Four rising seniors will travel to Africa this summer to conduct thesis research, courtesy of Harvard's Committee on African Studies.

The committee awarded grants to Karen C. Kim '98 and Kathrine D. Nash '99 of Dunster House, Marlyse Y. McQuillen '99 of Mather House, and Casey B. Recupero '99 of Currier House.

The committee awards travel grants to Harvard juniors planning to do research for a senior honors thesis in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to a release issued by the committee, Kim, a women's studies concentrator, plans to travel to South Africa to study the emerging voice of women in testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"I'd like to look at the ways in which women's testimony are being heard or not being heard, so I will conduct interviews and do some archival work," Kim said.

Kim said she received $1000 from the committee. She submitted a proposal to the committee in March and was informed of her award in late April.

Kim is also receiving funding from the Center for International Affairs and the Harvard Institute for International Development.

She says she plans to spend seven weeks in South Africa.

"I studied abroad there before and am excited about going back," she said.

McQuillen, a social anthropology concentrator, will also spend her summer in South Africa but will investigate the changing lives of workers in the wine industry after apartheid.

Nash, a history and science concentrator, also travelling to South Africa, plans to study the history of medical institutions on Robben Island.

Recupero, a social anthropology concentrator, will travel to Botswana and will investigate the contemporary relationship between identity and alcohol consumption. He intends to focus on the residents of Maun, a large settlement near the Okavango River Delta.

McQuillen, Nash and Recupero could not be reached for comment yesterday.