Sissy Farenthold Trailblazers for Justice Undergraduate Writing Prize

Cecelia Gaughan's paper investigates the Darién Gap, a treacherous migration corridor between Colombia and Panama, that has become a site of escalating violence, displacement, and social instability. This essay interrogates conventional peacebuilding frameworks and argues that sustainable peace in the region cannot be achieved through militarization or top-down international interventions. Instead, it highlights the agency of Indigenous communities and migrants, emphasizing how local knowledge, lived experience, and community-based strategies provide more effective pathways toward conflict resolution. By reframing peacebuilding to center grassroots actors rather than external powers, the work challenges statist and technocratic approaches and highlights the necessity of bottom-up, community-led solutions to transnational crises.  

Leah Tharakan's paper investigates the intersection of reproductive justice and education within the marginalized community of sex workers in New Delhi's Garstin Bastion (GB) Road. By exploring the dual roles of education as a tool for empowerment and reproductive justice as a framework for addressing systemic inequalities, the study critiques current policies and programs and proposes a more integrated approach. Contrasting the harsh realities faced by the women and children of GB Road with the possibilities offered by educational initiatives, this analysis illuminates how education, when coupled with reproductive justice, can break cycles of exploitation and poverty, offering a pathway to social equity in one of India’s most stigmatized communities.