Final Talks and Panels Abstracts 2022
MDS 2022 Schedule
| Student Name/Moderator | Title | Abstract |
|---|---|---|
| Lynne Lewis, Economics, moderator | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | |
| Salem Alderei ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Aidan Braithwaite ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Alexander Campbell ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Jarod Castro ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Thomas Dodge ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Maxwell Elsasser ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Jamie Gottschalk ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Max MacAvoy ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Sam Marchman ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Daniel McConnell ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Charlotte Morris ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Syd Paul ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Tate Perkins ’22 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Catie Sanchez ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Sophie van Leeuwen ’23 | Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Carbon Pricing | The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released on 28 February 2022, suggests that the window in which to act is closing. There is an urgent need for smart and bold climate policy. In this session, students in ECON 316 (Fat Tails and Tipping Points: Climate Economics and Policy) present carbon pricing proposals including carbon taxes, cap and trade, and energy policy. |
| Zhenzhen Lu, Chinese, Moderator | Visual Representations of China | |
| Maya Benziger ’22 | A Graphic Novel History of the Silk Roads | The Silk Roads existed at the heart of the ancient world. A constellation of civilizations, from Tang China to the Sassanid Empire, existed amid a mesh of trading routes. This honors history thesis has been dedicated to telling one of the stories of the Silk Roads. Utilizing the unique abundance of material history on the Silk Roads as well as the visual arts, I have created a graphic novel that traces one Sassanid-made glass bowl as it travels across the continent. In doing so, I hope to bring history to life in a way that is both accessible and entertaining. |
| Saskia Wong-Smith ’22 | Representing Place: Exploring Artistic Representations of the Fuchun River throughout Chinese History | The Fuchun River in Zhejiang Province outside Hangzhou has drawn artists to its beautiful landscape and scenery. This thesis explores representations, including poetry, painting, and film, of the Fuchun River. First, Six Dynasties poetry and letters illustrate the period’s focus on travel literature and unbound nature. From the Yuan Dynasty, Huang Gongwang’s painting Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains conveys a visual representation of the river. Finally, contemporary artists’ film and poetry interact with previous representations on the river to inform their own interpretation and respond to the changes to the natural environment. |
| Anna Landgren ’22 | Shanshui Reinterpreted: The Aesthetics of Urbanization in Chinese Contemporary Landscape Art | By drawing on the philosophical concepts surrounding the shanshuihua 山水画 (mountain-water painting) tradition, contemporary Chinese artists Xu Bing (b. 1965), Yao Lu (b. 1967), and Yang Yongliang (b. 1980), illustrate the environmental consequences of urbanization and industrialization. This study analyzes contemporary technological motifs within the art pieces, such as the integration of industrial machinery, skyscrapers, and waste, and explores how shanshui aesthetics have the ability to circumvent potential political and social barriers when discussing the negative impacts of urbanization. These artists grapple with the contradictory nature of our modern environment in their art, often gesturing to the deceptiveness of modernization. |
| Chris McDowell, Theater. Moderator | Actors Roundtable | |
| Jacob DiMartini ’22 | Actors Roundtable | This presentation, featuring theater majors with the Acting Focus, discuss our individual processes, projects, and approaches to acting during our time at Bates. This panel also will be open to questions which will steer much of the conversation. The goal is to have an open and honest conversation about acting and theatre generally. The panel will be similar to The Hollywood Reporter’s series titled “Actors Roundtable.” |
| Max Younger ’22 | Actor’s Roundtable | This presentation, featuring theater majors with the Acting Focus, discuss our individual processes, projects, and approaches to acting during our time at Bates. This panel also will be open to questions which will steer much of the conversation. The goal is to have an open and honest conversation about acting and theatre generally. The panel will be similar to The Hollywood Reporter’s series titled “Actors Roundtable.” |
| QinYing Zuo ’22 | Actor’s Roundtable | This presentation, featuring theater majors with the Acting Focus, discuss our individual processes, projects, and approaches to acting during our time at Bates. This panel also will be open to questions which will steer much of the conversation. The goal is to have an open and honest conversation about acting and theatre generally. The panel will be similar to The Hollywood Reporter’s series titled “Actors Roundtable.” |
