Daphne Muhammad '25 Awarded Inaugural Gordon Allport Fellowship

Congratulations to Daphne Muhammad '25, recipient of the inaugural Gordon Allport Fellowship from the Consortium for Interacting Minds! This prestigious award recognizes her outstanding senior honors thesis research, conducted under the mentorship of Professor Kiara Sanchez, Assistant Professor and E.E. Just 1907 Early Career Fellow in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.

Named after Gordon W. Allport, whose pioneering work explored the psychological foundations of prejudice and discrimination, this award commemorates the 100th anniversary of Allport's first class taught at Dartmouth. The Allport Fellowship supports undergraduate research on how social interactions can bridge divides and foster connection. Daphne's research aligns with this mission, examining how conversations about race shape relationships and allyship among racially diverse groups.

With the support of the Allport Fellowship and a Dartmouth Undergraduate Advising & Research Waterhouse Independent Research Grant, Daphne designed and conducted an ambitious field study at Boston Common this fall. She recruited adults from diverse racial backgrounds and paired them with strangers from other minority groups, guiding them through a structured conversation process.

Participants completed a demographic survey and emotional self-assessment before engaging in conversation guided by prompts that became progressively deeper. The experimental group discussed racial stereotypes and personal experiences with prejudice, while the control group reflected on negative experiences with the winter season. Both groups then took a survey measuring impressions of their partner and the conversation, feelings of closeness, perceptions of shared fate and inter-minority solidarity, and support for anti-racist policies.

Reflecting on the study's impact, Daphne shared: "Watching participants walk away as new friends, exchanging phone numbers and planning future meetups, was deeply fulfilling. These moments highlighted the real-world potential of our research."

Daphne Muhammad, Professor Sanchez, and the Social Identity in Dialogue research team are now analyzing the data. Daphne will present her findings later this month at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's annual convention in Denver, Colorado.

This is a remarkable achievement, and we cannot wait to see where Daphne's research takes her next. Congratulations, Daphne!