Researching Transit in Portland and Copenhagen, Asian-Owned Businesses in Hartford as Marcuss Fellows

This year’s Marcuss Fellows worked on global urban studies research projects from two different lenses. Rory Trani ’24 was inspired by having her first tastes of freedom as a teenager on the Portland, Oregon area metro system (known as the MAX) and by her experience of the efficient, modern metro system while studying away in Copenhagen. Rory used these experiences, an extensive literature review, and interviews conducted on the trains in both cities to compare the two transit systems under the guidance of Professor Garth Myers.

Hannah Lorenzo ’24 was inspired by her identity as a Filipina American to investigate the role of Asian-owned food businesses in the Hartford area. While Rory took a comparative global approach, Hannah investigated the importance and complexities of diasporic communities in Hartford advised by Professor Keavy McFadden.

Marcuss Fellows are selected in the spring each year and spend the subsequent year working closely with their faculty advisor on an extensive research project. Rory and Hannah are the second pair of Marcuss Fellows, following up on the work of the inaugural cohort in 2022-2023.

On March 28, 2024, Rory and Hannah presented their (almost) completed projects to a room of about twenty interested students, faculty, and staff. With a little over a month left to go in the semester, they each had some work to do to finish analyzing and writing up their results. The event was an opportunity for the students to present their research and receive feedback while they work on the final stages of their projects. Rosemary and Stan Marcuss, the program’s benefactors, were in attendance.

Hannah opened the evening’s presentations with a recounting of the vignette that opens her senior thesis based on the project. “On Ann Uccello Street in Downtown Hartford…I squeeze through the small door of a Vietnamese restaurant called Banh Meee and am immediately hit with the smell of fresh spices, the sound of sizzling pans, and the light chatter of a couple eating bowls of pho,” she began, with photos of her trip to Banh Meee displayed on the screen in the 1823 Room.

Hannah visited restaurants in and around Hartford, recording her observations and interviewing the business owners. When asked in the Q and A how she gained trust and access to complete the interviews, Hannah said that she followed advice given to her by her mom to make sure she orders food at the restaurant. While the advice garnered light laughter at the presentations, it is sound advice for community-engaged research, where we teach students to find ways to make the research process mutually beneficial.

Rory shared photos and stories from her time riding the MAX in Portland, the metro in Copenhagen, and her experiences conducting interviews in both cities. She shared that from her interviews, 95% of riders were satisfied with the metro in Copenhagen and 80% said that the frequency of the trains was the best aspect of the system. Rory’s experience riding the train in Copenhagen corroborated this finding. In Portland, by contrast, only 20% of riders reported being satisfied with the MAX. The biggest concern of Portland’s riders was a desire to see improved safety, with 80% of interviewees citing this concern.

In the first two years of the Marcuss Fellows program, two rising seniors have been selected to work on a senior thesis that they will submit for publication with their faculty advisor. Two students – Rio Smith ’25 and Bella Paris ’25 – have been selected for 2024-2025 using this framework. A couple of changes are coming to the program for the spring 2025 application cycle that we hope will strengthen and expand the program. Applications will be open to rising juniors in addition to rising seniors who submit strong proposals for independent research. Students will also have the ability to fulfill the publication requirement through scholarly journals or other online outlets. They may also propose to present their work to the public by way of an in-person presentation to government bodies or other prominent organizations. These expanded presentation and publication options will allow students to select the project outcome that will best disseminate their research.

For now, we are celebrating the excellent research and writing work of Rory and Hannah and looking forward to getting started with Bella and Rio for the 2024-2025 academic year.