Regis alumna wins PJSA award for community-based research

Meet Sophia Siong: Regis alumna and a rising accomplished community researcher. For her undergraduate degree at Regis, Siong studied biology and minored in peace and justice studies. Initially heading to college for a traditional science education, she noticed a hole in her research interests: the study of social and racial justice.

In her sophomore year, Siong decided to take up Regis’ Undergraduate Research Certificate program to gain valuable research experience towards her degree.

“I was already doing some research projects in the sciences,” said Siong. “Traditionally, in science, the researcher is the one who's in control. But in community-based qualitative research, you go to a community, and you listen to them. You don't present yourself as somebody who's going to provide a solution; you present yourself as an ally who wants to support them.”

Searching for that research topic, Siong turned back towards herself. As a young Hmong woman living in Colorado, she has long since observed a lack of visibility for her ethnic group in social justice conversations. Partnering with Colorado Asian Pacific United – a nonprofit and Asian community leader – as her community group organizer, Siong hoped to share in their goal of memorializing all Asian and Pacific Island identities in Colorado.

“My research stemmed from my own kind of selfish goal; I really just wanted to learn about myself” said Siong. “As a college student who is first-generation Hmong American, I myself am battling with being Hmong, being American, being a daughter and a woman right now.”

Through her three years of research, she gathered 15 different oral histories from the Hmong community. Siong’s wealth of knowledge ultimately became the foundation for her undergraduate honors thesis in Regis’ Honors Program.

Peace and justice studies professor Geoffrey Bateman, Ph.D., invited Siong to an opportunity to present this work at the annual Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) conference in Niagara, New York in October of 2024. The PJSA is a premier association of peace and justice educators, academics and activists.

Alongside three other students, Siong shared her ongoing research with attendees from around the world. Siong described the empowering feeling of the shared goal of common justice among all attendees.

After the conference, Siong was surprised to learn that professor Bateman had submitted her thesis to the PJSA for the award of “Best Undergraduate Paper.” Her shock turned to amazement when she received notice over the summer that her thesis had been selected as the winner. From Oct. 9-12, 2025, Siong returned to the PJSA conference to accept her award and celebrate with her colleagues and the Regis faculty who supported her along the way.

Even as a now-graduate of Regis, Siong’s project has not yet come to an end. Now fulfilling an internship at Colorado Asian Pacific United, she will be giving back to the Hmong community that made this project possible. Borrowing from traditional Hmong storytelling, Siong has organized the creation of reinterpretations of Hmong “story cloths,” a form of weaving and embroidery that recorded history.

“Each interview is going to be taken, and their oral histories are going to be turned into visual narratives.” Siong continued, “we're reinterpreting them into a contemporary story cloth with acrylic paint and canvas, digitally and through clay sculpture. Then, we'll display it at our New Year celebration in November.”

As she continues with her community engagement and scaffolding her career goals, Siong balances her interests in health care with her interests in social and racial justice through her ongoing internship and current position as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the University of Colorado Anschutz.  Following in the footsteps of other Regis students and alumni, Siong pledges to remain engaged with both her community and the broader world, advocating for social and racial justice.