Talks and Panels Abstracts
MDS 2024 Schedule
| Name | Class Year | Title | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grace Acton | 2024 | Fashion Forward: Digitizing Historical Dress in Theory and Practice | For decades, the Department of Theater and Dance has received donations of antique clothing, filling box after box in costume storage. These dress history artifacts, representing everyday New England fashion from 1850 to 1930, are unable to be worn on stage, but present countless opportunities for study and research. However, one issue has persisted in limiting their utility: nobody knew what the collection actually contained. This presentation will explore the creation of the Bates College Clothing Archive from the first opening of boxes to the development of a public-facing digital archive, the culmination of a year-long thesis in Interdisciplinary Studies. |
| Rebecca Anderson | 2024 | Evaluation of Animal Hosts and Their Endosymbionts Using Experimental & Computational Approaches | Sponge and coral hosts form long-term, endosymbiotic relationships with algae that take up residency within host cells. We are using quantitative confocal microscopy to evaluate if menthol is an effective method for bleaching sponges and perform 3D reconstructions of sponges and their algal symbionts. Development of an agent-based model has allowed us to consider long-term population dynamics and symbiont competition in the context of this model system. Together, these methods provide insight about the host: symbiont relationship and its connections to climate change, ecosystem health, and symbiosis more broadly. |
| Ben Auerbach | 2025 | Cultural and Public Health Response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Cuba and the United States | This paper aims to explore the cultural and societal factors in Cuba that affected the HIV/AIDS epidemic, compare the US and Cuban HIV/AIDS epidemics, and how the Cuban government’s response to the epidemic led to further marginalization of Cuba’s homosexual population. The early years of the epidemic in Cuba coincided with the new government’s efforts to rebuild Cuba. The Cuban response to the epidemic has been lauded as a model of successful modern epidemiology but has also been criticized by activists citing the Cuban government’s aggressive quarantine policy that some claim led to further marginalization of homosexuals in Cuba. |
| Catie Berg | 2026 | How the Digital Persona Corrupted the Self | Changes in the composition of digital spaces, catalyzed by social media, and in our relationship to them have spurred a shift in our fundamental approach towards identity, restricting the self to prescriptive, pre-packaged categories that one can identify with in order to signify some aspect of their personhood. In this model, the desired presentation of the self precedes and thus determines one’s interiority. This approach is problematic as the individuation process necessary for identity development is jettisoned through over-identification with the persona, leading to a dislocation from one’s own experience and a loss of meaning. This approach is encouraged almost entirely within women, reinforcing the idea that women must derive their identity from a relationship to something external, displacing their agentic capacities and corroborating in their historical subjugation. |
| Ella Blum | 2024 | Sociology Thesis Panel | A collection of senior sociology majors share their theses from the academic year. Jack Lawrence: Strengthening Community Action Agency Private Fundraising Capacities: An Analysis of Existing Resource Development Frameworks and Revenue Acquisition Strategies Sadie O’Neil: Unveiling the Digital Divide: Navigating Educational Inequalities Amidst the Pandemic and Beyond Molly Furman: We are Diverse: Understanding how Asian Americans navigate a sense of belonging and institutional support at PWIs Jensen Nida: Unpacking Our Backpacks: A Sociological Material Culture Study of Bates Students and Their Bags Ella Blum: The Narratives of Fandom: Sport Identity Development and Retention Among College-Aged Students |
| Alexa Bowerfind | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth | 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Evan Boxer-Cook | 2026 | Understanding the Astrolabe: How a Medieval Pocket Computer Puts the Universe in Your Hands | The astrolabe is a medieval analog computer with the capacity to navigate, tell time, track the movements of celestial bodies, and many more impressive functions that will be discussed and demonstrated live during this talk. Attendees will enjoy a brief history of the astrolabe, followed by a technical overview of the instrument, with additional context provided by a demonstration of the armillary sphere. The talk will balance technical demonstration with a discussion of artistry, highlighting the most visually striking feature of the astrolabe: the rete. |
