CAS Announces the Recipients of its 25/26 Faculty-Undergraduate Research Partnerships
The Center for African Studies (CAS) announces the 2025/2026 undergraduate recipients of its Faculty–Student Research Partnership Program. This initiative pairs Stanford faculty with undergraduates to collaborate on research projects focused on Africa and its global connections. Students work summer quarters with mentors, gaining hands-on experience in data collection, analysis, archival work, and more, while contributing to faculty-led projects.
The program reflects CAS’s commitment to fostering collaborative research and expanding undergraduate engagement with African studies across disciplines. The projects selected for the 2025–2026 academic year span a range of interdisciplinary topics, including global health and geopolitics, cultural memory and digital humanities, and technology-driven mental health interventions. The program aims to strengthen mentorship, provide meaningful research experience, and support faculty initiatives related to Africa.
Participants receive funding and the chance to contribute to impactful research on the continent’s contemporary and historical issues. By connecting students with mentors, CAS promotes collaborative learning and advances scholarship on Africa’s diverse societies, cultures, and global ties. Below are the selected undergraduate researchers working with faculty mentors on approved projects.
Project: Understanding and Communicating the Role of Geopolitical Conflict, Sanctions, and Foreign Intervention in the Health of African Nations
Faculty Mentors:
Dr. Ruth Gibson - Scholar, Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation
Professor Paul H. Wise - Professor of Child Health Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine
Professor Gary Darmstadt - Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine (
Undergraduate Researchers:
Lisa Katz – Major, History (BA); Science, Technology, and Society (BS)
Tim Jing – Major, Biomedical Computation
“This research project examines the ways geopolitical conflict, sanctions, and foreign intervention affect health systems and outcomes across African nations.”
This is an ongoing collaborative project that aims to highlight the dire health challenges faced across Africa due to conflicts, sanctions, and military reallocation of aid. Through exclusive interviews with African health leaders, synthesis of conflict and aid data, and multimedia dissemination, the initiative seeks to inform global health policy and address significant setbacks in health outcomes. Recognized by The Lancet and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, this effort underscores the alarming projection of up to fourteen million preventable deaths in Africa by 2030. Undergraduate researchers will gain mentorship in global health policy, data collection, and multimedia communication while contributing to impactful scholarly work.
Project: Digital Humanities, Cultural Valorization, and Justice for the Chagossian People
Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Krish Seetah - Associate Professor of Environmental Social Sciences and Oceans
Undergraduate Researcher:
Shiven Jain – Major in Anthropology and Film & Media Studies, Stanford
“This project explores how digital tools can help document memory, displacement, and resilience while amplifying the voices of the Chagossian community.”
This project explores how digital humanities can support cultural recognition and justice for the Chagossian people, displaced from the Chagos Islands in the 1960s when the UK created the British Indian Ocean Territory for a U.S. military base. Since then, Chagossians have fought for recognition and the right to return. Recent developments in 2024 saw the UK agree to return sovereignty to Mauritius and to provide aid for repatriation. Dr. Seetah has been working with Mauritian officials and international partners to include historical and cultural evidence in this transition. Using ethnographic methods and digital tools such as eye-tracking, audio reflections, and digital mapping, the project documents Chagossian heritage and experiences, exploring memory and identity through sensory engagement. The team aims to create an immersive digital installation with artifacts, maps, and audio narratives, called a “Memory of Home.”
Project: Co-Designing and Evaluating a Mobile Youth Mental Health Platform in Lesotho
Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Leslie Adams, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Undergraduate Researchers:
Areli Lica – Major, History and Political Science
Naod Araya – Major, Biomedical Computation; Minor, African Studies Minor
“This work demonstrates how digital technologies can be thoughtfully adapted to local contexts to support youth mental health and strengthen healthcare systems.”
This project supports developing an NIH R21/R33 proposal for a mobile health (mHealth) platform aimed at youth mental health and suicide prevention in Lesotho, adapting U.S.-developed tools for the local health system. It aligns with efforts to foster African digital futures by creating context-specific digital health tech supporting youth well-being. The low-bandwidth, Android-first platform will integrate with national health systems, enabling real-time assessments and alerts. During an eight-week period, an undergraduate will contribute to early design phases, including literature reviews on mobile design in low-resource settings, culturally responsive content, and mental health frameworks. The latter half involves developing design materials like storyboards and app flow diagrams for co-design with youth and health partners. Training will cover research ethics, human-centered design, and handling sensitive data. Collaborations with Adams Lab, LeBoHA, and the Ministry of Health aim to develop a scalable mental health platform and strengthen research and services in Lesotho. The student will produce a portfolio of deliverables, including literature synthesis, prototypes, co-design visuals, and a final presentation.