Environmental and Urban Studies
2023 BA Thesis / Capstone Symposium
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Room 142, 1155 E. 60th St.
Join Livestream↗
Join graduating Environmental and Urban Studies majors for presentations of their BA Thesis and Capstone research. Four panel discussions with thesis writers are interspersed with video+poster sessions by capstone-track students throughout the day.
Thesis Presentations by Noelle Suh, Micah Wilcox, Isadora Kron, Alison Oh, Alexandra Takoudis, Selin Oh, Laura Gersony, Zoe Saldinger, Joe Geniesse, and Meghan Hendrix.
Capstone Videos by Gavin Atack, Julie Jaipati, Anna McCormack, Silvana Montagu, Allen Park, Sarah Paton, Losha Schreifels, and Nuhamin Tekie.
Capstone Posters by Isabella Bonito, Hannah Brody, Ryelle Browning, Bertrand Chu, Henry Davis, Charlie Ewell, Noel Garcia, Julian Green, Matt Guyton, Rory Harkleroad, Nicole Helou, Olivia Krylov, Griffin Seyfried, Jacob Sher, Mark Sidentopf, Beth Spencer, Alene Taylor, and Hannah Wilson-Black.
8:30–9:00am | Coffee & Light Breakfast
9:00–9:10am | Welcome and Introduction by Sabina Shaikh and Evan Carver
9:10–10:15am | Thesis Session 1: Participation in the Public City, Chicago Style
Moderated by Sabina Shaikh
Using the Allotted Space: Community-Based Green Space Creation through the Repurposing of Publicly-Owned Vacant Lots in Chicago
Noelle Suh
Major “L”: How the Chicago Transit Authority Gentrified Its Elevated Trains
Micah Wilcox
A Tale of Two Rivers: Zoning Policy Conflict and the Production of Public Space on the Chicago River
Isadora Kron
10:15–10:30am | Capstone Videos by Julie Jaipati and Anna McCormack
10:30–10:50am | Coffee Break and Poster Session
10:50–11:55am | Thesis Session 2: Place, Ethnicity, and Language
Moderated by Xixi Jiang
Negotiating Place Identity in a Multi-ethnic Immigrant Enclave: A Case Study of Los Angeles’s Koreatown
Alison Oh
The Role of Language in the Environmental Movement: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of Spanish and English Through an Ecolinguistics Framework
Alexandra Takoudis
Let’s Farm Again This Year: Korean Ecologies Amidst American Militarization
Selin Oh
11:55am–12:05pm | Capstone Videos by Allen Park and Sarah Paton
12:05–1:00pm | Lunch Break and Poster Session
1:00–2:25pm | Thesis Session 3: Connections of Extraction and Waste
Moderated by Kristi Del Vecchio
Rational Risk-Taking or Atmospheric Theater? Understanding Atmospheric Modification Decision-Making
Laura Gersony
Grave Dispositions: Implementing Alternative Methods of Burial in the United States of America
Zoe Saldinger
Visualizing the Acceleration of Rare Earth Elements Mining In Kachin, Myanmar: A Polyspectral Spatial Database
Joe Geniesse
Oil Change: Evaluating Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaigns and Commitments at U.S. Higher-Education Institutions
Meghan Hendrix
2:25–2:45pm | Capstone Videos by Gavin Atack, Silvana Montagu, Losha Schreifels and Nuhamin Tekie
2:45–3:05pm | Coffee Break and Poster Session
3:05–4:10pm | Thesis Session 4: Policy and Governance Considerations for Green Cities
Moderated by Raymond Lodato
Rating Green Buildings Ratings: Examining the Relationship between Green Building Certification and Property Values under Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Policies
Henry Kuo
Making Do: How Cities Pursue Progressive Sustainability Solutions in Light of Empowering or Constraining State Contexts
Ana Gonzalez
Solar Strategies: Stakeholder Perspectives on a Chicago Solar Training Program’s Intersetional Energy Justice Work
Theo Lesser
4:10–4:20pm | BA Prize Announcement
4:30pm | CEGU End-of-Year Party (North Courtyard, 1155 E. 60th St.)