| Mia Brumsted | 2024 | Aotearoa or New Zealand: The Politics of Place Naming & Other Challenges with New Zealand’s Bicultural Framework | The politics of place-naming is a contentious policy topic in the bicultural society of Aotearoa New Zealand, where the colonized (Māori) and colonizers (Pākehā) co-exist. From an international perspective, this relationship holds a utopic status, but in actuality, life in this “postcolonial utopia” is not so idyllic, and Māori feelings of identity and belonging are often called into question. This presentation will outline the current arguments for and against formalizing New Zealand place names in te reo Māori and how such changes enhance and diminish senses of belonging among Māori and Pākehā. |
| Christopher Burke | 2027 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Mikayla Burse | 2026 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Lily Calve | 2024 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Caroline Cassell | 2024 | A Love Letter to My Guys: Gendered Discourse in Educational Settings | Many have heard the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” But is it really true? Words hurt, and therefore, to put it lightly, words matter. The field of feminist linguistics has long examined gender in relation to language; however, it was not until the 1980’s that the field shifted from a binary perspective to understand how discourse socially constructs and reinforces the gender binary. The linguistic enforcement of the gender binary is ever-present in classroom spaces as sites and communities where young people come into, explore, and interact with those of varying identities. Using autoethnographic methods, I investigate the labors of invisibility, hyper-visibility, and joy of queer students in higher education classrooms. From this data, I suggest linguistic avenues for educators to make their classrooms more inclusive, validating, and safe for all students. |
| Roberto Castro | 2024 | Taiwan’s Forbidden Songs | This presentation delves into the censorship of popular music in Taiwan during the Martial Law period (1949-1987), a time marked by strict government controls on various forms of media, including songs. Through the analysis of original translations of banned songs sung in Mandarin and Taiwanese, like “Dragon Goddess of the Bitter Sea,” “A Ray of Sunshine,” “Dancing Woman”, and “Who Knows My Heart,” this presentation offers potential socio-political reasons for their censorship. |
| Caitlin Chan | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Abbie Danko | 2024 | Navigating Financial Transformation: Applying Therapeutic Techniques to Financial Therapy for Overcoming Financial Stagnation | The present study analyzes the influence of simplistic yet personalized financial therapy techniques within a non-counseling setting for individuals who describe themselves as feeling “financially stuck.” The participants will consist of individuals from Amazon Mechanical Turk who fit the necessary criteria that were relevant to the current study. Participants will complete two online Qualtrics surveys that will determine the following: their attitudes toward their current financial situation, the money script they most identify. Then, participants will assess which of several financial therapy techniques would likely be most beneficial to changing their behaviors, and eventually changing their attitude towards their financial situation. |
| Kate Dickson | 2024 | Carbon dynamics Upstream and Downstream of a Tidal Restriction, Spurwink Marsh, Cape Elizabeth, Maine | A salt marsh’s ability to sequester carbon may be inhibited by tidal restrictions. This study examines carbon dynamics and sedimentation upstream and downstream of a tidal restriction on Spurwink Marsh, Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Sediment core carbon and isotope analysis, monthly LICOR greenhouse gas flux data, sedimentation traps, and stream channel level hydrology data were used to identify restriction status and carbon dynamics over short and long timescales. Heavy metal tracing was used to create an age model and to assess pollution. The data present important information to consider when thinking about the climate benefits of restoration. |
| Jane Drumm | 2025 | New Research in Choreographic Process and Performance | This panel includes student discussing the relationship between their scholarship and artistry. They will discuss their various choreographic projects, in-studio research, and performance outcomes through analysis of their creative processes in dance. |
| Rebecca Feist | 2024 | Growing Pains | An autofiction which investigates threads of connection, shame, and resilience between eight strangers on the cusp of adulthood as they embark on a therapeutic backpacking trip through the Utah desert. |
