Lnicholson14

About me

Hello! I am excited to be part of this collaborative community through which I might be able to help expand the knowledge available to everyone! I am an undergraduate student at Rice University studying Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Policy Studies as well as minoring in Poverty, Justice & Human Capabilities and Environmental Studies. I am quite interested in environmental issues and the power of education and passion to evoke change.

Proposed Topics

Gender inequality in Sri Lanka

Gender inequality interests me greatly especially in a very specific location like Sri Lanka where in some cases will be grouped culturally with India, although having a very developed culture specific to Sri Lanka. Gender inequality in Sri Lanka is not something that is already heavily covered on Wikipedia and I think it would be especially interesting to research this topic as Sri Lanka was the first country to elect a woman to be a head of government office.

I would either create a new entry or add on to the “Gender roles in Sri Lanka” page as this page does not really go into the specifics of gender inequality in that region.  

References:

1.    Abu-Habib, Lina. "The Use and Abuse of Female Domestic Workers from Sri Lanka in Lebanon." Gender & Development 6.1 (1998): 52-56. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

2.    Ferrant, Gaëlle. "How Do Gender Inequalities Hinder Development? Cross-Country Evidence." Annals of Economics and Statistics 117-118 (2015): 313-52. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

3.    Fikree, F. F. "Role of Gender in Health Disparity: The South Asian Context." Bmj 328.7443 (2004): 823-26. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

4.    Fisher, S. "Violence Against Women and Natural Disasters: Findings From Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka." Violence Against Women16.8 (2010): 902-18. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

5.    Hancock, P. "Violence, Women, Work and Empowerment: Narratives from Factory Women in Sri Lanka's Export Processing Zones." Gender, Technology and Development 10.2 (2006): 211-28. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

6.    Hyndman, J. "Feminism, Conflict and Disasters in Post-tsunami Sri Lanka." Gender, Technology and Development 12.1 (2008): 101-21. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

7.    Medagama, S. "The Impact of Economic Development upon the Lives of Women in Developing Countries and Possible Alternatives with Special Reference to Sri Lanka." Sri Lanka J. Dev. Admin. Sri Lanka Journal of Development Administration5.0 (2015): 109. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

8.    Miller, J. "Violence and Coercion in Sri Lanka's Commercial Sex Industry: Intersections of Gender, Sexuality, Culture, and the Law." Violence Against Women 8.9 (2002): 1044-073. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

9.    Seguino, Stephanie. "Gender Inequality and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis." World Development 28.7 (2000): 1211-230. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

10. Ulluwishewa, Rohana. "Development Planning and Gender Inequality: A Case Study in Mahaweli Development Project in Sri Lanka." GeoJournal 23.2 (1991): n. pag. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

Indigenous Land Rights

I think it would be greatly interesting to investigate indigenous land rights at some point in the future, specifically in Latin America as I believe this is a greatly under discussed social issue. I think the deep connection of indigenous people with their environment has always been something that greatly intrigued me and I think it is important that more people know about the great atrocities that have arisen when outside groups have abused and ignored the basic human rights of these people. I think it is an especially difficult issue when it comes to citizenship and how these people should be governed when it comes to state and civil matters. The current article has great room for improvement and expansion and I am excited to develop it.

I would be expanding the current start-rated article that is currently on Wikipedia.

References:

1. Hale, Charles R., "Activist Research v. Cultural Critique: Indigenous Land Rights and the Contradictions of Politically Engaged Anthropology." Cultural Anthropology 21, no. 1 (2006): 96–120.

2. Deborah J. Yashar, "Contesting Citizenship: Indigenous Movements and Democracy in Latin America" Comparative Politics Vol. 31, No. 1 (Oct., 1998), pp. 23-42

3. Anthony Stocks, "Too Much for Too Few: Problems of Indigenous Land Rights in Latin America" Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 34: 85 -104 (Volume publication date October 2005)

4. Borja Martinovic, Maykel Verkuyten, ‘We were here first, so we determine the rules of the game’: Autochthony and prejudice towards out-groups, European Journal of Social Psychology, 2013, 43, 7, 637

5. Adam Kuper, "The Return of the Native" Current Anthropology Vol. 44, No. 3 (June 2003), pp. 389-402

Education inequality in Egypt

Another topic am interested in working on some time in the future is that of education inequality in Egypt. I am very interested in education inequality and specifically education inequality in Egypt as this is a country where my foreign exchange brother is from. After hearing his anecdotes about the issues with the educational system there, I am very interested in exploring this topic further.

I would great an entirely new entry for this topic, because within the “Egypt” page there is not much that covers this extensive issue and I believe it is an article that is important enough that it should stand on its own.

References:

1.    Warschauer, Mark. "Dissecting the "Digital Divide": A Case Study in Egypt." Journal of Media Critiques Vol.19 No.4 June 2015. The Information Society, 2003. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

2.     Rati Ram, "Educational Expansion and Schooling Inequality: International Evidence and Some Implications" The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 72, No. 2 (May, 1990), pp. 266-274

3.    . de Gregorio, Jose and Lee, Jong-Wha, "Education and Income Inequality: New Evidence from Cross-Country Data." Review of Income and Wealth, Vol. 48, pp. 395-416, 2002. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=325165</nowiki>

  4. Checchi, Daniele, "Education, Inequality and Income Inequality" (May 2001). LSE STICERD Research Paper No. 52. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1094825</nowiki>

5. Starrett, Gregory. Amazon.com: Putting Islam to Work: Education, Politics, and Religious Transformation in Egypt (Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies) Berkeley: U of California, University of California Press. 1998.

6. Sachs, Jeffrey. 1996. "Egypt: The Road Ahead." Egyptian Center for Economic Studies Working Paper, Cairo, Egypt.

 7. Gillespie, Nancy. 1997. "Explaining Returns to Education in the Middle East and North Africa." Unpublished manuscript.

8. Birdsall, Nancy. "Putting Education to Work in Egypt." Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Carnegie, 25 Aug. 1999. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

9. Hassine, Nadia Belhaj. "World Bank Economic Review." Inequality of Opportunity in Egypt. World Bank Econ Rev, 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

10. Adams, Richard H. "Nonfarm Income, Inequality, and Poverty in Rural Egypt and Jordan." Nonfarm Income, Inequality, and Poverty in Rural Egypt and Jordan. World Bank Publications, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.