Undergraduate Research Symposium: Full Schedule

The 2017 Seventeenth Annual UMM Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) celebrates student scholarly achievement and creative activities. Students from all disciplines participate in the URS. Types of presentations include posters, oral presentations, and short or abbreviated theatrical, dance, or musical performances.

Presentations are accompanied by discussions and multimedia.

2:10pm PDT

Mental Health Status Update: Developing a Social Media Presence for Student Counseling on a University Campus

In order to improve mental health for the University of Minnesota, Morris and the surrounding areas, an online media campaign has been launched to develop awareness, destigmatize, and promote proactive mental health practices. A Facebook page has been created to serve as a tool that discusses various issues within the mental health community and provides information about how to contact available counseling resources. Historically, a mental health Facebook presence at UMM has not existed. A new media source that students are more comfortable with could better impact the student body and surrounding area. Facebook is a popular platform that allows for the creation of webpage like content within the realm of social media. Additionally, this page serves as an independent resource for Student Counseling Services to reach out to the student body in a manner consistent with the current technology. Furthermore, the group created a series of videos with topics surrounding stress reduction, anxiety relief, and proactivity in mental health. The curated videos, as part of an on-going process towards mental health promotion, include various elements of mental health including, but not limited to: stress, coping strategies for stress and anxiety, and proactivity in mental health.
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Speakers

Margaret Flenner

Deborah Holdvogt

Jakson Martens

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
John Q Imholte Hall, Room #101 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

2:10pm PDT

UNTITLED: The Many Deaths of Francesca Woodman

The work of Francesca Woodman has haunted many since her death from suicide at age 22, prompting discussions of not only the space available for the female consciousness in art but of the female body. Over the course of her short life, American photographer Francesca Woodman captured the nuance and mystery of the female psyche by composing over 10,000 photographs, often nudes of herself, reflecting the ways the body and mind unite in some ways and are in conflict in others. She places her nude form against signifiers of the domestic, such as wallpaper flowers or the tile of a kitchen floor, to illustrate the way that the female body is swallowed up by its environment. This analysis focuses heavily on studies of art and art history as it relates to surrealism and self-portraiture, which are both featured heavily in Woodman’s work, as they reflect the psychological toll being forced into a private sphere. By looking at prominent pieces created when Woodman was at the height of her creative and destructive energy in the mid to late 1970s, it is evidenced that the mind is depicted as a physical space in her photos (bare rooms, dirty hallways, and empty fish tanks), giving indications of inner conflict (such as her fascination with imagery that reflects suicide, eerily predicting her own), and illustrating her mentality as a woman. By understanding Woodman’s work as it applies to the female mind and not simply the female form it will be possible to discover a new and previously under-observed area of her work, and will open up a new way in which the female body can be seen outside of its pure sexuality and can reflect the struggles of the female psyche.

Speakers

Terese Ann McCauley

Sponsors

Julia Dabbs

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:10pm - 2:30pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Art History

2:30pm PDT

An Analysis of Race Through Hollywood and YouTube

Since the early 1900s, Hollywood has been the heart of America’s mainstream media. During the 2016 Oscars, the racial ratio in nominees was nonexistent. The issue lies with the representation of stereotypes associated with racial minority groups within the United States, and the lack of positive role models detached from these stereotypes. Since its birth in 2006, YouTube has accumulated over one billion content creators. With so many creators, we would expect a larger representation of racial diversity compared to Hollywood. Via a survey of 100 UMM students ages 18-24, I recorded and analyzed the types of content the students watched, their perceptions of racial diversity on YouTube, and the relationship between subscriber count and pay. Some of the most popular YouTubers are of a racial minority in the United States and are paid over $1 million per year with a few million subscribers. With this, I examined the popularities of Hollywood actors and YouTubers through their amount of pay as a common relationship. As the percentage of racially diverse citizens in the United States increases, it is important to have widespread representation within the media to expand the culture of a global community.

