Seung-kyung Kim, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies: (1998-99)

Dr. Seung-kyung Kim’s project was founded on the notion that the institutionalized cultural and social statuses of gender, race, and ethnicity give rise to the specific structure of poverty in American society. Her Diversity Initiative award funded research examining the relationship between ethnicity and poverty through an ethnographic study of elderly immigrant Korean women living in a low-income housing complex on University Boulevard near the campus. The research addressed a significant omission in the growing body of literature on new immigrants, specifically the lack of attention given to women and particularly elderly women immigrants. Using qualitative methods, the research: a) documented the immigrant women’s perception of their own situation (not living with their children as commonly expected among Asian families) and their explanation of how they came to live in this housing complex, b) examined their understanding of “citizenship” and what American citizenship meant to them; and c) discussed their own understanding of poverty and welfare issues.

Michele Gelfand, Assistant Professor, Psychology (1998-99)

Dr. Michele J. Gelfand works in organizational psychology, where her focus is on incorporating elements of culture into social and organizational research, including negotiation, conflict, and justice. Her Diversity Initiative award enabled her to edit a special issue on "Cross-Cultural Industrial and Organizational Psychology" for Applied Psychology: International Review, published in January 2000. Support from the Diversity Initiative further facilitated the writing of her own article, entitled "Culture and Negotiation: Progress, Pitfalls and Prospects," which was published in the special issue. Dr. Gelfand’s award also allowed her to write a prospectus for Cross-Cultural Organizational Behavior, one of the first advanced doctoral level books to be published on the topic.