I didn't consider myself a writer until I graduated college and realized how much I relied on and enjoyed that skill. Now, I write as a hobby, as well as in my work. Check out my portfolio of academic, professional, and personal writing.
Undergraduate Thesis - As a capstone for my Urban Studies major at the University of Pennsylvania, I conducted primary research and wrote a senior thesis on the relationship between the University of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia. Relations between urban universities and their surrounding communities, referred to as town-gown, have historically been strained. Conflicts have centered on use of space, encroaching student populations, land taxes, and priorities of each constituent. The relationship between the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia is exemplary of these tensions, as its history is riddled with conflict. In the 1990s, a group called the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP) filed a lawsuit against Penn, accusing the university of failing to provide an adequate number of scholarships under its Mayor’s Scholarship program. City residents, student groups, and even City Councilors rallied against Penn alongside the lawsuit, and a prolonged struggle played out between the two sides, bringing intense publicity and polarizing town and gown. The Mayor’s Scholarship controversy fits cleanly into larger narratives of town-gown tensions, which can help explain why this legal question rose to such importance in the public eye. This paper reviews literature on town and gown, primary source publications from the time of the lawsuit, and key interviews to understand how the controversy fits into broader narratives. Additionally, it traces lasting impacts of the lawsuit on financial aid and models of community partnership at Penn. Lastly, it investigates the lasting significance of the controversy to the relationship between Penn and Philadelphia and town-gown more generally.
Musical Street Performance & Tourism - As a capstone for my semester abroad with the School of International Training's "International Honors Program: Cities in the 21st Century," I conducted comparative ethnographic research to consider musical street performance, also known as busking, and its reciprocal relationship with tourism in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; and Hanoi, Vietnam. My first order research question asks about location and content of performance. My higher order question analyzes variation between performances, and the meaning of this variation. First, I show how buskers locate in areas of tourism, and how performance content varies across these three contexts. Next, I analyze how each city has a distinctive type of tourism, and apply John Urry’s notion of the “Tourist Gaze” in order to understand the relationship between tourists, buskers, and “authenticity.” This relationship has broader implications for cities, in that it reflects larger urban trends and changes. My research methods include photography and videography, locational mapping, first-hand observation, interviews, and consultation of relevant literature.
Defining Authenticity - A more personal writing, this paper is my own definition of authenticity as informed by personal experience, the perspectives of my friends and family, and the research of academics in diverse fields. It was assigned as part of a course called "Literature of Success," in which we survey success literature and reflect on our past experiences in order to formulate an actionable definition of success. This piece delves into some very personal history, so please read with an open mind!
Defining Success - A more personal writing, this paper seeks to define success and a path to achieve it, as informed by personal experience, the perspectives of my friends and family, and the research of academics in diverse fields. It was assigned as part of a course called "Literature of Success," in which we survey success literature and reflect on our past experiences in order to formulate an actionable definition of success. This piece delves into some very personal history, so please read with an open mind!
Philadelphia's Kimmel Center - As part of an architectural history course, I researched and wrote about Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, focusing on the relationship between the physical design of the building and its role as a center of the arts.
The Power of a "Can" List - Finding the silver lining against the pressures of "can't".
Is Policy Brutality Really an Issue? Yes, 100% - Challenging the notion that police brutality is an unverified pattern.
The Irrational Justification of Police Brutality - Exploring common counter arguments against the notion of police brutality.
Stop Condemning Violent Protest - Start condemning racial violence instead.
My Office Was Vandalized, and I'm Not Mad About It - During the George Floyd protests, my office windows were broken. I'm not bad at the protesters, I'm sad about their plea.
What do I Do? A Framework for Responding to Racial Violence - Engaging with the topics of race and racial violence as a white person is complicated. This framework is my way of trying to help.
Drumpf's 2020 Re-election Campaign Rides a Wave of White Supremacy - Fighting fascism and racism starts by calling a movement what it is.