Speakers

Andrea Wathanaphone

Sponsors

Nadezhda Sotirova

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #109 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

2:30pm PDT

TRANSforming Families: The Effect of Familial Social Support and Belongingness on the Healthy Identity Development of Trans Youth

Normative gender roles demand that there are only two genders: the man and the woman. Trans people are individuals who transgress these prescribed norms, as their performance of gender differs from the one assigned to them at birth. When a trans person transitions, or begins the journey of socially and/or biologically changing from one gender identity to another, they face significant discrimination, harassment, and victimization. These negative experiences are especially apparent at home, as 57% of trans people are rejected by their families on the basis of their gender identity, which is a contributing factor to the 26%-45% of trans people who attempt suicide in their lifetime. Throughout the child's transition, parents will also experience a period of transition which requires the reframing of familial roles. This dual transition is examined through the recognition of psychological processes [e.g., grief and depression] that affect both the trans child and the family's perception of themselves and others. Successful navigations of negative reactions towards the transitioning process are processed, which aim to promote equitable and safe spaces for children to grow and thrive in their identities. Finally, further strategies for advocacy and allyship, or the act of supporting trans children, are explored that will ensure the safety and well-being of the child through the promotion of education and cooperation with mental health practitioners, parents, and school teachers. This research is composed of peer-reviewed journal articles from the databases PsycInfo, Psycarticles, and GenderWatch, spanning over the years 1990-2016.

Speakers

Maggie Elinson

Sponsors

Heather J. Peters

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Psychology

2:30pm PDT

Understanding the Issue: Disconnect and Class Discourse in the Writing Classroom

When academics from working class backgrounds have written about their experiences navigating the academy, they often mention moments of disconnect or growing separation from their families back home. In fact, this separation narrative is so prevalent that researchers have even suggested that there is a strong correlation between the two and that the higher the aspirations of the working class student, the more complete the separation becomes. While it may be easier to simply support individual students who go through this separation, this situation indicates a larger issue in our inability to talk across class discourse. By examining the microcosm of the writing classroom, we can understand where such differences in class discourse occur and how the educational system, as a whole, operates to promote success for middle class students and not their working class peers. I will not only discuss the existing differences in class discourse and how they work in the classroom, but I will also argue that there are limitations to current pragmatic solutions and speculate how to create a space for meaningful conversations across class lines that validate all discourses. This discussion is not only important for deciphering how we can best promote success for working class students, but it also offers significant implications beyond the classroom. Our current political discourse suggests there is significant divisiveness along class lines. Therefore, taking time to understand those differences and promote meaningful conversations are necessary for finding middle ground.

Speakers

Gabriella Wilke

Sponsors

Tisha Turk

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #113 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English

2:30pm PDT

Zaha Hadid and the Baroque

Zaha Hadid, the late British architect, is still a contributing architect of our time. Her iconic aesthetic is characterized by dramatized, sensuous, and an energized atmosphere that creates an experience for the viewer described as “Baroque” by contemporary news accounts and reviews. The Baroque stylistic period is characterized by its exaggerated motion and ornate details, which produces drama, energy, and opulence.
Using comparative visual analysis, I will analyze and compare the architecture works of the 17th century Baroque to Hadid’s work. Does Hadid’s work warrant the descriptor of Baroque? What are the similarities and differences between her work and 17th-century Baroque style that support or undermine this designation? Then, through reception theory, I will analyze and compare visitors’ documented experiences with Hadid’s work and 17th-century Baroque architecture. Have people had similar experiences in these different environments? This comparison includes my own experiences when visiting Rome, where I was able to see the MAXXI Museum (designed by Hadid), and a select number of 17th-century Baroque churches, such as Sta. Maria della Vittoria, Gesù Nuovo, and Sant'ignazio.
This project is important because it investigates whether the stylistic labels given by scholars and the public are sufficient. My audience will gain a better understanding of what defines a stylistic period and what impact a style can have on viewers.

Speakers

Sarah LaVoy

Sponsors

Julia Dabbs

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:30pm - 2:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #112 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Art History

2:50pm PDT

Asexual-Identified People's Interactions with Health Care Practitioners

People who identify as asexual use this label because, rather than a sexual orientation like “heterosexual,” “homosexual”, or “bisexual,” which labels attraction by gender, they experience a lack of sexual attraction. Previous psychological research on the topic of asexuality is limited, but one conclusion agreed upon by several studies is that people who identify as asexual differ from those diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in several ways. he most notable of these differences is that asexual people were shown typically to have little or no distress related to their lack of sexual desire, whereas distress is a key part of the diagnosis of HSDD. The question guiding this research is: do physical and mental health care professionals perceive their asexual clients as having a mental or physical disorder related to their asexual identity? To answer this question we will survey individuals who self-identify as asexual about their experiences with healthcare practitioners. We expect to find that in at least some cases, asexual people who did reveal their sexual identities to health professionals would encounter negative reactions from the practitioners, due to pathologizing attitudes still present in the medical establishment toward asexuality.

