Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship
This four-year fellowship program, funded by the University of California Office of the President, the UCLA Graduate Division, and the home department, supports a limited number of students who are entering PhD programs and are interested in a career in college or university teaching and research. The fellowship currently provides a stipend of $21,000 plus tuition and for the first year only, nonresident supplemental tuition if necessary. During the student's fourth year, the Graduate Division provides a second year of support in the form of a Graduate Research Mentorship Award upon activation of the award by the student and the department. The student's department is obligated to provide two or more years of equivalent support. Applicants must be nominated by their department/school. Students pursuing MD or DDS degrees are not eligible for this program.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or undocumented students who qualify for nonresident supplemental tuition exemptions under AB 540 (Eligibility for undocumented AB540 students is effective January 1, 2013). Individuals from cultural, racial, linguistic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in graduate education are especially encouraged to participate in the program. The intent of this fellowship is to provide access to higher education for students who might otherwise find it difficult or impossible to successfully pursue graduate study. Applicants should review the Eugene Cota-Robles Application Instructions and complete both the Fellowship Application for Entering Graduate Students and the Admissions Application Diversity Statement. These forms will be reviewed as part of your fellowship application.
Jessie M. Vallejo
UCLA Department: Ethnomusicology
Year Entered Graduate School: 2008
Research Interests
Primarily, my research is focused on the pedagogy and transmission of musical traditions in Native American and Latin American cultures. For the M.A. research, I worked with teachers from a Kanien'kéha (Mohawk) community in northern New York and Canada. The current project I am working on is about Kichwa ritual flute music in Otavalo, Ecuador.
Brief Biography
I am originally from Syracuse, New York and my college career began at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. During my undergraduate years I studied music education, classical violin performance, and Spanish. I was also active with campus event organizing and grassroots lobbying. In 2006, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and I was chosen to be a Potsdam Presidential Scholar, which provided me with grant monies that supported my first ethnomusicological field study about mariachi music. After graduation I taught middle school and high school strings in the suburbs of Syracuse. One of my dreams since high school was to pursue a degree in ethnomusicology, and in 2008 I was accepted into UCLA's renowned graduate program. Aside from research and academic studies, I have continued with developing my musicianship and performance skills by playing mariachi music, Chinese music (erhu), and bluegrass. In summer 2011, I interned at the Smithsonian Institution where I worked for the Colombian exhibit at the Folklife Festival and traveled to Ecuador to help produce a forthcoming Folkways album with flute musicians in Otavalo.
If stranded on a deserted island with only one type of meal to eat every day, what would you want it to be?
Bibimbap.
If you did not pursue a graduate degree what would you have pursued?
My early teaching experiences were wonderful and I would have kept working as a music educator; however, I was also interested in pursuing careers in translation or environmental science and forestry.
Courtney Hooker
UCLA Department: Psychology
Year Entered Graduate School: 2010
Research Interests
I am interested in the effects of vicarious experiences of discrimination on both psychological and physiological well-being. We know that personal forms of discrimination are associated with health decrements; however, we often observe others experience discrimination/prejudice. "I feel your pain" is a common expression, but can people readily experience the emotional and sensory components of an in-group member’s pain upon observing their experience of discrimination?
Brief Biography
I completed by undergraduate at UC Berkeley working with Dr. Serena Chen examining the impact on self-perception on psychological well-being. In addition, we also looked at cross-ethnic friendships and sought to understand how non-verbal behaviors may give us insight into the power dynamics between the friends. After UC Berkeley, I worked with Dr. Chris Dunkel-Schetter, chair of the UCLA Health Psychology department looking at the effects of allostatic load on low-income Latina birth outcomes. Currently, I work with Dr. Jenessa Shapiro in the Social Interaction and Social Stigma Lab (SISSL) looking at the effects of various forms of discrimination and prejudice on psychological and physiological well-being.
If stranded on a deserted island with only one type of meal to eat every day, what would you want it to be?
Potatoes!! So many ways to prepare them, plus they are full of nutrients.
If you did not pursue a graduate degree what would you have pursued?
I probably would have become a doctor.
Calvin Ho
UCLA Department: Sociology
Year Entered Graduate School: 2011
Research Interests
My research interests include immigration, nationalism, and diaspora. I am currently working on a project linking overseas Chinese communities to nationalist cultural projects in China.
Brief Biography
I'm from El Monte, CA, just 40 miles east of campus. After graduating from Arroyo High School, I went on to Swarthmore College, where I majored in Linguistics and Languages (Spanish and Chinese) and minored in Latin American Studies. I was privileged to study abroad for an entire year. I spent the fall learning tango and ethnography in Buenos Aires, Argentina and the spring studying Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan. I used the work I did in Buenos Aires to write an honors thesis about a weekend language school in the Chinatown there. Those first experiences going abroad bit me with the travel bug and I can't wait to explore more of the world.
After Swarthmore I transitioned right into graduate school in the Sociology department here at UCLA, which has been a wonderful experience.
If stranded on a deserted island with only one type of meal to eat every day, what would you want it to be?
I love food so much that it'd be hard to pick just one thing, but kimchi pizza would probably top the list. (Try it!)
If you did not pursue a graduate degree what would you have pursued?
If I were not pursuing a PhD, I would have loved to make a career out of my passion for food and skills in social media.
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