| Marisela Flores Pineda | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes | 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Lydia Frew | 2025 | New Research in Choreographic Process and Performance | This panel includes student discussing the relationship between their scholarship and artistry. They will discuss their various choreographic projects, in-studio research, and performance outcomes through analysis of their creative processes in dance. |
| Kyra Friederich | 2026 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Molly Furman | 2024 | Sociology Thesis Panel | A collection of senior sociology majors share their theses from the academic year. Jack Lawrence: Strengthening Community Action Agency Private Fundraising Capacities: An Analysis of Existing Resource Development Frameworks and Revenue Acquisition Strategies Sadie O’Neil: Unveiling the Digital Divide: Navigating Educational Inequalities Amidst the Pandemic and Beyond Molly Furman: We are Diverse: Understanding how Asian Americans navigate a sense of belonging and institutional support at PWIs Jensen Nida: Unpacking Our Backpacks: A Sociological Material Culture Study of Bates Students and Their Bags Ella Blum: The Narratives of Fandom: Sport Identity Development and Retention Among College-Aged Students |
| Stella Gould | 2025 | The Link between Art, Politics, and Public Space: Colectivo El Muro Cusco and Their Resistance Against State-Sponsored Censorship | Colectivo El Muro Cusco is a collective dedicated to the support for social struggles and the sharing of alternative information in Cusco, Peru. For the last 20 years, El Muro has been a purveyor of the truth, using art and protest to express discontent with the injustices perpetuated by the Peruvian government. El Muro is a wall in Cusco’s Central Plaza which the Collective uses as an art gallery and space for demonstration. In the last year however, Cusco police have taken control of the wall, prohibiting access to the Collective to exercise their right to protest. This research analyzes the ways in which art and politics are intrinsically tied within El Muro; the Collective’s use of public space to understand its importance; and explores the relations of power that are constructed as a result. |
| Alijiah Henry | 2024 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Faisal Hossain | 2027 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Fiki Hunt | 2024 | Sense of Belonging in College Students: Unraveling the Crucial Role of the College Campus Environment | The present study investigated the sense of belonging among underrepresented students in higher education, building upon previous research that explored the broader effect of the college environment on sense of belonging. A unique aspect of this study is that survey questions were generated with the help of the Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS), Residential Life, and Campus Activities & Traditions (CATS) at Bates College. This research has provided Bates College with a better understanding of how the college environment affects belonging in Students of Color and provides actionable insight for enhancing campus climate and fostering inclusivity. |
| Isabelle Job | 2024 | From Medieval Scriptorium to Manuscript Collection: The Journey of The Psalter-Hours of Isabelle de France | What is an illuminated manuscript? What is a Psalter-hours? This presentation will provide an overview of my senior thesis, the thirteenth-century French manuscript, The Psalter-Hours of Isabelle de France, commissioned by King Louis IX for his sister, Saint Isabelle, at Longchamp. It will follow the manuscript’s journey from the medieval scriptorium to its acquisition by nineteenth and twentieth-century manuscript collectors. While addressing its thirteenth-century context, it will discuss its role as a tool for education by manuscript enthusiasts. This presentation will explore the impact of manuscript collectors on the legacy of Saint Isabelle’s association with this magnificent illumination. |
| Alyson Kennedy | 2024 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Barry Kilmister | 2024 | Collision Visions | A collection of poems exploring themes of change and healing by focusing on what it means to see and be seen, both in the literal and metaphysical sense. |
| Bryan Kirk | 2024 | Down Here, The Only Light Is Your Own: The Dichotomy of Environmentalism and Extraction in Appalachia | Environmental regulation is a contentious topic in Appalachian coal-producing regions. Despite mining’s negative impacts to local economies and personal health, pro-extraction rhetoric continues to capture the local imaginary, with appeals to cultural heritage justifying harm to landscapes, communities, and family structures. What historical legacies inform simultaneous resistance and complicity to the ravaged landscape? Where does mainstream environmentalism fail to connect with this culturally unique area? The answer lies nested in a complex web of labor struggles, family ties, and failure to understand the values of an othered America. |
