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INDEPENDENT STUDENT RESEARCH PROPOSALS
RETREATS AND CONFERENCES
SUMMER RESEARCH PROPOSALS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS INTERESTED IN MINISTRY
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
Independent Student Research Proposals
 The deadline for research or vocations
exploration proposals in 2006-2007 will be February 2, 2007.
Proposed projects must be concluded by June 4, 2007.
All Occidental students are invited to submit proposals for independent research for funding by the Values and Vocations Grant. The funding process is administered through the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life.
Students who have graduated or will have graduated by the date of
the proposed project are not eligible for funds. Past student research projects have included:
Robin Kelley, Contemporary Wiccan Identity: The Convergence of the Historical, "Haunted," and Spiritual Planes of Witchcraft in Salem, MA
Stephan Van der Mersch, XinHuo FangAn -- The New Life Project
Nathan Baptiste and Kate McMahon, Christian and Buddhist Meditation at Taize and Plum Village, France
Erin Winston, The Quest for an Anthropologist: On Food Distribution and the Disruption of Tradition in Yunnan Province
Jessica Jew, Presbyterian Church Movement and Democracy in Taiwan
Stephanie Mami, Being Muslim in the Terror-fied West
Yanique Bourjolly, Living and Working at Findhorn EcoVillage
Jessie Evans, Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa
Ellen McKay, African-American Women in the U.S. Political Arena
Retreats and Conferences
Students are invited to apply for funding to attend off-campus retreats and conferences related to the goals of the Values and Vocations Project. Current conference opportunities are listed on the ORSL website under Related Programs, and current retreat opportunities under Retreats and Events. Students may also submit conferences that they have discovered on their own for consideration for funding to ORSL. Retreats and conferences that students have attended in the past include:
Politics and Spirituality: Seeking a Public Integrity, Washington, D.C., January 2006
Fifth Annual Yoga Conference, San Francisco, CA, January 2006
International Institute for Mediation and Reconciliation, Capetown, South Africa, December 2005
Via Media Conference on Progressive Christianity, Washington, D.C., October 2005
Manresa Conference on Peace, Justice and Spirituality, Milwaukee, WI, September 2005
Mindfulness Retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, Escondido, CA, September 2005
Choosing an Authentic Life, Garrison, NY, August 2005
National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, New York City, June 2005
Summer Seminar on Buddhism, Bodhi Manda Zen Center, NM, June 2005
Spring Break at Bodhi Manda Zen Center, NM, March 2005
Contemplation and Social Action, Montecito, CA, February 2005
Hillel Public Policy Conference, October 2004
Summer Research
Fellows
 Summer research projects invited students to explore
themes connected to the Values & Vocations Project. Research
topics focused on the ethical and moral dimensions of work or professions, the role of values and beliefs in leadership development, the concept of work as a vocation, work as a contribution to the common good, as well as others. This 10-week on-campus research experience allowed students to engage in intensive scholarly inquiry with the support of a faculty mentor.
Past Research Projects:
Madeline Baugh, The Weight of the Word: Multicultural Values and the Dual-Language Classroom
Nathan Baptiste, Nonprofit Organizations and Values of Self-Empowerment: Helping People Create Their Own Fulfillment in Life
Lauren Constancio, Reproductive Biotechnology and Ethical Decisions: Buddhist vs. Catholic Standpoints
Noah Glusenkamp, Getting Real about Morality: Insights from the Confluence of Philosophy and Sociobiology
Heather Kanny, Articulations of Islamic Identity: A Case Study in the Negotiation of Religion and Secularism in Egypt and Iran
Jacob Dubail, Buddhist Environmental Ethics in Practice
Akhila Kanna, Strides: Therapeutic Horseback Riding: The Beliefs, Values, and Experiences of Those Who Help the Disabled on a Non-Profit Basis
Alexandra Franzen, East Meets West: Strengthening the Traditional Doctor-Patient Relationship with Alternative Medical Techniques
Ann Hong, So What Does God have To Do with Anything? William Faulkner and Toni Morrison: Christianity in their Fictions and their Lives
Erin Richey, Meaning and Demeaning: Life Accounts on the Worth of Work
Melanie Riccobene, From Sisterhood to Objectivity: Social Workers, Unmarried Mothers, and the Professionalization of Charity in the 1920s
Patrick Hovakimian, Exploring American Exceptionalism
Suzanne Im, Feminist Ethics and the Degree of Bureaucratic Organization in Asian Pacific Islander Women's Shelters in Los Angeles
Course Development
Faculty were invited to develop courses that enabled students to understand how the relationship between intellectual inquiry and one’s own set of values and beliefs shape the choices one makes. Values & Vocations courses aim to further the formation of a well-developed sense of self—spiritually and intellectually—in relationship to the world. Past courses have included:
2005-2006
- Lan Chu, Religion, Politics, and Modernity
- Victoria Romero, The Pursuit of Happiness
- Marcia Homiak, Lessons from the Great Philosophers
- Juergen Pelzer, Values and Work in Classical and Modern Utopias
- Salvador Fernandez, Life as a Migrant: The Formation and Transformation of National and Transnational Communities
- Adelaida Lopez, Vocation and Community in Latin American and Latina Women's Writing
- Marla Stone, Genocide and the Ethical Crisis of Modernity
- Maryanne Horowitz, Controversial Lives
- John Swift, Framing Nature: Environmental Ethics and Aesthetics
- Gabrielle Foreman, Race, Gender and Purpose in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Social Movements
- Donna Maeda, Women of Color
- Katherine Mills, Silence and Speaking Out
- Michael McDonald, The Taming of Infinity
2004-2005
- Eric Frank, Meaning and Purpose in European Garden History
- Louise Yuhas, Meaning and Purpose in the Gardens of China and Japan
- Xiao-huang Yin, The Cultural Revolution in China
- Dolores Trevizo and Warren Montag, The Necessity of Engagement: Theories of Individuality and Sociality
- Jeff Tobin, Ethnographic Research Methods
- Donna Maeda, Trafficked Persons, Exploited Workers, and Advocates for Change: Contemplating Meaningful Work and Labor in a Globalized World
- Keith Naylor, History of Religion at Occidental
- Adelaida Lopez, Poets, Painters, and Politics: Latin American Icons and Vocational Calling
- Felisa Guillen, Religious Authority and Individual Vocation in Early Modern Europe
- Nalsey Tinberg, A Life in the Theater
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