Ninety high school students across North Carolina participated in the third annual Learning through Languages High School Research Symposium, sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University on Dec. 13, 2017. This year’s symposium was the marquee event for the North Carolina Diplomatic Corps’ statewide Day of Multilingualism, a celebration focusing on the value of lifelong language learning.
The symposium offered North Carolina high school students the opportunity to engage in area studies, learn social science research methodology, use oral and written language in a practical, content-based project and participate in cooperative learning.
Eligible students included those studying Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian or Spanish, including heritage speakers. Students researched current issues across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa in their language of study. Participants presented original research at the symposium in the FedEx Global Education Center at UNC and their presentations were judged by UNC and Duke faculty, staff and graduate students.
Students competed for eight different awards, including a new Students’ Choice Award. This award, generated from feedback from prior participants, provided an opportunity for students to learn from each other’s research projects as well as meet peers from around the state. This award was presented by David Robinson, Honorary Consul for Japan.
Thirty-four teams participated from Broughton High School, C.E. Jordan High School, Carrboro High School, Chapel Hill High School, Chatham Charter School, Columbia High School, Durham Academy, East Chapel Hill High School, Eastern Guilford High School, Lincoln Charter School, Marvin Ridge High School, Myers Park High School, Parkland Magnet High School, Piedmont Classical High School, Riverside High School, Southern Wayne High School and T. Wingate Andrews High School.
The event was organized by five area studies centers at UNC and Duke, including the Carolina Asia Center, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, UNC Center for European Studies, UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies, and the UNC-Duke Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. For more information about Learning through Languages, please visit areastudies.unc.edu/ltl.
The organizers congratulate all students who participated. Awardees include:
Best Overall Research Project on Contemporary Asia

• Noah Cox and Sheridan Kum of Durham Academy, teacher Bonnie Wang, for “中国大陆的网络审查：挑战和措施” (“China’s Internet Censorship: Challenges and Policies”)

Honorable Mention of Research Project on Contemporary Asia

• Makenna Meyer, Noah Clapacs, and Natalie Troy of East Chapel Hill High School, teacher Justin Seifts, for “La respuesta mundial a la crisis de los rohingya: Buscando soluciones cooperativas para una crisis en crecimiento” (“The World’s Response to the Rohingya Crisis: Seeking Cooperative Solutions for a Growing Crisis”)

 
Best Overall Research Project on Contemporary Europe

• Reyna González and Brandon Hinojosa-Landa of Columbia High School, teacher Beatriz Calderón, for “Cataluña: ¿sueño o realidad sobrevivir como país independiente?” (“Cataluña: Dream or Reality to Survive as an Independent Country?”)

Honorable Mention of Research Project on Contemporary Europe

• Anna Grillo and Clara Grillo of Broughton High School, teacher Chiayang Lee-Fitzgerald “欧洲难民危机：合作的必要 难民危机对欧洲的影响” (“European Refugee Crisis: The Need for Cooperation; The Impact of the Refugee Crisis on Europe)

 
Best Overall Research Project on Contemporary Middle East and North Africa

• Layan Shahrour and Nesreen Shahrour of Broughton High School, teacher Chiayang Lee-Fitzgerald, for

اﻵﺛﺎر   اﻟﻜﺎرﺛﯿّﺔ   ﻟﻠﺤﺮب   ﻓﻲ   ﺳﻮرﯾﺔ   ﻋﻠﻰ   ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻢ   اﻷﻃﻔﺎل   وﺳﺒﻞ   اﻟﺤﺪ   ﻣﻨﻬﺎ
(“The Catastrophic Consequences of the War in Syria on Children’s Education and Ways of Limiting its Effects”)
Honorable Mention of Research Project on Contemporary Middle East and North Africa

• Jillian Breithaupt, Ethan San Pedro, and Haruna Tsukiyama of Chapel Hill High School, teacher Yoshimi Yamagata Aoyagi, for “イスラエルの政治への欧米の影響” (“Western Influence on Israel’s Politics”)

 
Best Overall Research Project on Contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean

