2022 Monson Prize Awardee
Kassie John (Prof. Elpitha Tsoutsounakis)
DINÉ BIZAAD LANGUAGE CUBES: EXAMINING THE REFORMATION OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE PRESERVATION
Language is key to understanding cultural values and imperative sustaining a community’s cultural identity. Diné Bizaad Language Cubes explore ways to redesign how the Diné language is taught and preserved for my Diné. This design research project was an opportunity to ‘protect’ my Indigeneity (ways I identify as an Indigenous person) and to help ‘contain’ the Diné language for future generations to come. Diné Bizaad Sound Cubes is a tool for Diné youth and their communities to initiate their own “play” while aiding in the development of initial phonemes with Diné Bizaad pronunciation, reclaiming our pre-colonial ways of language acquisition through oral teachings.
2021 Monson Prize Awardees
Cloe Butler (Prof. Ana Antunes)
"IDENTITY: BY KIDS, FOR KIDS" A STUDENT-CENTERED ZINE
My research tackles the inequities that immigrants and refugees face with accessing information about sexuality. I compiled personal definitions of sexuality topics and artwork from the kids at Sunnyvale Neighborhood Center into a Zine to be printed and distributed to the kids, SNC, and local libraries. Not only does the Zine include concepts explained by the kids themselves, but it prompts the youth to look further into sexuality topics. This project is a collaborative effort between the students and myself to produce a piece of work that will be shared with their peers. It will expand the knowledge around sexuality to kids that are not part of our program and incite social justice.
Jamie Goetz (Prof. Jeff Rose)
NATIONAL PARKS, A STORY OF COLONIZATION AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LAND
National Parks are commonly positioned as the peak of "wilderness" conservation. However, they fail to acknowledge their violent histories of colonialism and imperialism on Indigneous peoples. Consequently, western models of land management and conservation are based upon principles of colonialism, capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy, rather than place-based frameworks that are characteristic of Indigenous worldviews. This research concludes by presenting National Parks as central in Indigenous efforts toward decolonizing the settler, capitalistic views of environmental conservation and contemporary land management through actionable decolonial measures.
Past Monson Prize Awardees
2020
Hanna Thistle (Prof. Rebecca Utz)
INTERTWINING BIOMEDICAL & BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTHCARE MODELS TO MINDFULLY ACHIEVE OVERALL WELLBEING
"A sociocultural approach to addressing the rising stress and anxiety levels involves shifting current attitudes towards mental health. Just because mental health is invisible to the human eye does not mean it contributes any less to one's overall health and wellbeing than physical health does. Instead of mental health being an uncomfortable and largely avoided topic of conversation, it should be widely normalized, encouraged and prioritized just as much just as much P.E. classes and gym outings prioritize physical health. The educational system could make a major sociocultural impact on future generations of kids equipping them with healthy behavior skills that can be used as lifelong tools."
Rachel Coy (Prof. Shane Macfarlan)
WAR RITUAL IN SMALL SCALE SOCIETIES: POTENTIAL TREATMENT FOR VETERANS WITH PTSD
"The results of this research may have long-term implications on both psychiatric treatment options for veterans with PTSD and the policies and procedures for reintegrating military personnel back into civilian life. Additionally, by increasing our understanding of mental illness it helps to destigmatize these conditions. The study of how mental illness is acknowledged and treated in non-western cultures could provide a novel approach to our understanding of mental health problems."
