Stanford
King Center on Global Development Global Development

2021–2022 Summer Full-Time Undergraduate RFs

Projects

A New Start for Human Rights in Indonesia: Will the Human Rights Courts Succeed this Time?

Governance and Institutions

 

 

At the beginning of the reform period after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, Indonesia adopted a human rights regime to provide for accountability for the worst international crimes and human rights violations. Law 26/2000 both created a new system of specialized human rights courts with jurisdiction over "gross human rights violations." Equally importantly, the law incorporated international criminal law by defining gross human rights violations as genocide or crimes against humanity. This law provided the basis for 12 trials in 2002-2005 focused on the role of the Indonesian military in East Timor in 1999.

There is now a significant opportunity to revitalize the human rights courts because Indonesian President Jokowi has ordered the Attorney General to resolve the pending cases (which range from the 1965 massacres to current killings in Papua) by either judicial or non-judicial measures. Over the past year our center has been training Indonesian prosecutors in the legal framework for these cases. The research fellow will be working with Professor Cohen on studying and evaluating the process by which this case is moving forward to a trial that, it is hoped, will commence in summer 2022. The research will focus initially on gaining a better understanding of the violence associated with the Papuan independence movement and on the context in which the 2014 massacre occurred. 

Faculty supervisor: David Cohen, Department of Classics
Focus country or region: Indonesia 
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Institute for an Independent Judiciary (LeIP)
Research fellow: Abigail Neely, '23, international relations

Bureaucracy and Development

Governance and Institutions
Work, Entrepreneurship, and Finance

This project aims to understand how local officials respond to administrative overload and problem solving amidst Covid-19 pandemic. The research plan is for the student to learn from local residents, community organizers, and local officials and understand the kinds of challenges they have faced in the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, what kinds of coping strategies are used in response to the tremendous task of vaccination, Covid-test, and shelter in place for floating population, and how these measures have affected local economic activities. The research method involves a mixture of interviews, participatory observations, and archival research on records of local activities in that community.  

Faculty supervisor: Xueguang Zhou, Department of Sociology
Focus country or region: China
Research fellow: Charlotte Zhu, '26, undeclared

Crime in India: Representation and Access to Justice

Gender and Equity
Innovations in Methods and Data

A vast literature in social science has probed the impact of electoral representation on citizens’ economic and political empowerment; still, an open question remains as to whether such measures can affect access to justice, e.g., from the administrative cognizance of criminality to the issuance of verdicts -- especially for violence against women (VAW) and hate-crime. This project explores whether the implementation of gender and ethnic-based electoral quotas across Indian village councils affects access to justice for those seeking help from the state, including women and minorities. Even though the goal of the quota policy in India was not only to promote "economic development," but also to explicitly further "social justice,'' there have been few studies about whether mandatory electoral representation can, for instance, lead to altered patterns of crime registration or judicial outcomes. The study compares the full trajectory of complaints across the entire Indian criminal justice system in ‘treated’ and ‘control’ Indian villages. It also places citizen voices at the center of the research agenda, by applying machine learning techniques on victim testimonies to state authorities about the violence and abuse that they endure on an everyday basis.

Faculty supervisors: Pascaline Dupas, Department of Economics; Nirvikar Jassal, King Center on Global Development
Focus country or region: India
Research fellow: Shirley Cheng, '22, computer science major, international relations major

Data-Driven Approaches to Trafficking Detection

Innovations in Methods and Data
Gender and Equity
Governance and Institutions

Human trafficking and modern slavery is one of the most pernicious problems in global supply chains. Labor trafficking networks in key industries are skilled at evading detection by hiding behind complex ownership structures, using illicit third-party recruitment practices, and concentrating victims in remote or temporary work sites at the most distal tiers of global supply chains. Despite the good-faith efforts of many governments and industry actors, the lack of systematic evidence about the functioning of trafficking markets, the effectiveness of strategies for reducing trafficking, or the evasion tactics used by perpetrators has severely limited intervention efficacy, leaving traffickers unchecked and exposing firms to unwanted reputational risk.   

Recognizing the need for new tools to better identify hidden networks of human traffickers and to disrupt their operations effectively, the Stanford Human Trafficking data lab is undertaking an ambitious research agenda aimed at developing new methodologies to understand trafficking networks and the determinants of human trafficking risk. The HT Data Lab seeks a research fellow to work in close collaboration with the Chief Data Officer at the Brazilian Federal Labor Prosecution Office and the Stanford-based research team to support two streams of research around building a decision support toll for anti-trafficking task forces and implementing AI to identify forced labor camps in the Brazilian Amazon.

