Poster Session 3 - 2:00-3:30PM PST
Abstract Volume and Quick Reference Guide
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Advisor(s): Dr. Maduka Ogba
Drug discovery can cost 0.5 to 2.6 billion dollars and take 10-20 years to develop a single, viable drug for humans. This arduous process necessitates strategies for identifying and mitigating bottlenecks in the timeline. The largest bottleneck, synthesizing and testing drug candidates, is expensive, time-consuming, and there is never a guarantee of a successful compound. The implementation of computational chemistry allows for a cost and time-effective approach, and it minimizes the loss of an unsuccessful compound. In combination with machine learning, new drug candidates can be rapidly identified and preliminarily screened against existing drugs; however, the accuracy of machine-learning algorithms in generating viable drug candidates depends on molecular descriptors gathered via computations. Our group seeks to develop a computational checklist for generating, identifying, and weighing high-accuracy molecular descriptors for machine-learning-based drug discovery. In this presentation, we focus on small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for Src kinases. Many kinds of cancer occur when Src kinases mutate, so they are an important target in oncogenic treatments. We use high-accuracy quantum mechanical calculations to explore the potential energy conformational space and three-dimensional molecular descriptors of several TKIs that are FDA-approved or in clinical trials. We compare descriptors from the computed conformational space of these drug molecules to those in the bound inhibitors' crystal structures geometry. Our study highlights emerging trends from our data revealing the molecular descriptors that may govern tyrosine kinase inhibition.
Biological Sciences
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge
Hagfish are a group of fish that lack both jaws and vertebral column, and they are known for their slime secretions. Hagfish produce eggs that adhere to one another in a chain via hooks found at the polar ends. The hooks are small filaments of varying lengths that end in clover shaped caps and are surrounded by mucus. The goal of these experiments is to understand the physical mechanisms that govern hagfish egg adhesion. Only one species of hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii, was studied in these experiments. Microscopy techniques were used to analyze the shape of each hook and the physical interactions involved in hooking. Tensile strength tests measuring force and extension of filaments were the primary source of experimentation and data collection. These tensile tests were completed using an Instron universal testing machine which can measure the force that develops when a sample is extended or compressed. Single and cyclical trials were run to understand the initial breaking point of the forces applied and the ability for the hooks to reattach after a separation. Initial tests indicated a maximum attachment force of around 0.7 Newtons. Each full separation involved multiple small separations with each separation increasing in force required to separate. Future experiments will be run to determine whether plastic deformations that occur during separation are reversible and allow the eggs to recover their original attachment potential. Future experiments will involve microCT scanning to characterize the three-dimensional shape of the filaments and hooks. Other tensile experiments will be conducted to study the role of orientation when hooking eggs and the role of the mucus in adhesion.
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge, Dr. Gaurav Jain, Matthew Snyder, Andrew Lowe, Noah Bressman
Hagfishes are a diverse group of jawless marine fishes that are noteworthy for their ability to produce gill-clogging slime when threatened. The slime exudate ejected by the slime glands is made up of two main components: thread skeins and mucous vesicles. Although the biophysical mechanisms of exudate deployment in seawater are not understood, some details are known. Thread skeins must unravel from their coiled state and provide strength to the slime in the form of a network of silk-like threads. Deployment of mucous vesicles is known to involve the swelling of constituent glycoproteins their subsequent deformation into a vast mucous network that interpenetrates the slime thread network. Recent theoretical work suggests that thread skein unraveling would be greatly enhanced under conditions where the skein (or a loose piece of thread) is pinned to a solid surface. We hypothesize that the slime gland pore remains attached to ejected exudate, and acts as an anchor that allows mucus, and skeins embedded within it, to be loaded in tension, which facilitates unravelling and efficient slime formation. We have employed high-speed camera mounted on an Axio Zoom microscope to observe this process in detail. Data collection was expedited by switching between bright and darkfield to better illuminate certain aspects of the exudate and using a glass slide attached to a spatula to keep the exudate in focus. Our preliminary results suggest that hagfish slime exudate indeed requires an anchor or to be imbedded in mucus for proper skein unraveling and slime formation. This can occur due to shear forces when attached to the slide or during turbulent flow caused by swiping the exudate through the water which generates force and hydrates the mucus in order for the skeins to imbed themselves.
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge, Dr. Gaurav Jain
Hagfish produce a large quantity of defensive slime when attacked. This slime is a rapid forming dilute hydrogel comprised of two main components, thread filaments and membrane-bound mucin vesicles. Little is known about the behavior of the mucin vesicles immediately after secretion from the slime gland, as all studies on mucin vesicles have used vesicles stabilized with polyvalent anions. The slime is known to form rapidly after secretion, taking between 100-400 ms, however the kinetics of the hydration of the mucus component has not been quantified. In this study we observed and captured the behavior of fresh exudate as soon as it was submerged in artificial sea water. A drop of fresh exudate on a clear slide was rapidly submerged and the resulting behavior of the exudate pluming off and expanding was observed using a high-speed camera in both light and dark field. Focusing on the behaviors of mucin after the initial drop, the dark field showed the shift of the forming mucous gel from opaque to transparent indicating a rapid hydration of the mucin when exposed to adequate liquid. Hydration and formation of the mucous gel occurred before any observed thread unraveling in these experiments, around 50ms, suggesting that when slime is naturally deployed the mucous gel may be the first component to deploy. These insights on the mucin vesicle hydration speed in fresh exudate will further contribute to research involving the mechanisms for hagfish slime formation.
Advisor(s): Dr. Patricia Lopes, Dr. Brenna Gormally
Research has found that males can suppress behavioral symptoms of sickness (called sickness behaviors) when mating opportunities are available. Because testosterone is often increased in males by female presence and is immunosuppressive, previous researchers hypothesized that testosterone might help suppress sickness symptoms. To examine this possibility, we used a bird species, the Japanese quail, where males decrease testosterone in the presence of females. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce sickness behavior in male birds. We then presented females to these males. We hypothesized that these males would not be able to suppress their sickness behaviors when presented with the females. In addition, a group of males was injected with Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which triggers the pituitary gland to send a message to the gonads to produce testosterone (T). We hypothesized that, due to the increase in testosterone, these males would now be able to suppress sickness behaviors. Behavior was monitored after the injections, and blood samples were taken to quantify T. The behaviors included time spent mounting the female, eating, drinking, and resting and were scored by observers blind to the treatments. The results indicated that birds injected with LPS showed a significant increase in time spent resting relative to saline controls, indicating the injection of LPS successfully mimicked infection. However, a GnRH injection was not able to increase testosterone to the same extent in sick (LPS-treated) birds as it did in control birds. Additionally, no relationship between T levels and resting behavior was found. We conclude that, under an immune challenge, birds are less able to increase T and, therefore, it is unlikely that T modulates the observed decreases in sickness behaviors of males found in previous research. Future research should examine the physiological ability to increase T during disease in other species.
Chemistry
Advisor(s): Dr. Andrew Lyon, Molla Islam
The body’s ability to manage thrombosis by forming and breaking blood clots is an essential function, and when this is not controlled, many problems can arise. In order to help control blood clotting when the body is unable to, microgels have been designed and finely tuned in order to carry out specific functions such as initiating clotting and breaking down blood clots. Confocal microscopy allows for imaging of microgels in real-time to better understand how simple polymer particles can recapitulate complex biological functions, such as clot formations and clot breakdown. For the application of breaking down blood clots, core-shell-shell pNIPAm-co-AAc (poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-acrylic acid) microgels were synthesized to carry out targeted release of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Drug release studies were done with fluorescently labeled dextran as a surrogate for the tPA protein. Microgels were loaded with fluorescently labeled dextran by the breathing in method and imaged in order to determine the rate of release from the particles. In order to address the need for platelets in trauma applications, our group has collaborated with several other groups to create platelet substitutes that we call Platelet-Like-Particles (PLP). Ultra-low crosslinked (ULC) particles were synthesized as a base and then conjugated with Fibrin Fragment E to make PLPs. To visualize how the PLP’s interact with a fibrin network, the PLPs were labeled with a dye and then visualized under a confocal microscope. By visualizing the microgel particles and applying the airy scan technique in the super resolution mode of the confocal microscope, we were able to characterize the particles and get more qualitative and quantitative data about how the particles interact with nascent fibrin clots.
Advisor(s): Dr. Warren de Bruyn, Dr. Aaron Harrison
The optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), the UV and visible light-absorbing component of dissolved organic matter (DOM), have been used extensively to determine levels, distributions, identify sources, and track transformations of DOM in natural waters. Traditional optical techniques are primarily based on steady-state absorbance and steady-state fluorescence measurements. For example, three-dimensional excitation and emission matrix (EEMs) fluorescence spectra have been used extensively to characterize CDOM in these systems. One of the challenges in interpreting EEMs is that fluorescent material from different sources can fluoresce in the same region. For example, both terrestrial organics and oil products can fluoresce in the protein region of a typical EEM. Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has the potential to differentiate between these different fluorescent materials. We have carried out a series of EEM and fluorescent lifetime measurements on a range of natural dissolved organic water samples and a range of oil products to test the viability of using time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy to better characterize dissolved organic matter in natural waters. The results show promise with lifetimes of natural dissolved organic material like plant leachates typically less than 10 ns and lifetimes of oil products typically having a lifetime component of greater than 20 ns.
Communication Studies
Advisor(s): Dr. Austin Lee
School of Communication students enrolled in Dr. Austin Lee's COM329 Human-Machine Communication developed an innovative conversational agent applicable in various social contexts (e.g., a campus ambassador chatbot, a fitness coach chatbot, a coronavirus information chatbot). The conversational agents can communicate with human users using natural language, possesses domain knowledge, and assist them with specific tasks. In this project, we identify current communication problems, especially in the coronavirus pandemic situation, discuss how chatbots can address the problem, introduce the proposed application, and examine its technical feasibilities and difficulties. We will use AIML (artificial intelligence markup language) to build a rule database and the Pandorabot platform to deploy the chatbot. AIML is an easy-to-learn, open-source chatbot scripting language, which is an extension of XML (Extensible Markup Language).
Advisor(s): Dr. Austin Lee
School of Communication students present a new podcast series titled, "60-Second Persuasion Theory." The series consists of more than 30 episodes that introduce strategies and techniques of persuasion and compliance gaining that can be applied to a wide variety of real-world contexts. The episode focuses on interesting and practical applications of persuasion theory. For example, how can servers increase their tips? How can you make yourself appear more credible? What makes some salespeople like Billy Mays so effective? And how can we persuade people to wear face masks in the current coronavirus pandemic? Those questions and dozens of others are answered with scientific and empirical evidence from communication research. Inspired by Scientific American's "60-Second Science" series, each episode runs about two minutes in length and will be shared with the general public using platforms such as iTunes and SoundCloud. Audiences will get their daily dose of podcasts with these tiny social scientific expositions. The episodes are written and recorded by each student enrolled in Dr. Austin Lee's Theories of Persuasion course. A podcast is an effective way to communicate social scientific research to broad audiences. With this service-learning project, we aim to help the general public become more effective communicators.