• Julia Cummer, Meenakshi Kaundinya and Daniela Martínez Leal of East Chapel Hill High School, teacher Valerie Huet, “L’Ouragan Maria Révèle La Négligence Envers Porto Rico” (“Hurricane Maria Reveals Negligence towards Puerto Rico”)

Honorable Mention of Research Project on Contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean

• Janae Andrews, Charles Berghausen, and Raymond Palma of Riverside High School, teacher Gabriella Faria, for “Cómo acción afirmativa contrarresta las desigualdades raciales en brasil” (“How Affirmative Action Counters Racial Inequalities in Brazil”)

 
Best Use of Written and Oral Language

• Alec Caruana, Robin Huang, and Daniel Zaretsky of Chapel Hill High School, teacher Christen Campbell, for “Une investigation de la présence des réfugiés syriens au Liban” “An Investigation of the Presence of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon”

Honorable Mention of Best Use of Written and Oral Language

• Justin Holly, Emmy Soll, and Nikita Zaretsky, of Chapel Hill High School, teacher Christen Campbell, for “Les effets du Printemps arabe sur la traite des humains en Tunisie” “The Effects of the Arab Spring on Human Rights in Tunisia”

 
Best Scholarship

• Noah Cox and Sheridan Kum of Durham Academy, teacher Bonnie Wang, for “中国大陆的网络审查：挑战和措施” (“China’s Internet Censorship: Challenges and Policies”)

Honorable Mention of Best Scholarship (tie)

• Julia Connor and Danielle Kaufman-Sedano of Carrboro High School, teacher Amy Olsen “Examinando la crisis rohingya como limpieza étnica” (“Examining the Rohingya Crisis as Ethnic Cleansing”)
• Makenna Meyer, Noah Clapacs, and Natalie Troy of East Chapel Hill High School, teacher Justin Seifts, for “La respuesta mundial a la crisis de los rohingya: Buscando soluciones cooperativas para una crisis en crecimiento” (“The World’s Response to the Rohingya Crisis: Seeking Cooperative Solutions for a Growing Crisis”)

 
Best Visual Presentation

• Anna Grillo and Clara Grillo of Broughton High School, teacher Chiayang Lee-Fitzgerald, for “欧洲难民危机：合作的必要 难民危机对欧洲的影响” (“European Refugee Crisis: The Need for Cooperation; The Impact of the Refugee Crisis on Europe”)

Honorable Mention of Best Visual Presentation (tie)

• Rebecca Guo, Jane Hwang, and MeiXuan Zhu of East Chapel Hill High School, teacher Yoshimi Yamagata Aoyagi, for “中国、日本、インド、ベトナムの 勢力拡大による国境紛争” “China, Japan, India, and Vietnam’s Increasing Power and the Resulting Border Conflicts”
• Reyna González and Brandon Hinojosa-Landa of Columbia High School, teacher Beatriz Calderón, for “Cataluña: ¿sueño o realidad sobrevivir como país independiente?” (“Cataluña: Dream or Reality to Survive as an Independent Country?”)

 
Students’ Choice Award

• Layan Shahrour and Nesreen Shahrour of Broughton High School, teacher Chiayang Lee-Fitzgerald, for

اﻵﺛﺎر   اﻟﻜﺎرﺛﯿّﺔ   ﻟﻠﺤﺮب   ﻓﻲ   ﺳﻮرﯾﺔ   ﻋﻠﻰ   ﺗﻌﻠﯿﻢ   اﻷﻃﻔﺎل   وﺳﺒﻞ   اﻟﺤﺪ   ﻣﻨﻬﺎ
(“The Catastrophic Consequences of the War in Syria on Children’s Education and Ways of Limiting its Effects”)
Honorable Mention of Students’ Choice Award

• Lauren Franklin, Grace García, and Anusha Tummallapalli of Marvin Ridge High School, teacher Alejandra Elliott for “¿Qué esfuerzos se han hecho por los países del Asia meridional para erradicar el problema de la trata sexual en la región?” (“What Efforts Have Been Made by the Countries of Southern Asia to Eradicate the Problem of Sex Trafficking in the Region?”)

 
Reposted from: https://global.unc.edu/news/north-carolina-students-compete-at-learning-through-languages-symposium/