| Rye Kushner | 2027 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Jack Lawrence | 2024 | Sociology Thesis Panel | A collection of senior sociology majors share their theses from the academic year. Jack Lawrence: Strengthening Community Action Agency Private Fundraising Capacities: An Analysis of Existing Resource Development Frameworks and Revenue Acquisition Strategies Sadie O’Neil: Unveiling the Digital Divide: Navigating Educational Inequalities Amidst the Pandemic and Beyond Molly Furman: We are Diverse: Understanding how Asian Americans navigate a sense of belonging and institutional support at PWIs Jensen Nida: Unpacking Our Backpacks: A Sociological Material Culture Study of Bates Students and Their Bags Ella Blum: The Narratives of Fandom: Sport Identity Development and Retention Among College-Aged Students |
| Isaac Levinger | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Nate Lewis | 2024 | Winckelmann, Jefferson, and the Bronze Age Pervert Classicism, Whiteness, and the Construction of the Alt-Right Male in the Digital Age | What we choose to recall about the classical era, and how we choose to present those narratives, make the past an ever-present battleground of memory. The classical past is very much alive, and has been since the Renaissance, in the hearts and minds of white men seeking to establish a cultural heritage. This battle for control of the past has never been more pertinent than our current digital era, where art, architecture, and literature from the classical era is misappropriated by alt-right circles across the internet. This project provides a comprehensive overview of classical misappropriation, equipping the audience with the tools to combat key ideologues and symbols seen on everyday social media platforms. |
| Danny Liu | 2024 | MoTe: Asian and Asian American Experiences in Fiction | MoTe is a word that means small particles, but it is also a Chinese word that means “model” (as many vocabularies in Chinese, it is phonetically translated). My thesis will be a collections of short stories and excerpts that speak to my experience as an Asian person in the United States. Some of these will be set in Asia; more in the US, but they are all bound together by my experiences all these years away from home. |
| Chris Lu | 2024 | History Honor Thesis Work Presentation | This presentation will be sharing my honor thesis’ work, with the topic about the Education Philosophies’ reform in 20th century China. It is a history, Asian studies, and education related interdisciplinary thesis. The project gets at the change in the principles of education system from the Late Qing Empire to the Republic regime as well as the impact of the modernization movement on China’s education system reform from 1911 to 1925, focusing on how Chinese scholars declared the transformation of China’s education system from a system based on the social hierarchy of Confucian orthodox as well as Civil Service Exam to a nationalism, independent-thinking based, and universal education. I will share my experience in research process, stating arguments, and source analysis. |
| Paige Magid | 2024 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Juan Martinez | 2024 | Shaping Identities Through Reading | Reading has been shown to have beneficial effects in the development of children. Genre selection and motivation influence whether a piece of literature will be read by someone. This study is a community based partnership with ReMo, a web based application with the aim to encourage students to read by suggesting books that seem appealing to them. ReMo hopes to help students develop and foster a passion for reading. This study analyzed data from ReMo and aims to find a way to find a better way to categorize books to ensure children are matched to books they are interested in. |
| Aleisha Martinez Sandoval | 2026 | Galactic FARTS and chemicals in our hearts: Presenting Our Research at the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference. | From studying the movement of gas in distant galaxies to assessing how chemicals in our water affect our heart’s development, and more! Some Bates student researchers have had the wonderful opportunity to share their work at “the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country”, the SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference. As board members of the SACNAS Chapter at Bates College and previous conference attendees, we’re here to talk a little about our research and to share our experience at a national event designed not only to encourage but also to celebrate #TrueDiversityInSTEM. |
