Society

Society: Understanding Human Nature and Behavior

Michael Doucette

Michael Doucette is a senior double-majoring in information science and interdisciplinary studies within the UNC School of Information and Library Science. He studies how digital technologies influence and transform the structure of personal and social spaces.

photo by Alyssa LaFaro

Teshanee Williams

Teshanee Williams is a postdoctoral research associate within the UNC School of Government and a fellow in the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity. She uses mixed method approaches to examine strategic alliances between the public sector and nonprofit organizations, as well as public participation in decision-making processes.

photo by Alyssa LaFaro

André Keiji Kunigami

André Keiji Kunigami is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Romance Studies within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences and a fellow in the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity. He examines how film makes people feel about their bodies and the political nature of those emotions.

A Leading Research Institution

University Research Week, November 4-8, is an annual celebration of Carolina’s research excellence and an effort to increase participation by students, of all levels, in research activity. Through lectures, workshops, lab tours, and more, the campus community will become more familiar with our world-class research and the strategic initiatives that make Carolina one of the top research institutions in the world.

photo by Matthew Westmoreland

The Road to Reproductive Health

By the time she was 14 years old, Vaishnavi Siripurapu had already developed a passion for feminism and reproductive health. After working in a university biology lab in high school, she set her sights on a career that combined her love of science with that of gynecology. Now a sophomore at UNC, she researches ways to educate young people about sex and relationships.

photo by Matthew Westmoreland

Anusha Chari

Anusha Chari is a professor in the Department of Economics within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences and an adjunct professor in the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. She studies how international trade and capital markets — financial systems that raise capital via shares, bonds, and other investments — affect economic growth across East Asia and Latin America.

protesters standoff against police in Puerto Rico

photos by Roque Nonini

Puerto Rico’s Breaking Point

After Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico in 2017, millions of people lost power — some for nearly a year. But the blackout wasn’t just the work of a powerful hurricane. Decades of debt, economic dependence, and bad financial deals set up the territory and its electrical company, PREPA, for failure. To get to the root of the catastrophe, UNC anthropologist Sandy Smith-Nonini and filmmaker Roque Nonini teamed up to create a documentary about the underlying forces of Puerto Rico’s energy crisis.

photo by Megan May

Juan Carlos González Espitia

Juan Carlos González Espitia is an associate professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Studies within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. In his historical study of syphilis in the Spanish-speaking world, he explores the ways the disease affects private and public life, literature, the arts, medical discourse, politics, and public policy.

John Bechtold holds a camera and shoots up

A Dual Focus

After a 21-year career in the U.S. Army, John Bechtold is now a PhD student in UNC’s Department of American Studies, using photography as a means to discuss American public memory and cultural perceptions of war.