Dr. Kevin Decker

Summer Research Continues Despite COVID-19

Soon after the shelter in place began in Washington state, EWU McNair started hearing reports from our colleagues that summer research internships were being cancelled across the country. We cringed knowing that several of our students had received prestigious summer research internships or were still waiting to hear back from those they'd applied to. Fortunately, through innovation and flexibility, all of our EWU McNair Scholars will be able to engage in summer research!

EWU McNair Scholar Malachi Chukwu was accepted by Laney Graduate School Summer Opportunity for Academic Research (LGS-SOAR) Program at Emory University. EWU McNair Scholar Wendolyn Martinez was accepted into the Junior Summer Institute in Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) at the University of Michigan. Both will both do virtual research internships at these institutions this summer! In addition, new McNair Scholar Aulane Mplouli was accepted into the Ohio State University (OSU) research internship, which was cancelled due to COVID-19; however, she was invited to a summer webinar series by OSU to help prepare her for graduate school. She will also complete a summer research internship at EWU. In addition 16 other EWU McNair Scholars (new and continuing) will participate in the EWU McNair Summer Research Internship through online learning and coaching.

EWU McNair is grateful to all of the professors willing to continue to mentor students and support them through their summer research internship despite these harrowing times. Mentors for the summer of 2020-2021 include: Dr. Rebecca Brown, Dr. Brian Buchanan, Dr. Judd Case, Dr. Kevin Decker, Dr. Edwin Elias, Dr. Yao Houndonougbo, Dr. Camille McNeely, Dr. Gina Mikel Petrie, Dr. Susan Ruby, Dr. Jillene Seiver, Dr. Majid Sharifi, Dr. Lindsey Upton, Dr. Michael Winer, and Dr. Aryn Ziehnert. Check out our Spring Gathering page to learn more about our scholars and mentors!

Photo of Analisea Araya next to text congratulating her with red textured border.

Congratulations Eastern Washington University student Analisea Araya! Analisea has been selected as an EWU McNair Scholar and awarded a summer research internship. McNair Scholars must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and are first generation college students and low-income and/or underrepresented students. They are selected for their promise as scholars and commitment towards attaining a PhD.

Analisea is interested in various philosophical fields, including social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, philosophy of education, and philosophy for children. As a research scholar, Analisea is interested in the way women’s voices have been left out of the western canon and how that has perpetuated contemporary gender inequality and the absence of women in various areas of study, especially philosophy. She will be presenting on this topic with her paper, “An Analysis of Early Modern Philosopher Mary Astell and a Critique of the Western Canon,” at the 2020 EWU symposium. She is also interested in examining the role and benefits of critical and philosophical thinking in the K-12 education system. While it was unfortunately cancelled, Analisea was selected to present her paper on influencing education reform through ancient philosophy at Pacific University’s Undergraduate Philosophy Conference.

She has already completed fall and winter courses preparing to be a McNair Scholar and is currently enrolled in EWU McNair's Research Methods and Analytic Writing courses, on top of her regular classes. This will not only strengthen her skills for graduate school, but also set the groundwork for her 2020 EWU McNair Summer Research Internship under the mentorship of Dr. Kevin Decker.

We're so excited to have Analisea join us as a McNair Scholar!