| Francesco Duina, Sociology, Moderator | Understanding a Changing World: Sociological Perspective | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking Emma Block ’22: ‘These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports Eben Cook ’22: ‘A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence Daniel Logan ’22: Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Nana Baffoe ’22 | Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking Emma Block ’22: ‘These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports Eben Cook ’22: ‘A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence’ Daniel Logan ’22: ‘Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship’ Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Emma Block ’22 | ’These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking Emma Block ’22: ‘These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports Eben Cook ’22: A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence” Daniel Logan ’22: Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Eben Cook ’22 | A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: “Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking” Emma Block ’22: “’These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports” Eben Cook ’22: “A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence” Daniel Logan ’22: “Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship” Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Daniel Logan ’22 | Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking Emma Block ’22: ‘These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports Eben Cook ’22: A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence Daniel Logan ’22: Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Hermione Zhou ’22 | Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas | Senior sociology majors explore politics, identity, agency, discourse, and structures from music and health care to the environment, religion and citizenship, and social reintegration after prison: Nana Baffoe ‘22: Double Veil, Triple Consciousness: A Du Boisian Examination of Black American Muslim Racialization and Placemaking Emma Block ’22: ‘These People, Do They Care?’ Facilitating Connections to Post-Incarceration Reentry Supports Eben Cook ’22: A Voice of Rhyme and Reason: Using Critical Race Theory and Freirean Pedagogy as Frameworks for a Hip-Hop Education on Police Violence Daniel Logan ’22: Universalized Values: A Sociology of Knowledge View of Affordable Care Act Scholarship Hermione Zhou ’22: Populist through and through: A Study of the Framing Anchors of Populist Parties’ Environmental Agendas |
| Katherine Mathis, Psychology, moderator | Body and Brain: Psychology and Neuroscience Research | |
| Thomas Luiselli ’22 | The Prospect of Violence: The Influence of Group Identification on Individual Risk-Based Decision Making | Prospect theory describes how individuals confront risk-based decisions. Importantly, individuals frequently make decisions as members of larger groups. Likewise, social psychology suggests group membership can shape individual behavior. Thus, the present study is designed to assess whether one dimension of group identification (self-investment) significantly influences the individual decision making process, as described by prospect theory. I predict that high levels of self-investment will be positively correlated with a greater likelihood to utilize a hypothetical, risky airstrike when its consequences are framed as a loss for the in-group. |
| Arya Mohanty ’22 | Differences in Proactive Interference in Individuals Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder | ADHD is a disorder classified by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Neurotypicals often respond slower to previously ignored information, called negative priming (NP), whereas those with ADHD do not. One explanation suggests information is less likely retrieved from memory if previously ignored. If ADHD participants exhibit less NP from ineffective retrieval of prior information, they may exhibit reduced proactive interference–old information interfering with new. Participants recalled multiple sets of three semantically related words after counting backwards; accuracy was evaluated across trials. A standard NP task will be administered to see if reduced NP in the ADHD group replicates past research. |
| Rachel Paradis ’22 | Suffering amidst COVID-19: A Literature Review on Suffering and Its Effects on Health and Meaning Making | This theoretical review investigates the subjects of compassion, pain, self-transcendence, religion, culture, and selflessness in order to get a more intersectional, nuanced, and holistic perspective on the benefits and disadvantages of suffering. This viewpoint characterizes research in a way that connects neuroscience, suffering, and positive experiences as a way to affect neurobiology and mitigate suffering amidst the pandemic. Suffering and its impact on mental health, neurobiology, flourishing, and resilience are examined in pursuance of integrating research to emphasize the value of suffering within different cultures alongside its devastating impact on meaning-making amidst COVID-19. |
