Johns Hopkins UniversityEST. 1876

America’s First Research University

Research Awards

The Chloe Center > Undergraduate > Research Awards

The Chloe Center for the Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, and Colonialism offers annual undergraduate summer research awards of up to $2,000. Applications for these awards open in the spring and are due March 31. 

The Chloe Center supports undergraduate research that falls into at least one of the four focus areas of the Critical Diaspora Studies major:

  • Migration and Borders
  • Global Indigeneities
  • Empires, Wars, and Carceralities
  • Solidarities, Social Movements, and Citizenship.

Research projects that consider the history and present of Johns Hopkins University and Baltimore in terms of racism, immigration, and colonialism are also welcome.

Students are expected to offer a public presentation, in addition to a written summary, of their research in the fall semester following their summer research. Summer research awards may be used to extend research completed in a CDS or other course and/or to begin research toward a CDS honors thesis.

Details on submitting an application are below and will be updated toward the beginning of the spring semester.

Current Awardees

In 2025, the following students were recipients of the Summer Research Award:

  • Ben Andreesen (’26): “Painting to Reclaim: Imagining New Cartagenero Future Through Street Art”
  • Anupama Cemballi (MA student): “Charting and Cultivating Climate Resilience Amidst Precarious Futures”
  • Lillian Liu (’26): “Unsettled Boundaries, Fractured Forms, and Disrupted Lives: Fragmentation in 20th-Century Chinese Literature”
  • Travis Thai Pham (’28): “Afro-Asian Solidarity from Saigon to Selma: Ho Chi Minh’s Transnational Reflections on Race Relations, Labor Reform, and Civil Rights in the United States”
  • Hailey Saya Tomlinson (’26): “Criminalized Polyvictimization for Black Trans* Women in Baltimore & Beyond”

Previous Awardees

In 2024, the following students were recipients of the Summer Research Award:

  • Rachel Baffoe-Bonnie (’26): Spirit Possession or Depression? Black Immigrants’ Alternative Mental Health Healing Strategies: A Preliminary Ethnographic Case Study
  • Vanessa Han (’26): The Structural Undercurrents of Korean and Black Relations in Baltimore
  • Ethan Tan (’25): Organizing Chinese Community in Twentieth Century Baltimore
  • Angela Tracy (’25): Filipino Diaspora: Unraveling Colonial Legacies and Military-Industrial Dynamics

Rapid Research Grants [reopens in spring]

Undergraduate students are invited to apply for Critical Diaspora Studies Rapid Research Grants. These grants (up to $500) will support research, including travel outside Baltimore during the semester. To be eligible, students must be enrolled in a Critical Diaspora Studies course or cross-listed course or be engaged in writing a thesis or other project related to core themes of Critical Diaspora Studies.

To apply for a Fall 2025 Rapid Research Grant for travel to conduct research that will be completed by the end of the semester, send an application via e-mail to [email protected] by October 3rd [now closed]. Applications should include a one-page description of the research to be conducted, justifying necessary travel or other expenses, based on the research topic. Include a résumé with the application and a brief estimated budget. A maximum of three grants will be awarded. Fall research grants may include research during intersession.

The Fall 2025 Rapid Research Grant awardees are:

  • Valentina Giraldo (’26): “From Conflict Zone to Contact Zone: Narratives of Tourism and Violence in Comuna13, Medellín”
  • Vanessa Han (’26): “The Structural Undercurrents of Korean and Black Relations in Baltimore”
  • Cynthia Kigoye (’26): “What Lies Between the Soil and the Seed: Intergenerational Trauma, Identity, and Mental Health in Second Generation African Youth”

The Spring 2025 Rapid Research Grant awardee is Acelyn McGowan (’27) for her research project “Revolution in the Rockies: How the Black Panther Party Shaped Student Activism in Colorado.”

Summer Research Awards Call for Applications [opens in spring]

The Chloe Center is seeking to support undergraduate research that falls into at least one of the four focus areas of the Critical Diaspora Studies major: Migration and Borders; Global Indigeneities; Empires, Wars, and Carceralities; Solidarities, Social Movements, and Citizenship. Research projects that consider the history and present of Johns Hopkins University and Baltimore in terms of racism, immigration, and colonialism are also welcome.

Students will receive a grant of $2,000, payable in two halves, to support summer research. Recipients will be expected to present their research findings at a panel discussion during the Fall semester.

To apply, please send:

  • Proposal explaining the proposed research topic and how the research will be conducted, as well as how the project is related to course work or other work the student has already completed or plans to complete. The proposal should be up to two full pages, double-spaced. 
  • Student résumé 
  • Name and e-mail address of at least one JHU faculty member who can speak to the student’s qualifications 

This call for applications is now closed; watch this space for the Spring 2026 call.