In November, 25 Barnard Laidlaw Scholars attended the annual Laidlaw Scholars Conference at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, a weekend of scholar-led panels and workshops designed to connect budding leaders from around the world. After the conference’s poster presentation, eight Barnard Scholars were selected for publication in the open access platform F1000Research, a meaningful recognition of their research’s potential from commissioning editors at the academic publisher Taylor & Francis.
Barnard College has partnered with the Laidlaw Foundation since 2021 to provide first-year students and sophomores with new opportunities to strengthen their leadership and research skills, aiming to advance the next generation of passionate, ethical leaders. Barnard’s Laidlaw Scholars Leadership & Research Program is made possible through the support of Beyond Barnard and the Athena Center for Leadership. Beyond Barnard, the College’s integrated hub for career development, offers a suite of resources on internships, fellowships, graduate school, and the range of paths students can take after graduation.
“The Barnard Laidlaw Committee is exceptionally proud of our eight Laidlaw Scholars chosen for this unique publishing opportunity with Taylor & Francis,” said Stephanie Malak, director of stakeholder relations at Beyond Barnard. “Barnard Scholars were alerted that they would be able to present to the commissioning editors only hours in advance, so their selection is testament to their agility, professionalism, and academic chops. We are excited to see their work in publication.”
The students identified for presentations were Ava Blum ’27, Catarina de Albuquerque Mello da Costa ’27, Stella Dull ’28, Nuna Endale ’28, Terrah Garner ’27, Liliana Quiroga ’28, Camila Rojas ’27, and Diya Wadhwa ’27. Their research topics spanned a wide range of domestic and international issues across disciplines, including:
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Ava Blum: Theatre of the Censored: How Contemporary Chinese Artists Subvert Commercial Theatre Censorship
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Catarina de Albuquerque Mello da Costa: The Legal and Ethical Aspects of Repatriation: An Analytical Study on the International Repatriation of 9 Brazilian Indigenous Human Remains
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Stella Dull: Coal, Capital, and Climate: Theorizing China’s Green Transition under State Capitalism
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Nuna Endale: Tracing Discipline Disparities: Racial Inequities in Virginia Schools
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Terrah Garner: “Follow the Money”: Qualitative Evidence on Financial Literacy and College Choice
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Liliana Quiroga: Restraint and Seclusion in Special Education: An Analysis on Policy in Texas from 2001 to 2025
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Camila Rojas: Georgia vs. New York: A Policy Divide in Access to Higher Education
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Diya Wadhwa: Are We Pricing Protection or Segregation? Housing-Market Consequences of Gujarat’s Disturbed Areas Act
After the presentations, Stella Dull and Camila Rojas were the first two Barnard scholars to be published on the F1000Research website. Their innovative research — Dull’s in collaboration with Assistant Professor of Political Science Alyssa Battistoni and Rojas’s in collaboration with Term Assistant Professor of Education Fawziah Qadir — can be viewed here.