| Caitie McGlashan ’22 | Optimizing Data Acquisition in Pain Science: Calibrating to Individual Pain Thresholds May Enable More Sensitive Detection of Pain-related Phenomena | Are you curious about how the brain processes pain and the methodologies used to study pain perception? This talk is for you! The objective of the study presented here is to compare two types of controls used for data acquisition in pain science. Numerous pain studies calibrate experimental stimulation to subjects’ pain thresholds. Other studies utilize fixed stimulation levels. Given the opposing nature of these two controls, I set out to determine which method has a higher efficacy. The results of this experiment as well as an overview of the field of pain science and current methodologies are presented here. |
| Cynthia Baker, Religious Studies, Moderator | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Helen Badger ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Trish Balser ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Mathias Boudreau-Golfman ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Chloe Dwinal ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Riley Gramley ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Kaitlin Kavanagh ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Caroline Keating ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Amelia Killackey ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Hope Perrine ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Daniel Snider ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Eric Treyz ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Cassidy Vawter ’25 | Learning about Local Ethno-Religious Communities | This session features presentations of select “Story Maps” produced by community-engaged research teams in the religious studies course, Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence (REL 133). Team projects focus on exploring the religious richness and complexity of the lives, identities, histories, and conflicts of local immigrant and indigenous communities. In what ways has religion contributed to the destruction of and/or displacement from ancestral homelands? How have religious traditions supported and nurtured diverse local communities at various points in their history? What forms have “religious-” or “antireligious-” violence and intolerance taken within and among our local communities? |
| Carol Dilley, Dance, Moderator | Moving Academia: Dance as a Vibrant Practice of Scholarship | |
| Isabel Honigman ’22 | Moving Academia: Dance as a Vibrant Practice of Scholarship | Come hear from student choreographers and researchers ahead of this year’s Spring Dance Concert! This panel includes presentations from thesis choreographers Talia Kurlansky ‘22 speaking on the evolution of her choreographic process, and Isabel Honigman ‘22, who is working with character and narrative in musical theater dance. They are accompanied by students currently engaged in independent studies in dance: Anntonia Taylor ‘24, whose independent study investigates staging relationships between dancers, and Mia Bernstein ‘23, who is creating a workshop addressing touch and consent. |
| Talia Kurlansky ’22 | Moving Academia: Dance as a Vibrant Practice of Scholarship | Come hear from student choreographers and researchers ahead of this year’s Spring Dance Concert! This panel includes presentations from thesis choreographers Talia Kurlansky ‘22 speaking on the evolution of her choreographic process, and Isabel Honigman ‘22, who is working with character and narrative in musical theater dance. They are accompanied by students currently engaged in independent studies in dance: Anntonia Taylor ‘24, whose independent study investigates staging relationships between dancers, and Mia Bernstein ‘23, who is creating a workshop addressing touch and consent. |
| Mia Bernstein ’23 | Moving Academia: Dance as a Vibrant Practice of Scholarship | Come hear from student choreographers and researchers ahead of this year’s Spring Dance Concert! This panel includes presentations from thesis choreographers Talia Kurlansky ‘22 speaking on the evolution of her choreographic process, and Isabel Honigman ‘22, who is working with character and narrative in musical theater dance. They are accompanied by students currently engaged in independent studies in dance: Anntonia Taylor ‘24, whose independent study investigates staging relationships between dancers, and Mia Bernstein ‘23, who is creating a workshop addressing touch and consent. |
| Anntonia Taylor ’24 | Moving Academia: Dance as a Vibrant Practice of Scholarship | Come hear from student choreographers and researchers ahead of this year’s Spring Dance Concert! This panel includes presentations from thesis choreographers Talia Kurlansky ‘22 speaking on the evolution of her choreographic process, and Isabel Honigman ‘22, who is working with character and narrative in musical theater dance. They are accompanied by students currently engaged in independent studies in dance: Anntonia Taylor ‘24, whose independent study investigates staging relationships between dancers, and Mia Bernstein ‘23, who is creating a workshop addressing touch and consent. |
| Jonathan Cavallero, Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies, moderator | Literature, Screens, and Language | |