| Avery Mathias | 2024 | Sponges as eDNA Samplers to Monitor Freshwater Biodiversity in Maine | Sponges are excellent species for use as natural reservoirs of eDNA as they are filter feeders. Although research is being conducted using marine sponges for biodiversity monitoring (e.g., fish species), the field of eDNA sampling in freshwater sponges is particularly novel. We collected freshwater sponge samples and used metabarcoding to identify freshwater sponge species from diverse aquatic habitats. We piloted experiments testing animal-specific eDNA primers to create libraries for eDNA sequencing. We then used a bioinformatics pipeline to analyze eDNA sequences from one freshwater sponge species to determine effectiveness as a biomonitoring target of fish and other animal species. |
| Maria McEvoy | 2025 | Sheep, Shepherds, and State: The Myth of the Reconquista and the Islamic Origins of Spanish Shepherding | For thousands of years, sheep have played many important roles on the Iberian peninsula: they aid in protecting the biodiversity of the region, have created and maintained pastoral livelihoods and identities, and in large part funded Spain’s rise to power in the early modern era. This success of sheep in Spain is overwhelmingly due to Islamic and North African pastoral traditions and practices, and yet this fact is often erased from the dominant historical and academic record in order to construct and maintain false narratives about a pure Christian past and uphold white supremacy. This presentation examines the web of relationships between shepherds, sheep, land, and state, and the importance of recognizing the Islamic origins of modern shepherding. |
| Alex Nevarez | 2024 | Agave Americana: A Collection of Poems on Generational Trauma | The collection of poems aims to bring attention to intergenerational trauma caused by sociocultural factors embedded in Mexican culture. Having been raised by a Mexican immigrant woman who was left widowed a decade after arriving in Chicago, I bring attention to sociopolitical difficulties imposed on low-income first-generation Chicanos. I focus on non-conventional family structures (specifically single-mother households)that tether with the destruction of gender roles and family structures that control but ground Mexican women. My poems comment on capitalism and its contribution to the mental health of first-generation Chicanos, battling as survival becomes instinct and normality. Through the deconstruction of place, I play with the concept of memories to transcend a sense of belonging founded on a matriarchal community, and it affects adulthood relationships. |
| Julia Newell | 2026 | National Science Foundation Grant Research for Hearing Loss Non-Profit | My research project consists of conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews of hearing loss high school students and other key roles in the education system. This is part of an ongoing study of ‘customer discovery’ research for my non-profit designed to help hearing-loss high schoolers gain access to the same opportunities as their peers. The goal of this research is to better inform my non-profit’s product development to better meet the greatest needs of hearing-loss high schoolers. My intention with this research was to gain a better understanding of this community’s pain points, which are often silenced physically and symbolically. Additionally, I hope this research informs a product development that can not only equalize basic needs like education but enable this community to unleash its untapped potential. This research and non-profit are grounded in my personal experience of having a rare form of hearing loss that served as a major barrier to accessing my education and other opportunities as my peers before coming to Bates. It has also been a joy to work alongside my advisor in special education, team from Purposeful Work, and the National Science Foundation to make this research a reality during my independent study Fall of 2023. |
| Jensen Nida | 2024 | Sociology Thesis Panel | A collection of senior sociology majors share their theses from the academic year. Jack Lawrence: Strengthening Community Action Agency Private Fundraising Capacities: An Analysis of Existing Resource Development Frameworks and Revenue Acquisition Strategies Sadie O’Neil: Unveiling the Digital Divide: Navigating Educational Inequalities Amidst the Pandemic and Beyond Molly Furman: We are Diverse: Understanding how Asian Americans navigate a sense of belonging and institutional support at PWIs Jensen Nida: Unpacking Our Backpacks: A Sociological Material Culture Study of Bates Students and Their Bags Ella Blum: The Narratives of Fandom: Sport Identity Development and Retention Among College-Aged Students |
