Current Students

Jui presented her research project, “Parental Differences in Child-Centered Versus Parent-Centered Interaction Patterns During Structured Play,” explores how specific parenting behaviors may help reduce child behavioral problems, at the Undergraduate Research Expo earlier this year. Using behavioral video coding to analyze parent-child interactions, she discovered that both mothers and fathers provided similar levels of support but mothers used more directive strategies in how they guided tasks.

In Barcelona, Ashley took a contemporary history course that aligns closely with concepts she learned at Penn State, allowing her to compare international legal frameworks with those in the United States and drawing on her classes as well as her professional experience. While there, she learned how Spain handles unaccompanied immigrant minors, and that their legal barriers are much different than those in the United States.

As a research associate with the Economics Association, Jessica worked on semester-long research projects, assisting with data collection and using tools like Excel and Stata to conduct regression analysis. This role allowed her to apply classroom learning to real research questions while collaborating with other motivated students.

Alexis applied her linguistic and research skills as a research intern working with Maria Truglio, professor of Italian and of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, on a digital archive dedicated to preserving the stories of Italian American women living in Centre County. The project collects recorded interviews, transcripts, abstracts and historical information, capturing personal experiences that might otherwise be lost. Alexis’s primary role involved transcribing interviews and creating detailed abstracts.

This past summer, Camren expanded her academic horizons abroad, studying in Italy, both in Florence and on the Tuscan island of Elba. The program focused on the effects of climate change on coastal marine life, a departure from her usual focus on human biology.

During winter break her second year, Fatoumata studied sustainable urban redevelopment in Sydney, where she explored how growing cities balance modernization with equity. That spring, she joined other Schreyer Scholars in Bulgaria to examine history, identity and propaganda in media — a course that helped her understand how narratives shape political realities across continents.