| Rabih Chughtai ’23 | Your BFF: Organizing the Bates Film Festival | Organized, programmed, and executed by students in RFSS 316 (Film Festival Studies), under the direction of Professor Jon Cavallero, the Bates Film Festival (BFF) challenges students to witness, engage, and lead civic-minded conversations. Together, we harness a shared love of film to promote equity and justice, facilitate productive discussions of a wide range of topical issues, and foster an appreciation for the artistry of screen media. This talk offers a behind-the-scenes look at the 2022 festival (held 29 March to 3 April 2022) and the challenges students faced in organizing it. |
| Jackson Elkins ’22 | Skiing and Mountaineering in the Alps: Examining the Narratives of Alpine Sport Culture through Bergfilm and Its Influence on Interwar Central Europe | This paper discusses the parallel narratives of mountaineering and skiing in Alpine culture and their roles in nation-building in interwar Europe, primarily concerning Nazi Germany and Austria. It examines these two Alpine sports and their significance through German Bergfilm, a genre of film that depicted the fantastic joys, feats, and sights found in the Alps, but also helped cultivate Nazi propaganda and ideology. While mountaineering and skiing were distinctly different activities, parallel narratives regarding nationality, class, and race are observed that ultimately were reflected in not just Nazi Germany, but across Europe during their development in the interwar years. |
| Craig Selbrede ’22 | Relic: An International Fantasy Webseries | A fantasy webseries was created by a Bates student and produced with the University of East Anglia’s Filmmaking Society in Norwich, England. First conceptualized in 2020, the series was filmed in 2021 and is expected to release in 2022. This was an involved process involving auditioning, scheduling, costuming, managing groups of people, etc. The culmination of many years of work is discussed and previewed in this presentation. |
| Pico Banerjee ’23 | A Sadean Banquet: Transgressive Politics, Tasting Joyce | Our presentation approaches passages of James Joyce’s Ulysses from what we understand to be a deliberate and self-reflexive aesthetic in the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. If Sade’s intermittent banquets stage a confrontation of aesthetic judgement with feelings of revulsion and disgust in a manner that calls attention to the question of taste itself, we take this self-reflexive questioning of taste as our cue for reading Joyce. We ask how the unceasing and transgressive appetites of Sade’s characters — and the materialist, aesthetic, and political questions of taste to which they give rise — might inform an anti-imperialist reading of Ulysses. Can this reading of taste help us critique the consuming logic of empire? Can spectacular bodies, style, and verbiage ever give way to action? To politics? To instrumentalized transgressions? |
| Brady Chilson ’23 | A Sadean Banquet: Transgressive Politics, Tasting Joyce | Our presentation approaches passages of James Joyce’s Ulysses from what we understand to be a deliberate and self-reflexive aesthetic in the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. If Sade’s intermittent banquets stage a confrontation of aesthetic judgement with feelings of revulsion and disgust in a manner that calls attention to the question of taste itself, we take this self-reflexive questioning of taste as our cue for reading Joyce. We ask how the unceasing and transgressive appetites of Sade’s characters — and the materialist, aesthetic, and political questions of taste to which they give rise — might inform an anti-imperialist reading of Ulysses. Can this reading of taste help us critique the consuming logic of empire? Can spectacular bodies, style, and verbiage ever give way to action? To politics? To instrumentalized transgressions? |
| Darby Ray and Sam Boss, Harward Center for Community Partnerships, moderators | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners: Lauren Berube ‘22 (Mathematics), “Adaptability: A community engaged thesis aimed to improve mathematics engagement and motivation at Lewiston Middle School” Mary Corcoran ‘22 (Sociology), “Antiracist Restorative Practice Implementation at Lewiston Middle School: A Community Engaged Research Study” Tess Hick ‘22 (Mathematics), “Math for Liberation: Exploring the Mathematics of Voting Systems with Lewiston Middle School” Hart Rorick ‘22 (Environmental Studies) “Exploring Urban Climate Resilience: Constructing an Equity Atlas for Climate Change Vulnerabilities in South Portland, Maine” Paige Sonoda ‘22 (Psychology, Sociology) “Liberatory Digital Storytelling: Sharing Stories of Multiracial Asian Americans” |
| Lauren Berube ’22 | Adaptability: Improving Mathematics Engagement and Motivation at Lewiston Middle School | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. |
| Mary Corcoran ’22 | Antiracist Restorative Practice Implementation at Lewiston Middle School: A Community-Engaged Research Study | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. |
| Tess Hick ’22 | Math for Liberation: Exploring the Mathematics of Voting Systems with Lewiston Middle School | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. |
| Hart Rorick ’22 | Exploring Urban Climate Resilience: Constructing an Equity Atlas for Climate Change Vulnerabilities in South Portland, Maine | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. |