| Faith Nwando | 2024 | The Mechanical Properties of Cat Tongue Papillae | The cat tongue is covered in cone-shaped, backward-facing keratinous spines. These specialized structures have been found to play an important role in grooming by wicking saliva from base to tip and distributing it through fur. Papillae are also flexible and deflect anteriorly when they encounter tangles, suggesting that papillae mechanics may also contribute to grooming function. However, the mechanical properties of tongue papillae have never been investigated. In this study, we measured the force required to deflect cat tongue papillae. Our results may inform the development of bioinspired hairbrushes modeled after cat tongue papillae. |
| Sadie O’Neil | 2024 | Sociology Thesis Panel | A collection of senior sociology majors share their theses from the academic year. Jack Lawrence: Strengthening Community Action Agency Private Fundraising Capacities: An Analysis of Existing Resource Development Frameworks and Revenue Acquisition Strategies Sadie O’Neil: Unveiling the Digital Divide: Navigating Educational Inequalities Amidst the Pandemic and Beyond Molly Furman: We are Diverse: Understanding how Asian Americans navigate a sense of belonging and institutional support at PWIs Jensen Nida: Unpacking Our Backpacks: A Sociological Material Culture Study of Bates Students and Their Bags Ella Blum: The Narratives of Fandom: Sport Identity Development and Retention Among College-Aged Students |
| Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez | 2024 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Adriana Pastor Almiron | 2025 | Galactic FARTS and chemicals in our hearts: Presenting Our Research at the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference. | From studying the movement of gas in distant galaxies to assessing how chemicals in our water affect our heart’s development, and more! Some Bates student researchers have had the wonderful opportunity to share their work at “the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country”, the SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference. As board members of the SACNAS Chapter at Bates College and previous conference attendees, we’re here to talk a little about our research and to share our experience at a national event designed not only to encourage but also to celebrate #TrueDiversityInSTEM. |
| Matthew Peeler | 2026 | Destroying the NRA Playbook: A Novel Approach to Gun Control Litigation | The mass shootings this fall emphasized the pervasiveness of gun violence, even in places like Lewiston, that were once spared. This presentation proposes a new approach to gun control that can withstand scrutiny against a legal backdrop that changed radically in 2008, when the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, reframed the boundaries of “the right to bear arms” and “a well regulated militia.” Focusing on the “right to security,” established through distinct Constitutional theories espoused by Justices Scalia and Ginsburg, will compel Courts to balance one’s right of personal safety against the right to buy an AR-15. |
| Tim Perry | 2024 | Tim Perry’s Creative Writing Poetry Thesis Presentation | Tim Perry’s Thesis is a poetry collection detailing his experience at school, online, and abroad. Taking from what surrounds him, Tim sought to create a collection that defines the time he lives in. |
| John Price | 2024 | Otherness and “Alterity” in Visigothic Spain | The Visigoths settled in Iberia as the authority of the Western Roman Empire was collapsing in the region, smoothing their transition into power by adopting existing Roman legislation into their own systems. One effect of this was that anti-Jewish laws which were first introduced centuries earlier continued to have practical implications for Jewish subjects. As the identity of the ruling Gothic elite became more and more Romanized, this trend continued. Campaigns of forced conversions meant unify the kingdom were carried out in the 6th and 7th centuries after the Visigoths’ conversion to Catholicism, but Jews were still an “other,” socially and legally. |
| Olivia Rabin | 2024 | Korean Villainess Manhwa: When Death is Not Her Only Option | In fairy tales, the heroine gets her destiny, throne, and beloved. Thus, the only ending for the villainess is scorned and slain. Can we say the villainess was evil when we and the characters don’t know anything about her? In Korean villainess comics, her untold is told. Her safety is supposed to come from her family and marriage just like the heroine. So, all an evil “villainess” wants is to survive a dangerous misogynistic world like the heroine? She can find liberation from the restrictions of society and define her own identity when she has been labeled as an evil woman and the worst has already happened. |
| Emma Rippey | 2024 | Regulating Pornography to Reduce Sexual Violence | Sexual assault and rape of women is incredibly pervasive and has severe effects on survivors. This presentation grounds sexual violence as a philosophical problem and uses feminist philosopher Catherine McKinnon’s “male sexual model” theory to argue for the regulation and/or banning of pornography as a method of sexual violence prevention in an attempt to restore individuals’ human right to mental, physical, and sexual safety. |
