2020 Student Symposium Projects

Kayla Adolph ’20, Dustin Braden ’20, Meg Edwards ’22, Genaro Garcia ’20, Ayla Macomber ’21, and Celeste Wallick ’20
Faculty Mentor: John Krygier
As the concept of sustainability grows in importance, so does the need for tangible, applied efforts to realize sustainability as a daily practice for individuals and organizations. The ENVS 399: Sustainability Practicum puts sustainability principles into practice on the OWU campus and in Delaware, Ohio.

Maria Alonso ’20
Faculty Mentor: Glenda Nieto Cuebas
In this research project – developed for my Spanish 491 Directed Reading focused on Women and Power in Early Modern Spain – I aim to uncover the enigma behind Joanna of Castile’s mental state.

Isabelle Ammendola ’21, Matthew Gandee ’22, Chevy Kelly ’21, Meredith Richters ’22, Ethan Soderna ’21, and Adrienne Wentling ’22
Faculty Mentor: Mary Anne Lewis Cusato
“Liberté, captivité, en français” (“Liberty, Captivity, in French”) is the title of Dr. Lewis Cusato’s upper level course in French that explores the themes of liberty and captivity in the 20th and 21st centuries through the analysis of literary texts, films, and critical texts in French representing the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), West Africa, and other francophone regions. Working with these texts in a close and critical way, students spent the semester sharpening and deepening the way they understand these notions, these regions, and these expressions, whether aesthetic or critical.

Catie Babbs ’21
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Greiman
Current progress of the reintroduction of Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) into the North Cascades of Washington has been hindered due to an unknown pathogen. The culprit was eventually determined to be a bacterial pathogen transmitted by a parasitic worm, i.e., Neorickettsia SF agent.

Keionna Badie ’20, Tiffany Moore ’20 and Paris Norman ’20
Faculty Mentor: Randolph Quaye
Our project provides pictures, videos, and personal anecdotes to describe our experience as African Americans visiting Africa for the first time. Our initial motivation for visiting Ghana was to conduct research on Pan-Africanism, but we witnessed and experienced its positive legacy ourselves in several ways. We share our experience not only as curious students but as African Americans who have experienced blackness in a new way.

Abby Bowman ’20 and Emily Sheridan ’21
Faculty Mentor: Christopher Fink
Despite a large body of research, public health interventions, and ever-increasing program funding, the U.S. continues to experience high levels of diet- and lifestyle-related chronic disease (CDC, 2018). The U.S. spends nearly $10,000 on healthcare, while lagging behind countries like Italy—which spends 1/3 of this—in health, longevity and quality of life. A better understanding of the sociocultural context within which preventative health behaviors operate in a country like Italy is key to developing effective action to improve health and quality of life in the U.S.

Landry Cowles ’20 and Gretchen Weaver ’20
Faculty Mentor: Eva Paris-Huesca
A major determinant of healthcare efficacy is interactive responsiveness of the population and the healthcare system. Patient-provider language competency is a contributing factor to patient health literacy competency. We hypothesize differences between health literacy competency are dependent upon language competency and cultural impact.

Amanda Hays ’20
Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Merkel
In Summer of 2019, I received a Theory-to Practice Grant to go to St. Petersburg, Russia, from June 21 to July 27. The purpose of the grant was to complete an internship at the Hermitage State Museum (the second largest art museum in the world), take Russian language classes, and perform some research assistance for Dr. Merkel (Associate Professor of English).

Amanda Hays ’20
Faculty Mentor: Mark Gingerich
For my Senior Thesis in History, I completed a two-semester honors project that incorporated some of my personal interests. Over the course of the school year, I developed a research paper that took an in-depth look at the relationship between Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi.

Paige Hunter ’21
Faculty Mentor: Sarah Kaka
It has been found that knowing multiple languages benefits the learning process by increasing the development of executive function. Additionally, being multilingual affects the density of grey matter in the brain. The synthesis then explores the data comparing the number of students who are studying a foreign language in Europe and in the United States. The possible reasons for the disparity are explored and the education options that are offered in the United States are examined with respect to their accessibility and effectiveness. These options consist of immersion programs, blended learning programs, and traditional classroom instruction. 

Wyatt L. McQueen ’22 and Princeton L. Vaughn ’22
Faculty Mentor: Eric Gangloff
Multiple factors influence an organism’s performance in a given environment, including morphology and physiology. These factors have been well studied on their own, but it is not clear how they interact to influence performance. In this project, we will examine morphological and physiological factors and determine their influence on performance.

Tiffany Moore ’20
Faculty Mentor: Kyle McDaniel
This project uses cinematography to show what downtown Powell looked like around the 1800s in comparison to now.

Anthony Padget-Gettys ’20
Faculty Mentor: Mark Allison
Tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs) exist in many forms, the most famous of which is Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Both a game and a storytelling form combined, TRPGs have been around for decades and have recently seen a renaissance in popularity. Despite this renewed popularity, and long-lasting status, the form has received little academic recognition. Thus, in this project, I have taken to proving that the TRPG is a unique narrative form, and one deserving of more scholarly attention, by highlighting and exploring the form's distinct elements.

Ciara Pettit ’23 and Sierra Spears ’22
Faculty Mentor: Eric Gangloff
Ectothermic organisms depend entirely on the surrounding environment in order to maintain thermal balance. To uncover the mechanisms and driving forces behind lizard thermoregulation, we must first understand how environmental temperatures affect lizards, and how they accordingly respond. In this project, we address questions about the role of humidity and moisture levels in lizard thermoregulation and the impact of the surrounding environment on lizard activity levels.

Madeleine Rea ’20
Faculty Mentor: Nathan Rowley
This project utilizes satellite imaging data to explore the effects of red algae on glacier melt rates of The Harding Ice Field.

Erin Ross ’21 and Jacey Scheffel ’21
Faculty Mentor: Kyle McDaniel
As Communication majors, we recognize and value the role that media production and documentation have in spreading awareness of important issues, such as the sustainability of our waterways. In the fall of 2019, Delaware County hosted its annual Olentangy River Clean Up and we teamed up to document the event.

Megan Sievers ’20
Faculty Mentor: Andrew Busch
The purpose of this research was to provide further empirical evidence clarifying the role of multiple variables in the development of shin splints.

Kara Smith ’20
Faculty Mentor: Shala Hankison
My behavioral observation study focused on the Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo, and how crouching behavior may be an intention movement for jumping.

My Ta ’21
Faculty Mentor: Kyle McDaniel
Since the 19th century, “Alice in Wonderland” has been embedded in many children’s memories. The story is part fairy tale, but there is always room for creativity and customization, as it also includes sarcastic images of villains, peculiar and unique illustrations of animals and creatures, and the world of impossibilities. For that reason, there are thousands of book illustrations of “Alice in Wonderland” by different illustrators with different aesthetic styles.

Alexis Thomas ’20
The Apostle Paul was a persecutor of Christians initially, until he encountered Jesus Christ on his road to Damascus and became the Apostle Paul. Paul dedicated the rest of his life to being a follower of Jesus, preaching the gospel, and gaining souls for Christ. The Apostle Paul took three major journeys during his crusade for Christ. During my time in Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece, I studied a portion of his third journey in Eastern Greece. 

Kaitlynn Welch ’20
Faculty Mentor:Stefania Bertolini-Puckett
Professor Stefania Bertolini-Puckett and I created an interdisciplinary project that combined the English and Modern Foreign Language departments for a Theory-to-Practice Grant. Our TPG achieved obtaining new experiences abroad, practicing the Italian language, and constructing translations for the benefit of comic and graphic novel fans around the globe.