| Paige Sonoda ’22 | Liberatory Digital Storytelling: Sharing Stories of Multiracial Asian Americans | How can undergraduate research contribute to community well-being and social justice? This year’s Community-Engaged Research Fellows hail from diverse disciplines, but they share an interest in the public purposes of higher education and the potential of research to address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. |
| Su Langdon, Psychology, moderator | The Impact of Engagement: Psychology Research | |
| Ben van Paassen ’22 | Personality Differences in College: Connecting College Major, College Satisfaction, and Academic Success | As college students make the important decision of selecting their college major in one of the most critical developmental stages of their lifetime, there has been some research done over the past half-century on trying to understand differences in personality traits across different respective college majors and how they potentially relate to one’s college satisfaction and academic achievement. I am interested in furthering this research by seeing if similar personality trait trends persist across majors at Bates College, and if those same “matching” vs. “non-matching” traits are predictors of college major satisfaction as well as academic achievement. |
| Olivia Piacentini ’22 | Effects of Wellness Interventions on Adolescent Female Athletes | In my presentation I plan to describe how I operationalize and contextualize wellness. I will describe my participant population of the female athletes at Hebron academy. I will then describe my survey method for taking baseline and post-data to compare and determine if wellness has been fostered and improved. I will also include general details of my methodology for how I created programming to develop the wellness of adolescent female athletes. Following this I will discuss my results as well as how they can be applied to future research. |
| Michelle Desjarlais ’22 | Thank You for Sharing: Determining the Impact of a Weekly Storytelling Group in a Retirement Community | This project explores how a weekly storytelling group affects well-being, identity, and social connection in an older adult population. The research is in collaboration with the residents of Schooner Estates, a local retirement community in Auburn, Maine. The researcher develops new prompts each week, and the group has the option to share or simply listen to the stories of others. The group explores various topics and methods of storytelling. The aim of this research is to assess the benefits to both the storyteller and the listener, and to hopefully further collaboration between Bates College and Schooner Estates. |
| Michelle Greene, Neuroscience, moderator | Cognition, Perception, and Memory: Neuroscience II | |
| Isabelle Darling ’22 | Early Life Trauma as a Predictor of Cognition and Pain Tolerance in Early Adulthood | Experiences of early life trauma present as a diverse body of symptoms in childhood, commonly extending into adulthood. The present study focuses on how early life trauma predicts cognitive anomalies and how altered cognition influences pain tolerance. I am interested in identifying if early forced development and practice of top-down pain pathways can lead to more efficient internal control and anxiolytic responding when faced with physically painful stimuli. The participant sample will include 100 young adults, ranging from 18 to 22 years old. Participants will complete self-report questionnaires, neuropsychological tests, a cold pressor test, and early life trauma questionnaires. |
| Amina Mohamed ’22 | Why are Facial Recognition Systems Racist? | Law enforcement agencies around the world are increasingly using facial recognition systems to identify and arrest suspects. Independent researchers have continuously found that even the most prominent commercially available facial recognition systems underperform at recognizing the faces of people of color. in my Neuroscience thesis I explore why. Facial recognition systems are developed through a process where deep neural networks are fed millions of images to “learn” how to differentiate faces. In my work, I constructed a new data set of images to re-train the deep neural networks and conduct several analyses to uncover the source of the bias. |
| Peter Riley ’22 | Visual and Semantic Capacity Limitations in the Neural Dynamics of Visual Processing | Humans recognize and classify scenes after brief periods of exposure, but some scenes are recognized more easily than others (Greene et al., 2015; Caddigan et al., 2017). Either the visual or semantic complexity of the image may be responsible. I explore the interplay between visual and semantic information in different stages of visual processing. In an EEG study, participants were shown forty images. The images varied in their levels of visual and semantic information. The time-resolved mutual information at each of the 64 electrodes was calculated, providing insight into where and when the brain processes visual and semantic information. |
| Devanshi Trivedi ’22 | Do We Remember More than We See? Capacity Limits of Visual Memory | In real-world tasks, visual perception and memory are intrinsically linked. Boundary extension is a memory distortion where observers recall visual information beyond an image’s original boundaries. However, recent studies show boundary contraction can occur, which we believe is related to the amount of information within an image. Our study measures visual information (through edges, colors and contours) and semantic information (through description length, number and dissimilarity of words used) in images. This is then used to observe the direction of boundary transformation that occurs, with the idea that visual memory may be capacity limited by the amount of information in images. |