Speakers

Shelby Flanagan

Sponsors

Heather J. Peters

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Psychology

2:50pm PDT

Differences in School Dropout Rate by Caste-ethnicity among 5-20 Year-olds in Nepal

With a per capita income of less than 700 USD per year, Nepal is one of the poorest countries on earth. Wide gaps in income, healthcare access, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic factors exist between caste-ethnic groups in Nepal. Generally, the upper caste has the highest status, followed by indigenous peoples and then Dalits (who are also known as “untouchables”). Using data from the second and third rounds of the Nepal Living Standards Survey, we calculate disparities in school dropout rate between caste-ethnic groups in Nepal and use statistical tools to isolate the sources of these disparities. We find that the dropout rate among indigenous peoples is about 8 percentage points higher than that of the upper caste, and that the most important variables explaining this difference are socioeconomic factors (such as income and parental occupation), followed by demographic characteristics (such as sex, age, and marital status). The Dalit dropout rate is 12 percentage points higher than the upper caste rate, and the most important variables explaining this gap are socioeconomic factors, followed by geographic characteristics (such as ecological zone). These findings suggest that government policies designed to reduce caste-ethnic disparity in education in Nepal will have the greatest potential effect if they target people who, for instance, live in mountainous areas, are female and have married at a young age, or reside in Nepal’s Far-Western development region. The potential benefits of reducing school dropout among such people include higher incomes, increased access to healthcare, and greater peace and stability.

Speakers

Jesse Eklund

Sponsors

Satis Devkota

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #109 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Economics

2:50pm PDT

The Reader's Experience: Recontextualizing Dickens's David Copperfield

Scholars have been dedicated to recreating the Victorian reading experience for decades. Robyn Warhol’s experimental website, Reading Like a Victorian, which she presented here for UMM’s 2016 Barber Lecture, is one of the most recent attempts at doing so in the classroom. Warhol’s project engages effectively with the Victorian reader experience through recreating the serialization integral to that experience. However, there are still gaps between the Victorian reading experience and that of contemporary readers who engage with Victorian novels like Dickens’ David Copperfield. Because contemporary readers lack much of the context of the Victorian period, they are often disconnected from the cultural nuances of the novel’s themes--a circumstance which alters and ultimately diminishes the emotional impact of the narrative. In this presentation, we will identify specific contextual gaps between the original David Copperfield and its more contemporary film adaptations--specifically, those from 1960 and 1995. We will then provide pragmatic strategies for recontextualizing the story in order to maintain its cultural and emotional nuances, offering a example of what that could look like through our own partial David Copperfield screenplay.

Speakers

Tim Fitzgerald

Brittany Grady

Sponsors

Bradley Deane

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #112 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English

2:50pm PDT

Writing Apprehension in a College Academic Setting

In 1975, Daly and Miller’s landmark study of student writing introduced the concept of writing apprehension to the developing field of composition studies. While the concept remains useful, the study that produced it was a preliminary attempt to categorize a vast number of experiences and problems within the current written education system. By assuming that most students tentatively approached writing for abstract reasons (such as fear of bad grades), Daly and Miller implicitly framed writing apprehension as a normal part of all students’ writing process. They thus erased the perspectives of students affected by race, class, and gender differences. Furthermore, this 40+ year-old study is due for an update. My research re-examines Daly and Miller’s study through the lens of the feminist theory of intersectionality in order to understand why writing is important during the college transition, when identity is so malleable. Based on this analysis, I propose several strategies that writing professors and students can use to reduce writing apprehension. This information is crucial for professors who wish to foster open, engaged students within the classroom, as well as cultivate a medium through which marginalized students’ voices may be heard. The fact that so many students shy away from writing because it is viewed as “not their medium” must be changed, so that young writers can make the most of their college writing experience, viewing it less as a thing of dread and more a chance to truly be heard.

Speakers

Jacqueline Morgan

Sponsors

Tisha Turk

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #113 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English

2:50pm PDT

‘Cry Rhetoric’ and Let Slip the Words of Shakespeare: An Analysis of Cuttings from Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and King Henry the V.

