147 Research Reflection by Ermiya Fanaeian

Faculty Mentor: James Curry (Political Science, University of Utah)

During my undergraduate journey, the ability to study, investigate, and produce new findings that may have even questioned my assumptions only enhanced my educational experience. Indeed, the question of campus policing is one that I have realized, through this research, is entirely understudied. When we study the very community in which knowledge is produced, where one is taught the very principles of social investigation and critique, it provides us with new perspectives capable of creating shifts. The campus, a place that has been responsible for some of the greatest social movements, tragedies, and is often centered in the trajectory of history, is one that cannot be ignored within the context of studying political and social institutions.

The police, an institution that some of the greatest scholarship has generated critiques towards, is a perfect starting point to begin understanding the organization of the campus. How has our understanding of safety shifted within the last couple of years? What role have students and faculty played in helping usher in this shift in consciousness? What has safety looked like on college campuses, a place in which gender-based violence remains far too high? It is these questions that helped inspire this research that I had the honor of being a part of.