| Anna Sarrazin | 2024 | Tidal Impoundment Effects Carbon Dynamics and Sedimentation in the Jones Creek Salt Marsh, Scarborough, ME, USA | Healthy salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. However, tidal impoundment can degrade a salt marsh, resulting in subsidence, decreased carbon sequestration, and carbon outwelling; compromising the system’s efficacy as a carbon sink. This study examines carbon stocks, greenhouse gas emissions, pore water chemistry, and sedimentation on both sides of a tidal restriction in the Jones Creek Marsh, Scarborough, Maine, USA. We found significantly greater carbon density and long-term carbon sequestration rates on the non-impounded side of the marsh; and significantly higher methane emissions on the impounded side, which suggest a negative effect on marsh carbon dynamics. |
| Lukas Schneider | 2024 | Polychromatic Sunset | A collection of short stories exploring trauma and self-discovery in connection with empathy, queerness, and acceptance. Unmoored from time, human love remains, a universal constant we may never truly understand. |
| Jillian Scott-Lewis | 2027 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Sarah Senator | 2025 | New Research in Choreographic Process and Performance | This panel includes student discussing the relationship between their scholarship and artistry. They will discuss their various choreographic projects, in-studio research, and performance outcomes through analysis of their creative processes in dance. |
| Samantha Shapiro | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Beyond the Game: Assessing the IMPACTs of a Collegiate Sports Mentorship Program on Psychosocial Development in Children with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses | 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Sasha Small | 2024 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Sophie Spolter | 2026 | Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence: Case Studies | Students in the Religious Studies course “Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence” will share public education projects based on studies of groups, movements, events, etc. that can help us better understand and address the complex interconnections among religion, violence, and nonviolence in our world today. |
| Natalie Titus | 2024 | Lesbian Love Lessons: Epistemology as a Framework for the Challenges of the Queer Relationship | Through the channels of social media and pop culture, there has surfaced a puzzling phenomenon: queer relationships are notably difficult and often harmful. To understand why, we can look to the LGBTQ+ community’s history of marginalization. The invisibility of queer relationships leaves us very few models of love to look to as we continue to engage in our own relationships. When we look at this issue through the lens of philosophy, we can see that the problem is the epistemic gaps in our understanding of what a queer relationship is and how it functions. In other words, queer people are facing a hermeneutical injustice when they attempt the knowledge-building process of a relationship. Once we understand this phenomenon to be an epistemic injustice, we can more clearly understand the ways in which queer people face barriers to recognizing shared experiences and common dynamics in their relationships; and how to utilize hermeneutical advice and perspective shifting to address these issues. |
| Brandon Villalta Lopez | 2025 | Galactic FARTS and chemicals in our hearts: Presenting Our Research at the SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference. | From studying the movement of gas in distant galaxies to assessing how chemicals in our water affect our heart’s development, and more! Some Bates student researchers have had the wonderful opportunity to share their work at “the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country”, the SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference. As board members of the SACNAS Chapter at Bates College and previous conference attendees, we’re here to talk a little about our research and to share our experience at a national event designed not only to encourage but also to celebrate #TrueDiversityInSTEM. |