Shakespeare’s stories and themes echo into culture today in shows such as House of Cards and Sons of Anarchy, and in films such as West Side Story, The Lion King, Let the Devil Wear Black, King of Texas, and She’s the Man. This is due not only to his skill at writing, but also the timeless plots and situations he sets within the plays. Literary studies on Shakespeare’s work are available, but there isn’t an abundance of scholarly research on his plays in the disciplines of Rhetoric and Philosophy. This study closes that gap while providing a rhetorical analysis using Bitzer’s Rhetorical Situation as well as Burke’s Dramatism Pentad. The analysis will be of selected cuttings of three popular Shakespeare plays, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and King Henry V. In return, this study will yield a better understanding of different Shakespearean persuasion techniques and uses that still find their way in modern language and culture.

Speakers

Brennan Bassett

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 2:50pm - 3:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #101 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

3:10pm PDT

Family Influence on Chinese International Students' Sense of Coherence

As the number of Chinese international students rapidly increases in U.S. colleges, it becomes important to understand the factors that contribute to their mental health, especially during their first semester of adjustment to the new culture. This study tested the hypothesis that: family condition predicts Chinese International Students’ Sense of Coherence (SOC), the overall capacity of handling tension derived from life stressors, with adaptation performance works as a mediation during their first semester. Data collection sessions were conducted for a collage-based cohort of 43 freshman Chinese international students at the beginning and at the end of their first semester. Participants completed self-report questionnaires that included the SOC (23-term) scale, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (62-term) measuring parent-child relationship, and Sociocultural adaptation Scale (41-term) measuring adjustment performance. Result showed that participants with a healthy parent-child relationship reported a higher SOC than those with a weak family relationship. Those reported a better performance of adaptation to foreign environment also reported a higher SOC than others. Family relationship is a potential predictor of Chinese international students’ SOC through their first semester while the process of acculturation is predictive of their SOC and mediated the impacts of parent-child relationship on students’ SOC. This study contributes to the literature on Antonovsky’s theory of sense of coherence in Chinese international students.

Speakers

Yiwen Zhang

Sponsors

Oscar Baldelomar

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Psychology

3:10pm PDT

Investigating the influence of CD80/B7-H1 signaling on anti-tumor immune responses mediated by CD8+ T cells

CD8+ T cells are capable of killing tumor cells, but tumor cells have many ways to evade CD8+ T cells. One mechanism is the expression of B7-H1 (PD-L1) on the surface of tumor cells. Signaling events downstream of B7-H1 interacting with PD-1 on CD8+ T cells result in inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis. B7-H1 also interacts with CD80, which is expressed on the surface of CD8+ T cells. The impact of B7-H1 interacting with CD80 is the focus of our studies. In order to study this we use two mouse lines, one wild type line that expressed CD80 and one knockout line that does not express CD80. Utilizing CD8+ T cells harvested from these mice, we have found that activated CD80 knock-out CD8+ T cells survive better than activated wild-type CD8+ T cells when cultured with plate-bound B7-H1 protein and anti-CD3. We are currently investigating the signaling events that occur downstream of B7-H1 interacting with CD80 on effector CD8+ T cells that could contribute to the induction of apoptosis of CD8+ T cells.

Speakers

Torri Jordan

Samuel Peters

Meagan Rollins

Sponsors

Rachel Johnson

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #101 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Biology

3:10pm PDT

Morris and The Dakota Access Pipeline: A Social Media Campaign

As part of a Communication, Media, and Rhetoric (CMR) media activist project we are partnering with #NoDAPL by creating a media portfolio. This media project emcompasses the history of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and personal stories generated from the protests. During this project we have created a series of six videos, a collaborative public event, and a social media page. The goal is to work towards creating a statement piece that share accurate information on DAPL and its connection to the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) in hope of promoting positive action within and beyond the Morris community. Through the process of research on the history and current news of DAPL, shooting video, interviewing, post production, creation of a social media campaign, and visiting the aftermath campsites of DAPL post eviction, we created several multimedia persuasive messages. The videos contain personal stories and interviews on the DAPL subject as well as ideas to encourage activism. In our presentation, we will introduce these videos and discuss our creation process as well as our learned experience. This project will address the connection of the history of UMM with tribal policies involving the U.S. government, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, DAPL, and the personal stories of DAPL protesters. Our hope is to create a political artistic piece that motivates others towards positive action concerning DAPL.