FFC
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Although India and Greece are fairly widely separated geographically, both cultures imagined strikingly similar chief gods of their respective pantheons. Although originating from vastly different cultures, the undeniable similarities seen between Zeus and Indra are astounding. Zeus is the most powerful god according to Greek mythology and Indra according to the Vedas. Descriptions of both gods in Greek mythology and Vedic texts portray their birth, appearance, romances and adventures in strikingly similar ways. For example, heroism for both gods is achieved through both physical as well as spiritual deeds. Both have been associated with rain, thunder, and lightning as well as having fatherly and protective qualities. Despite both being immortal, they are envisioned with human bodies and features—but still look godlike. Based on the beards and sculpted human bodies found in ancient texts and sculptures, these gods are definitely chief gods among their respective pantheons, noble and imposing, showing that they are both gods of gods as well as men in their personification. Like humans, Zeus and Indra experience emotions of love, jealousy, and anger and can be seen throughout various mythic tales. These similarities point towards common ancestral and cultural links between Zeus and Indra and, in turn, between Greece and India.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
To most native Chinese, one’s Zodiac animal sign indicates much more than just the individual’s probable age. By identifying a birth year, month, day, and even time, the Chinese are swift to make inferences and assumptions about one’s personal life, probable personality, and future potential. Such information is linked to their understanding of the Zodiac cycle, following the Chinese, or Lunar, New Year, which is indicated by tracking phases of the moon. Twelve animal signs--depicting the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig--make up the Zodiac, each representing a certain behavioral temperament and unique characteristics. The animals’ species and specific order were designated by a legend of the “Great Race.” According to this myth, the Jade Emperor desired a way to measure time, and so he devised a race across a river to determine which animal would represent each year. The first twelve to make it across were assigned the honor of a spot in the Zodiac cycle. Modern day cultures believe certain animals possess more desirable traits than others, that some are more challenging to get along with, and that some have more potential to be prosperous. These Zodiac associations have heavily influenced weighty life decisions as well as drive much economic activity in China and many other Asian countries. Regardless of the accuracy of such assumptions, over a quarter of the world is currently influenced by the Zodiac and its implications, making it a relevant topic of understanding for people of all cultures.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
In my research project I am investigating the stark differences in the mythological figures, gods, and stories of Ancient China and Ancient Greece and how those differences parallel the contrast in their social practices and cultural views. I find the stark contrasts between the two mythologies and cultures really fascinating, and have been delving into Ancient Chinese and Greek mythology alike, discovering new legends and deities and the stories that surround them, and then relating them back to their respective cultures. From my research so far, I am expecting there to be a clear difference in the morals and conservative values of the two cultures which is reflected in their mythologies. Ancient Chinese culture is much more conservative on topics like love, sex, marriage, etc. and also has a higher focus on moral goodness and perfection, whereas the Greek pantheon is much more “human” in a sense in that the Greek gods and heroes all have very human flaws such as jealousy, thirst for revenge, and selfishness. The Greeks also had a much more open and liberal view of sexuality and romantic partnership, which is expressed in their myths and gods as well. I hope to find the best specific examples of myths and mythological figures to represent this difference in culture as represented in their mythologies.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Many famous and horrifying myths have stemmed from Latin America and live on today. These myths are typically told as scary “ghost stories” in Latin or Hispanic households. Three infamous ones are La Llorona, El Chupacabra, and El Cucuy. La Llorona can be traced back to Greek mythological figures such as Lamia and Medea. The Latin story is about a Mexican woman who drowns her two children in a river in Mexico to get revenge on her cheating husband, which ties in with Hera due to Zeus’s affair with Lamia. Hera forced Lamia to consume her two children which inspired the myth of La Llorona. El Chupacabra is an apparent animal (that closely resembles Big Foot or a wolf) and was added to cryptozoology as part of an urban legend. It dates back to 1995 Puerto Rico and eventually traveled to the United States. There is also a connection to Aristotle, as it was believed that they sucked the milk of goats, going into the Caprimulgidae, which means “goat suckers”. The caprimulgids are also a group of birds known as “nightjars” or “goatsuckers”, mostly known in Guatemala. Lastly, there are many different versions of El Cucuy that are told today. El Cucuy can be depicted as a wolf-like creature, old man, ghost, or large reptile. It is mostly known as a skeleton figure that punishes children for bad behavior, almost like an evil Santa Claus. In other cultures El Cucuy can also be known as The Boogeyman. “El Cucuy” from “coco” comes from the Iberian Peninsula, specifically Portugal. Overall, these three myths that derive from Latin America leave an impact on Latin or Hispanic households and are heavily known today.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The kraken. You may have heard of this beast because of its appearance in today’s pop culture, but have you ever heard the Nordic’s history behind it? History of its origins that suggest this beast may actually exist in a remote part of our world. History that explains why this creature is so significant in Norse culture. The kraken was birthed into Nordic folklore because of possible sightings back in the 12th to 13th century somewhere in the seas between Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. It was first mentioned in an Icelandic piece of literature titled Orvar-Oddr and then again in a scientific journal titled Konungs Skuggsia where the beast is described in great detail. Soon after those sightings, the kraken became more and more common in folklore as myths of the beast devouring ships or causing maelstroms started popping up. Now the Norse were known to be very accomplished sailors and navigators so it wasn’t common for them to find things along their travels that they could not explain, and the kraken was definitely one of those things. In today’s age although, we can be led to believe that those sightings were actually just mistaken for other large sea animals that had not yet been discovered; the fact that people used to believe they have seen or had encounters with the kraken although, is what makes this monster so significant in their culture today. Additionally, the Norse being so successful on the waters also makes the kraken a much more prominent character in folklore because it rests within a topic that they are very passionate about. Therefore, we can conclude that the kraken has had a strong impact on Nordic folklore because it was not just an idea, but rather a concept that sprouted from real life events that fall under one of the Nordic’s biggest passions; sailing.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Dragons are mythical creatures that stand for power, control, and destruction, but in reality, that is only how a fraction of the world views them. Eastern Dragons are magnificent creatures that have been around for millennia and represent water and prosperity because they control rain and good harvest. In addition, Eastern Dragons come in all shapes and sizes leading from small dots to as large as the heavens above. Also, Eastern dragons reside in oceans and seas and are known as the water spirit. In stark contrast, Western Dragons are looked at as malicious, dangerous, fire-destroying creatures with a hot temper. In addition, western dragons reside in mountains, caves, and lairs, often protecting someone or something, usually gold or treasure that they wish to keep from others. Their element is fire and generally depicted as beast-like lizards with wings. Despite the fact that dragons often differ in many respects within Eastern and Western traditions, individuals from both cultures are intrigued with imagining a powerful winged creature that affects people across the world, either for good or ill. Dragons thus remain powerful creatures that control not only natural forces like water, fire, the sky, but also individual fortunes on earth. Dragons are respected, loved, feared and magnificent creatures that will uphold a legacy longer than us.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The mermaid is mentioned in many tales told throughout time because they are mysterious and mystifying creatures. Each version of the mermaid is a compelling myth. These creatures were first told in Babylonian tales after the fish-god Oannes shared his wisdom to the people of the Persian Gulf. He merged as a creature that had never been seen before. His story then traveled to Greece, where the Greek people adopted this story and made the mermaids originate from the Greek god Titan. Greeks were the first to heavily spread this tale of mermaids, contributing to the many sailor stories that were created from Greek influence. The story of sirens would appear in fisherman's journals, claiming that these creatures were evil and would steal their goods and crash their ships by seducing them to come near the rocky shore. Another tale explains that sirens were viewed as competition for the classic Muses in mythology, and were turned into birds to suppress their evil. The Odyssey shows another classic interpretation of mermaids. The Greek figure of Achilles was said to have stemmed from mermaid descent. All tales describe mermaids as beautiful women with amazing voices. Mermaids can be found in Greek myths, but modern-day tales of these creatures focus heavily on the presentable side of mermaids and less on the evil side found within them. Modern-day depictions of mermaids can be seen in films like The Little Mermaid and countless other movies and novels based around these half-human, half-fish creatures. Mermaids in Greek mythology compared to modern-day mermaids would be considered exceptionally different and pose questions as to why these differences exist. Questions also arise as to what made these tales so interesting that people decided to continue spreading the tale of mermaids throughout history.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Many stories of ancient greek gods create a mix in the European culture, which give birth to similar excerpts of glorious heroes and omnipotent personas. The story of Zeus is well known across the world as the tale of a powerful and robust leader. A similar godly figure was noted by a Byzantine scholar Procopius in 500-565 CE. Perun is the Slavic mythical deity with attributes such as the god of thunder, lightning, and harvest. One interesting similarity with Greece which emerges in the name of Perun is the fact that people would sacrifice their cattle to the “Maker of Lighting”, to appease the god and tame his impulsive character. Also, pagans of Slavic Europe would celebrate a summer holiday in honor of Perun on June 21st, the 4th day of the week since the original name “Parendan” is accurately translated to “Thursday”. Besides this fact, Perun’s actual appearance is in some way a brotherly copy of Zeus. Perun was a red-bearded man, with silver hair and a golden mustache holding a war ax, and riding on a chariot through the sky. Another symbolic appearance associated with Perun is in a form of an eagle sat upon a tree, patiently gazing at the world. Another point for comparison between Perun and Zeus is the significance and influence of other mythical figures, close-knit to both Perun and Zeus, such as wives and rival leaders. Ultimately, Perun stands as a promising candidate for side by side comparison and discussion as an equal of Zeus. The fact that Perun emerged early on in the history of ancient Europe, and in the eyes of European folks, creates a ground for debate, which can prove or disprove the one truly all-powerful god.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Amaterasu; Kami of the Sun and Life Shintoism surfaced around the 6th century, which makes it the oldest religion in Japan. The religion consists of “kami,” who are godlike entities with power over elements or forces of nature, much like the Greeks. According to Shintoism, the world was created by two sibling lovers named Izanagi and Izanami. They bore many children that were also kami. As he bathed, Izanagi gave birth to three Kamis. From his left eye bore Amaterasu, the kami of the sun. From his right eye bore, Tsukuyomi, the kami of the moon and from his nose came Susanoo, the kami of the seas and storms. Although Amaterasu was not the creator of the universe, she inherited the title “Queen of Heaven.” Since Amaterasu is the “goddess” of the sun, many will try to compare her to Apollo, the Greek sun entity. However, not only is Amaterasu the sun entity of the Shinto religion, but she provides nourishment and life to everything on earth as well. Due to this, Amaterasu shares many more similarities with the Greek Goddess Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. The parallelism between the stories of Amaterasu hiding in a cave and Demeter searching for her daughter Persephone shows many of the same consequences even though they are deities of somewhat different elements. After an altercation with her brother, Susanoo, Amaterasu hides in a sealed cave, which consequently causes darkness to cast over the world. This allowed for evil spirits to run rampant and cause chaos among the earth. Similarly, when Demeter was focused on searching for her daughter, Persephone, she stopped paying attention to the harvest, which caused much famine and death in the world. During both of their absences, the world seems to malfunction and fall apart.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
This project will go over the similarities and differences of both the Greek and Egyptian views on death, the afterlife, and the funerary proceedings. Both the Egyptian god of death, Osiris, and the Greek god Hades will be spoken about as well as their different iterations throughout time. The god's characteristic and important myths with being spoken of and contrasted, as well as the characters of mythical creatures associated with them, looking for similarities and differences. Next, the poster will go over ideas of the afterlife and the levels and symbols that accompany it. It will also cover the preparations the living were expected to make before death to make sure of their success in the afterlife. Last, the poster will look for modern connections between the ideas of life after death and how the Greek and Egyptian beliefs may have impacted the practices of other religions such as Christianity.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Dragons, mythical snake-like creatures, have been a part of many ancient traditions around the world. Arguably, the most revered were Chinese dragons as they were associated with imperial power. Rulers would wear dragon motifs to signify their descendance, blessing, and strength from these divine creatures. Dragons and Chinese culture are synonymous with one other as dragons existed in the early Neolithic cultures of China and throughout the ruling dynasties Xia to Qin. Excavated burial sites from the Xinglongwa culture depict dragons as early as 6,200-5,4000 BC. Dwelling amongst clouds in the sky, they represent qi: one’s inner life force, wisdom, and prosperity and preside over water. Chinese dragons exhibit body parts of nine other animals. According to Han dynasty scholar Wang Fu, they possess the antlers of a stag, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the soles of a tiger, and the ears of a cow. Each dragon has the same anatomy with 117 scales each having either a positive yang or negative yin essence. Initially dragons were benevolent, but Buddhist influences added malevolent characteristics as water can bring life, but also destroy in floods or sea storms. Counterparts like the Greek Ladon are beasts who are to be feared, not worshipped. Many Greek beasts, too, were used as explanations for weather phenomena like storms. Beasts’ might was also created also to attest for the heroes’ strength who had slain them. The two cultures had contrasting views of dragons, one worshipping the creatures and the other fearful of the ravenous beasts; only the strongest can defeat them, but like most other myths and legends they are used to explain or justify the unknown.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
In most mythologies, the gods and goddesses are based on or directly associated with others from the cultures that lived before them. In Japanese mythology, numerous gods and goddesses, or “kami,” are represented throughout Japanese culture and values. Benzaiten, or Benten, was adapted in Japan during the 7th-8th century, where she was first considered to be the protector of samurai warriors. As the goddess was further implemented in Japanese culture, she became one of the Shichi-fuku-jin, which are the “Seven Gods of Luck.” Along with luck, she now also represents literature, music, wealth, love, and femininity. She became predominantly known through her myth with a five-headed sea dragon. According to the myth, she marries a sea dragon to put an end to his attacks on the island of Enoshima, leaving them in an age of peace. Focusing on the history of the goddess, she stands hand-in-hand with multiple mythological figures including the Indian goddess Sarasvat? and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. When considering the relationship between Benzaiten and the Greek goddess Aphrodite, many similarities become evident. They both represent love and beauty in their respective cultures as well as having relations to the sea and being married to beings that were deemed undesirable (the dragon and Hephaestus). Benzaiten and Aphrodite demonstrate how both Japanese and Greek cultures hold love and beauty on a pedestal and showcase their importance in people’s values.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Within my poster, there will be well articulated and researched information on the Norse God Thor that will show the viewer of my poster ancient myths about Thor, a timeline of his life and reign as the most powerful God in Norse history. Thor is a mythological figure that has remained relevant today and shaped the lives of people in past cultures. Through my research, you will see a God who was worshipped by his people for a number of reasons and experience what it might have felt like to be under the reign of the God of Thunder himself. My main focus in this project will be able to deliver a clear understanding of how Thor was seen through the eyes of his followers and also the eyes of outsiders. We will wind through the similarities he shared with other ancient Gods in different areas of the world and create a picture of Thor so it clearly depicts his true power and abilities of ancient Norse legends. Finally, I will order my poster to be aesthetically pleasing so the viewer does not only take away information in the reading they do but also in the pictures I specifically chose to convey Thor's raw power and strength.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The concept of death plays a significant role in many cultures, religions, and ideologies. Yan Wang, a central figure in ancient Chinese mythology, derives his roots from an early form of Buddhism in India. Alongside Buddhism, Hinduism is a major religion in India, and thus strongly influenced Buddhism and Buddhist figures. Originally referred to as the Hindu god, Yamaraja, Yan Wang emerged in Chinese culture as a result of the spread of Buddhism from India to China through trade routes during the Han dynasty in the 1st and 2nd centuries (CE). Yan Wang, known as the ruler of the Underworld and judge of the dead, became one of the most feared gods in ancient Chinese culture. A parallel to the Greek Hades and Tartarus, Chinese Diyu, contains multiple layers which Yan Wang presides over. Understanding Yan Wang’s presence and importance in ancient Chinese culture allows us to understand the cultural diffusion between the East and West as well as the evolution of the explanation of the afterlife over time. In studying the Chinese perception of the afterlife and Yan Wang, we may see influences from Greek Mythological stories of the god Hades. Despite their similarities, Chinese and Greek conceptions of afterlife differ in how the Chinese believe that all are sent to Diyu, while the Greeks believe that some are able to go to a heaven-like place, the Elysian Fields.
