As a final paper for my semester at the QASID Arabic Institute in fall 2017, I composed in Arabic an exploration and analysis of the works of a handful of Palestinian painters. The essay can be found at this link.
Undergrad Thesis
After four years of majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I wrote an undergraduate thesis! It might not be very accessible or interesting to people outside of my particular field, but feel free to take a look and ask me any questions you want. Read it at this link: David Reich biochemistry thesis
Placemaking in Providence
As part of my work with Armory Development in Providence, I explored the post-industrial neighborhood along the banks of the Woonasquatucket River and developed a set of maps to help with placemaking in this unique urban environment. Please take a look at the maps at This Link
In Wildness is the Preservation of the World
This quotation, which I found attributed to Henry David Thoreau in the writings of Aldo Leopold, is the name of the anthology I assembled. This anthology is a collection of some of my favorite passages, and the passages that have most influenced me, from my readings on urbanism and geography in the past year. It’s released Creative Commons, so please print copies as much as you’d like. I’d rather not say more, though, and let the collection speak for itself at this link.
Ligand Binding at the IP3-Binding Core of the IP3 Receptor
In the fall semester of 2016, I took a class called Chemical Biology, a small upper-level lecture in the Chemistry department. It was probably the most difficult class of my undergraduate career, and my final paper was one of the projects of which I am most proud. I set out, in my prospectus, to approach the chemical biology of calcium signaling: the various ways in which researchers use chemical tools to understand the biology of the calcium ion as an agent of communication between systems within cells. Upon beginning to write, it quickly became clear that the topic was infinitely larger than I had expected. The entire paper became concerned with understanding the chemical interaction between a particular protein and its biological small molecule ligand – an interaction critical to the release of the calcium ion under many circumstances, and representing one of the best opportunities for its study.
Download and read my paper on the subject at the following link: IP3-binding.
Housing Code Violations in Providence
In the fall of 2016, I worked Professor Yesim Sungu-Eryilmaz at Brown University, along with data provided by the City of Providence and assistance from Professor Rachel Franklin, to analyze the spatial properties of recorded housing code violations in Providence, RI.
I hope that this will become an ongoing project, but at the end of last semester I assembled a finished product, or at least a draft of one: a poster and academic write-up for submission as part of my introductory GIS class with Prof. Franklin. The poster is available here and the essay is available here. Please contact me if you’re interested in any further details!
New York City in Arabic Poetry
In the fall of 2016, I wrote an essay for my Modern Arabic Poetry class about the city of New York in the work of Arab poets. I discuss how Sa’adi Youssef, Adonis, and Amjed Nasser use New York metonymically to criticize the United States, relying on its concrete physical and social features to discuss abstract elements of American society. Read the essay here (Arabic only).
Overlaps in Transportation
In April of 2016 I submitted, as my final project in my Modern Standard Arabic course, an analysis of the public transportation networks of Amman, Jordan. I focused on the recent history of the system and the complexities resulting from the interplay of public, private, and nonprofit organizations. This work eventually led me to return to Amman on a Fulbright grant, where I studied housing policy and walkability.
Find the essay at this link: overlaps-in-transportation.
Unfixed Maps for Unfixed Geographies
In the fall of 2015, I enrolled in a class in Brown’s English department titled Poetic Cosmologies. One of the strangest classes I’ve taken, it took up questions of materiality and temporality, particularly in literature. My final paper discussed a phenomenon at play in several of the course’s readings and in communities around the globe: the unfixity of the land beneath us. How can we understand geography, not as a constant, but as subject to change? How does this inform our knowledge of settlements, of spaces, and of poetry?
My paper is available at the following link: unfixedmaps.