Speakers

Justice Robinson

Andrea Wathanaphone

Yicong Yuan

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #112 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

3:10pm PDT

Paper or Plastic? A Comparison of the Carbon Emissions of Grocery Bags

Paper and plastic grocery bags, as well as reusable bags (non-woven polypropylene), all can be used to carry out purchases from the store. While these different bag types serve essentially the same function, how do their environmental impacts differ? One way to measure environmental impact is by examining a bag’s entire life cycle. A product’s life cycle encompasses various stages starting with the extraction of raw materials, going through production and then use, and ending with a waste management option (e.g. landfill or recycling). Life cycle assessment is a tool to evaluate one or more impact areas of a product over its entire life cycle. In this comparison, carbon emissions are the measure of environmental impact. Several scholarly articles about life cycle assessments of plastic, paper, and reusable bags were reviewed and their findings compared. The results of this research indicate that if all bag types were used only once, then a plastic bag would have the lowest carbon emissions. However, if paper bags were reused four times and reusable bags were used at least eleven times, then they could achieve lower carbon emissions than a plastic bag. Measuring environmental impact is complicated, and looking at carbon emissions to calculate environmental impact only highlights one problem area related to effects on the environment. Looking at other impact areas, such as water pollution, might yield different results regarding which bag type has less environmental impact.

Speakers

Hannah Tuomi

Sponsors

Ed Brands

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:10pm - 3:30pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #113 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Environmental Studies

3:30pm PDT

A Hand-Me-Down Dress from Who Knows Where: Reconsidering our Relationship with Waste.

Aluminized plastics are one type of waste that cannot be efficiently recycled. They are also often used in the packaging of snack foods. Moreover, even easily recycled products such as aluminum cans and PET plastic bottles are often wasted, with only 55.1% and 31.2% of them recycled, respectively. Food waste is even less likely to be properly disposed of, with only 5.1% of food waste composted in the U.S. in 2014. I aim to bring awareness to these problems of unsustainable waste by creating an evening dress from aluminized plastic wrappers found in UMM garbage cans. While retrieving my materials, I also sort out and document other compostables and recyclables mistakenly thrown away to estimate the amount of materials that could easily be diverted from the landfill. Thus, this project is also intended to bring awareness to opportunities to increase the amount of materials recycled on campus by presenting a report of material diverted, alongside the displayed dress. This project takes the concept of fashion trashion, a class with the goal of making an outfit entirely from trash, and expands upon it. Rather than simply making a dress from any waste, I am using one of the few materials that cannot be recycled at UMM. Also, beyond just a piece of fashion, this project creates a measurable positive impact on the environment, through its diversion of waste from the landfill.

Speakers

Erin Wilaby

Sponsors

Clement Loo

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:30pm - 3:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Studio Art

3:30pm PDT

Alternative Systems of Grading: Appreciating What is Right in Front of Us

Both students and professors in college writing courses often criticize the traditional A-F grading system, claiming it not only values the end result over the learning process but also that it places too much pressure on both students and professors alike. This research project examines the merits of two alternative systems of grading said to mitigate these consequences: contract grading and pass/fail grading. My review of the literature shows that when put into practice both of these systems fall short. Contract grading prioritizes quantity over quality, basing a grade not on the argument or structure of a paper, but the amount of pages it has or the number of visits made to the writing center. Likewise pass/fail grading decreases student motivation not only in the pass/fail classroom, but in all of the classes the student is taking at that time.
Based on my review of the current literature, I argue that the standard A-F system of grading works better than contract and pass/fail grading because it is motivating, flexible, and efficient with qualitative assessment. These positive features are important because people often complain about the A-F system but rarely highlight its benefits or evaluate the alternative. The A-F system may not be the best option, but in order to create a better system of grading we need to ensure it maintains the qualities that A-F grading does well.

