Tag Archives: Summer Travel Grants 2015

11.18.15
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2015 Summer Travel Grant Series: Field Research in Cameroon

Summer Travel Grant 2015 Recipient

Obadia Mfuh Kenji

UH Student Affiliate

It was nice to be home in Cameroon conducting field research that had such a tremendous impact on the population. Malaria and other infectious diseases, account for about 80% of hospital visits in Cameroon. It is estimated that every second a child dies of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prompt and accurate diagnosis of malaria can avert the high mortality rate of malaria in Africa. Unfortunately 90% of deaths from malaria occur in children less than 5 years old. Since most countries in Africa and South East Asia are endemic for malaria, many clinicians tend to prescribe malaria drugs to patients presenting with fever even without a diagnosis. This means that, other infectious diseases that cause fever go untreated. Therefore we were interesting in knowing the baseline malaria prevalence in our study population and to profile other infectious agents that cause febrile illnesses apart from malaria. We were also interested in developing a diagnostic test for malaria using a non-invasive sample (saliva). The current diagnostic methods for malaria require blood collection, which is an invasive procedure.
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11.03.15
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2015 Summer Travel Grant Series: Conducting Pre-dissertation Fieldwork in Okinawa

Sakumaphoto: Sayaka Sakuma with Peace Tour Guide and colleague

Summer Travel Grant 2015 Recipient

Sayaka Sakuma

PhD student, Geography Department

Obuchi Fellow

The purpose of my summer travel was to conduct pre-dissertation research in which I aim to develop my scope for looking into tourism development in Okinawa. Mainly, I conducted ethnographic research in two topics: 1) Peace Tour; and 2) UNESCO World Heritage-related Tourism activities. For the first part of my research, Peace Tour, I joined a tour group in which the members explore the memory of WWII and US military bases in Okinawa. Such tours have been gaining popularity in Okinawa, where the prefecture aims to spread the message of peace through its tourism industry. Particularly, I conducted surveys and interviews with the tour members and peace tour guide as well as participant observation during the tour. Based on the data I gathered during the tour, I am currently working on a paper that examines the major discourses on tourism activity and political participation, which I hope to present in Association of American Geographer conference next year.
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11.03.15
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2015 Summer Travel Grant Series: Presenting a Paper at the World History Association Conference in Savannah, GA

Summer Travel Grant 2015 Recipient

Alex Holowicki

UH Student Affiliate

The 2015 EWCA Summer Travel Grant provided me the opportunity to present my paper “Ravished Armenia and the Pursuit of International Justice” at the World History Association Conference in Savannah, GA. The conference’s theme of “Art in World History” was a convenient match. In attendance were other scholars also committed to exploring world historical understandings of art and intergovernmental organizations; genocide and international law; the movement of ideas across borders; and the cultural makeup of empires. These topics pertain directly to my dissertation research and the conference offered a productive space for networking and receiving feedback from preeminent world historians. In fact, my research paralleled so advantageously with another panel member that we were invited to present additional research at next summer’s conference in Ghent, Belgium. The conference also featured several teaching workshops, which have had a direct impact on shaping the lesson plans for the courses that I am now teaching at the University of Hawaii, Maui College.

11.03.15
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2015 Summer Travel Grant Series: Presenting a Paper at the 2nd International Conference on Green Asia and Sustainability in Bangkok, Thailand

Summer Travel Grant 2015 Recipient

conference picture - syedSyed Shurid Khan

UH Student Affiliate

          I attended the 2nd International Conference on Green Asia and Sustainability on June 19th, 2015 that was held in the elegant third-floor ballroom of the Miracle Grand Hotel. First I arrived in Dhaka, my home town just for a night before proceeding to Bangkok to attend the conference. There I met many great scholars, students and bright minds from around the globe. I received good feedback on my own presentation from an audience of hundreds of researchers attended at the conference. I also heard questions and discussions on my research from people who are working in similar fields. I made great friends and networks with people from related research fields. Most people were from Southeast Asia and the USA. I was able to enhance my knowledge on sustainability researches going on in these parts of the world. It was such an experience to get to know about a rich mix of research works happening in these countries.