Kristen Lee
This past spring, Kristen was accepted into the MSU Asian Pacific American (APA) Professional Assistantship Program and was given the opportunity to conduct research related to APA studies and radio broadcasting. Her research project is titled, “Media’s Racialization of Hawai’i Native Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Race: A Content Analysis of Hawai’ian and Michigan Print and Radio Media.”
As part of her research, she will be collecting print and radio transcripts from Hawai’ian and Michigan mainstream media and coding the media frames in which Obama’s identity is racialized (i.e., identifying someone with racial characteristics like Black, White, Asian, Indian, etc.). Kristen will also be interviewing the political reporters from each of the media venues as well as other prominent scholars and experts in APA studies. These interviews in collaboration with Kristen’s research will be produced into a five-minute radio documentary which will be aired on local community news radio channels like WKAR or WILS. This research is very relevant as the 2008 Presidential Election draws near. Kristen explained, “Voters have the right to know how the media is portraying these potential presidential candidates.” She hopes her work will provide accurate coverage to the voting public. “Racialization should not be an unfamiliar term in a racialized society, so I hope to educate my fellow citizens about the reality of institutionalized racism.”
By participating in research, Kristen is developing a mentoring relationship with a professor, networking with prominent sources, and is learning how to conduct complex experiments. “The fact that I can and will produce something new and original is very rewarding,” she explained. All of these experiences also strengthen her resume.
The best advice she would give to a new undergraduate researcher: “DIG RIGHT IN! Don’t be afraid to ask a favorite professor for guidance and to take every opportunity to learn more about what MSU has to offer in terms of conducting your own research.”
