2010 Einaudi Center seed grants fund projects from malaria research to documentary film

A project to explore the spread of rice agriculture and language diversification and another that examines the recent history of water management across the French Mediterranean are among 10 projects that received seed grants from Cornell's Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies in 2010.

The grants, awarded through biannual competitions in the spring and fall each year, are intended to advance international studies at Cornell, with special emphasis on projects by junior faculty where "seed funding" serves as preparation for external funding requests, have long-term benefits to Cornell international studies, and are related to the Einaudi Center's initiatives.

Winners of the spring 2010 competition:

  • Duane Corpis, history: $5,000 to study overseas charity in early modern Europe from the 16th-18th centuries, with an emphasis on social and cultural connections produced by European global charity.
  • Linnie Golightly, clinical medicine, microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College: $4,000 to begin pilot experiments for developing potential therapies for cerebral malaria, which is prevalent among children in sub-Saharan Africa and adults in Southeast Asia.
  • Sara Pritchard, science and technology studies: $11,000 to explore the development and circulation of experts, knowledge and technologies related to water management between France and its North African colonies since the late 19th century, while contextualizing today's water policy and legislation.
  • Stephan Schmidt, city and regional planning: $5,000 to examine the pros and cons of using geographic information systems in urban land management in rapidly urbanizing Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • Jessica Weeks, government: $15,000 to study the effects of democratic institutions on international conflicts; and increase the quality and quantity of data on the causes of military conflicts.

Fall 2010 competition winners:

  • Abigail Cohn and John Whitman, linguistics; Magnus Fiskesjö, anthropology; Susan McCouch, plant breeding and genetics: $10,000 to bring ongoing cross-disciplinary Cornell research to an international audience through a symposium on the spread of rice agriculture and language diversification in Asia.
  • Matthew Evangelista, government: $8,000 to hold a workshop to identify patterns and evaluate reasons behind how legal and ethical norms change regarding the use of bombs. Factors may include the evolution of laws of war, technological shifts, new types of wars, and changes in domestic public opinion.
  • Ikhide Imumorin, animal science: $4,000 to study the relationship between genetic diversity of major histocompatibility complex genes that defend against microbes and parasites in Nigerian goat breeds and resistance and susceptibility to trypanosomiasis in a population-based sample.
  • Slava Paperno, Russian studies, and Kathleen Vogel, science and technology studies: $4,000 to produce a documentary film on the life of Gennady Lepioshkin, a Russian military officer who oversaw the production of anthrax during the Cold War.
  • Rebecca Stoltzfus and Jeanne Moseley, global health program; Muna Ndulo and Edwin MacLellan, Institute for African Development: $8,000 to explore partnerships with Zambian academic institutions for bringing collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to addressing global health issues.

Applications for the next seed grant competition are due Feb. 15, 2011.

More information: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/funding/seed.asp.

 

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