‘Community and Vergüenza’

Samantha Segura, an English senior, was a finalist at the March 3 Capital of Texas Undergraduate Research Conference in Austin. Segura’s poster presentation on her research, “Community and Vergüenza: An Examination of Reproductive Justice Organizations in the RGV,” received one point short of a perfect score.

The conference is organized by undergraduates at the University of Texas at Austin. During the conference, students have eight minutes to exhibit their research through a PowerPoint or poster presentation to a panel of undergraduate judges. 

Segura independently applied to the conference by searching online for interdisciplinary and undergraduate research presentation opportunities in Texas.

“Something that was the most difficult for me, for the poster, was narrowing it down,” she said. “Because I got so much data from my research and I was like, ‘Oh, but there is so much I can talk about and there’s so many things I want to talk about, but I have to fit it all on this poster.’ … So, I had to whittle it down to a specific topic.”

Part of the application process was writing a 250-word abstract of her work, which summarized her research and progress. Segura narrowed her research down to focus on specific organizations with the guidance of her mentor Aime Bostic, an assistant professor of sociology. 

With Bostic’s background in social policy studies regarding gender and equality, she mostly assisted Segura with writing from a social science perspective. 

“I think that that was probably my biggest role, because a lot of this really was Samantha being a really good independent researcher, is her telling me what she found and then [us] talking about it and seeing how we can apply what we’ve read in the literature on these topics related to social movement organizations,” she said. “My background is done in poverty, and so doing this research in the Rio Grande Valley, almost necessarily connects to discussions of poverty, resource deprivation, and so I gave her some suggestions on literature to read.”

Segura began her research on reproductive justice organizations in the Valley during the Fall 2022 semester after completing her Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) in order to research human subjects. 

She said she was the secretary and later the vice president of the Intersectional Feminist Student Organization at UTRGV in the fall. 

“And with that, I learned so much about reproductive health,” Segura said. “… And it’s just something I’ve always been very passionate about because it’s a topic a lot of people feel like they can’t talk about. And I feel like by having these discussions and, like, by getting this information out there, a lot of people will feel more valued and more heard.”

She received the Engaged Scholars and Artists Award from the Office of Engaged Scholarship and Learning at UTRGV. Through this grant, Segura funded her trip to Austin for the conference.

“A lot of the time, students are not aware that these opportunities exist at UTRGV,” said Estella De La Garza, program manager of the Office of Engaged Scholarship and Learning. “And, so, to see that our students are doing world-class research, creative works and community engagement, and they’re competing with other larger schools that maybe are more known for doing this type of scholarship, it’s amazing. And, so, it really gives our students, you know, a front stage.” 

The Engaged Scholars and Artists Award program is available to all UTRGV undergraduate students who are working individually or in groups. The program usually has between 75 and 100 students participating in an academic year, according to De La Garza. 

“We have institutional funds that support undergraduate research initiatives that include creative works and community engagement,” she said. “And then, we also receive funding from student fees that also assist in supporting our programming.”

Although Segura is graduating this spring semester, she is still planning on continuing her research during her master’s program.

“I’m applying for the Presidential Research Fellowship for a master’s in sociology,” she said. “And that would, essentially, allow me to continue my research and help me funding wise … of being able to pay for the master’s program here at UTRGV. … It would allow me to write my thesis, which would be an academic article that would be able to get published. I’m also going to write a newspaper article next month about my findings.”

Segura said someone at the conference approached her and praised her work.

“I remember somebody from the RGV coming up to me, being like, ‘This is so great,’” Segura said. “‘I love that I’m an undergrad here, and that you’re here from the RGV. And it feels like there’s a piece of importance here, especially because I’m from the Rio Grande Valley.’ I’ve lived here my whole life. I was born here. And I’m doing this to benefit my community as well.”

For information on the upcoming Engaged Scholar Symposium or resources regarding undergraduate research, go to www.utrgv.edu/engaged or visit the Office of Engaged Scholarship and Learning in Student Academic Center Room 3.106 on the Edinburg campus and in Student Union Room 1.20 on the Brownsville campus.