| Mary Rice-DeFosse, French and Francophone Studies, moderator | Identity and Adaptation | |
| Martha Coleman ’23 | Bilingual Education in Maine: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Bilingual Education Programs in Maine’s Public Schools | What is the history of bilingual education in Maine? What are the greatest challenges facing bilingual education programs in Maine’s schools today? How can we support existing bilingual education programs and facilitate the creation of more programs in the future? Discussion will be based on the research and findings of Martha’s fall 2021 independent study, Bilingual Education in Maine (FRE 360). She will share what she has learned, which questions she still has, and how she hopes to expand this research next year for her French and Francophone studies/American studies joint thesis. |
| Zhao Li ’22 | Menstruation, Distance, and Female Secondary School Attendance: Evidence from Malawi | In developing countries, the gender gap of secondary school attendance is prominent. Except for cultural norms and financial restrictions, menstruation – including sanitary needs and relevant health status – can also influence girls’ school attendance. Meanwhile, long traveling distance to school may increase menstruation-related absences due to cramps. This research uses dataset from the Malawi Schooling and Adolescent Survey, which contains information of menstruation and commuting time to school. Using a fixed effect model with interaction terms, this research explores the relationship between distance, menstruation, and school attendance in rural developing regions. |
| Kathleen King ’23 | The Embodiment of Spectacle: Queer Art and Resistance in Times of Genocide | Claude Cahun and Pedro Lemebel were queer artists who, respectively, lived through Worl War II and the AIDS epidemic, using their art and bodies to bring attention to queer existence in times of homosexual genocide. Both Lemebel and Cahun embodied what we now call queer theory, toying with heteronormativity’s gendered borders to resist governments that sought to destroy them. Lemebel’s and Cahun’s bodies of work and modes of resistance reflect Valle-Inclán’s theory of esperpento, using the spectacle of their queer bodies to challenge oppressive institutions and their constituents. The similarities in their methods demonstrate a tradition of embodied queer resistance and worldmaking. |
| Jason Alfandre ’23 | The Importance of Snake Education on their Conservation | Snakes, like many animals, are facing threats due to climate change, habitat loss, and other anthropogenic factors. However, snakes are some of the most feared and persecuted animals on the planet due to over-exaggeration of the threats they pose to humans. This paper explores the effect that educating people about snakes can have on their knowledge and attitudes toward these reptiles, and what impact this shift can have on the conservation of snake species around the world. |
| Michael Reidy, Theater, moderator | Directing, Playwriting, and Technical Design: A Panel Discussion | |
| Olivia Dimond ’22 | Learning to Fly on the Way Down: Directing Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn | Best described as Wife Swap with a debate on feminist theory, Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn confronts the life not lived alongside changing attitudes toward gender roles and relationships. This presentation will discuss the process of directing this play in partial fulfillment of an honors thesis in directing, from dramaturgical research to closing night. |
| Johnny Esposito ’22 | From Actor to Playwright: The Emergence of a Multifaceted Artist | Growing up, I was known to be unusually creative, constantly imagining worlds come together in my head. Acting gave me an outlet to productively express the chaos in my head. Years later, after realizing that I had stories of my own to tell, I decided to try my hand at dramatic writing. This turned into a major in theater (Playwriting Focus), a reading of one of my works at the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival, and an invitation to a professional theatre company’s first new play development retreat. Since then, I have dabbled in film, video editing, sound design, music, among other forms of artistic expression. I consider my artistry an ever-expanding, significant part of my identity, and through a discussion of my senior thesis in playwriting, what inspires my art, and my artistic journey thus far, I hope to showcase simply what I’ve been doing all these years: tell stories. |
| Henry King ’22 | Technology and Technical Direction of 35mm | 35 mm, directed by Noah Pott, was the first musical produced by the theater department in a decade. The decision to present a musical not only increased the difficulty of directing, but also the construction, production, and programming. This presentation will go over all the technical aspects of Bates’ production of 35 mm, from the conception of the set on paper to the tear down of the set on stage. |
