Mexico / The domino effect of free trade policy launches a cascade of migrants leaving the country

In many rural Mexican towns, the majority of the residents have migrated to the United States looking for work. This year, $17 billion in checks from these workers will be sent home, making the entire nation dependent upon funds from abroad for economic growth … More >

China / The evolution of a modern legal system

As Chinese cities continue to modernize, I wondered about the role of traditional mediation committees. To what extent are these remnants of the Mao era still significant in contemporary urban Chinese neighborhoods, where some communities are more modern than others, and some attempt to blend modernity, socialism and traditionalism? … More >

Greece / Olympic experience: from goosebumps to dirty socks

Someone who I never had the chance to meet is giving me the chance of a lifetime. My great-grandfather Anastasious Thimis died the day after my mother got married. When he was 16, he emigrated to the United States from Lutraki, Greece, with little or nothing but his Greek heritage. Because of that heritage, I am eligible to represent Greece in the Summer Olympic Games of 2004 … More >

Hungary / Enforcing the human rights of the Roma, Europe's most underprivileged ethnic group

The Roma, commonly referred to as Gypsies, are a stateless people who face discrimination and racially motivated violence in virtually every country in which they reside … More >

California / On the trail of the Kashaya Pomo tribe, 'The People from the Top of the Land'

A class of UC Berkeley students works with the Kashaya Pomo tribe to bring the Kashaya's past back to life. The Kashaya have lived on the northern California coast for thousands of years … More >

More student summer projects:

Brazil: Fighting disease and heartbreak in a shantytown
Mauritania: Documenting slavery's persistence in West Africa
Cameroon: Cracking into the kola nut business
Brazil: Studying the digital divide in Rio's gang-ridden slums