Audrey Dahyung Oh (오다형), BA in Ethnicity and Race Studies/Visual Arts (CC ’21)
Audrey was a Columbia College student from Seoul, South Korea with a BA in Ethnicity and Race Studies and Visual Arts. In April 2021, she defended her thesis about the 25th Anniversary of the Ethnic Studies Protests at Columbia. The 1966 Hunger Strike and Ethnic Studies Protests played a pivotal role in establishing CSER at Columbia University. See Audrey’s thesis project through an online website and Instagram.
Riley Swain, BA in Ethnicity and Race Studies (CC ’21)
Riley was a Columbia College student with a BA in Ethnicity and Race Studies from Minneapolis, Minnesota. In April 2021, he defended his senior thesis that explores Black/white biraciality in America through music and hip-hop. See Riley’s thesis project on his website.
Carla Nayeli Mendoza, Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow (CC ’20)
Carla graduated from Columbia College in May 2020 with a double major in Ethnicity and Race Studies and Political Science. While a senior, Carla wrote a thesis for CSER called “Destined Dysfunctionality & Deportation Death Sentences: a critical racial analysis of the need to establish an Article 1 independent immigration court,” which was awarded Outstanding Thesis. She is a Fellow for Immigrant Justice Corps placed at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ashley Wells, MA Student in American Studies
Ashley is an MA student in the American Studies Program here at CSER. Her research interests focus on Black women and mental health. She is also the Chief Business Development Officer of a non-profit called The Prosp(a)rity Project. The Prosp(a)rity Project is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to uplifting & advancing Black girls and women with the resources to help them thrive in all areas of life – financially, professionally, and holistically.
Chanina Wong, MA Student in American Studies
Chanina is an MA student in the American Studies Program here at CSER. Her research interests are in food studies, Southeast Asian American refugee history, and the processes of assimilation that the United States required (and continues to require) of racialized immigrant groups. More specifically, her master’s thesis focuses on Hmong refugee farming programs in the U.S. towards the end of the Cold War.
Jennie Nelson, GS Student and Human Rights Major
Jennie Nelson is a Columbia GS Student and Human Rights major who brings an exceptional amount of real-world experience to her area of study working with migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers with Detention Resistance. Detention Resistance is a grassroots, nonhierarchical prison abolitionist collective based in San Diego, California.