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
One of the most well-known and highly feared myths of the Philippines are the creatures known as “aswangs”. The “aswang” is more of an overbearing term for any creature that you should fear being that it’s translated as a “flesh-eating, shapeshifting monster”. The Philippines was colonized by Spain around the 16th century dating these myths way back, it’s a part of history. During the day they disguise themselves as regular people and prey on regular people as their feasts when the moon comes up. The aswang powers of strength, itelligent predator strategies, and ability to change their appearance even as a doppelganger weirdly enough, can be passed to another by a chicken egg. These powers can be attained by oneself when following a certain procedure or when an answang wants to transfer these powers to another. Because of their high interest in a blood-fest, human-flesh diet they are commonly related to what we know as vampires. They are also similar to werewolves because of the way they choose to shapeshift into animals; mostly four-legged when looking for prey. Lastly, it has also been known that some of them tend to have powers in the day (while in human form), using them to heal or for the better of people much like witches. According to my source, there haven’t been many individual stories where they would pinpoint a specific character or name which makes the myth (although many swear it's real) even scarier because there are so many more creatures to worry about.
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, that critically examines Asian American history, culture and identity. This project is a deep analysis of how Asian Americans have been seen as perpetual foreigners in the US. Often described as "aliens" and initially not being involved in politics, Asians have struggled to assimilate into the United States. One coping method we believe to be damaging to the perception of Asian Americans is the use of western beauty products, especially skin lightening products. The desire to lighten one’s skin color is a reflection of how people want to be accepted into western society and be apart of the Caucasian community. A prime example of this was the Supreme Court case, United States vs. Thind, where Thind was unable to become a citizen because they ruled that despite his argument about Asian Indians, he wouldn’t be seen as Caucasian in the eyes of a common man. Through the analysis of past stories and western beauty trends, we can hopefully grasp a better picture as to why this has become an integral part of Asian American identity.
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, that critically examines Asian American history, culture and identity. This project examines the movie “The Last Airbender”, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and it’s portrayal of Asian cultures. Movies that portray Asian characters commonly use stereotypes to portray these characters. From the use of black face in early American film to the portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hollywood has an inconvenient history racially misportraying non-white characters and culture. Directors constantly misportray Asian cultures and utilize their spiritual elements to create a “mystical” or “foreign” setting. Commonly, non-Asian actors and actresses will be casted for the roles in which the characters are identified as Asian. Our research presentation uncovers the continual mis-appropriation of Asian culture within Hollywood and its socio-political consequences when presented to an American audience. This project looks at the exaggerations of some cultures and lack of representation among other cultures in the movie as well as discussing the mostly white cast that was used to portray Asian and Indigeounous character. We expect to uncover the watering down of Asian cultures that we often see in entertainment media and how this is used to attempt to be more appealing to non-Asian audiences.
Film
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, which critically examines Asian American history, culture, and identity. The purpose of our project is to illustrate how the westernization of Asian media, such as live-action anime adaptions, negatively impacts Asian American representation and identity. Hollywood's obsession with taking anime stories away from the hands of its Asian creators and remaking it in an unoriginal form depicts its lack of respect for the content and furthers the false notion that American made content is superior.This misrepresentation goes beyond whitewashing, as it is Hollywood disregard for the original stories that lead them to make unfaithful adaptions, which hurts the image of Asian culture in Western media. These adaptions hurt the culture of Asians in general and Asian Americans because they have to experience Hollywood taking stories made about their cultures and misrepresenting them. Using examples of already made live-action adaptions (Ghost in the Shell, Dragon Ball, Death Note) and future ones (One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, Your Name), we hope to prove that Hollywood making these live-action adaptions that poorly represent Asian culture not only hurts them but it also hurts Asian Americans.
Health & Strategic Communication
Advisor(s): Dr. John Miklavcic
Nutrition is a critical component to improve and maintain athletic performance, however, without formal intervention, it is difficult to predict the level of understanding athletes have on sports nutrition principles. The objective of this research study is to test the effectiveness of educational intervention methods on lifestyle and behavior changes related to nutrition. The study compared the effectiveness of two interventions: a virtual seminar and three email newsletters circulated to all athletes. Survey responses will be used as a way to measure information retention and behavioral changes. A survey was constructed on Google Survey to track measurable health behaviors and categorize all athletes based on gender, age, sport, and position. All athletes at Chapman University were given a digital survey prior to any education intervention to assess their existing knowledge of nutrition material and health topics. Additional questions were included to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on student-athletes diets. Athletes attended a 45-minute virtual seminar on sports nutrition principles at the start of their season and completed a digital survey one week after. Survey questions were evaluated using descriptive analysis by Google Survey metrics. Results from the survey after the live seminar indicated an increase in overall concern for diet by 23.4% by all respondents. Further evaluation is needed to determine if email newsletters are effective at communicating nutrition information to student-athletes.
Health Sciences and Kinesiology
Advisor(s): Dr. Rahul Soangra, Michael Shiraishi
Millions of individuals worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease and stroke. Medical expenses are on the rise, which negatively contributes to the difficult conditions these patients are already experiencing. In addition, it has been known that activities of daily living (ADL) are limited in older adults compared to younger counterparts. The neurological disorder populations being investigated in this project are Parkinson’s disease patients and stroke patients and they are being compared to the healthy control group consisting of healthy older and younger individuals. In this study, the McRoberts sensor, that is used to measure acceleration and gyroscopic data, is worn by the participant on their lower back for three days. The sensor data collected has allowed us to explore the movement variability during ADL of these populations. ADL is the activities of daily living; this is measured by monitoring the basic activities that are completed by individuals without assistance as the individual accomplishes their daily routine. In these three days, the only time the sensor is allowed to be taken off is when the participant showers or anticipates entering water at any given point in time. We expect to find a significant difference in variability during ADL amongst the different populations. Sleep patterns and sleep activity will be compared to the healthy pool of individuals who do not have these illnesses. In the future, this informative metric could be helpful in predicting severity of disease or progress of rehabilitation. Thus, our study will provide a new metric to objectively quantify an individual’s health status.
Music
Advisor(s): Dr. Jessica Sternfeld
Classical orchestras and ensembles have been around for centuries. Over the years, many people have noticed the lack of satisfaction amongst orchestral musicians, paving way to the recent research analyzing stress and the organizational structure of classical orchestras. Orchestras are unique in that a group of 200 or so people come together and play synchronously under the direction of one person guiding them with a stick. At times, many find themselves with reduced autonomy or artistic creativity in the work environment after being trained to musically express themselves through years of schooling. With the importance of mental health arising, psychologists are now taking into account the effects of stress and the environment, especially within orchestras. This essay highlights the effects of the traditional orchestral organization, and how it damages the psychological well-being of its musicians due to the poor use of the psychological needs - autonomy, competence, and relatedness. A democratic approach ensures the musical artistry does not reside solely in the conductor, but also in the musicians. By investigating ensembles both with and without a conductor, and examining articles and studies, I argue that greater well-being can be achieved when these psychological needs are met.
Advisor(s): Dr. Jessica Sternfeld
When we listen to music, people generally know what sounds “right” and what doesn’t. Even the average layman can identify consonance from dissonance. But what is it about music that tells us whether or not it sounds “right?” There is a psycho-physical element in harmony, as it is rooted in acoustics and our perception of the harmonic series. The way we perceive harmony is via a base pitch, which is used as a “generator” for the harmonics that accompany it. Our fundamental ideas of consonance, dissonance, chords, and how to construct them—they are all built on the overtone series. Our ears, however, tell us a different story. According to the overtone series, a minor triad would be considered dissonant, in contrast to the consonant major triad. But when we hear a minor triad, we hear consonance. How can this conflict be justified? Using the ideas of music theorists such as Levarie, Levy, Rameau, and Rings, this essay will demonstrate the use of a theoretical “undertone series,” which is simply the overtone series mirrored across the generator pitch, and how we perceive harmony as a gravitational pull on that generator, extending in both directions rather than purely upwards as it occurs as a natural phenomenon. This will be demonstrated through exercises in music theory and composition, as well as various excerpts from pieces such as “Morgen!” Op. 27 no. 4 by Strauss and Das Fischermädchen by Schubert.
Pharmacy
Advisor(s): Dr. Rakesh Tiwari
RNAi or RNA interference is a well-known natural phenomenon that has lots of potential for therapeutic applications in regard to the post-transcriptional regulation of genes. More specifically, the introduction of a natural or synthetic complementary siRNA of the gene of interest into a diseased cell has the potential to silence the target gene that may be harmful to the cell. Once inside the cell, the siRNA takes advantage of the naturally occurring RNA interference pathway through its incorporation with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to degrade mRNA. Although the process seems rather simple, siRNA therapeutics face many obstacles on the way to its targeted cell. The most complex among them are, degradation by nucleolytic enzymes, uptake by cells of the immune system, and inefficient tissue penetration. More specifically, enzymes such as endonucleases and RNases can degrade siRNA in the blood circulation and excrete it through the kidneys. Additionally, the mononuclear phagocytic system, particularly macrophages in organs such as the liver, lungs and spleen can phagocytose or ingest the siRNA which it recognizes as foreign material and remove it from circulation. In order to combat this, the use of nanoparticle carriers have grown in interest over the last decade. Among them, lipid-based lipoplexes, polyplexes, and protein-based carriers have shown much promise in overcoming the initial barriers. This review aims to discuss the recent advancements being made in the carrier design and clinical setting, as well as future perspectives regarding its potential to combat diseases such as SARS-COV2, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Political Science
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
On average, there is a mass shooting every 12.5 days in the United States of America. The frequency of this event has caused panic amongst the population, with many fearing they will personally become victimized. According to The Fear Survey by Chapman University, which has been conducted for the past six years, becoming someone’s random shooting target in a public setting is one of the fastest rising fears in our country. This paper examines how the consumption of certain media platforms such as Fox News, CNN, local television stations, social media apps, and more heighten a person’s internal worry regarding the event of a random shooting. Social media is the most influential upon a person’s fear because information is exaggerated and broadcasted repeatedly on a daily basis. In addition, gender is weighed in terms of seeing which sex retains a greater amount of apprehension when it comes to protecting themselves in such an event. Women are more likely to express more fear than men because they report feeling more vulnerable to acts of violence. Then, the likelihood that an individual will purchase a gun after a mass shooting has occurred will be assessed based on a person’s self- evaluated fear level. In addition, someone’s fear of a random mass shooting will be compared to their party identity: Republican, Independent, or Democrat. And to finish, the area of one’s permanent residence: rural, city, or suburban, will be looked at to see its influence on one’s internal worry. In theory, there will be a conclusion as to what components contribute to one of the most rapidly growing fears in America.
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
When studying the factors that contribute to an individual’s political behavior, seldom considered is the individual’s personal experiences with crime. This paper examines the extent to which individual crime victimization and crime rates influence citizens’ political behavior, reflected through their voting choices, public policy preferences, and political ideology. Experiences with crime and crime victimization can shape or warp a person’s perspective of life, carried over in their political preferences and acts in the political world. Using the nationwide 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (CSAF) and drawing from official crime statistics such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR), this paper empirically analyzes how citizens’ political behavior is swayed by crime. It will look at crime rates on a local, state, and national level and analyze the extent to which an individual’s political actions are swayed by them.
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
With the 2020 United States presidential election fast approaching, discussions and arguments about who is the best choice to run our country are constant and frequent. Time periods around these elections put politics and different types of issues affecting Americans in the forefront of our minds. This study aims to identify the main issues that different Americans hold most important while voting for the President and how these main concerns have changed over time. Using data from the 2000 and 2016 Presidential election, the top 3 concerns of voters from the 2 main political affiliations, Democrat and Republican, are contrasted with who voted for which candidate and why. Within the span of 16 years, global events, shifts in political ideology, and changes in demographics have drastically affected who is elected President and why voters resonated with their platform. Results showed that while both Democrats and Republicans held the economy as the most important issue while voting for a candidate in both 2000 and 2016, the fear of being a victim of a terrorist attack and a hate crime have drastically increased between these two elections. Our analysis shows that while issue voting was an important determining factor during the 2000 election, party affiliation has become a more reliable method to determine who an individual is voting for.
Psychology
Advisor(s): Dr. Aaron Schurger, Dr. Uri Maoz
The neuroscience of volition, to a large extent, investigates the neural precursors of conscious decision-making and action. Pupillometry is a powerful tool for investigating conscious and attentional processing, partly because of its connection to the locus coeruleus (Josh et al., 2016). For instance, in an attentional blink paradigm, differences in pupil dilations were associated with conscious versus nonconscious stimuli (Wierda et al., 2012). Nevertheless, this technique received little attention in the study of volition. We collected pupil data during a spontaneous action paradigm, where subjects freely pressed a button at a time of their choosing, sometimes reporting their onset of movement or of intention using a clock (Libet et al., 1983). Preliminary analysis (N=12) demonstrated significant differences in baseline pupil size between conditions, potentially indicating cognitive load differences. Furthermore, replicating Richer and Beatty (1985), we found significant dilations before spontaneous movements. There were also indications that larger, pre-movement pupil dilations occur before reporting movement compared to before intention timing. These results support arguments that task demands, such as monitoring awareness, may affect the underlying neural activity leading to action and impact recorded signals—e.g., the readiness potential (Trevana and Miller, 2011). Moreover, these results offer a starting point for the use of pupillometry in studying conscious action production.
