This morning, seniors Ilena M., Eliza W., Katherine Y., and Lauren C. presented their culminating project takeaways as part of Global Scholars: a program focused on multidisciplinary, student-led research on a global scale. Their topics—language revival and modern Hebrew, Oaxacan culture in Los Angeles through food, education disparity in rural and urban China, and the censorship and suppression of LGBTQ+ stories—exemplified both the diversity and depth of student research at Westridge. 

"I've always been passionate about storytelling of all sorts, and I knew I wanted to do something regarding language and how it was connected to culture," said Ilena M. '24, who spent the past four years researching language extinction and the revival of modern Hebrew. "I want to make sure people have the ability to do the research and formulate their own ideas about these topics," Ilena reflected, proposing a museum exhibit exploring how languages change over time and are viewed from different perspectives as a final artifact for the project.

Eliza W.'s research topic—censorship of LGBTQ+ stories, particularly in the South and Midwestern United States—was, in her words, at times disheartening, but also sparked optimism about positive change and community. "When there is an increase in suppression, there is also an increase in resistance and subversion," Eliza said. "There's such a strong community and a unity of these marginalized voices coming to fight back."

What is Global Scholars? To become a Global Scholar, students propose a project they are interested in and work closely with a faculty member to integrate the topic with coursework and other experiences both on and off campus. When they reach the end of the program, Global Scholars are able to answer the question they aimed to investigate. The program is a two-year commitment, though many students spend all four years in Upper School investigating a topic they feel connected to.