| Noah Pott ’22 | Directing, Playwriting, and Technical Design: A Panel Discussion | This presentation will include a group of theater majors with a Directing, Playwriting and Technical Focus. We will discuss our individual processes, projects, and approaches to our respective areas during our time at Bates. This panel also will be open to questions, which will steer much of the conversation. The goal is to have an open and honest conversation about our areas of focus and about theater generally. |
| Cynthia Baker, Religious Studies, Moderator | Religious Studies at the Cutting Edge: Life and Death, Love and War, Local and Global | |
| Insha Afsar ’22 | Religious Studies at the Cutting Edge: Life and Death, Love and War, Local and Global | Senior religious studies majors present their thesis research on topics ranging from funeral rites and sermons in the age of Covid to the divine marriage metaphor in the New Testament, from diversity and social-justice work in immigrant churches in the United States to religious conflicts among Hindus and Muslims in the Kashmiri borderlands between India and Pakistan. |
| Maddie Korbey ’22 | Religious Studies at the Cutting Edge: Life and Death, Love and War, Local and Global | Senior religious studies majors present their thesis research on topics ranging from funeral rites and sermons in the age of Covid to the divine marriage metaphor in the New Testament, from diversity and social-justice work in immigrant churches in the United States to religious conflicts among Hindus and Muslims in the Kashmiri borderlands between India and Pakistan. |
| Alex Platt ’22 | Religious Studies at the Cutting Edge: Life and Death, Love and War, Local and Global | Senior religious studies majors present their thesis research on topics ranging from funeral rites and sermons in the age of Covid to the divine marriage metaphor in the New Testament, from diversity and social-justice work in immigrant churches in the United States to religious conflicts among Hindus and Muslims in the Kashmiri borderlands between India and Pakistan. |
| Kang Xiong ’22 | Religious Studies at the Cutting Edge: Life and Death, Love and War, Local and Global | Senior religious studies majors present their thesis research on topics ranging from funeral rites and sermons in the age of Covid to the divine marriage metaphor in the New Testament, from diversity and social-justice work in immigrant churches in the United States to religious conflicts among Hindus and Muslims in the Kashmiri borderlands between India and Pakistan. |
| Christopher Price, Politics, moderator | Controlling Bodies: Power, Politics, and Practices | |
| Niharika Tuladhar ’22 | Veto Power and Hegemony | How much influence are the world’s nations able to exert/wield and how does this determine how they are ordered? There is no definitive way to quantify influence, however, there are methods that allow us to guess where a country ranks in terms of power. Looking at UNSC veto power is one approach. If influence is funneled through a superpower’s client states, more clients must mean more influence deployed. It also suggests more need to employ the veto. As a result, the frequency with which a nation exercises its right to veto reflects its hierarchical standing against other superpowers. |
| Joseph Amiel ’22 | The Electoral Disconnection: How Representatives Take Credit for Opposed Legislation | Political science has long treated members of Congress as good faith, rational participants in the democratic process. In recent years, there has been a surge in members of the House taking credit for legislation against which they voted. I call this contradictory behavior “negative credit claiming.” How can representatives negatively claim credit? Under what conditions does this occur? How can we understand this behavior in defiance of common sense? Current scholarship avoids these questions entirely. Tentatively, I find that ever-increasing party polarization and the rise of the internet and social media has created a political environment and communication tool, respectively, that allow for members of Congress to not only get away with this type of lying, but actually encourage and reward it. |
| Rachel Retana ’22 | Policing in Education: The Use of COVID-19 Disciplinary Protocols against Black and Brown Students and the Perpetuation of the School-to-Prison Pipeline | The school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) disproportionately impacts students of color, specifically female-identifying students, in the U.S. context. The perpetuation of the STPP creates a disconnect between communities of color and education. As new COVID-19 policies develop, it is expected for these protocols to further the racial and gender disparities in discipline. I will be utilizing this research opportunity to study the effects of disciplinary protocols in predominantly Black and Brown schools, in relation to the STPP. Additionally, this research studies the evolution of these disparities during the COVID-19 era and virtual learning. |
| Myronn Hardy, English, Moderator | Creative Writing Thesis Reading | |
| Ellie Boyle ’22 | “A New Routine” and Other Stories | My collection of short stories follows a series of characters, both human and animal, struggling to find connections. |