Advisor(s): Dr. Brooke Jenkins, Dr. Eric Sternlicht
Upwards of 6 million children in the United States are afflicted with pediatric asthma. While previous research has linked asthma to multiple contributing biological and environmental factors, recent research suggests that psychological and social factors may have an impact on physiological outcomes of asthma like lung function and lung inflammation. Therefore, we suggest the need to study the impact of positive psychological factors such as a well-functioning family environment and beneficial social support on symptoms and lung function of children diagnosed with asthma. In the present pilot study, we recruited a total of 15 children with a confirmed asthma diagnosis and their parents from the Division of Pulmonology at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Participants were asked to complete an initial baseline assessment and ecological momentary assessments four times a day for seven days followed by a final follow up survey. Asthma symptoms and pulmonary function were measured using a 7-item Asthma Control Diary, and peak expiratory flow (PEF) values were gathered using data from self-administered spirometer recordings. This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility in collecting ecological momentary assessments surrounding positive psychological factors. In testing the associations between family functioning and social support on children’s asthma symptoms and lung function, children who received more support from teachers (b = 0.03, t = 2.34, p = 0.048) and close friends (b = 0.04, t = 3.88, p = 0.006) had worse symptoms and lung function. Family functioning was not significantly associated with asthma symptoms and lung function (b = -0.00, t = -0.03, p = 0.975). Based on the results obtained, significant associations were only found in some aspects of social support. Children with more social support had worse asthma symptoms and lung function. This negative association might be an issue of reverse causality in which children who need more assistance receive more support. Next steps in this work include testing these associations in a larger-scale study.
Advisor(s): Dr. Julia Boehm
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented living conditions marked by less socialization, specifically for university students used to dorm-living, study groups, and university-hosted social events. A national emergency was declared, and social lives ceased as much of the United States was placed under quarantine, creating an environment of isolation. Previous research focusing on the elderly shows a relationship between loneliness and increased mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, but research examining the association between loneliness and mental and physical health in university students is scarce. It is crucial to study the relationship between loneliness and poor health in university students as current dorm occupancy limits and online learning have further exacerbated isolation beyond the initial quarantine. We hypothesized that higher levels of self-reported loneliness would correlate with worse mental health symptoms and physical health symptoms. An online survey was completed by 292 undergraduate and graduate students at Chapman University from May 15th, 2020 to the end of May during the pandemic. Student were asked to self-report information regarding health, psychosocial factors, academic experiences, housing situations, and financial situations. This study utilized the Three-Item Loneliness Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms (CHIPS) to assess the effect of loneliness on physical and mental health using linear regression analyses. Results indicated that higher levels of loneliness were associated with worse mental health symptoms (p-values < 0.001), as well as worse overall physical health and more physical symptoms (p-values < 0.01). In sum, loneliness was detrimental to the health of students. Possible confounding variables are factors such as financial instability or the impact of having the COVID-19 virus.
Advisor(s): Dr. Uri Maoz
The goal of this experiment is to test a model of the sense of agency, intention, volition, and causality in order to examine the time course of the sense of agency associated with voluntary and involuntary movements. We examine the roles of context, expectation and sensory feedback in the feeling of agency as well as examining the aspects of volition in different kinds of decisions. This experiment is thought to be very novel as it stimulates an internal signal for movement from an external source which is why the participant can find it hard to decipher if they are fully in control of their actions or not. The project explores the participants' self-reported level of agency, to see the range and types of precept that emerge among the individuals. It will examine the role of context and expectation and compare different forms of volition and decision. The non-invasive, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) stimulates the motor cortex, intermixing the resultant motor movements with motor movement of the participants own volition. TMS is a method of brain stimulation that relies on electromagnetic induction using an insulated coil placed on the scalp, to elevate brain function. The TMS coil will be placed above the scalp in a position that triggers a slight hand movement, the subject will then be instructed to make the same movement at will. It is expected that the participant will report ambiguity when asked whether the movement was due to them or the TMS. There should be an affect on the sense of agency by the TMS especially when it is close to the voluntary movement.
Theatre
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Since the rise of radio drama in the 1920s, receiving performances by auditory mediums have infiltrated our lifestyles in the modern day. The term radio drama most likely conjures up images of World War II radio plays filled with over the top dialogue and slightly kitschy sound effects. However, in addition to this 20th-century trend which helped spur the start of aural performances, your favorite podcasts, your newest Audible selection, animation, live Zoom readings, film and documentary narration, and even audio descriptions for the visually impaired community, have blossomed into widespread usages of 21st-century voice entertainment. These invisible actors bring life into the characters they embody and the thematic messages they help convey. Especially now, the pandemic has fueled a boom in voice acting projects. While the comeback of voice acting provides new forms of amusement to audience members, the anonymity of these actors raises questions of representation beyond the screen. In June of this year, Jenny Slate decided to step down from her animated role in Big Mouth, in which she explained that “Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people….I was engaging in an act of erasure.” In this thesis, I will explore the ways in which voice acting permeates our lives and its significance through certain practices, specifically live readings, audio book narration, and animation voice acting. I will also bring up questions regarding voice actor representation—is casting someone of a different race for an ethnically different character justified? Should a creative team strive to be color-blind or color-conscious when casting? Through compiling research and contemporary examples of shows and programs, I plan to argue the significance of voice acting and the need for proper representation, even when it may not seem to make a difference through purely acoustic performances.
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
A University of Arkansas 2014 study “The Educational Value of Field Trips” provided unintended evidence that students who had seen live productions of literary works had much higher tolerance levels, academic knowledge, and empathy for the characters than the students who had only read the text. It is widely known within the theatre and education community that having access to an arts education in k-12 schools leads to more emotionally intelligent students that are incredibly empathetic. In many schools, the theatre is sometimes one of the only places that minority students can feel safe and supported due to the high empathy levels seen in these groups. However, what happens when these safe spaces are still perpetuating the racial disparities that are harming those same students in the first place? One of the most significant issues facing our current domestic policy in the United States is the treatment of people of color, specifically black Americans. Thus, it is imperative that we examine and investigate current foundational systems including but not limited to the curriculum taught, after school programs, and competition programs to ensure the fair treatment of not only all of our students, but everyone. I argue that there is a massive disconnect between what theatre educators teach in their classrooms and what they are putting into practice in their theatres, after school programs, educational competitions, and conferences. Through a series of interviews, literature review, and statistical analysis, I will define current harmful practices and cultures in educational theatre and propose a series of tangible improvements to be made to develop a diverse, accepting, and tolerant educational theatre framework.
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Internalized misogyny is when women subconsciously project sexist ideologies onto themselves as well as others. “I’m not like other girls” is a statement coined by the media to say that in order to be the ideal girl, one must separate themselves from anything that seems stereotypically feminine or defined as “girly”. For example, this type of female is often painted in the media as the type to never wear makeup, be “one of the boys”, not be friends with other women because they create too much drama, believe female comedians are never as funny as male comedians, and would never dress for fashion. Claiming to be “not like other girls” implies that all of the “other girls” are inferior in their behavior. Many female-identifying individuals are often raised to believe it is a compliment when people say “you don’t throw like a girl, you’re cool” or “I like that you don’t wear high heels or makeup and listen to non-mainstream music, you’re unique”. Compliments, similar to the stated examples, are essentially saying that “you being different from the rest makes you one of the good”. For my thesis, I aim to explore normalized internalized misogyny in the media and the psychological effects that the concept has on people as they grow up and figure out who they are as individuals. I will be analyzing social media, film, podcasts, and literature in order to gain a better grasp on how this concept has become so saturated in mainstream media. In addition to research into the psychology of internalized misogyny, I will be conducting anonymous interviews with women to gain further insight. I ultimately aim to uncover what exactly internalized misogyny is and how it has become subconsciously manifested in the female psyche.
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Aristotle wrote about the importance of music and spectacle in theatre in his Poetics. Music has been an integral part of theatre for centuries, dating back to the days of the Ancient Greeks who used music extensively in their works, making full use of a chorus for dramatic effect on their audiences. Opera and musical theatre have forever intertwined music and stage, combining the human, emotional elements of theatre and the moving power of music. Improvements in entertainment technology give theatremakers the power to create ever-more personal and impactful stories. With the capabilities of modern audio systems and music technology, musical expression can further enhance a theatrical performance through a full and immersive aural experience, from filling a room full of the sounds of the setting to giving audiences a chance to actively participate in the making of their performance (Petit). Audio has never been easier to manipulate, giving sound designers the power to craft just the right sounds to fit whatever medium they may be designing for. Designers can record the most mundane of things, from a phone ringing to the ambient sounds of a passing day in a city, and create such stunning soundscapes in which theatre can play. Music technology, however, can on top of existing techniques, bring an altogether different feel to the existing repertoire of sound design in the field, combining the performative aspects of theatre with its technical design. Through modern playback software such as digital audio workstations and the use of modern, musical interfaces, the making of theatre can enter exciting and collaborative soundscapes. I plan to demonstrate the efficacy of music technology in theatrical sound design by utilizing techniques from music technology, such as synthesization, physical computing, and the use of music theory to create a soundscape for the experimental work Terminal by Susan Yankowitz.
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner, Joyce Cantrell
In this research project I explore the ways that makeup products, trends, and applications have changed over the years beginning in the 1920s, up until now. Through the many historical high and low points over the last century, one thing that has remained constant is the desire look and feel beautiful. In today’s world, beauty can really be anything that makes an individual feel comfortable and confident in one’s own skin, and sometimes that happens to be nothing at all. The aim of this project is not to argue that people have needed or currently need cosmetics to look and feel beautiful. Rather, I aim to find what the overarching popular standard of beauty was for each decade and why. I look to popular media, ad campaigns, magazine articles, films, and celebrities from each decade to distinguish the popular makeup trends and styles. I then consult academic sources on the history of makeup in order to delve further into why makeup trends were what they were, and how they rose to popularity. Additionally, I will use my findings to design and execute two makeup looks for each decade- one will be rooted in historical accuracy, and one will be my artistic interpretation of the decade’s makeup as if I were designing for a theatrical performance or film. In doing so, I gain a deeper understanding of makeup techniques and styles throughout history, as well as improve my own skills as a makeup artist, entertainer, and scholar.
- A Computational Investigation of the Molecular Descriptors of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors
Advisor(s): Dr. Maduka Ogba
Drug discovery can cost 0.5 to 2.6 billion dollars and take 10-20 years to develop a single, viable drug for humans. This arduous process necessitates strategies for identifying and mitigating bottlenecks in the timeline. The largest bottleneck, synthesizing and testing drug candidates, is expensive, time-consuming, and there is never a guarantee of a successful compound. The implementation of computational chemistry allows for a cost and time-effective approach, and it minimizes the loss of an unsuccessful compound. In combination with machine learning, new drug candidates can be rapidly identified and preliminarily screened against existing drugs; however, the accuracy of machine-learning algorithms in generating viable drug candidates depends on molecular descriptors gathered via computations. Our group seeks to develop a computational checklist for generating, identifying, and weighing high-accuracy molecular descriptors for machine-learning-based drug discovery. In this presentation, we focus on small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for Src kinases. Many kinds of cancer occur when Src kinases mutate, so they are an important target in oncogenic treatments. We use high-accuracy quantum mechanical calculations to explore the potential energy conformational space and three-dimensional molecular descriptors of several TKIs that are FDA-approved or in clinical trials. We compare descriptors from the computed conformational space of these drug molecules to those in the bound inhibitors' crystal structures geometry. Our study highlights emerging trends from our data revealing the molecular descriptors that may govern tyrosine kinase inhibition.
Biological Sciences
- Hagfish Egg Adhesion: Hook, Filament, and Sinker
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge
Hagfish are a group of fish that lack both jaws and vertebral column, and they are known for their slime secretions. Hagfish produce eggs that adhere to one another in a chain via hooks found at the polar ends. The hooks are small filaments of varying lengths that end in clover shaped caps and are surrounded by mucus. The goal of these experiments is to understand the physical mechanisms that govern hagfish egg adhesion. Only one species of hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii, was studied in these experiments. Microscopy techniques were used to analyze the shape of each hook and the physical interactions involved in hooking. Tensile strength tests measuring force and extension of filaments were the primary source of experimentation and data collection. These tensile tests were completed using an Instron universal testing machine which can measure the force that develops when a sample is extended or compressed. Single and cyclical trials were run to understand the initial breaking point of the forces applied and the ability for the hooks to reattach after a separation. Initial tests indicated a maximum attachment force of around 0.7 Newtons. Each full separation involved multiple small separations with each separation increasing in force required to separate. Future experiments will be run to determine whether plastic deformations that occur during separation are reversible and allow the eggs to recover their original attachment potential. Future experiments will involve microCT scanning to characterize the three-dimensional shape of the filaments and hooks. Other tensile experiments will be conducted to study the role of orientation when hooking eggs and the role of the mucus in adhesion.
