The 2023 IRIS Graduate Student Summer Fieldwork and the BLAC Foundation Awardees Profiles

2023 IRIS Graduate Student Summer Fieldwork Awardee
John Bennett is pursuing doctoral work in the Department of Communication Arts on the Algerian
film industry. In researching the historical components of the Algerian film industry's international
activities

2023 BLAC Foundation Winner
Harry Kiiru is a PhD candidate in the Department of African Cultural Studies with a minor in African American Studies. His dissertation titled “The Culturally and Racially Body in Motion: How Sub-Saharan African Immigrants Become Black in the United
Yue Qin is a first-year PhD student in Sociology at UW-Madison.
Her research focuses on how rising precarious work affects aging workers’ sense of self-worth, social relationships, and attitudes toward social inequality in China. With IRIS funding, she will conduct fieldwork in northern China, collecting data through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. This project will promote a better understanding of the social and psychological consequences of economic transition and rising precariousness in modern China.
3rd Year Ph.D. student
UW Madison History Department