Faculty supervisor: Grant Miller, School of Medicine
Focus country or region: Brazil

Emollient Therapy for Improved Survival and Growth of Very Low Birth Weight Infants in Zimbabwe

Health
Innovations in Methods and Data

Mortality of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants at the University of Zimbabwe Sally Mugabe Central Hosp is 58%. The research team will set up a clinical trial to test whether sunflower seed oil applications will reduce mortality of hospitalized VLBW infants by 25%.

Faculty supervisor: Gary Darmstadt, Department of Pediatrics
Focus country or region: Zimbabwe
Cardinal Quarter community partner: University of Zimbabwe
Research fellows: Brooke Forde,'22, human biology major; Reilly Pigott, '23, human biology major

Environmental Pollution and Stillbirth in Bangladesh

Health
Environment and Climate Change

Exposure to heavy metals in the environment is a pressing environmental health threat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Metal exposure during pregnancy has been associated with certain adverse birth outcomes, yet the link between metals and stillbirth risk remains unclear. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of stillbirths globally, as well as widespread and persistent environmental metal pollution. This study aims to identify the sources of metal exposure among pregnant women in Faridpur, Bangladesh, and the potential role of this exposure in contributing to the elevated rate of stillbirth. The research team is leveraging the framework of an ongoing child health and mortality prevention surveillance study to compare placental biomarkers of metal exposure among stillbirths and live births. They will also evaluate concentrations of various metals in drinking water, soil, rice, and turmeric to identify the likely routes of exposure to metals during pregnancy. This research will inform interventions to reduce women’s exposure to metals during pregnancy and may identify pathways connecting environmental metals to stillbirth, generating policy-relevant data for improving birth outcomes.

Faculty supervisor: Steve Luby, School of Medicine
Focus country or region: Bangladesh 
Cardinal Quarter community partner: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, https://www.icddrb.org/
Research fellow: Ahmed Moutwakil, '25, human biology major

Gendered Networks: How Political Information Travels through Clustered Women’s Groups

Gender and Equity
Governance and Institutions

How can women’s voices be better represented in existing political institutions? This project seeks to understand whether stronger linkages between female citizens and elected representatives augment the representation of women’s interests.

Faculty supervisor: Soledad Prillaman, Department of Political Science
Focus country or region: India
Cardinal Quarter community partner: PRADAN
Research fellow: Somer Bryant, '22, feminist, gender, and sexuality studies major, international relations majo

Impact of Regional Land Use Changes in Kenya on Malaria Prevalence 

Health
Environment and Climate Change
Urbanization and Infrastructure

Amid rapidly-changing environmental conditions, there is much evidence to suggest that mosquito-borne diseases like malaria are spreading to new regions throughout the world. Land-use changes like deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization, as well as factors like climate change, can all alter a region’s mosquito habitability and cause them to carry pathogens to new populations. This project would examine the impact of regional land-use changes in Kenya on malaria prevalence over the past 30 years.

Faculty supervisor: Desiree LaBeaud, Department of Pediatrics
Focus country or region: Kenya
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Technical University of Mombasa and HERI-Kenya (www.heri-kenya.org)
Research fellow: Laia Bent, '26, undeclared

Improving Infection Prevention Strategies in Bangladesh and Liberia

Health
Urbanization and Infrastructure

Healthcare facilities in low-resource settings are frequently under-prepared to prevent disease spread among patients or healthcare workers. One durable strategy to reduce hospital-acquired airborne infections is to improve ventilation. Ventilation in naturally ventilated facilities largely depends on infrastructure parameters but can also be augmented through building modifications or assistive devices. The research team proposes to evaluate ventilation in Liberian healthcare facilities, using carbon dioxide levels as a proxy for airborne infectious disease transmission risk. For a subset of high-risk spaces, it will assess the impact of low-cost structural changes on ventilation rate. Finally, the research team will design a carbon dioxide monitoring system with a visual indicator of ventilation status. This will allow it to assess whether modifiable parameters of ventilation are affected by visual reminders. By identifying low-cost strategies for optimizing ventilation in naturally ventilated healthcare facilities, the team will strengthen the resiliency of healthcare facilities and protect healthcare workers and patients against endemic and pandemic airborne infectious disease spread. The research fellow will support various aspects of the project throughout the summer, including a literature review and protocol development.