- Uncovering Slime Deployment Mechanisms in Hagfish
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge, Dr. Gaurav Jain, Matthew Snyder, Andrew Lowe, Noah Bressman
Hagfishes are a diverse group of jawless marine fishes that are noteworthy for their ability to produce gill-clogging slime when threatened. The slime exudate ejected by the slime glands is made up of two main components: thread skeins and mucous vesicles. Although the biophysical mechanisms of exudate deployment in seawater are not understood, some details are known. Thread skeins must unravel from their coiled state and provide strength to the slime in the form of a network of silk-like threads. Deployment of mucous vesicles is known to involve the swelling of constituent glycoproteins their subsequent deformation into a vast mucous network that interpenetrates the slime thread network. Recent theoretical work suggests that thread skein unraveling would be greatly enhanced under conditions where the skein (or a loose piece of thread) is pinned to a solid surface. We hypothesize that the slime gland pore remains attached to ejected exudate, and acts as an anchor that allows mucus, and skeins embedded within it, to be loaded in tension, which facilitates unravelling and efficient slime formation. We have employed high-speed camera mounted on an Axio Zoom microscope to observe this process in detail. Data collection was expedited by switching between bright and darkfield to better illuminate certain aspects of the exudate and using a glass slide attached to a spatula to keep the exudate in focus. Our preliminary results suggest that hagfish slime exudate indeed requires an anchor or to be imbedded in mucus for proper skein unraveling and slime formation. This can occur due to shear forces when attached to the slide or during turbulent flow caused by swiping the exudate through the water which generates force and hydrates the mucus in order for the skeins to imbed themselves.
- Mucin Vesicle Hydration in Fresh Exudate
Advisor(s): Dr. Douglas Fudge, Dr. Gaurav Jain
Hagfish produce a large quantity of defensive slime when attacked. This slime is a rapid forming dilute hydrogel comprised of two main components, thread filaments and membrane-bound mucin vesicles. Little is known about the behavior of the mucin vesicles immediately after secretion from the slime gland, as all studies on mucin vesicles have used vesicles stabilized with polyvalent anions. The slime is known to form rapidly after secretion, taking between 100-400 ms, however the kinetics of the hydration of the mucus component has not been quantified. In this study we observed and captured the behavior of fresh exudate as soon as it was submerged in artificial sea water. A drop of fresh exudate on a clear slide was rapidly submerged and the resulting behavior of the exudate pluming off and expanding was observed using a high-speed camera in both light and dark field. Focusing on the behaviors of mucin after the initial drop, the dark field showed the shift of the forming mucous gel from opaque to transparent indicating a rapid hydration of the mucin when exposed to adequate liquid. Hydration and formation of the mucous gel occurred before any observed thread unraveling in these experiments, around 50ms, suggesting that when slime is naturally deployed the mucous gel may be the first component to deploy. These insights on the mucin vesicle hydration speed in fresh exudate will further contribute to research involving the mechanisms for hagfish slime formation.
- Can Testosterone Reduce Behavioral Symptoms of Sickness?
Advisor(s): Dr. Patricia Lopes, Dr. Brenna Gormally
Research has found that males can suppress behavioral symptoms of sickness (called sickness behaviors) when mating opportunities are available. Because testosterone is often increased in males by female presence and is immunosuppressive, previous researchers hypothesized that testosterone might help suppress sickness symptoms. To examine this possibility, we used a bird species, the Japanese quail, where males decrease testosterone in the presence of females. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce sickness behavior in male birds. We then presented females to these males. We hypothesized that these males would not be able to suppress their sickness behaviors when presented with the females. In addition, a group of males was injected with Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which triggers the pituitary gland to send a message to the gonads to produce testosterone (T). We hypothesized that, due to the increase in testosterone, these males would now be able to suppress sickness behaviors. Behavior was monitored after the injections, and blood samples were taken to quantify T. The behaviors included time spent mounting the female, eating, drinking, and resting and were scored by observers blind to the treatments. The results indicated that birds injected with LPS showed a significant increase in time spent resting relative to saline controls, indicating the injection of LPS successfully mimicked infection. However, a GnRH injection was not able to increase testosterone to the same extent in sick (LPS-treated) birds as it did in control birds. Additionally, no relationship between T levels and resting behavior was found. We conclude that, under an immune challenge, birds are less able to increase T and, therefore, it is unlikely that T modulates the observed decreases in sickness behaviors of males found in previous research. Future research should examine the physiological ability to increase T during disease in other species.
Chemistry
- Designed Hydrogel Microspheres for Management of Thrombosis
Advisor(s): Dr. Andrew Lyon, Molla Islam
The body’s ability to manage thrombosis by forming and breaking blood clots is an essential function, and when this is not controlled, many problems can arise. In order to help control blood clotting when the body is unable to, microgels have been designed and finely tuned in order to carry out specific functions such as initiating clotting and breaking down blood clots. Confocal microscopy allows for imaging of microgels in real-time to better understand how simple polymer particles can recapitulate complex biological functions, such as clot formations and clot breakdown. For the application of breaking down blood clots, core-shell-shell pNIPAm-co-AAc (poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-acrylic acid) microgels were synthesized to carry out targeted release of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Drug release studies were done with fluorescently labeled dextran as a surrogate for the tPA protein. Microgels were loaded with fluorescently labeled dextran by the breathing in method and imaged in order to determine the rate of release from the particles. In order to address the need for platelets in trauma applications, our group has collaborated with several other groups to create platelet substitutes that we call Platelet-Like-Particles (PLP). Ultra-low crosslinked (ULC) particles were synthesized as a base and then conjugated with Fibrin Fragment E to make PLPs. To visualize how the PLP’s interact with a fibrin network, the PLPs were labeled with a dye and then visualized under a confocal microscope. By visualizing the microgel particles and applying the airy scan technique in the super resolution mode of the confocal microscope, we were able to characterize the particles and get more qualitative and quantitative data about how the particles interact with nascent fibrin clots.
- Fluorescence Lifetime Measurements of Natural Dissolved Organic Matter and Oil Products in Aqueous Solution
Advisor(s): Dr. Warren de Bruyn, Dr. Aaron Harrison
The optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), the UV and visible light-absorbing component of dissolved organic matter (DOM), have been used extensively to determine levels, distributions, identify sources, and track transformations of DOM in natural waters. Traditional optical techniques are primarily based on steady-state absorbance and steady-state fluorescence measurements. For example, three-dimensional excitation and emission matrix (EEMs) fluorescence spectra have been used extensively to characterize CDOM in these systems. One of the challenges in interpreting EEMs is that fluorescent material from different sources can fluoresce in the same region. For example, both terrestrial organics and oil products can fluoresce in the protein region of a typical EEM. Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has the potential to differentiate between these different fluorescent materials. We have carried out a series of EEM and fluorescent lifetime measurements on a range of natural dissolved organic water samples and a range of oil products to test the viability of using time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy to better characterize dissolved organic matter in natural waters. The results show promise with lifetimes of natural dissolved organic material like plant leachates typically less than 10 ns and lifetimes of oil products typically having a lifetime component of greater than 20 ns.
Communication Studies
- Chatbots for Human-Machine Communication
Advisor(s): Dr. Austin Lee
School of Communication students enrolled in Dr. Austin Lee's COM329 Human-Machine Communication developed an innovative conversational agent applicable in various social contexts (e.g., a campus ambassador chatbot, a fitness coach chatbot, a coronavirus information chatbot). The conversational agents can communicate with human users using natural language, possesses domain knowledge, and assist them with specific tasks. In this project, we identify current communication problems, especially in the coronavirus pandemic situation, discuss how chatbots can address the problem, introduce the proposed application, and examine its technical feasibilities and difficulties. We will use AIML (artificial intelligence markup language) to build a rule database and the Pandorabot platform to deploy the chatbot. AIML is an easy-to-learn, open-source chatbot scripting language, which is an extension of XML (Extensible Markup Language).
- 60-Second Persuasion Theory
Advisor(s): Dr. Austin Lee
School of Communication students present a new podcast series titled, "60-Second Persuasion Theory." The series consists of more than 30 episodes that introduce strategies and techniques of persuasion and compliance gaining that can be applied to a wide variety of real-world contexts. The episode focuses on interesting and practical applications of persuasion theory. For example, how can servers increase their tips? How can you make yourself appear more credible? What makes some salespeople like Billy Mays so effective? And how can we persuade people to wear face masks in the current coronavirus pandemic? Those questions and dozens of others are answered with scientific and empirical evidence from communication research. Inspired by Scientific American's "60-Second Science" series, each episode runs about two minutes in length and will be shared with the general public using platforms such as iTunes and SoundCloud. Audiences will get their daily dose of podcasts with these tiny social scientific expositions. The episodes are written and recorded by each student enrolled in Dr. Austin Lee's Theories of Persuasion course. A podcast is an effective way to communicate social scientific research to broad audiences. With this service-learning project, we aim to help the general public become more effective communicators.
FFC
- Zeus and Indra: A Comparison of Greek and Vedic King Gods
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Although India and Greece are fairly widely separated geographically, both cultures imagined strikingly similar chief gods of their respective pantheons. Although originating from vastly different cultures, the undeniable similarities seen between Zeus and Indra are astounding. Zeus is the most powerful god according to Greek mythology and Indra according to the Vedas. Descriptions of both gods in Greek mythology and Vedic texts portray their birth, appearance, romances and adventures in strikingly similar ways. For example, heroism for both gods is achieved through both physical as well as spiritual deeds. Both have been associated with rain, thunder, and lightning as well as having fatherly and protective qualities. Despite both being immortal, they are envisioned with human bodies and features—but still look godlike. Based on the beards and sculpted human bodies found in ancient texts and sculptures, these gods are definitely chief gods among their respective pantheons, noble and imposing, showing that they are both gods of gods as well as men in their personification. Like humans, Zeus and Indra experience emotions of love, jealousy, and anger and can be seen throughout various mythic tales. These similarities point towards common ancestral and cultural links between Zeus and Indra and, in turn, between Greece and India.
- The Chinese Zodiac: Mythological Origins to Modern Influence
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
To most native Chinese, one’s Zodiac animal sign indicates much more than just the individual’s probable age. By identifying a birth year, month, day, and even time, the Chinese are swift to make inferences and assumptions about one’s personal life, probable personality, and future potential. Such information is linked to their understanding of the Zodiac cycle, following the Chinese, or Lunar, New Year, which is indicated by tracking phases of the moon. Twelve animal signs--depicting the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig--make up the Zodiac, each representing a certain behavioral temperament and unique characteristics. The animals’ species and specific order were designated by a legend of the “Great Race.” According to this myth, the Jade Emperor desired a way to measure time, and so he devised a race across a river to determine which animal would represent each year. The first twelve to make it across were assigned the honor of a spot in the Zodiac cycle. Modern day cultures believe certain animals possess more desirable traits than others, that some are more challenging to get along with, and that some have more potential to be prosperous. These Zodiac associations have heavily influenced weighty life decisions as well as drive much economic activity in China and many other Asian countries. Regardless of the accuracy of such assumptions, over a quarter of the world is currently influenced by the Zodiac and its implications, making it a relevant topic of understanding for people of all cultures.
- Morality and Mythology: Ancient China vs Ancient Greece
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
In my research project I am investigating the stark differences in the mythological figures, gods, and stories of Ancient China and Ancient Greece and how those differences parallel the contrast in their social practices and cultural views. I find the stark contrasts between the two mythologies and cultures really fascinating, and have been delving into Ancient Chinese and Greek mythology alike, discovering new legends and deities and the stories that surround them, and then relating them back to their respective cultures. From my research so far, I am expecting there to be a clear difference in the morals and conservative values of the two cultures which is reflected in their mythologies. Ancient Chinese culture is much more conservative on topics like love, sex, marriage, etc. and also has a higher focus on moral goodness and perfection, whereas the Greek pantheon is much more “human” in a sense in that the Greek gods and heroes all have very human flaws such as jealousy, thirst for revenge, and selfishness. The Greeks also had a much more open and liberal view of sexuality and romantic partnership, which is expressed in their myths and gods as well. I hope to find the best specific examples of myths and mythological figures to represent this difference in culture as represented in their mythologies.
- Latin American Myths
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Many famous and horrifying myths have stemmed from Latin America and live on today. These myths are typically told as scary “ghost stories” in Latin or Hispanic households. Three infamous ones are La Llorona, El Chupacabra, and El Cucuy. La Llorona can be traced back to Greek mythological figures such as Lamia and Medea. The Latin story is about a Mexican woman who drowns her two children in a river in Mexico to get revenge on her cheating husband, which ties in with Hera due to Zeus’s affair with Lamia. Hera forced Lamia to consume her two children which inspired the myth of La Llorona. El Chupacabra is an apparent animal (that closely resembles Big Foot or a wolf) and was added to cryptozoology as part of an urban legend. It dates back to 1995 Puerto Rico and eventually traveled to the United States. There is also a connection to Aristotle, as it was believed that they sucked the milk of goats, going into the Caprimulgidae, which means “goat suckers”. The caprimulgids are also a group of birds known as “nightjars” or “goatsuckers”, mostly known in Guatemala. Lastly, there are many different versions of El Cucuy that are told today. El Cucuy can be depicted as a wolf-like creature, old man, ghost, or large reptile. It is mostly known as a skeleton figure that punishes children for bad behavior, almost like an evil Santa Claus. In other cultures El Cucuy can also be known as The Boogeyman. “El Cucuy” from “coco” comes from the Iberian Peninsula, specifically Portugal. Overall, these three myths that derive from Latin America leave an impact on Latin or Hispanic households and are heavily known today.
