GKL Photo Contest Winners

The Lauder Institute is pleased to announce the winners of the Global Knowledge Lab (GKL) Travel Photo Contest.

These photos were taken by students from the Class of 2023 while completing international fieldwork for their masters research project. Lauder students fulfill their masters research requirement by completing an individual and team-based research paper.

The photos shown below reflect research undertaken in South Korea, Indonesia, and Bolivia where student teams engaged in cross-regional analysis, exploring topics as wide-ranging as data privacy policy, private investment, and electric vehicle supply chains.

Winning photos will be framed and displayed at The Lauder Institute.

To learn more about the Global Knowledge Lab, click here.

Photo by Joaquín Campos Parodi

Location: Gyeongbokgung Palace | Seoul, South Korea

“Our team is researching the socio-cultural and institutional influences on disparate data privacy policy across two advanced tech economies: South Korea and Germany. This photo depicts a fun moment on the trip where the team donned the hanbok at Gyeongbokgung, Korea’s former royal palace.

Due to the way it developed separately from traditional Chinese and North Korean clothing, the hanbok can be viewed as a reflection of the cultural isolation of the “hermit kingdom” during the Joseon Dynasty and the peninsula’s division after the Korean War. These historical markers influence South Korean culture and politics to this day.” –  GKL Team Members: Joaquin Campos, Paolo Fornasini, Joseph Shin 

Photo by Weiwei Bi 

Location: Prambanan Hindu Temple | Yogyakarta, Indonesia 

“Our group traveled to Indonesia to research private investment in Indonesia vs. Kenya. From the outside, it may seem that visiting temples has little to do with startup life. However, what we found during our trip was that Indonesia’s rich heritage, as well as its vast religious and ethnic diversity, has contributed to its attractiveness for both investors and entrepreneurs. It is a “home” for individuals of all backgrounds. This is a key feature of one of our main hypotheses – having a dynamic culture composed of empowered individuals from diverse backgrounds is key to the development of a successful startup ecosystem.”  GKL Team Members: Weiwei Bi, Harold Agblonon, Mariam Badi, Burake Taye, Jacky Yao 

Photo by Billy Thomas

Location: Salar de Uyuni | Bolivia 

“Our research project is an analysis of social and environmental impacts of electric vehicle supply chains in mineral-rich emerging markets. Pictured are Billy and Edle conducting research onsite at the Bolivian salt flats, where most of Bolivia’s lithium reserves are located.”  GKL Team Members: Tim Jacob, Billy Thomas, Edle Astrup Tschudi