BYU student wins a national political science award

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Thirteen straight hours of interviewing without any food could seem gruesome, but for one BYU student, eating was the least of her worries, since the women she was talkig with had nothing for themselves.

Taylor Jacoby, a political science and economics major, spent the 2011 spring and summer terms in Uganda as a part of the BYU Uganda Mentored Research Abroad program. Jacoby’s research focused on women who survived and were affected by sexual violence during Uganda’s civil war. She found that women who experienced gender-based violence struggled with social issues, which could affect the functionality of their society.

“Social capital is super important to economic development and post-conflict stability, and sexual violence is really widespread during conflict,” Jacoby said. “In my head, the two things just went together, but scholars really weren’t looking at these questions, so I decided I was going to get to test it myself.”

[Courtesy of Taylor Jacoby] A Ugandan woman shares her story during an interview with Taylor Jacoby and her translator.
The extensive research Jacoby did in Uganda landed her an award from the national political science honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha. Her article will be published in a high-profiled, peer-reviewed journal called “PS: Political Science and Politics.”

Daniel Nielson, associate professor of political science and Jacoby’s mentor in Uganda, said Jacoby’s work will shed a positive light on the political science department at BYU.

“Taylor is one of our best students, but her success emphasizes the very high quality of undergraduates we are blessed to teach,” Nielson said. “This will help signal to graduate schools throughout the country that BYU political science undergraduates are capable of professional-caliber work and are ready to contribute at high levels to the discipline.”

Jacoby said she was excited her project was recognized because it drew attention to violence against women, an issue she believed was underrepresented in academic literature and misunderstood by society.

“In our culture, we have a tendency to believe that sexual assault only happens to people who are asking for it, so to talk openly about it would in some way be validating bad behavior,” Jacoby said. “It is a really natural reaction to demonize or ignore the things we fear, but unfortunately it only makes the problem worse. I really hope that this award will help assure people, especially at BYU, that it is good to engage in open and thoughtful discussion about sexual and gender-based violence.”

It was not an easy journey for Jacoby during her research, but Nielson admired her determination to not give up. Nielson said her research project was one of the strongest he has ever encountered.

“She faced many situations that most people would find discouraging,” Nielson said. “Building partnerships with sometimes reluctant non-governmental organizations, traveling long distances over dirt roads, no electricity, abject poverty all around her. Everyday she listened to stories from women who were brutally raped during Uganda’s civil war.”

Kurt Hepler, a political science and Russian major, is also in the mentored research program in Uganda and hopes that Jacoby’s award will affect BYU positively.

“Taylor’s receiving of this prestigious national award proves that open discussion of what some may consider to be difficult issues, such as rape and other forms of sexual violence, is essential to developing a better understanding of the world around us,” Hepler said. “Hopefully, this will lead to more open discussion of how sexual and gender-based violence affects our own community, even here at BYU.”

Jacoby is grateful for the award and her two faculty mentors, Daniel Nielson and Mike Findley, who encouraged her along the way.

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