- The Nordic's Kraken
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The kraken. You may have heard of this beast because of its appearance in today’s pop culture, but have you ever heard the Nordic’s history behind it? History of its origins that suggest this beast may actually exist in a remote part of our world. History that explains why this creature is so significant in Norse culture. The kraken was birthed into Nordic folklore because of possible sightings back in the 12th to 13th century somewhere in the seas between Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. It was first mentioned in an Icelandic piece of literature titled Orvar-Oddr and then again in a scientific journal titled Konungs Skuggsia where the beast is described in great detail. Soon after those sightings, the kraken became more and more common in folklore as myths of the beast devouring ships or causing maelstroms started popping up. Now the Norse were known to be very accomplished sailors and navigators so it wasn’t common for them to find things along their travels that they could not explain, and the kraken was definitely one of those things. In today’s age although, we can be led to believe that those sightings were actually just mistaken for other large sea animals that had not yet been discovered; the fact that people used to believe they have seen or had encounters with the kraken although, is what makes this monster so significant in their culture today. Additionally, the Norse being so successful on the waters also makes the kraken a much more prominent character in folklore because it rests within a topic that they are very passionate about. Therefore, we can conclude that the kraken has had a strong impact on Nordic folklore because it was not just an idea, but rather a concept that sprouted from real life events that fall under one of the Nordic’s biggest passions; sailing.
- Eastern Dragons Vs. Western Dragons: Fire & Water
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Dragons are mythical creatures that stand for power, control, and destruction, but in reality, that is only how a fraction of the world views them. Eastern Dragons are magnificent creatures that have been around for millennia and represent water and prosperity because they control rain and good harvest. In addition, Eastern Dragons come in all shapes and sizes leading from small dots to as large as the heavens above. Also, Eastern dragons reside in oceans and seas and are known as the water spirit. In stark contrast, Western Dragons are looked at as malicious, dangerous, fire-destroying creatures with a hot temper. In addition, western dragons reside in mountains, caves, and lairs, often protecting someone or something, usually gold or treasure that they wish to keep from others. Their element is fire and generally depicted as beast-like lizards with wings. Despite the fact that dragons often differ in many respects within Eastern and Western traditions, individuals from both cultures are intrigued with imagining a powerful winged creature that affects people across the world, either for good or ill. Dragons thus remain powerful creatures that control not only natural forces like water, fire, the sky, but also individual fortunes on earth. Dragons are respected, loved, feared and magnificent creatures that will uphold a legacy longer than us.
- Mermaids in Mythology and Present Culture
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The mermaid is mentioned in many tales told throughout time because they are mysterious and mystifying creatures. Each version of the mermaid is a compelling myth. These creatures were first told in Babylonian tales after the fish-god Oannes shared his wisdom to the people of the Persian Gulf. He merged as a creature that had never been seen before. His story then traveled to Greece, where the Greek people adopted this story and made the mermaids originate from the Greek god Titan. Greeks were the first to heavily spread this tale of mermaids, contributing to the many sailor stories that were created from Greek influence. The story of sirens would appear in fisherman's journals, claiming that these creatures were evil and would steal their goods and crash their ships by seducing them to come near the rocky shore. Another tale explains that sirens were viewed as competition for the classic Muses in mythology, and were turned into birds to suppress their evil. The Odyssey shows another classic interpretation of mermaids. The Greek figure of Achilles was said to have stemmed from mermaid descent. All tales describe mermaids as beautiful women with amazing voices. Mermaids can be found in Greek myths, but modern-day tales of these creatures focus heavily on the presentable side of mermaids and less on the evil side found within them. Modern-day depictions of mermaids can be seen in films like The Little Mermaid and countless other movies and novels based around these half-human, half-fish creatures. Mermaids in Greek mythology compared to modern-day mermaids would be considered exceptionally different and pose questions as to why these differences exist. Questions also arise as to what made these tales so interesting that people decided to continue spreading the tale of mermaids throughout history.
- Perun vs. Zeus in a Battle of Power
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Many stories of ancient greek gods create a mix in the European culture, which give birth to similar excerpts of glorious heroes and omnipotent personas. The story of Zeus is well known across the world as the tale of a powerful and robust leader. A similar godly figure was noted by a Byzantine scholar Procopius in 500-565 CE. Perun is the Slavic mythical deity with attributes such as the god of thunder, lightning, and harvest. One interesting similarity with Greece which emerges in the name of Perun is the fact that people would sacrifice their cattle to the “Maker of Lighting”, to appease the god and tame his impulsive character. Also, pagans of Slavic Europe would celebrate a summer holiday in honor of Perun on June 21st, the 4th day of the week since the original name “Parendan” is accurately translated to “Thursday”. Besides this fact, Perun’s actual appearance is in some way a brotherly copy of Zeus. Perun was a red-bearded man, with silver hair and a golden mustache holding a war ax, and riding on a chariot through the sky. Another symbolic appearance associated with Perun is in a form of an eagle sat upon a tree, patiently gazing at the world. Another point for comparison between Perun and Zeus is the significance and influence of other mythical figures, close-knit to both Perun and Zeus, such as wives and rival leaders. Ultimately, Perun stands as a promising candidate for side by side comparison and discussion as an equal of Zeus. The fact that Perun emerged early on in the history of ancient Europe, and in the eyes of European folks, creates a ground for debate, which can prove or disprove the one truly all-powerful god.
- Amaterasu; Kami of the Sun and Life
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Amaterasu; Kami of the Sun and Life Shintoism surfaced around the 6th century, which makes it the oldest religion in Japan. The religion consists of “kami,” who are godlike entities with power over elements or forces of nature, much like the Greeks. According to Shintoism, the world was created by two sibling lovers named Izanagi and Izanami. They bore many children that were also kami. As he bathed, Izanagi gave birth to three Kamis. From his left eye bore Amaterasu, the kami of the sun. From his right eye bore, Tsukuyomi, the kami of the moon and from his nose came Susanoo, the kami of the seas and storms. Although Amaterasu was not the creator of the universe, she inherited the title “Queen of Heaven.” Since Amaterasu is the “goddess” of the sun, many will try to compare her to Apollo, the Greek sun entity. However, not only is Amaterasu the sun entity of the Shinto religion, but she provides nourishment and life to everything on earth as well. Due to this, Amaterasu shares many more similarities with the Greek Goddess Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. The parallelism between the stories of Amaterasu hiding in a cave and Demeter searching for her daughter Persephone shows many of the same consequences even though they are deities of somewhat different elements. After an altercation with her brother, Susanoo, Amaterasu hides in a sealed cave, which consequently causes darkness to cast over the world. This allowed for evil spirits to run rampant and cause chaos among the earth. Similarly, when Demeter was focused on searching for her daughter, Persephone, she stopped paying attention to the harvest, which caused much famine and death in the world. During both of their absences, the world seems to malfunction and fall apart.
- Ideas of Death in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
This project will go over the similarities and differences of both the Greek and Egyptian views on death, the afterlife, and the funerary proceedings. Both the Egyptian god of death, Osiris, and the Greek god Hades will be spoken about as well as their different iterations throughout time. The god's characteristic and important myths with being spoken of and contrasted, as well as the characters of mythical creatures associated with them, looking for similarities and differences. Next, the poster will go over ideas of the afterlife and the levels and symbols that accompany it. It will also cover the preparations the living were expected to make before death to make sure of their success in the afterlife. Last, the poster will look for modern connections between the ideas of life after death and how the Greek and Egyptian beliefs may have impacted the practices of other religions such as Christianity.
- Chinese Dragons
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Dragons, mythical snake-like creatures, have been a part of many ancient traditions around the world. Arguably, the most revered were Chinese dragons as they were associated with imperial power. Rulers would wear dragon motifs to signify their descendance, blessing, and strength from these divine creatures. Dragons and Chinese culture are synonymous with one other as dragons existed in the early Neolithic cultures of China and throughout the ruling dynasties Xia to Qin. Excavated burial sites from the Xinglongwa culture depict dragons as early as 6,200-5,4000 BC. Dwelling amongst clouds in the sky, they represent qi: one’s inner life force, wisdom, and prosperity and preside over water. Chinese dragons exhibit body parts of nine other animals. According to Han dynasty scholar Wang Fu, they possess the antlers of a stag, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the soles of a tiger, and the ears of a cow. Each dragon has the same anatomy with 117 scales each having either a positive yang or negative yin essence. Initially dragons were benevolent, but Buddhist influences added malevolent characteristics as water can bring life, but also destroy in floods or sea storms. Counterparts like the Greek Ladon are beasts who are to be feared, not worshipped. Many Greek beasts, too, were used as explanations for weather phenomena like storms. Beasts’ might was also created also to attest for the heroes’ strength who had slain them. The two cultures had contrasting views of dragons, one worshipping the creatures and the other fearful of the ravenous beasts; only the strongest can defeat them, but like most other myths and legends they are used to explain or justify the unknown.
- Benzaiten: The Goddess of Everything That Flows
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
In most mythologies, the gods and goddesses are based on or directly associated with others from the cultures that lived before them. In Japanese mythology, numerous gods and goddesses, or “kami,” are represented throughout Japanese culture and values. Benzaiten, or Benten, was adapted in Japan during the 7th-8th century, where she was first considered to be the protector of samurai warriors. As the goddess was further implemented in Japanese culture, she became one of the Shichi-fuku-jin, which are the “Seven Gods of Luck.” Along with luck, she now also represents literature, music, wealth, love, and femininity. She became predominantly known through her myth with a five-headed sea dragon. According to the myth, she marries a sea dragon to put an end to his attacks on the island of Enoshima, leaving them in an age of peace. Focusing on the history of the goddess, she stands hand-in-hand with multiple mythological figures including the Indian goddess Sarasvat? and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. When considering the relationship between Benzaiten and the Greek goddess Aphrodite, many similarities become evident. They both represent love and beauty in their respective cultures as well as having relations to the sea and being married to beings that were deemed undesirable (the dragon and Hephaestus). Benzaiten and Aphrodite demonstrate how both Japanese and Greek cultures hold love and beauty on a pedestal and showcase their importance in people’s values.
- Thor Poster
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
Within my poster, there will be well articulated and researched information on the Norse God Thor that will show the viewer of my poster ancient myths about Thor, a timeline of his life and reign as the most powerful God in Norse history. Thor is a mythological figure that has remained relevant today and shaped the lives of people in past cultures. Through my research, you will see a God who was worshipped by his people for a number of reasons and experience what it might have felt like to be under the reign of the God of Thunder himself. My main focus in this project will be able to deliver a clear understanding of how Thor was seen through the eyes of his followers and also the eyes of outsiders. We will wind through the similarities he shared with other ancient Gods in different areas of the world and create a picture of Thor so it clearly depicts his true power and abilities of ancient Norse legends. Finally, I will order my poster to be aesthetically pleasing so the viewer does not only take away information in the reading they do but also in the pictures I specifically chose to convey Thor's raw power and strength.
- The Role of Yan Wang in Chinese Mythology
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
The concept of death plays a significant role in many cultures, religions, and ideologies. Yan Wang, a central figure in ancient Chinese mythology, derives his roots from an early form of Buddhism in India. Alongside Buddhism, Hinduism is a major religion in India, and thus strongly influenced Buddhism and Buddhist figures. Originally referred to as the Hindu god, Yamaraja, Yan Wang emerged in Chinese culture as a result of the spread of Buddhism from India to China through trade routes during the Han dynasty in the 1st and 2nd centuries (CE). Yan Wang, known as the ruler of the Underworld and judge of the dead, became one of the most feared gods in ancient Chinese culture. A parallel to the Greek Hades and Tartarus, Chinese Diyu, contains multiple layers which Yan Wang presides over. Understanding Yan Wang’s presence and importance in ancient Chinese culture allows us to understand the cultural diffusion between the East and West as well as the evolution of the explanation of the afterlife over time. In studying the Chinese perception of the afterlife and Yan Wang, we may see influences from Greek Mythological stories of the god Hades. Despite their similarities, Chinese and Greek conceptions of afterlife differ in how the Chinese believe that all are sent to Diyu, while the Greeks believe that some are able to go to a heaven-like place, the Elysian Fields.
- The Filipino Aswangs
Advisor(s): Dr. Eileen Jankowski
One of the most well-known and highly feared myths of the Philippines are the creatures known as “aswangs”. The “aswang” is more of an overbearing term for any creature that you should fear being that it’s translated as a “flesh-eating, shapeshifting monster”. The Philippines was colonized by Spain around the 16th century dating these myths way back, it’s a part of history. During the day they disguise themselves as regular people and prey on regular people as their feasts when the moon comes up. The aswang powers of strength, itelligent predator strategies, and ability to change their appearance even as a doppelganger weirdly enough, can be passed to another by a chicken egg. These powers can be attained by oneself when following a certain procedure or when an answang wants to transfer these powers to another. Because of their high interest in a blood-fest, human-flesh diet they are commonly related to what we know as vampires. They are also similar to werewolves because of the way they choose to shapeshift into animals; mostly four-legged when looking for prey. Lastly, it has also been known that some of them tend to have powers in the day (while in human form), using them to heal or for the better of people much like witches. According to my source, there haven’t been many individual stories where they would pinpoint a specific character or name which makes the myth (although many swear it's real) even scarier because there are so many more creatures to worry about.
