What am I doing in Pittsburgh?

This semester, I am studying abroad with the PittMAP program through the University of Pittsburgh. This program focuses on globalization of both human health and human security. Just to clarify, at JHU I study public health, so courses focusing on global health and security are very relevant to my major. This program is pretty small. There are only ten of us, with pretty diverse interests. Academically, we've got every major from Women's Studies to Political Science to Linguistics. It's really cool.

These last two weeks have consisted of a Research Methods course, where we each developed a research project to attempt to complete abroad in addition to other courses (Human Security, Health and Migration, Comparative Health) we'll tale. More on my research project later. Currently, I am taking Introduction to Globalization, which involves every discipline from history to economics to philosophy.

Course #1: Research Methods

This class ran from 9am-12pm every week day for two weeks, and it was taught by Dr. Michael Glass. During Research Methods, we, of course, discussed basic research techniques. But more importantly, we talked about what it means to be a researcher studying in foreign countries. 

It's easy to forget because of the excitement of traveling abroad and having an independent project, but the people you study are people, and not simply "subjects". Research is relationships, and as with all relationships, you have to consider different privileges and experiences. Basically this all falls under the umbrella of "don't be a jerk", but it was definitely great to talk about it in depth with everyone else in the program.

We completely a couple group projects along with two short papers and our proposals. We sat in Dunkin' Donuts and Coffee Tree Roasters for an hour each and made observations. We looked at the people, the layout, the decorations, the food and its prices and compared the differences between the two.

We also made trips downtown to examine Mellon Square, a small park for business people, and Market Square, a more public area with a farmers market.

This a fountain along the outside of Mellon Square

Lots of rules here

Market Square was huge, lots of stalls and nice,  shady, seating areas.

Here's another view with part of PPG Place in the background, a creepy black-glass castle/building

What's my research proposal?

The last portion of this class required a research proposal for abroad. I'm pretty excited, and I will update you soon. I'll give you a hint, though: food deserts.

au revoir,

Rachel