Faculty supervisor: Steve Luby, School of Medicine
Focus country or region: Bangladesh and Liberia  
Cardinal Quarter community partner: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, https://www.icddrb.org/
Research fellow: Ethan Bell, '26, undeclared

Increasing Farmer Engagement to Alleviate Poverty

Work, Entrepreneurship, and Finance
Environment and Climate Change

 

The research team conducted a study in India on one million farmers in the state of Odisha. The goal of the experiment was to increase farmer engagement in the phone-based advisory service. The team used cutting edge machine learning methods to predict the optimal message timing for the sample of one million farmers. Next, plans are to launch a new experiment in a new geographic area in the second quarter of 2022.

The team runs experiments that deliver individualized information that enable farmers in Pakistan to improve crop optimization. By designing and testing the optimal message content, it can develop a scalable method that lifts large populations out of poverty.

Faculty supervisor: Susan Athey, Graduate School of Business
Focus country or region: Pakistan
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Precision Development

International Banks and Trade During the Ages of Globalization

Trade and Migration
Innovations in Methods and Data

From the mid-19th century until World War I, international banks expanded throughout the world and were a significant form of short-term capital flows. These banks have not been studied in a comprehensive way, and this project collects comprehensive data on their locations and operations annually at the city-level for a period from 1850 until 1914 and will link those bank operations to patterns in international trade. In addition, the data source documenting international bank branches continued through the collapse of globalization in WWI, the interwar years, WWII, and the Bretton Woods era until 1970. This latter segment of data from 1914 until 1970 can be used to study the changes in financial capitalization that occurred during this period. The earlier data has been thoroughly collected, digitized, and mostly cleaned, so the research fellow will be tasked with further data checks and data analysis.

Faculty supervisor: Chenzi Xu, Graduate School of Business
Focus country or region: Global
Research fellow: William Halverson, '26, undeclared

The Political Economy of Nepal

Governance and Institutions

 

 

This project studies political development in Nepal. Nepal's rich political history and isolation from the rest of the world until the mid-twentieth century makes it a fascinating case for studying the process of modernization in a closed society.

Faculty supervisor: Avidit Acharya, Department of Political Science
Focus country or region: Nepal
Research fellow: Rachin Kalakheti, '26, undeclared

The Prevalence of Dengue, Chikungunya and Rift Valley Fever in Kenya 

Health
Environment and Climate Change

Amid rapidly-changing environmental conditions, there is much evidence to suggest that mosquito-borne diseases like malaria are spreading to new regions throughout the world. Land-use changes like deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization, as well as factors like climate change, can all alter a region’s mosquito habitability and cause them to carry pathogens to new populations. This project would examine the impact of regional land-use changes in Kenya on the prevalence of dengue, chikungunya, and Rift Valley fever over the past 30 years.

Faculty supervisor: Desiree LaBeaud, Department of Pediatrics
Focus country or region: Kenya
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Technical University of Mombasa and HERI-Kenya (www.heri-kenya.org)
Research fellow: Annabelle Smith, '25, biology major

Transforming Systems of Early Autism Detection and Intervention in Bangladesh using Mobile AI Methods

Health
Innovations in Methods and Data

The research team seeks to understand the ability of gamified and crowd-powered systems to aid in the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Bangladesh through home videos collected via mobile platforms. The team will use machine learning algorithms to improve screening and diagnostic methods for children with autism or other developmental disorders, relying on home videos and parental responses to questions. 

Faculty supervisor: Dennis Wall, Department of Pediatrics
Focus country or region: Bangladesh
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Dr. Naila Z. Khan, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation and Square Hospital
Research fellow: Nahian Haque, '26, economics major

Transitional Justice in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Former Yugoslavia and Beyond

Governance and Institutions

 

 

The research fellow will be working with Professor Cohen on studying and evaluating the research on transitional justice as well as attending trials in the Hague and/or Southeast Asia. 

Faculty supervisor: David Cohen, Department of Classics
Focus country or region: Indonesia 
Cardinal Quarter community partner: Institute for an Independent Judiciary (LeIP)
Research fellow: Sean Lee, '23, history and international relations major