University Postdoctoral Research Fellows

2004 Recipient:

Amy Mills (Geography) studies the urban landscape of Istanbul, Turkey, and its creation through cultural practice and imagination. Her research takes place in a neighborhood which was once a minority neighborhood of Greeks, Jews and Armenians. These groups were economically and politically pressured to leave Istanbul, just as rural migrants began to arrive in the city in significant numbers. Today this neighborhood is predominantly Muslim. In spite of this tumultuous history, the neighborhood's history is the subject of much popular nostalgia. It is remembered as a place of tolerant cosmopolitanism, and its landscape of churches, synagogues and mosques is cited as evidence of its harmonious multi-ethnic culture. Recently a new Muslim elite has moved to this neighborhood to restore the old Ottoman homes. This group desires to preserve its history and participate in old-fashioned neighborhood life. Paradoxically, the nostalgic narratives of the neighborhood's past obscure the traumatic history experienced by the minorities, and the gentrification of its landscape is altering its social character. These contradictions form the basis of the postdoctoral research Mills is performing with Anna Secor (Geography). As a postdoctoral fellow, Mills will return to Istanbul to expand her work with its minority residents and bring her research to Greece and Israel where she will interview former Istanbul residents in diaspora.

Victoria Mundy Bhavsar (Agronomy) studies the microbiology of soils in organic farming systems. The departments of Horticulture and Agronomy are collaborating to create an organic farm research site at the university's South Farm. Victoria will study changes in the soil microbiological community at the molecular and genetic level as the land transitions from fallow to full-scale organic vegetable production. She will also help to develop and coordinate the team of researchers, students, and farmers who will work together for this long-term research project. Her other research interests include investigating the functions of different fractions of soil organic matter in nutrient cycling and in finding ways to make organic farming technologies easier for farmers to adopt.

2003 Recipients:

Kathleen O'Reilly (Geography) focuses on ways that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) create and negotiate conflicts as an inherent part of development interventions. In 1997, she became acquainted with a drinking water supply project in northern Rajasthan. She was struck by contradictions between women's stated importance to the project and their obvious marginalization. This contradiction forms the basis of the postdoctoral research she is pursuing with Susan Roberts (Geography). As a postdoctoral fellow, she will travel to India to conduct research on women fieldworkers' experiences with development up to, and beyond, their employment with the NGO. In India, she will be give presentations to local scholars and NGO staff about her research findings.

Dana Patton (Political Science) studies the adoption, implementation and impact of morality policies in the American states. Her current research focuses on the effect of U.S. Supreme Court intervention on the adoption of state abortion policies from 1973-2000. She is currently expanding this study and working on two new projects regarding abortion policy. The first one is a longitudinal study that examines the impact of abortion policies on abortion rates in the states. The second project focuses on the adoption and implementation of unconstitutional abortion policies. In addition, she is working on a study with Rick Waterman (Political Science) that examines the implementation of hate crime legislation with an emphasis on intergovernmental (federal-state) relations.