| Alex Burbelo ’22 | From Concrete: A Poetry Senior Thesis | This thesis portfolio is comprised of moments from my life that have been augmented, some altered, some interchanged, but many of them still possess the same emotions I felt as a young boy growing up in Washington, DC. Throughout this process, the author begins from a slightly blurred perspective when recollecting his childhood, where the interactions with those around him wind up shaping his fears, worries, and overall insecurity, which is a major character change he seeks to implement throughout this narrative. |
| Alex Gailey ’22 | The Bike Thief | My collection of stories, The Bike Thief, explores the failures, discoveries, and violence of characters living in a surreal lawless world. |
| Jesse Segalla ’22 | Creative Thesis Reading | My collection of short stories centers around characters looking to find their footing. They work to orient and express themselves amidst anxieties, relationships, and everyday experiences. |
| Christina Wang ’22 | Poetry Reading | My poetry thesis revolves around the speaker attempting to reclaim and re-inhabit their body, while navigating a sexist and racist world. |
| Carrie Diaz Eaton, Digital and Computational Studies, moderator | Digital and Computational Studies: Interdisciplinary Applications | |
| Adriana Pastor Almiron ’25 | Stargaze: Diversifying STEM through Children’s Literature | What is a scientist? A white, cis-heterosexual man in a lab coat? STEM has always excluded marginalized identities, creating a lack of relatable role models for younger generations. Therefore, as a diverse group of aspiring scientists, we want to contribute to positive change through Stargaze: Inspiring Stories of Our Brightest Stars, a children’s book, beautifully illustrated, filled with stories adapted from those “unique” scientists and activists that inspire us. We will discuss the importance of representation and how to make an impact through children’s literature, and we will show the final draft of our book and explain our creative process. |
| Joaquin Torres ’25 | Stargaze: Diversifying STEM through Children’s Literature | What is a scientist? A white, cis-heterosexual man in a lab coat? STEM has always excluded marginalized identities, creating a lack of relatable role models for younger generations. Therefore, as a diverse group of aspiring scientists, we want to contribute to positive change through Stargaze: Inspiring Stories of Our Brightest Stars, a children’s book, beautifully illustrated, filled with stories adapted from those “unique” scientists and activists that inspire us. We will discuss the importance of representation and how to make an impact through children’s literature, and we will show the final draft of our book and explain our creative process. |
| Brandon Villalta Lopez ’25 | Stargaze: Diversifying STEM through Children’s Literature | What is a scientist? A white, cis-heterosexual man in a lab coat? STEM has always excluded marginalized identities, creating a lack of relatable role models for younger generations. Therefore, as a diverse group of aspiring scientists, we want to contribute to positive change through Stargaze: Inspiring Stories of Our Brightest Stars, a children’s book, beautifully illustrated, filled with stories adapted from those “unique” scientists and activists that inspire us. We will discuss the importance of representation and how to make an impact through children’s literature, and we will show the final draft of our book and explain our creative process. |
| Kira Yanagi ’25 | Stargaze: Diversifying STEM through Children’s Literature | What is a scientist? A white, cis-heterosexual man in a lab coat? STEM has always excluded marginalized identities, creating a lack of relatable role models for younger generations. Therefore, as a diverse group of aspiring scientists, we want to contribute to positive change through Stargaze: Inspiring Stories of Our Brightest Stars, a children’s book, beautifully illustrated, filled with stories adapted from those “unique” scientists and activists that inspire us. We will discuss the importance of representation and how to make an impact through children’s literature, and we will show the final draft of our book and explain our creative process. |
| Grace Acton ’24 | Promptitude and Fidelity: Professional Seamstresses in Early Nineteenth-Century New England | Drawing on a collection of over 100 historical advertisements compiled during my time as an intern at Old Sturbridge Village, this presentation will explore demographic trends among women professionals in the needle trades in New England between 1790 and 1850. Through statistical analysis and data visualization in R, I will present a picture of women’s roles in the fashion industry in this particular place and time, and discuss the impact of these findings on how we view women professionals and clothing in the past. |
| Ognyan Simeonov ’22 | Humans vs. COVID-19: Modeling Disease Spread on College Campuses | Data from games and simulations can be used to model the spread, peak of infections, and outcomes of real-life diseases, such as the bubonic plague, the Spanish flu, and COVID-19. In this study, we use data from a game of tag called humans vs. zombies, as a tool for modeling disease spread in small liberal arts campus settings. This allows us to develop and test different models which best explain transmission (SIR, Predator-prey, sleep cycles, and multiple susceptibility) and compare them with the development of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the same campus settings. |