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Miami resident and Hamilton College rising junior Nathalie Martinez spent her summer working at an interdisciplinary research lab called Scientists, Technologists, and Artists Generating Exploration (STAGE) through a University of Chicago grant.
Hamilton College is located in Clinton, NY.
Martinez described the nature of her work and her academic background.
“We are currently working on two projects that [attempt] to showcase the core principles of quantum physics and stories of Indian riverine communities to general audiences. This brought up the ethical question of whether our team was permitted to relay the experiences of marginalized communities in India, and if so, how we could authentically and sensitively share their stories through art.”
She said her own research project aims to answer one main question: Can cultural appropriation be morally justified?
“I have yet to fully develop my conclusions, but I am currently arguing that there are instances in which cultural appropriation is permissible, specifically in the realm of the performing arts,” she said.
Martinez said her project has been immensely rewarding.
“I am learning and reshaping the way I think about ‘culture’ and ‘cultural property,’ two terms that are central to understanding cultural appropriation. As a philosopher, I am always asking questions, and the issue of cultural appropriation is so loaded and multifaceted that it seems like my research questions may end up unresolved.”
She said it also has been particularly difficult because she was taking a moral stance, so she had to consider a whole host of factors and counterarguments that could undermine her own.
“I am hopeful that my research will incite discussion. The term ‘cultural appropriation’ has entered the popular lexicon in recent years, so naturally many people already have strong opinions about it. I also plan to communicate my conclusions to the STAGE team at UChicago so that they can perform their work from an ethically informed perspective and preclude any chance of misappropriating the riverine communities of India.”
Martine said she sees the performing arts, specifically theater, as an active medium through which stories of individuals whose very livelihoods and personhood are being threatened can be shared.
She said some of the Hamilton courses or faculty members provided her with insight for this project.
“My education courses with Professor [Chenyu] Wang from the Anthropology Department and my philosophy courses with Professor [Todd] Franklin at Hamilton have significantly contributed to this project. I had reached out to both professors at the inception of the project, asking for sources and articles that might be useful. In the classroom, both of them have encouraged me to view this kaleidoscopic world from different perspectives and settle with the fact that singular solutions are only ideal, so I should expect to grapple with existential and moral questions throughout the remainder of my life and career.”
She said researchers in the humanities usually don’t find clear answers to questions, but that is what makes the work so exciting and worth pursuing.
Nathalie Martinez is a graduate of International Studies Charter High School in Miami.
Originally founded in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, Hamilton College offers an open curriculum that gives students the freedom to shape their own liberal arts education within a research- and writing-intensive framework. Hamilton enrolls 1,850 students from 49 states and 49 countries. Additional information about the college can be found at www.hamilton.edu.