- The Impact of Skin Whitening Culture
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, that critically examines Asian American history, culture and identity. This project is a deep analysis of how Asian Americans have been seen as perpetual foreigners in the US. Often described as "aliens" and initially not being involved in politics, Asians have struggled to assimilate into the United States. One coping method we believe to be damaging to the perception of Asian Americans is the use of western beauty products, especially skin lightening products. The desire to lighten one’s skin color is a reflection of how people want to be accepted into western society and be apart of the Caucasian community. A prime example of this was the Supreme Court case, United States vs. Thind, where Thind was unable to become a citizen because they ruled that despite his argument about Asian Indians, he wouldn’t be seen as Caucasian in the eyes of a common man. Through the analysis of past stories and western beauty trends, we can hopefully grasp a better picture as to why this has become an integral part of Asian American identity.
- Watered Down Culture
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, that critically examines Asian American history, culture and identity. This project examines the movie “The Last Airbender”, directed by M. Night Shyamalan and it’s portrayal of Asian cultures. Movies that portray Asian characters commonly use stereotypes to portray these characters. From the use of black face in early American film to the portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hollywood has an inconvenient history racially misportraying non-white characters and culture. Directors constantly misportray Asian cultures and utilize their spiritual elements to create a “mystical” or “foreign” setting. Commonly, non-Asian actors and actresses will be casted for the roles in which the characters are identified as Asian. Our research presentation uncovers the continual mis-appropriation of Asian culture within Hollywood and its socio-political consequences when presented to an American audience. This project looks at the exaggerations of some cultures and lack of representation among other cultures in the movie as well as discussing the mostly white cast that was used to portray Asian and Indigeounous character. We expect to uncover the watering down of Asian cultures that we often see in entertainment media and how this is used to attempt to be more appealing to non-Asian audiences.
Film
- How Poorly Made Hollywood Anime Adaptions Hurt Asian Americans.
Advisor(s): Dr. Stephanie Takaragawa
This project is part of FFC: Yellow Peril to Yellow Power, which critically examines Asian American history, culture, and identity. The purpose of our project is to illustrate how the westernization of Asian media, such as live-action anime adaptions, negatively impacts Asian American representation and identity. Hollywood's obsession with taking anime stories away from the hands of its Asian creators and remaking it in an unoriginal form depicts its lack of respect for the content and furthers the false notion that American made content is superior.This misrepresentation goes beyond whitewashing, as it is Hollywood disregard for the original stories that lead them to make unfaithful adaptions, which hurts the image of Asian culture in Western media. These adaptions hurt the culture of Asians in general and Asian Americans because they have to experience Hollywood taking stories made about their cultures and misrepresenting them. Using examples of already made live-action adaptions (Ghost in the Shell, Dragon Ball, Death Note) and future ones (One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, Your Name), we hope to prove that Hollywood making these live-action adaptions that poorly represent Asian culture not only hurts them but it also hurts Asian Americans.
Health & Strategic Communication
- Assessing Communication Strategies for Athletes at Chapman University
Advisor(s): Dr. John Miklavcic
Nutrition is a critical component to improve and maintain athletic performance, however, without formal intervention, it is difficult to predict the level of understanding athletes have on sports nutrition principles. The objective of this research study is to test the effectiveness of educational intervention methods on lifestyle and behavior changes related to nutrition. The study compared the effectiveness of two interventions: a virtual seminar and three email newsletters circulated to all athletes. Survey responses will be used as a way to measure information retention and behavioral changes. A survey was constructed on Google Survey to track measurable health behaviors and categorize all athletes based on gender, age, sport, and position. All athletes at Chapman University were given a digital survey prior to any education intervention to assess their existing knowledge of nutrition material and health topics. Additional questions were included to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on student-athletes diets. Athletes attended a 45-minute virtual seminar on sports nutrition principles at the start of their season and completed a digital survey one week after. Survey questions were evaluated using descriptive analysis by Google Survey metrics. Results from the survey after the live seminar indicated an increase in overall concern for diet by 23.4% by all respondents. Further evaluation is needed to determine if email newsletters are effective at communicating nutrition information to student-athletes.
Health Sciences and Kinesiology
- Movement Variability During ADL among Neurological Disorder Populations Using Inertial Sensors
Advisor(s): Dr. Rahul Soangra, Michael Shiraishi
Millions of individuals worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease and stroke. Medical expenses are on the rise, which negatively contributes to the difficult conditions these patients are already experiencing. In addition, it has been known that activities of daily living (ADL) are limited in older adults compared to younger counterparts. The neurological disorder populations being investigated in this project are Parkinson’s disease patients and stroke patients and they are being compared to the healthy control group consisting of healthy older and younger individuals. In this study, the McRoberts sensor, that is used to measure acceleration and gyroscopic data, is worn by the participant on their lower back for three days. The sensor data collected has allowed us to explore the movement variability during ADL of these populations. ADL is the activities of daily living; this is measured by monitoring the basic activities that are completed by individuals without assistance as the individual accomplishes their daily routine. In these three days, the only time the sensor is allowed to be taken off is when the participant showers or anticipates entering water at any given point in time. We expect to find a significant difference in variability during ADL amongst the different populations. Sleep patterns and sleep activity will be compared to the healthy pool of individuals who do not have these illnesses. In the future, this informative metric could be helpful in predicting severity of disease or progress of rehabilitation. Thus, our study will provide a new metric to objectively quantify an individual’s health status.
Music
- Breaking Down Tradition: Restructuring Orchestras for the Well-Being of Musicians
Advisor(s): Dr. Jessica Sternfeld
Classical orchestras and ensembles have been around for centuries. Over the years, many people have noticed the lack of satisfaction amongst orchestral musicians, paving way to the recent research analyzing stress and the organizational structure of classical orchestras. Orchestras are unique in that a group of 200 or so people come together and play synchronously under the direction of one person guiding them with a stick. At times, many find themselves with reduced autonomy or artistic creativity in the work environment after being trained to musically express themselves through years of schooling. With the importance of mental health arising, psychologists are now taking into account the effects of stress and the environment, especially within orchestras. This essay highlights the effects of the traditional orchestral organization, and how it damages the psychological well-being of its musicians due to the poor use of the psychological needs - autonomy, competence, and relatedness. A democratic approach ensures the musical artistry does not reside solely in the conductor, but also in the musicians. By investigating ensembles both with and without a conductor, and examining articles and studies, I argue that greater well-being can be achieved when these psychological needs are met.
- Polarity Theory: How the Undertone Series Tells a Different Story About Harmony
Advisor(s): Dr. Jessica Sternfeld
When we listen to music, people generally know what sounds “right” and what doesn’t. Even the average layman can identify consonance from dissonance. But what is it about music that tells us whether or not it sounds “right?” There is a psycho-physical element in harmony, as it is rooted in acoustics and our perception of the harmonic series. The way we perceive harmony is via a base pitch, which is used as a “generator” for the harmonics that accompany it. Our fundamental ideas of consonance, dissonance, chords, and how to construct them—they are all built on the overtone series. Our ears, however, tell us a different story. According to the overtone series, a minor triad would be considered dissonant, in contrast to the consonant major triad. But when we hear a minor triad, we hear consonance. How can this conflict be justified? Using the ideas of music theorists such as Levarie, Levy, Rameau, and Rings, this essay will demonstrate the use of a theoretical “undertone series,” which is simply the overtone series mirrored across the generator pitch, and how we perceive harmony as a gravitational pull on that generator, extending in both directions rather than purely upwards as it occurs as a natural phenomenon. This will be demonstrated through exercises in music theory and composition, as well as various excerpts from pieces such as “Morgen!” Op. 27 no. 4 by Strauss and Das Fischermädchen by Schubert.
Pharmacy
- siRNA Therapeutics: Recent Advancements, Carrier Design and Future Perspectives
Advisor(s): Dr. Rakesh Tiwari
RNAi or RNA interference is a well-known natural phenomenon that has lots of potential for therapeutic applications in regard to the post-transcriptional regulation of genes. More specifically, the introduction of a natural or synthetic complementary siRNA of the gene of interest into a diseased cell has the potential to silence the target gene that may be harmful to the cell. Once inside the cell, the siRNA takes advantage of the naturally occurring RNA interference pathway through its incorporation with the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) to degrade mRNA. Although the process seems rather simple, siRNA therapeutics face many obstacles on the way to its targeted cell. The most complex among them are, degradation by nucleolytic enzymes, uptake by cells of the immune system, and inefficient tissue penetration. More specifically, enzymes such as endonucleases and RNases can degrade siRNA in the blood circulation and excrete it through the kidneys. Additionally, the mononuclear phagocytic system, particularly macrophages in organs such as the liver, lungs and spleen can phagocytose or ingest the siRNA which it recognizes as foreign material and remove it from circulation. In order to combat this, the use of nanoparticle carriers have grown in interest over the last decade. Among them, lipid-based lipoplexes, polyplexes, and protein-based carriers have shown much promise in overcoming the initial barriers. This review aims to discuss the recent advancements being made in the carrier design and clinical setting, as well as future perspectives regarding its potential to combat diseases such as SARS-COV2, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Political Science
- One of the Fastest Rising Fears in America
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
On average, there is a mass shooting every 12.5 days in the United States of America. The frequency of this event has caused panic amongst the population, with many fearing they will personally become victimized. According to The Fear Survey by Chapman University, which has been conducted for the past six years, becoming someone’s random shooting target in a public setting is one of the fastest rising fears in our country. This paper examines how the consumption of certain media platforms such as Fox News, CNN, local television stations, social media apps, and more heighten a person’s internal worry regarding the event of a random shooting. Social media is the most influential upon a person’s fear because information is exaggerated and broadcasted repeatedly on a daily basis. In addition, gender is weighed in terms of seeing which sex retains a greater amount of apprehension when it comes to protecting themselves in such an event. Women are more likely to express more fear than men because they report feeling more vulnerable to acts of violence. Then, the likelihood that an individual will purchase a gun after a mass shooting has occurred will be assessed based on a person’s self- evaluated fear level. In addition, someone’s fear of a random mass shooting will be compared to their party identity: Republican, Independent, or Democrat. And to finish, the area of one’s permanent residence: rural, city, or suburban, will be looked at to see its influence on one’s internal worry. In theory, there will be a conclusion as to what components contribute to one of the most rapidly growing fears in America.
- Crime and Political Behavior
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
When studying the factors that contribute to an individual’s political behavior, seldom considered is the individual’s personal experiences with crime. This paper examines the extent to which individual crime victimization and crime rates influence citizens’ political behavior, reflected through their voting choices, public policy preferences, and political ideology. Experiences with crime and crime victimization can shape or warp a person’s perspective of life, carried over in their political preferences and acts in the political world. Using the nationwide 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (CSAF) and drawing from official crime statistics such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR), this paper empirically analyzes how citizens’ political behavior is swayed by crime. It will look at crime rates on a local, state, and national level and analyze the extent to which an individual’s political actions are swayed by them.
- The Issues that Americans Care About: Analysis of Why Americans Voted for a Presidential Candidate
Advisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
With the 2020 United States presidential election fast approaching, discussions and arguments about who is the best choice to run our country are constant and frequent. Time periods around these elections put politics and different types of issues affecting Americans in the forefront of our minds. This study aims to identify the main issues that different Americans hold most important while voting for the President and how these main concerns have changed over time. Using data from the 2000 and 2016 Presidential election, the top 3 concerns of voters from the 2 main political affiliations, Democrat and Republican, are contrasted with who voted for which candidate and why. Within the span of 16 years, global events, shifts in political ideology, and changes in demographics have drastically affected who is elected President and why voters resonated with their platform. Results showed that while both Democrats and Republicans held the economy as the most important issue while voting for a candidate in both 2000 and 2016, the fear of being a victim of a terrorist attack and a hate crime have drastically increased between these two elections. Our analysis shows that while issue voting was an important determining factor during the 2000 election, party affiliation has become a more reliable method to determine who an individual is voting for.
Psychology
- Pupillometric Investigation of Spontaneous Action and Intention Awareness
Advisor(s): Dr. Aaron Schurger, Dr. Uri Maoz
The neuroscience of volition, to a large extent, investigates the neural precursors of conscious decision-making and action. Pupillometry is a powerful tool for investigating conscious and attentional processing, partly because of its connection to the locus coeruleus (Josh et al., 2016). For instance, in an attentional blink paradigm, differences in pupil dilations were associated with conscious versus nonconscious stimuli (Wierda et al., 2012). Nevertheless, this technique received little attention in the study of volition. We collected pupil data during a spontaneous action paradigm, where subjects freely pressed a button at a time of their choosing, sometimes reporting their onset of movement or of intention using a clock (Libet et al., 1983). Preliminary analysis (N=12) demonstrated significant differences in baseline pupil size between conditions, potentially indicating cognitive load differences. Furthermore, replicating Richer and Beatty (1985), we found significant dilations before spontaneous movements. There were also indications that larger, pre-movement pupil dilations occur before reporting movement compared to before intention timing. These results support arguments that task demands, such as monitoring awareness, may affect the underlying neural activity leading to action and impact recorded signals—e.g., the readiness potential (Trevana and Miller, 2011). Moreover, these results offer a starting point for the use of pupillometry in studying conscious action production.
