Graduate Fellowship Recipients

These fellowships are made possible by the generous support of the Marion and Frank Long family, the Jesse F. and Dora H. Bluestone family, and an anonymous donor. Learn more about the Reppy Institute’s graduate fellowship program.

Nicole T. Venker 

Recipient of Jesse F. and Dora H. Bluestone Peace Studies Fellowship, 2024-25

Nicole T. Venker is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. Her research examines livelihoods, labor, and land relations along transnational routes of migration from Myanmar (Burma) to the United States.

Research Project
"Land, Livelihood, and Migration on the Margins of Myanmar"

My dissertation traces Myanmar migrants shifting relationships to land along their transnational journeys – from Myanmar (Burma), to Thailand, and to the United States. My work focuses on how migrants experience, envision, and renegotiate their relationship to land within sites of resettlement, and in a transitioning Myanmar. Along transnational routes of refugee migration, I investigate structures of mobility, changes in everyday practices related to subsistence, labor, and leisure, as well as migrants’ visions of environmental and social justice. The Jesse F. and Dora H. Bluestone Peace Studies Fellowship will allow me to conduct fieldwork in Thailand, extending my ongoing research in the US and Thailand.

André Nascimento 

Recipient of Marion and Frank Long Fellowship, 2024-25

André Nascimento is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Romance Studies. His research examines the role of Zapatista fiction as a peacebuilding strategy and for the advancement of the Indigenous sovereignty in Chiapas.

Research Project
“Peacebuilding in Chiapas: Antiwar Efforts in Zapatista Fiction”

This research investigates antiwar efforts and discourses in Southeastern Mexico. Specifically, I examine how the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) promotes peacebuilding strategies through cultural productions amid the looming civil conflict. Post 2007, the growing presence of organized crime has been accompanied by a sharp increase in rates of kidnappings, executions, and territorial encroachment. Existing research maintains a divide between EZLN’s cultural and military texts, overlooking the interdependent nature of Zapatista publications. In contrast, I work to shift the current debate, demonstrating how Zapatista cultural texts are a key element in reconciliation protocols. Leveraging archival research, literary analysis, and participant observation in EZLN-aligned villages, my research proposes an interdisciplinary framework for peace stability in cases of post-guerrilla warfare across Latin America.