Speakers

Amy Lamb

Sponsors

Tisha Turk

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:30pm - 3:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #112 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English

3:30pm PDT

Blending Fact and Fiction with Continuing Conversations: The Necessity of Afterwards in Biographical Fiction for Children and Young Adults

In biographical fiction authors name protagonists after historical figures and take artistic liberties to reveal deeper political, societal, and emotional truths that may conflict with historical fact. Prior conversations on biofiction date back to 1937, but primarily focus on novels for adults. Writers Georg Lukács and Ralph Ellison find biofiction to be an “irredeemable aesthetic form” which distorts truth and believe that historical figures should be left to historians.
Biofiction for children and young adults is more ethically questionable. Young readers may be more likely to accept historical inconsistencies as fact instead of researching and considering the author's reason for them. For example, in Jane Yolen and Robert Harris’s novel Queen’s Own Fool, Mary’s jester, Jardinière, is suspected of murder and flees Edenborough. In the novel, she is taken in by John Knox even though historical records prove he was not in the city during these events. If changes are not explained, young readers could easily take them as fact, leaving them with a skewed perspective on history. However, when authors continue the conversation with readers after the novel is over, they are able to clear up many issues that arise. By analyzing afterwards and author’s notes of several biographical novels I will indicate some virtues and potential dangers of this genre for young readers. Furthermore, I will explain how continuing conversations ease concerns by keeping authors accountable for their changes, giving them more credibility, and giving the readers resources for further learning, allowing them to have a deeper understanding of the truths the author was trying to reveal.

Speakers

Zoe Blumhardt

Sponsors

Michael Lackey

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:30pm - 3:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #113 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English

3:30pm PDT

Netflix: Description and Analysis of Ideology

We are all familiar with Netflix, but by conducting a chronological and critical case study on the service utilizing media theory, historical analysis, and contemporary critical analysis of the company’s practices, this project identifies and increases understanding of the corporate ideologies (providing low-cost content of interest to a wide audience) embraced by the company and the entertainment media industry. The media theories reviewed were originally created to describe the context of cable and broadcast television, but are selectively applied to newer media distribution methods such as online internet streaming due to the differences between media forms. The findings of this project point to a trend of media organizations operating on a system of capitalism, navigating and taking advantage of popular culture and consumer desires in a cultural economy. Netflix distinguishes itself by offering the illusion of choice and consumer engagement/agency not seen in other media. In reality, Netflix provides a limited selection of blockbusters and "must-see-TV", thus being beholden to a financial economy. Netflix acts as a culture industry, producing and distributing not only a product (shows, movies, etc.), but lasting cultural impact and significance.

Speakers

Alexander Piysmshunt

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:30pm - 3:50pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #109 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, & Rhetoric, Communications, Media

3:30pm PDT

The C Squad: Lessons in Media Creation

Due to the rise of smart phones and self-publishing sites like Youtube and Vimeo, web distribution has become increasingly viable as a platform to get your content seen. Our directed study group, The C-Squad, has been working together to create a sketch-comedy web series showcasing the humor and talent of our production team. Our core group of seven students has lead this process every step of the way, from writing, to acting and filming, editing, and finally online distribution. By familiarizing ourselves with every step of the content creation process we have become knowledgeable regarding the technology of filming, editing, and audio recording. We have also learned of the amount of time and coordination that goes into creating shot lists, scouting locations, and planning times to shoot together. By discussing our process step by step and showing clips from our program, we hope to illuminate all of the behind the scenes work that goes into creating the content that surrounds us every day.

Speakers

Brennan Bassett

Allison Bean and Kelly Fischer

Jack Johnson

Annie Moore

Rob Thurston

Samuel Yuan

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:30pm - 4:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #101 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

3:50pm PDT

From Murders to Miracles: The Tale of Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral, located in present day Kent, England, has a long history of both murders and miracles. My research argues that Canterbury’s infamous history is best understood using a metaphorical comparison to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA has a unique double helix structure that intertwines and requires two strands to support the structure of the entire helix. A similar structure can be found throughout Canterbury’s history. These two strands make up the political and architectural history of Canterbury Cathedral. My presentation will discuss how the political history of the cathedral has driven the physical evolution of the building through four main phases. The first phase began when Pope Gregory erected the first version of Canterbury Cathedral in 596, with the political support of Rome. The second occurred after the Norman invasion in 1067, when William the Conqueror chose Canterbury as his center of religious power. The third was the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket and after the 1174 fire, the murder of the archbishop had a lasting impact on the cathedral and its popularity as a place of pilgrimage and miracles. The final instance was when King Henry VIII initiated the Reformation which targets Canterbury and the memory of Saint Thomas Becket. Just as DNA could not be structurally supported with a single helix, without the added context of the political history, the architectural history alone fails to provide complete understanding of the complex history of Canterbury. It is through the double helix metaphor, with both politics and architecture incorporated together, that we can fully appreciate the physical appearance of Canterbury Cathedral today.