- Pediatric Asthma and Psychological Resilience: Examining Whether Family Functioning and Social Support Relate to Asthma Symptoms and Lung Function
Advisor(s): Dr. Brooke Jenkins, Dr. Eric Sternlicht
Upwards of 6 million children in the United States are afflicted with pediatric asthma. While previous research has linked asthma to multiple contributing biological and environmental factors, recent research suggests that psychological and social factors may have an impact on physiological outcomes of asthma like lung function and lung inflammation. Therefore, we suggest the need to study the impact of positive psychological factors such as a well-functioning family environment and beneficial social support on symptoms and lung function of children diagnosed with asthma. In the present pilot study, we recruited a total of 15 children with a confirmed asthma diagnosis and their parents from the Division of Pulmonology at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Participants were asked to complete an initial baseline assessment and ecological momentary assessments four times a day for seven days followed by a final follow up survey. Asthma symptoms and pulmonary function were measured using a 7-item Asthma Control Diary, and peak expiratory flow (PEF) values were gathered using data from self-administered spirometer recordings. This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility in collecting ecological momentary assessments surrounding positive psychological factors. In testing the associations between family functioning and social support on children’s asthma symptoms and lung function, children who received more support from teachers (b = 0.03, t = 2.34, p = 0.048) and close friends (b = 0.04, t = 3.88, p = 0.006) had worse symptoms and lung function. Family functioning was not significantly associated with asthma symptoms and lung function (b = -0.00, t = -0.03, p = 0.975). Based on the results obtained, significant associations were only found in some aspects of social support. Children with more social support had worse asthma symptoms and lung function. This negative association might be an issue of reverse causality in which children who need more assistance receive more support. Next steps in this work include testing these associations in a larger-scale study.
- Loneliness as a Predictor of Physical and Mental Health Problems in University Students
Advisor(s): Dr. Julia Boehm
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented living conditions marked by less socialization, specifically for university students used to dorm-living, study groups, and university-hosted social events. A national emergency was declared, and social lives ceased as much of the United States was placed under quarantine, creating an environment of isolation. Previous research focusing on the elderly shows a relationship between loneliness and increased mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, but research examining the association between loneliness and mental and physical health in university students is scarce. It is crucial to study the relationship between loneliness and poor health in university students as current dorm occupancy limits and online learning have further exacerbated isolation beyond the initial quarantine. We hypothesized that higher levels of self-reported loneliness would correlate with worse mental health symptoms and physical health symptoms. An online survey was completed by 292 undergraduate and graduate students at Chapman University from May 15th, 2020 to the end of May during the pandemic. Student were asked to self-report information regarding health, psychosocial factors, academic experiences, housing situations, and financial situations. This study utilized the Three-Item Loneliness Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms (CHIPS) to assess the effect of loneliness on physical and mental health using linear regression analyses. Results indicated that higher levels of loneliness were associated with worse mental health symptoms (p-values < 0.001), as well as worse overall physical health and more physical symptoms (p-values < 0.01). In sum, loneliness was detrimental to the health of students. Possible confounding variables are factors such as financial instability or the impact of having the COVID-19 virus.
- Perturbing the Sense of Agency
Advisor(s): Dr. Uri Maoz
The goal of this experiment is to test a model of the sense of agency, intention, volition, and causality in order to examine the time course of the sense of agency associated with voluntary and involuntary movements. We examine the roles of context, expectation and sensory feedback in the feeling of agency as well as examining the aspects of volition in different kinds of decisions. This experiment is thought to be very novel as it stimulates an internal signal for movement from an external source which is why the participant can find it hard to decipher if they are fully in control of their actions or not. The project explores the participants' self-reported level of agency, to see the range and types of precept that emerge among the individuals. It will examine the role of context and expectation and compare different forms of volition and decision. The non-invasive, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) stimulates the motor cortex, intermixing the resultant motor movements with motor movement of the participants own volition. TMS is a method of brain stimulation that relies on electromagnetic induction using an insulated coil placed on the scalp, to elevate brain function. The TMS coil will be placed above the scalp in a position that triggers a slight hand movement, the subject will then be instructed to make the same movement at will. It is expected that the participant will report ambiguity when asked whether the movement was due to them or the TMS. There should be an affect on the sense of agency by the TMS especially when it is close to the voluntary movement.
Theatre
- Invisible Performances: The Significance of Voice Acting and Its Conversation About Representation in the 21st Century
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Since the rise of radio drama in the 1920s, receiving performances by auditory mediums have infiltrated our lifestyles in the modern day. The term radio drama most likely conjures up images of World War II radio plays filled with over the top dialogue and slightly kitschy sound effects. However, in addition to this 20th-century trend which helped spur the start of aural performances, your favorite podcasts, your newest Audible selection, animation, live Zoom readings, film and documentary narration, and even audio descriptions for the visually impaired community, have blossomed into widespread usages of 21st-century voice entertainment. These invisible actors bring life into the characters they embody and the thematic messages they help convey. Especially now, the pandemic has fueled a boom in voice acting projects. While the comeback of voice acting provides new forms of amusement to audience members, the anonymity of these actors raises questions of representation beyond the screen. In June of this year, Jenny Slate decided to step down from her animated role in Big Mouth, in which she explained that “Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people….I was engaging in an act of erasure.” In this thesis, I will explore the ways in which voice acting permeates our lives and its significance through certain practices, specifically live readings, audio book narration, and animation voice acting. I will also bring up questions regarding voice actor representation—is casting someone of a different race for an ethnically different character justified? Should a creative team strive to be color-blind or color-conscious when casting? Through compiling research and contemporary examples of shows and programs, I plan to argue the significance of voice acting and the need for proper representation, even when it may not seem to make a difference through purely acoustic performances.
- American Theatre Education: Developing the Systemic Racism Needed for the Discriminatory Entertainment Industry to Thrive
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
A University of Arkansas 2014 study “The Educational Value of Field Trips” provided unintended evidence that students who had seen live productions of literary works had much higher tolerance levels, academic knowledge, and empathy for the characters than the students who had only read the text. It is widely known within the theatre and education community that having access to an arts education in k-12 schools leads to more emotionally intelligent students that are incredibly empathetic. In many schools, the theatre is sometimes one of the only places that minority students can feel safe and supported due to the high empathy levels seen in these groups. However, what happens when these safe spaces are still perpetuating the racial disparities that are harming those same students in the first place? One of the most significant issues facing our current domestic policy in the United States is the treatment of people of color, specifically black Americans. Thus, it is imperative that we examine and investigate current foundational systems including but not limited to the curriculum taught, after school programs, and competition programs to ensure the fair treatment of not only all of our students, but everyone. I argue that there is a massive disconnect between what theatre educators teach in their classrooms and what they are putting into practice in their theatres, after school programs, educational competitions, and conferences. Through a series of interviews, literature review, and statistical analysis, I will define current harmful practices and cultures in educational theatre and propose a series of tangible improvements to be made to develop a diverse, accepting, and tolerant educational theatre framework.
- I'm Not Like Other Girls
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Internalized misogyny is when women subconsciously project sexist ideologies onto themselves as well as others. “I’m not like other girls” is a statement coined by the media to say that in order to be the ideal girl, one must separate themselves from anything that seems stereotypically feminine or defined as “girly”. For example, this type of female is often painted in the media as the type to never wear makeup, be “one of the boys”, not be friends with other women because they create too much drama, believe female comedians are never as funny as male comedians, and would never dress for fashion. Claiming to be “not like other girls” implies that all of the “other girls” are inferior in their behavior. Many female-identifying individuals are often raised to believe it is a compliment when people say “you don’t throw like a girl, you’re cool” or “I like that you don’t wear high heels or makeup and listen to non-mainstream music, you’re unique”. Compliments, similar to the stated examples, are essentially saying that “you being different from the rest makes you one of the good”. For my thesis, I aim to explore normalized internalized misogyny in the media and the psychological effects that the concept has on people as they grow up and figure out who they are as individuals. I will be analyzing social media, film, podcasts, and literature in order to gain a better grasp on how this concept has become so saturated in mainstream media. In addition to research into the psychology of internalized misogyny, I will be conducting anonymous interviews with women to gain further insight. I ultimately aim to uncover what exactly internalized misogyny is and how it has become subconsciously manifested in the female psyche.
- The Fifth and the Sixth: Music in Theatrical Sound Design
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Aristotle wrote about the importance of music and spectacle in theatre in his Poetics. Music has been an integral part of theatre for centuries, dating back to the days of the Ancient Greeks who used music extensively in their works, making full use of a chorus for dramatic effect on their audiences. Opera and musical theatre have forever intertwined music and stage, combining the human, emotional elements of theatre and the moving power of music. Improvements in entertainment technology give theatremakers the power to create ever-more personal and impactful stories. With the capabilities of modern audio systems and music technology, musical expression can further enhance a theatrical performance through a full and immersive aural experience, from filling a room full of the sounds of the setting to giving audiences a chance to actively participate in the making of their performance (Petit). Audio has never been easier to manipulate, giving sound designers the power to craft just the right sounds to fit whatever medium they may be designing for. Designers can record the most mundane of things, from a phone ringing to the ambient sounds of a passing day in a city, and create such stunning soundscapes in which theatre can play. Music technology, however, can on top of existing techniques, bring an altogether different feel to the existing repertoire of sound design in the field, combining the performative aspects of theatre with its technical design. Through modern playback software such as digital audio workstations and the use of modern, musical interfaces, the making of theatre can enter exciting and collaborative soundscapes. I plan to demonstrate the efficacy of music technology in theatrical sound design by utilizing techniques from music technology, such as synthesization, physical computing, and the use of music theory to create a soundscape for the experimental work Terminal by Susan Yankowitz.
- Makeup Through the Decades: 1920-2020
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner, Joyce Cantrell
In this research project I explore the ways that makeup products, trends, and applications have changed over the years beginning in the 1920s, up until now. Through the many historical high and low points over the last century, one thing that has remained constant is the desire look and feel beautiful. In today’s world, beauty can really be anything that makes an individual feel comfortable and confident in one’s own skin, and sometimes that happens to be nothing at all. The aim of this project is not to argue that people have needed or currently need cosmetics to look and feel beautiful. Rather, I aim to find what the overarching popular standard of beauty was for each decade and why. I look to popular media, ad campaigns, magazine articles, films, and celebrities from each decade to distinguish the popular makeup trends and styles. I then consult academic sources on the history of makeup in order to delve further into why makeup trends were what they were, and how they rose to popularity. Additionally, I will use my findings to design and execute two makeup looks for each decade- one will be rooted in historical accuracy, and one will be my artistic interpretation of the decade’s makeup as if I were designing for a theatrical performance or film. In doing so, I gain a deeper understanding of makeup techniques and styles throughout history, as well as improve my own skills as a makeup artist, entertainer, and scholar.
- We See You White Shakespeare: The Rebirth of Post Pandemic Theatre and Transformation of Colonized Theatre
Advisor(s): Dr. Jocelyn Buckner
Theatre is an ever changing art form, constantly adapting itself to modern day issues and relevance. In light of recent events, theatre is going under the microscope and being reinvented. Most theatre and any live performance for that matter has been shut down in the middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the wake of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s murder the Black Lives Matter movement has gained increasing popularity. In response to BLM, the manifesto “We See You White American Theatre” has become a movement of its own. As a director, I must learn to adapt with my craft and ask myself how my art can adjust to the current times while still remaining impactful. Adapted repeatedly for over 400 years, Shakespeare is a global playwright whose works grapple with modern questions and adapt through different cultural lenses. I am going to use his plays and the shakespearean system as a platform to connect to today’s issues in the United States theatre system such as: lack of representation and diversity, educational arts funding, and live theatre in a pandemic. I will also be researching how Shakespeare remains relevant today and why it has survived and adapted for so many years through interviews with Shakespeare scholars. I will analyze the positive effects, like Shakespeare Behind Bars, and negative effects, like “Bardolatry” and colonialism. By directing various Shakespeare monologues, I will use my skills as a director and knowledge from the research in this thesis to explore the universality of Shakespeare with BIPOC actors. In each of these categories I use the BIPOC Demands of White American Theatre as my guide of where the Shakespeare System is getting it right and where there is work to be done. In their demands they say, “We demand a transformation of our theatrical ecosystem. We demand your commitment to radical change now, and we will hold you to it.” I am holding the Shakespeare system to it and in the end, I will conclude how successful the Shakespeare system is or can be in our modern world in its inclusivity, equity and relevance to today’s issues.
Political Science
46. The Fear Produced by the Media to Promote Fear of Widespread Civil Unrest in Society
Presenter(s): Tara MaddenAdvisor(s): Dr. Ann Gordon
In the past year, social media usage has immensely increased, and it has become a main source for people to obtain their news. This year has become a defining moment in history, as the Coronavirus has pushed everything and everyone online. People are constantly using their phones and being inundated by news. The current political climate has had Americans fear the future of our country. My paper will focus on how often you get your news from social media correlates to how afraid you might be of widespread civil unrest and economic collapse. The Fear survey data has recorded factors on how often you use social media as a source for news may determine how much you may fear civil unrest or economic collapse. Social media platforms for instance, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., are constantly filling your feed with news stories highlighting the unrest of citizens around the globe. Social media now allows the current administration to speak to the people directly, which may cause concern because their statements could be misleading or inaccurate stoking fear in Americans. Historically right through present times, the media has had one singular responsibility, to report the news. It has never been their job or their responsibility to interpret, but merely to report. As of late, it seems that they have found it their right to interpret current events within the administration and outside of the administration. It has come to the point that the media outlets each seem to report the news based on how they believe it needs to be interpreted. Whether you choose one newspaper versus another, or one television station versus another, or one of the many internet sites, you are subject to the views of those reporting the news. We are in a place and time where two individuals could rely on the media for information and find themselves with two alternative sets of facts. While social media helps to create awareness about the world, it is also a main factor for how fearful people are about the threat of disorder within society. The article will demonstrate how increased social media, as a source of news, will continue to spark fear in humans about economic collapse and civil unrest, and what factors are leading causes to that fear.