Project Location: Adirondacks, N.Y., and Washington D.C.

Project Description: War is an integral part of human society and development. How a war is chosen to be remembered in history is reflective of its impact and its relevance to a nation or people. The importance of war remembrance cannot be understated, in order to understand human evolution. My research investigates how small town and national memorials are used as forms of storytelling and commemoration for collective memory. I researched and visited six different war memorials, two that were small town memorials and four that were national memorials. In the Adirondacks, N.Y., I visited the Schroon Lake Veterans and the Bolton Landing Veterans Memorials. I then visited Washington D.C. and went to the National Mall. There I viewed the World War I, World War II, Korean War Veterans, and Vietnam Veterans Memorials. I conducted research at the Library of Congress along with interviews. From this research I have found that war memorials serve as forms of storytelling and opportunities for active memory. They allow humans to understand and connect with a past we often turn away from.

Sophia Linfield '26
Survivors of Vukovar: Living with Memory After War
Project Location:  Vukovar, Croatia
Project Description: In 1991, the Croatian city of Vukovar endured an 87-day siege that left most of the city in ruins and culminated in atrocities such as the Ovčara massacre, where 260 prisoners of war and civilians were executed. More than thirty years later, Vukovar remains one of the most visible symbols of the Croatian War of Independence, with memorials and rebuilt streets carrying the weight of its past.

My project investigates how survivors of this battle live with the memory of war and how that memory shapes the possibility of forgiveness. I began by studying both historical accounts of the siege and philosophical writings on forgiveness, which helped me frame it as at once a moral decision, a psychological process, and at times an impossible demand.

In June, I travelled to Vukovar for field research. I visited the hospital, the water tower, the memorial cemetery, and the Ovčara Memorial, where the silence of the site made the history I had studied feel immediate and inescapable. I also interviewed survivors, working with my mother as translator and using digital tools to refine the transcripts. Their stories revealed very different ways of approaching forgiveness: some considered it necessary, others rejected it completely, and many continued to live with pain that has never fully healed.

Memory emerged as the defining thread of these accounts. It is preserved in public memorials, carried within families, and felt in the emotional weight of everyday life in Vukovar. With my own Croatian family directly affected by the war, I was drawn to how survivors continue to live beside memories that do not fade. My final paper will bring together survivor interviews and site research to explore how people endure life after atrocity when the past is never fully gone.

Project Location: Paris, France, and Stanford, California 

Project Description: For my project I researched the era of the French Revolution (specifically the Reign of Terror), to understand what makes a government legitimate in times of chaos, and how that translates to the use of violence. In June, I traveled to France for research in Paris. I spent around a week visiting various museums, monuments and historical artifacts to better understand the historical context around my project. Additionally, I tried to connect with the day-to-day life of the revolutionary period by taking tours and meeting museum representatives at multiple jails as well as two of the royal palaces of the time. 

In July, I participated in a three-week course at Stanford titled "Revolutions." In the mornings I was part of a three-hour lecture and in the afternoon we were split into small discussion groups. Here I was able to look at my project from more of a theological viewpoint. Studying Marx, Locke, Rousseau, etc., let me further my research. Returning from my trip, I realized that the point of my project had to be outside of just studying the use of violence. Violence does not exist without a government or a group of people behind it. To study violence, you must study government and their legitimacy.

Ana Gonzalez '26
From Sacred to Symbolic: The Transformation of Llamas and the Andean Identity 
Project Location: Cusco and Quishuarani, Peru
Project Description: My project aims to explore the question: How do human-llama relationships in the communities of the Peruvian high Andes shape the self-identity of the Andean people? Through a post-humanist lens that focuses on the symbiotic relationship between the two species, I argue that llamas are more than a means of production; they actively structure how people understand their ancestry, culture, and religion. I carried out my research in two phases. In Cusco, the former Incan capital, I studied materials at the university library, visited museums, and interviewed professors to trace the role of llamas across centuries of Andean history. I then traveled to Quishuarani, a rural community of the high Andes, where I lived with a family of llama farmers and kept a daily journal. I observed the daily care of the llamas and spoke with herders and other community members about their relationship with the animals. Through this, I found that the presence of llamas keeps ancestral customs alive. Unlike other beasts of burden like horses or donkeys, llamas continue to be regarded with deep respect, and they remain central to rituals and celebrations that honor the Earth Mother. Yet, these connections are fragile. Modern pressures, such as the youth leaving to work in mines, the spread of Protestant churches seeking to eliminate “anti-Christian” rituals, and migration to larger towns with television and cell signal, threaten to erode cultural practices and weaken people’s ties to their Incan roots. In this context, llamas serve as a form of endurance. Tending to them is a demanding task that requires the continuity of Incan feeding practices, keeps families together, and reinforces syncretic religious traditions. Through my research, I show that llamas are the strongest antidote to cultural erosion in the Andes, ultimately demonstrating the animals’ large impact on the humans with which they interact.