Cabrera, a Binghamton senior who is double majoring in sociology and philosophy, politics and law, found that the race of the attacker and whether or not the victim was drinking or drugged has an effect. She published her findings in the campus’ undergraduate research journal Alpenglow and presented a poster session about them during Research Days last spring.

For her study, Cabrera developed a coding system that consists of a checklist of different phrases and content that reflects how much positive or negative language a particular article uses. Negative language downplays a case, shifting blame away from the attacker and toward the victim, whereas positive language supports the victim’s stance.

First, she compared convicted rapists Brock Turner, who is white, and Corey Batey, who is African-American. Both were college athletes whose cases happened around the same time. Media portrayal of Turner’s case used more negative language on average, whereas Batey’s portrayal used mainly positive language.

“They were very big on sexualizing [Turner] and making him seem like this handsome, great all-American swimmer,” Cabrera says. “I now know his GPA, his swim stats. It was very focused on extraneous information that benefited him, which wasn’t done as much for Corey Batey.”

Regarding voluntary drinking, she compared two cases from 2014. Both victims were drinking at a party, but one was drugged before being raped. The victim who was voluntarily drinking received more negative language in media coverage.

Cabrera says her research highlights the importance of the media’s effect on the public view. Turner spent three months in jail before being released; Batey has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

“I want people to see how the language used in newspapers impacts how they see everything,” she says.

Cabrera accomplished her research through the Binghamton Independent Undergraduate Research in the Humanities (IURH) program. “Her research topic is very emotionally sensitive to a lot of people,” says Diana Gildea, Cabrera’s research mentor and IURH coordinator. “She didn’t shy away, and I respect and admire her courage to tackle this kind of issue.”

Cabrera, who is from Queens, participated in the law and humanities program and mock trial throughout high school, both of which led her toward pursuing a law career. Eventually, she says, she may want to become a prosecutor.

She plans to go to law school after she graduates a year early in the spring of 2019. There she may continue her research. “I would have to bring it more into the law field, which I’m excited about,” says Cabrera, who was elected president of Binghamton’s Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Society. “I wanted to do that to begin with.”

Lisa Tessman, an associate professor of philosophy and women’s studies at Binghamton University, focuses on those moments. “In many situations, all of one’s available options are wrong,” Tessman said. “One has no clean options.”

Tessman is writing a book, “Moral Failure,” and will work on a chapter during the fall 2011 semester as part of a fellowship from Binghamton’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Her first book, “Burdened Virtues: Virtue Ethics for Liberatory Struggles,” published in 2005, looked at moral questions central to feminism from the perspective of Aristotelian ethics.

Tessman said she looks forward to discussing her work in philosophy with other academics outside of the field during the fellowship. “I’m really happy to be talking with other people in the humanities outside of philosophy,” Tessman said. “I want to engage a broader audience.”

The chapter Tessman is working on focuses on critiques that claim that some moral theories are “over-demanding,” and on responses to these critiques. She argues that both the critiques and the responses are misguided. “When you look at inevitable failure, it is anguishing to face impossible moral requirements,” Tessman said. Typically, the response is guilt, which she believes is an inappropriate response because there is no “correct” action possible.

The literature on how “demanding” morality is suggests that most of us should be doing much more to contribute to others’ well-being. Tessman argues that this literature assumes that all moral demands — even if they are very stringent — must be possible to satisfy. When one drops this assumption, one can ask a different question about moral life: “How difficult is it to face impossible moral requirements?” This is the question on which she will focus.

For example, in the William Styron novel (and later movie) “Sophie’s Choice,” the main character has to make an excruciating choice to select one of her two children to be executed in a concentration camp. “Anything she does is an unavoidable wrong on her part,” Tessman said. “She is racked with guilt throughout the movie. I don’t think guilt is the right feeling, but certainly anguish would fit the situation.”

“We have a fantastic group of fellows,” said Bat-Ami Bar On, IASH director and professor of philosophy and women’s studies. “It’s diverse in terms of projects.”

IASH was formed last year to advance original work in the humanities while offering faculty and students opportunities for research. The fellows will present a lecture on their research topic during the upcoming academic year and also will be expected to participate in the discussion of the work of others. “It will be interesting how we learn about each other and how we can help each other intellectually,” Bar On said. “There is value added to being with others and chatting about the work.”

Bar On said she is pleased that student fellows will be able to share their work with faculty fellows.

“Research goes all the way through the University — all the way to the undergraduate ranks,” she said. “The undergrads are not just absorbing knowledge, but they are producers of knowledge.”

The 2010-11 IASH fellows and their topics are:

Faculty members:

• Gisela Brinker-Gabler, Comparative Literature, fall 2010, “Figurations of the Modern: Gender, Politics, and Aesthetics.”
• Randy Friedman, Philosophy and Judaic Studies, fall 2010, “Transcendence, Dialogue, and Philosophical Eschatology in 20th Century Jewish Thought.”
• Leslie Gates, Sociology, spring 2011, “The Politics of Neoliberalism in Mexico and Venezuela.”
• Praseeda Gopinath, English, fall 2010, “Scarecrows of Chivalry: The Literature of British Masculinities after Empire, 1935-1965.”
• Scott Henkel, English, spring 2011, “Leaves of Grassroots Politics: Democracy, the Swarm, and the Literatures of the Americas.”
• Kelly Kinney, English, fall 2010, “Rhetorics, Politics, and the Teaching of Writing.”
• Wendy Martinek, Political Science, spring 2011, “Judging as Human Behavior: The Social Psychology of Decision Making on Appellate.”
• Luiza Moreira, Comparative Literature, fall 2010, “Gender and the Career of a Public Intellectual: The Journalism of Cecília Meireles (1941-1945).”
• Michael Pettid, Asian and Asian American Studies, fall 2010, “Women in Rural Chosŏn Korea: An Exploration of Women’s Autonomy in a Patriarchal Society.”
• Ana Ros, Romance Languages and Literatures, fall 2010 and spring 2011, “Inheritance: Living Memory, Leaving Countries. Uruguayan and Argentinean Fictionalization at the Turn of the Millennium.”
• Benita Roth, Sociology, fall 2010 and spring 2011, “Anti-AIDS Activism in Los Angeles from the 1980s to the 2000s: The Life and Death of ACT UP/LA.”
• Paul Schleuse, Music, fall 2010, “Patronage, Print Culture, and the Music of Orazio Vecchi in Late Sixteenth Century Italy.”
• Thomas Wilson, Anthropology, spring 2010, “The Europeanization of the Irish Countryside.”

Graduate students:

• David Gutman, History, fall 2010 and spring 2011, “Rethinking the ‘Global Village:’ The Social, Political, and Economic Impact of Overseas Migration on Eastern Anatolia, 1880-1915.”
• Lewis Trelawny-Cassity, Philosophy, fall 2010 and spring 2011, “Plato’s Demiurgic Politics: The Role of the Chōra in the “Timaeus” and “Law.”

Undergraduates:

• Jan DeWitt, Classical and Near Eastern Studies, spring 2011, “(Un)common Blood: The Romanization and Alienation of Italian Allies (200-87BCE.)”
• Jieun Jang, Music, fall 2010, “Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 9 and Musical Freedom”

For more information about the institute, go to www2.binghamton.edu/iash.