Capstone Awards

Benjamin’s thesis is an exemplary model of sustained undergraduate research. Over the course of two years, Benjamin conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork, including dozens of interviews with taco stand workers and owners across Los Angeles. His research design evolved as he listened to his interlocutors—adapting his questions, revisiting themes of vulnerability and resilience, and ultimately reframing the project to account for recent shifts in U.S. immigration policy… This is a thesis of remarkable originality, depth, and critical compassion—a student-led project that reflects advanced anthropological thinking, methodological sophistication, and a deep commitment to justice and care.

Galilea has engaged this community in such an empathetic way, with a beginner’s mind approach, and from the ground up. Her ethnographic findings pushed her toward the themes she discussed rather than siloing win her ethnography into theoretical works. In doing so, she has offered a complex portrayal of people who are trying to make sense of themselves and their social worlds through an ancient tradition. I also really appreciated the way she used her external sources – both the academic and media related ones. I’m just so proud of the fact that she allowed her own thinking to expand through the perspectives of the people with whom she is working.

Christina Chkarboul’s capstone paper is exemplary for the excellence of her research and the astuteness of her critical analysis of online (TikTok) witches, who use ‘magic’ and witchcraft as tools for political change. Their rituals empower these practitioners to act – although with unknown and dubious efficacy – as agents of resistance to the authoritarian tendencies of the current U.S. executive branch. She eloquently elucidates the ideology, intentions and experiences of these witches through an examination of ‘WitchTok’ and intensive interviews with four practitioners of Neopagan magic who have created public personas and Internet followers.

Amongst the students I have worked with, Bea excels in writing skills and sophistication of thought. She undertook an ambitious project on co-ops in New York and Uruguay, managing to conduct international interviews and read sources in Spanish (from scholars in the region), which is precisely what we want researchers to be doing these days. She also engaged with classic political theory and consulted contemporary public sources such as newspapers and blogs…Her conversations with major actors involved in the co-op in Uruguay speak of her research organization, perseverance, and interview skills.

The Community Builder Award is given for extraordinary contributions to the life of the department, to students whose active participation in and facilitation of campus events create a richer and more rewarding experience for their peers. All of us who have had Audrey in class know what a bright light she is, and how contagious her passion for the study of anthropology can be.