CISSR SPOTLIGHT

The Impact of Foreign Language Use on Health-Related Decisions

How does language impact health-related decisions? 20-21 CISSR Faculty Fellow Boaz Keysar explores this question in a recent presentation for the UChicago Center for Health Administration Studies. Using original survey data, Keysar shows that foreign language use can release many populations from the stigma associated with specific health decisions. For example, when native-born Chinese students living in the United States were asked whether a person exhibiting symptoms of moderate depression should pursue therapy, nearly 78% of respondents said yes when the question was posed in English, compared to only 68% when the question was posed in Mandarin.

At the same time, delivering information about vaccinations to individuals in their native language can help limit vaccine hesitancy. In another study, Keysar shared information about the risks associated with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in either English or Mandarin to native-born Chinese students. Later, these students were asked whether they had received the vaccine. Whereas 75% of women who received information in Mandarin indeed received the HPV vaccine, only 50% of women who received the message in English did the same. However, this trend did not hold among the men surveyed: only 7.7% of the male respondents who received information about HPV in Mandarin ultimately received the vaccine, compared to 27.3% in English.

These findings represent a major step forward for research on the impact of cultural norms on public health: noting that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is high among some immigrant populations in the United States, Keysar and his research team now plan to investigate whether receiving information on COVID-19 in Spanish influences Hispanic immigrants’ decision to receive the vaccine. You can read more about Dr. Keysar’s CISSR-funded project here, and about his Multilingualism & Decision-Making Lab here.

Call for Proposals: 21-22 Lloyd & Susanne Rudolph Field Research Awards

The Center for International Social Science Research (CISSR) announces our call for the 2021-2022 Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph Research Award which supports MA and PhD students conducting short-term research abroad. The grant provides students with resources that can be used to carry out fieldwork in support of MA theses, qualifying papers, pilot projects, and/or portions of their dissertation research. Now in its fourth year, the Rudolph Awards have supported graduate scholars in a range of disciplines completing rigorous international and transnational research projects. You can read more about past Rudolph awardees here.

ELIGIBILITY & REQUIREMENTS

University of Chicago graduate students (MA or PhD) in the Division of the Social Sciences are eligible. Students engaging in original data-collection efforts and traveling to access archival materials are especially encouraged to apply. Other allowable expenses include purchasing datasets, specializes software licenses, archival access subscriptions, books & primary documents, compensation for field research assistants, and translation or transcription services.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

CISSR will provide graduate students with up to $5,000 for fieldwork expenses. Funds will be disbursed in June 2021 (Summer Quarter).

APPLICATIONS

Review all requirements for applying on our website. Apply here by Friday, April 2, 2021. For questions, contact Alexis Puzon at apuzon@uchicago.edu.

Application Deadline: April 2, 2021

CISSR.UCHICAGO.EDU

UPCOMING EVENTS

AROUND TOWN & DOWN THE ROAD

NEWS & RESEARCH ROUNDUP

Can immigrant rights activists be optimistic about Biden's immigration policy?

For the San Diego Union Tribune, 20-21 CISSR Faculty Fellow Ángela Garcia recently spoke about the Biden administration’s efforts to undo the more restrictive immigration policies of Donald Trump. "The recent executive orders from Biden begin the work of moving U.S. immigration policy in a different direction,” she says, “one that acknowledges the importance of protecting and supporting immigrant communities and reconciling some of the past human rights abuses committed by the government, such as separating children from their parents.” She also speaks about efforts to replace the word “alien” in immigration law with “noncitizen”, and the importance of local-level laws and policies that drive stability and inclusion for immigrant communities. 

What does a Biden presidency mean for U.S. foreign policy?

For The International Business Times, CISSR Board Member Paul Poast recently spoke about the significance of Biden’s election for U.S. foreign policy. Although the rhetoric of a sitting president may differ from that of their predecessor, he says, the overall goal of U.S. foreign policy—to maintain primacy—has stayed mostly the same since the end of the Cold War, and he expects the same will be true of Biden’s presidency.

To suggest an item for a future digest, please send details via this submission form.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

CISSR Book Workshop Fellow Adom Getachew recently appeared on the Ufahamu Africa podcast to speak about her book Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination. In conversation with host Dr. Rachel Beatty Riedl, she discusses the vision of self-determination offered by Black Atlantic anti-colonial, nationalist thinkers during the height of 20th century decolonization. Using the examples of Ethiopia and Liberia, Prof. Getachew argues that empire can be understood not just as a process of exclusion, but of unequal integration, which fundamentally changes and complicates the project of decolonization.

Center for International Social Science Research

5828 South University Avenue, Pick 101, Chicago, IL 60637 

cissr@uchicago.edu  •  773-702-7721  

Unsubscribe  •  Update Email Address  •  View Online