusing on families at a domestic violence shelter in Washington.

Alena Clancy, Lilly Grant, 2004
Exploring the Call to Curanderismo
Peter Wogan

Annie Bither-Terry, Carson Grant, 2003
Annie interviewed 57 people between the ages of 9 and 83 in order to write “Breast Play,” a show for people who have breasts, like breasts, wish they had breasts, wish they didn’t have breasts, or think it’s stupid that there’s a play about breasts. All profit will go to breast cancer research.

Adrienne Davich, Carson Grant, 2003
“Case Study of Fallon, Nevada Leukemia Cluster.”: Interview-based examination of a cluster of sixteen childhood leukemias in rural Nevada town.

Kristin Friesen, Lilly Grant, 2003
“Unraveling the Mystery of Labyrinths.”: Researched the labyrinth-walking community through participant observation, field conversations, and formal interviews, together with a photography display.
Peter Wogan

Melissa Wheeler, Lilly Grant, 2003
Melissa interviewed an extended family of ranchers who live near Baker City, Oregon and found that by adopting sustainable measures, such as caring for their rangeland and streams and selling hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef, they have filled a niche in the market that allows them to continue their way of life.
Rebecca Dobkins

Jon McNeill, Carson Grant, 2001
“No Shadows”: A film about a woman who faces an existential crisis when she realizes that she has lost her shadow. (Available now at the Willamette University Library).

Danielle (Dani) Mathey, Carson Grant, 2000
Dani investigated non-mainstream forms of reproductive control. Her research included work at the University of California, Berkeley Folklore Archives, as well as interviews.

Fieldwork Projects: “Ethnographic Methods”

Students enrolled in “Ethnographic Methods,” a required course for the major that revolves around semester-long fieldwork projects, have investigated the following sites, topics, or groups in the Salem area:

• Mexican-American Protestant church
• motorcycle group
• coffee shop
• skateboarders
• body ornamentation
• retirement facility
• Altar Society, Catholic Church
• role-playing games
• anti-war protestors
• non-Western religions
• college drinking
• foster care providers
• belly dancing
• fire twirling
• Willamette alumni who served in WWII
• farm commune
• fraternity
• women’s crew team
• television viewing in a local bar
• meditation group
• knitting hobbiests
• fleamarket
• yoga group
• square dancing
• bus system
• Statesman Journal
• half-way house for former gang members
• public library
• Mano a Mano
• Boys and Girls Club
• bilingual elementary school
• School for the Blind
• program for at-risk teens
• Value Village
• natural food store
• international students
• alternative health practitioners
• Vietnam War memories
• reggae/hip hop club