The Institute for Research on Women and Gender has awarded highly competitive Faculty Seed Grants to five U-M faculty members whose diverse projects demonstrate the scope of women and gender studies today.

Recipients and their projects are:

• Rita Chin (history), “On the Rise and Fall of Multiculturalism in Europe.”

Chin, associate professor of history, LSA, will examine the growing consensus in Europe — across the political spectrum — that multiculturalism there is a failure. Chin argues that among the most significant catalysts of this consensus are European perceptions of Muslim gender relations. Current anxiety about Muslim gender relations bespeaks a larger struggle over the very definition of European society. Here historical analysis is crucial: It suggests this struggle is not simply a response to the exceptional events of 9/11, but rather is part of an ongoing debate that has reached a pivotal crossroads with the broad condemnation of multiculturalism.

• Katri Ervamaa (Residential College), “Música Mestiza: A Musical Laboratory Exploring the Idea of ‘Mestizaje.'”

Lecturer and cellist Ervamaa will create a laboratory for the creation of a new musical repertoire inspired by the utopian idea of mestizaje, which suggests that cultures can coexist without one subjugating another. Composer Gabriela Lena Frank will bring together two ensembles of western strings and Andean panpipes to bring the vision to life.

• Yasamin Kusunoki (Institute for Social Research), “Dynamic Patterns of Relationship Violence among Young Women.”

Using newly available unique data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study, Kusunoki, an assistant research scientist at the Population Studies Center and the Survey Research Center, will investigate the dynamic patterns of violence within young women’s intimate relationships. The aims are to identify the dynamic patterns of violence within young women’s intimate relationships, and examine how these patterns relate to other characteristics of the relationship.

• Susan J. Pressler  (Nursing), “Vulnerable and Ignored: Symptoms and Quality of Life of Older Women with Heart Failure at Skilled Nursing Facilities.”

Pressler, professor of nursing, seeks to determine the relationship between symptoms and health-related quality of life among older women with heart failure. Older women with heart failure are more likely than men to be admitted to skilled nursing facilities, and heart-failure patients admitted to skilled nursing facilities have a 76 percent increased risk of death.

• Michael R. Woodford (social work), “Centering Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Race in Research, Policy, and Programs to Support LGBTQ College Students through Intersectional Research.”

Woodford, assistant professor of social work, will use innovative statistical techniques to build intersectional understandings of the experiences of LGBTQ college students by centering gender identity, gender expression, and race in analyses that examine campus climate, multilevel protective factors, and health and academic outcomes. Findings will be used to inform policy and program interventions to foster the wellbeing of diverse LGBTQ college students, as well as a future, wide-scale national study of LGBTQ college students.

The Institute for Research on Women and Gender fosters collaboration and furthers the research of all U-M faculty members and graduate students who use the lens of women and gender to pursue their studies.

Faculty Seed Grants support individual activities, such as research assistance, research-related travel or research materials — including books, microfilms or similar items. They also support collaborative projects, such as pilot studies or initial research efforts, study groups, or conference planning and implementation.

Awards range from $500 to $10,000. For additional information and deadlines, go to irwg.research.umich.edu/funding/seed.html.