| Alexandra Voight-Shelley | 2024 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Emma Volkers | 2024 | Research and the Public Good: Multidisciplinary Explorations: Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, 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 build on community strengths and address community needs. This session will feature community-engaged projects targeting a range of issues and developed in collaboration with diverse community partners. Alexa Bowerfind (Psychology) “Mental Health and Resilience among Homeless Youth” Caitlin Chan (Mathematics, Gender & Sexuality Studies) “Queer Data for Queer Change: Examining Substance Use Among Queer Youth in Androscoggin County, Maine” Isaac Levinger (Sociology), “Schooling and the Second Generation: Exploring the Student Experience of Second and 1.5-Generation African Immigrant Youth in Lewiston, Maine” Marisela Flores Pineda (Economics), “Thread by Thread, Brick by Brick: Impacts of Housing and Clothing Contributions on Educational Outcomes” Samantha Shapiro (Psychology), “Exposure to Collegiate Sports Mentorship: Developmental Impacts for Youth with Disabilities and Serious Illnesses” Emma Volkers (Psychology) “Creating Accessible Resources Through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Resource Collection, Organization, and Interaction for Women in Lewiston, Maine” |
| Sarah Waite | 2024 | The Mechanical Properties of Cat Tongue Papillae | The cat tongue is covered in cone-shaped, backward-facing keratinous spines. These specialized structures have been found to play an important role in grooming by wicking saliva from base to tip and distributing it through fur. Papillae are also flexible and deflect anteriorly when they encounter tangles, suggesting that papillae mechanics may also contribute to grooming function. However, the mechanical properties of tongue papillae have never been investigated. In this study, we measured the force required to deflect cat tongue papillae. Our results may inform the development of bioinspired hairbrushes modeled after cat tongue papillae. |
| David Walker | 2024 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Adelle Welch | 2025 | New Research in Choreographic Process and Performance | This panel includes student discussing the relationship between their scholarship and artistry. They will discuss their various choreographic projects, in-studio research, and performance outcomes through analysis of their creative processes in dance. |
| Anna Weylman-Farwell | 2024 | My Student Teaching Practicum at Edward Little High School | I plan to present my full-time student teaching experience at Edward Little High School in Auburn in fulfillment of my Teacher Education minor here at Bates. Student teaching is a teaching practicum that partially fulfills the requirements for a Maine teaching license. In my presentation, I’ll reflect on my progress towards the 11 Maine Teaching Standards, including learner development, learning differences and environments, content knowledge, innovative applications of content, assessment, planning for instruction, instructional strategies, reflection and continuous growth, collaboration, and technology. |
| Sophie Wheeler | 2025 | Bates Theatre-The Art of Creative Process | Join some of this year’s actors, playwrights, devisers, stage managers, and assistant directors from the Bates Theater Program as they offer a glimpse into transformative moments throughout their own unique creative process. This year’s panelists include acting thesis students Paige Magid ’24 and David Walker ’24 who completed their acting thesis in the fall on THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and investigated acting satire and cultural competency, Alexandra Voight-Shelley ’24 who is working on her playwriting thesis, and Miguel Pacheco Gonzalez ’24 an Interdisciplinary Major (Theater, Dance, AVC) who is presenting his devised project EL PRÓXIMO TREN which explores the reality of immigration and the diasporic experience of movement. They are joined by independent study students Mikayla Burse ’26 (stage management) and Sophie Wheeler ’25 (assistant directing) who collaborated on both THE THANKSGIVING PLAY and EL PRÓXIMO TREN. |
| Jingyi Yang | 2024 | Assessment of the Aspirations Mentorship Program | The Mentorship program run by the Aspirations Club at Bates College pairs up Bates mentors and student mentees from Lewiston High School and Auburn Middle School for weekly/biweekly in-person mentoring sessions. The sessions focus on discussing youths’ aspirations and expectations and inspiring students to think about careers, post-graduation plans, passion and interest, available resources and opportunities, etc. This project is community-based research on this mentorship program, collecting data through an online survey for mentors and observation during mentoring sessions. I explored how effective the program is and what factors can facilitate it to provide recommendations for improvements. |
| Riley Young | 2024 | Beneath Burial | A collection of poems focused on how to celebrate loss and grief through a breaking down or burning up of the elegiac form. Specifically looking at how important a loss is and how celebrating it or “lifting up” that buried grief changes the loss itself. |