Speakers

Abigail Huber

Sponsors

Jimmy Schryver

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:50pm - 4:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #113 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Art History

3:50pm PDT

Maternal Autonomy and Child Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Bangladesh

Access to health care is an important determinant of both short and long-term health outcomes of children. Reducing child mortality is just one of the eight Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations. Alongside child mortality, promoting gender equality and empowering women ranks third on the list. The primary objective of my research is to examine the effect of maternal autonomy in household decision-making on child health care utilization in Bangladesh. The health economics literature often describes maternal autonomy through a woman’s participation and independence in household decision-making, control over household resources, and resistance against domestic violence, and identifies it as an important determinant of a child’s access to health care. The study uses the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey data and constructs a maternal autonomy index using the survey responses of mothers on questions related to household decision making. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the paper examines the effect of maternal autonomy on four measures of child health care utilization: (1) if a child is fully immunized, and if a child has used health care services on the onsets of (2) diarrhea, (3) acute respiratory infections (ARI) and (4) fever. We believe that this paper makes an important contribution given that Bangladesh is still a patriarchal society where a father commands a greater role in the family’s decision-making, and the Millennium Development Goal of women empowerment and gender equality remains far from being achieved.

Speakers

Ashiqul Alam

Sponsors

Bibhudutta Panda

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:50pm - 4:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #109 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Economics

3:50pm PDT

Sustainable Food in Sustainable Social Media

Sustainability is of great interest to those at the University of Minnesota, Morris, and being in a farming community allows for sustainable food consumption. Though there are opportunities to practice in food sustainability locally, there is a lack of knowledge of these practices on the university campus. Our understanding of the subject and the target audience of university students has led to our belief that a strong social media presence is adequate in providing information about local food sustainability, particularly the Morris Area Farmers Market. A publicity campaign using social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram provide our target audience with eye-catching information through photos and videos of interviews of students and vendors in order to make the videos more persuasive and have more impact on the audience. We have generated and posted content for these various sites throughout the semester. We have also curated rules of thumb for efficient posts to share with the Board Chair so that the sites may continue to provide information and catch attention. The farmers market occurs mostly during the summer, when there are less students on campus, but there is overlap between the growing and school seasons, as the final farmers market takes place on the campus mall. We hope to increase the student presence at the Morris Area Farmers Market as well as the views to the social media sites, and build a better connection between the campus and community through the summer of 2017.

Speakers

Tony Beranek

Hailey Lamont

Naoki Yoshiyama

Sponsors

Barbara Burke

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:50pm - 4:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #114 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, Communications, Media, & Rhetoric

3:50pm PDT

Writing from the Inside Out: Diversity and Writing Instruction

The first year writing classroom is the stepping stone from which students embark on their journey to acquire an academic discourse, the type of specialized language used by professors and researchers. But what path should we take to enable students to use that language fluently in their own fields? Some composition studies scholars argue that students should write academically from the beginning, but others argue that while students do need academic discourse, they also need more familiar kinds of writing—like the types of writing seen in their communities in newspapers or novels, or the types that are deeply personal, like a journal. At this point, while the latter types of expressive assignments are still given, almost every college level writing instructor focuses on academic assignments. However, as students of increasingly diverse backgrounds are welcomed into higher education, I will argue that a model of writing education focused exclusively on academic discourse, the single destination of our path, doesn’t quite fit; in fact, it hasn’t ever fit the needs of all students. My research into the works of composition studies scholars combines both the history of writing instruction and professional takes on the field today to show that underprivileged groups have used expressive and non-academic writing instruction to gain power in the past, and that we can help to empower every student by increasing the use of these same tools in writing instruction in the future.

Speakers

Jacob Miller

Sponsors

Tisha Turk

Saturday April 22, 2017 3:50pm - 4:10pm PDT
John Q. Imholte Hall, Room #112 600 E 4th St., Morris MN 56267

Oral Presentation, English