As we welcome the new academic year, we’d like to recognize the outstanding work of last Spring’s Lunsford Award winners, who will be honored at a ceremony in May 2024.
Usula Neuner - Lunsford Award Winner (Spring 2023)
Instructor: Ann Watters, "Psychology and Persuasion"
Project Title: "Body Worn Cameras: Are You Sure of What You See?"
We asked Ursula to tell us a little bit about herself and her exciting project. Here's what she told us: "I am majoring in Symbolic Systems and am very interested in applied ethics. I am a member of Stanford’s Ethics Bowl team, which is an extracurricular activity similar to debate where we have discussions about complex ethical dilemmas. I am originally from San Diego, CA. This summer, I am interning at the San Diego Public Defender’s Office which is what sparked my interest in body-worn camera footage and its use as evidence in the courtroom.
"My research on the reliability of body worn camera footage directly informs my summer internship, where one of my tasks is to review this type of footage and look for evidence that can be used in court. More generally, PWR2 allowed me to develop invaluable skills such as articulating my ideas and presenting compelling arguments which will help me in every future class I take and in the courtroom."
Aya Hilal - Lunsford Award Winner (Spring 2023)
Instructor: Lindsey Felt, "The Rhetoric of Nonverbal Communication"
Project Title: "Rejections of Defect Narratives: Stuttering Artists and a Radical Search for Joy"
Aya is a Human Biology major and a Creative Writing minor from Tinley Park, Illinois. She’s very interested in social determinants of health, especially through the lens of identity in global and colonial/neocolonial contexts. She’s also passionate about disability studies and justice, hoping to further interrogate normative understandings of communication, movement, and “good health” that may stem from ableism. She’s currently the Muslim Mental Health Initiative coordinator at the Markaz resource center.
Regarding her work in PWR 2, Aya writes, "In PWR 2, I had the opportunity to take another one of Dr. Lindsey Felt’s amazing classes. I chose to pursue a project that was both an interrogation of ableism and an appreciation of the joy stuttering artists seem to spin out of thin air. I found it deeply meaningful particularly because I am a stutterer; as a result, I got the chance to observe my own ideas about my speech disability develop in real time as I gathered evidence to share with my community in the class, developing the insight to emerge out the other side with completely flipped personal and academic views and presentation skills I’ll continue to apply."
