Emily Barton with Professor Linda Blum
“What is Neurodiversity? Exploring How an Online Discourse Counters Stigma”
Spring 2015
“I am incredibly thankful for the funding provided by the CSSH Undergraduate Research Initiative Award. Through my project I have cultivated research skills that will prove instrumental for both my academic and professional careers and I am confident that, as the project continues, it will provide not only valuable insights on the neurodiverse culture but also foster additional personal growth.”
Emily (Sociology and Cultural Anthropology) and Professor Blum (Sociology) are exploring the emergence of a neurodiverse counterculture in our society. Emily has prepared an annotated bibliography based on relevant scholarship and is conducting primary research online, analyzing blogs and online forums created by the neurodiverse and their members. This work will help her develop questions to guide her research in this field and to ultimately create a proposal for an Honors in the Major research project. Emily and Professor Blum plan to develop a conference paper from this research and expand this into an article for an academic journal.
