Student Projects
The Hart Leadership Program has a long history of exemplary student work, and we are proud to showcase here a selection of student research projects, internships, and honors theses dating back to 2011. Below, you can explore nearly 400 student projects, filtering by project type, Hart program affiliated with the project, thematic topics, project locations, and project years. The database does not provide the full text of students' projects, but it does provide abstracts of student work wherever available, as well as more information including students' class year and, when applicable, the name of the community partner organization a student worked with to conduct their internship or research. We will continue to expand the database as our students continue conducting phenomenal projects. In the meantime, use the search function below to explore our incredible students' work, and get inspired!
Project Location: North America
Community Healthcare Access in Alexandria, VA
Juliette Fore interned with MedStreet, a nonprofit organization that provides free healthcare to the homeless. MedStreet has a unique service model where they bring the physician directly to those in need. Throughout her internship, Juliette focused on building partnerships with local community organization and established multiple free pop-up medical clinics …
Immigration Justice for Migrants in the El Paso-Juarez Border Region
Mariana Meza interned with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Centre, a non-profit organization in El Paso, Texas that provides pro-bono and low-cost legal aid to migrants in the border area. The role initially focused on independent post-release work under the Detained Deportation Defense Team, assisting migrants in their transition to new …
The Impact of Community Centers in Rural Community Building
During his summer at the Cowan Community Centrer, Zachary Patterson took on a versatile role as an assistant to the Executive Director, where he engaged in various tasks crucial for constructing organizational structure. The central project involved creating a resource guide establishing employment and volunteer expectations.. However, a significant shift …
Leadership, Service, and Recidivism: Insights from Rural North Carolina
Jordan Phillips’ transformative summer as a SOL Fellow at the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office reshaped the perspective on leadership and service within the context of a rural community. Through ride-along, detention centre shadowing, and stakeholder interviews, Jordan synthesized insights into the causes of recidivism in rural Eastern North Carolina. Mental …
Letcher County Culture Hub: Impact on Borrowing and Financing Power
Despite the tight-knit and trust-abundant nature of rural America, traditional financial institutions are largely unable to trust communities with funding, especially without traditional measures like credit score checks, which rural communities are disproportionately excluded from demonstrating. International efforts under the umbrella of microfinance have attempted to generate alternative solutions to …
Creating Farm Working Justice in North Carolina
“Creating Farmworker Justice in North Carolina” consisted of working with farmworker communities distributed throughout the rural counties of North Carolina. The task included working with attorneys to understand the legal rights of contracted (H-2A/H-2B visas) farmworkers, conducting outreach nights to predominately farmworker locations, creating social media content in English and …