Abstracts of the conference presentations (some include the paper or Powerpoint)
Browse the 2016 Conference Presentations Collections
Les Châteaux de France04/29/2016There are many beautiful castles and châteaux throughout France, some privately owned and others open to the public. This presentation looks at various aspects of five of these grand châteaux and gives a very brief history of each one. All of the châteaux that are discussed are located either within the Loire Valley or closer to Paris. They are the Château de Monte Cristo, the Château de Chenonceau, the Château de Valençay, the Château de Chambord, and the Château de Fontainebleau. Although the presentation is completely in French, there are pictures on every slide that help demonstrate the exact details which are covered in the PowerPoint. |
Infidel Women: Examining the Role of Atheist Feminism in the Late Nineteenth- Century American Women’s Rights Movement04/29/2016Religion was a major factor in nineteenth-century American life that also served to reinforce women’s inferior status to men. In this paper, I examine the role of both atheist feminism and Christian feminism in the late nineteenth-century American women’s rights movement, and argue that atheist feminism had a greater influence on the advancement of women’s rights in the years following the Civil War. Though there were a variety of organized religions in America throughout the nineteenth-century, for the sake of this paper I focus strictly on Christianity, as it was the dominant religion at the time. The atheist feminist perspective cited Christianity as the primary source of female oppression and inequality. Atheist feminists argued that the disbelief in Christianity and its teachings was necessary for women to escape their inferior status imposed upon them by Christian orthodoxy. The opposition to the atheist feminist perspective was Christian feminism. Christian feminists supported the teachings of the Bible, and argued that Christianity promoted women’s equality. Atheist feminism has been largely excluded from the history of the women’s rights movement, and many historians cite Christian feminism as the most significant sect of feminism within the movement. However, many of the most important figures in the women’s rights movement advocated irreligious stances toward women’s rights and the history of the women’s rights movement deserves an analysis of the important, yet often overlooked role of atheist feminism in the late nineteenth-century women’s rights movement. The recognition of religion as a force behind the women’s rights movement has brought with it the need to recognize the contribution of irreligion to the women’s rights movement, particularly the role of atheist feminism. |
Gordon Type Nonlinear Equations on Time-space Scale04/29/2016Sine-Gordon Equation was originally introduced by Edmond Bour (1862) in the course of study of surfaces. This equation attracted a lot of attention in the 1970s due to the presence of soliton solutions. In this presentation, Gordon type nonlinear equations are deducted from the well-known Lax Equations using the AKNS (Ablowitz, Kaup, Newell, Segur) method. Further, solutions of these equations are provided with wave visualization using Mathematica. |
Gender in Islam: Negotiating Advocacy04/29/2016When Islam is discussed in contemporary discourse, lurking in the background of every discussion is the question of gender. In discussions of gender, the interplay of religion, and specifically Muslim women, is often kept in the margins. This presentation examines the implications of gender in Islam with a specific focus on domestic violence, veiling, and education. Understanding gender as both a lens through which to evaluate the world and as a means of structuring power, the research explores the context and history, the modern manifestation of these concerns, and current resistance and advocacy for change from within Islam. This is a critical inquiry of a variety of sources, including historical analyses, memoirs of Muslim women and girls, spoken testimony of religious leaders, and film. The presentation seeks to identify methods of alleviating the problems from the interaction of religion and gender within a Muslim, non-Western framework. |
Frauenroman, The Feminine Mystique, and Fannie Flagg: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café as Modern(ish) Feminist Literature04/29/2016In Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café it is possible to discuss the characters through the scope of 2nd and 3rd wave feminism. By analyzing characters and applying key concepts and writings that these movements heralded respectively, (such as Betty Friedan’s 1963 work The Feminine Mystique et. al.), we are able to provide context for behaviors present in the book and gain a sense of the feminist tone that Flagg’s work conveys. Through character analysis, observation of parallel sociological frameworks at play within the book itself, and comparisons to other feminist and proto-feminist authors and their works (Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Zora Neale Hurston, etc.), it is immediately apparent that Flagg’s work is not merely a piece of fiction, but is, in fact a positive representation of modern day feminism, and a welcome addition to the literary canon as such. |
Flow: Abstracting Mundane Environments04/29/2016Every day we encounter environments that are ordinary and unassuming. In my artwork I highlight the mundane environments of my own life in order to bring focus to less celebrated interior and exterior spaces. I question the influence of our daily surroundings on our development as individuals and my artwork attempts to capture my meditation on this matter. Undulating forms and intense colors dominate my oil paintings. Psychology and philosophy heavily influence my work and are the framework for my paintings. In my oral presentation I will address my central sources for inspiration, the formal elements of my work, my working process, and the possible direction for my artwork in the future. |
Fictional Witches throughout Time04/29/2016Belief in the existence of witches has been a prominent part of Western culture for millennia; stereotypes about witches still exist in twenty-first-century America as witches star in books, television series, and movies. Over time, witches have lost their potency as a supernatural threat and been relegated to the benign realm of imagination. We will analyze ten witches from past periods – the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Gothic, and Romantic eras – additionally from modern culture – Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), Hermione from Harry Potter (1997-2007) and Elsa from Frozen (2013) – to understand the transformation the stereotype of the witch has undergone. This analysis will suggest why witches possess certain attributes in modern culture and why such attributes are significant to understanding the portrayal of witches. This research is significant because stereotypes about witches influence children and social norms. |
Feral Cat Management04/29/2016Domestic cats are the most popular pet in the United States. Many cats are kept outside or are released to roam free. These outdoor cats function as top predators and recent estimates suggest free-ranging cats kill >1 billion birds and 6.5 billion mammals annually. Some people have taken it upon themselves to care for these feral cats, feeding them and providing shelter. With new cats immigrating into these colonies, there is no accurate way to track the number of individuals and devise a plan to properly control populations. Our goal is to identify feral cat colonies and quantify the number of individuals moving into and out of the colony and track cat home-ranges. This information will help us understand the size of the colonies, the number of individuals moving into and out of the colony, and their impacts on the habitats these cats occupy. |
Exposure: Shining a Light on Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia04/29/2016Human trafficking is a booming modern-day slave trade that has ensnared the lives of millions of children, women, and men in major cities and towns across Southeast Asia. This presentation is a result of research compiled on human trafficking activity in the countries of Cambodia and India during an independent honors investigation course with Dr. Leslie Heaphy. The presentation describes the day-to-day lives of those caught in the slave trade in Southeast Asia, discusses the long-term emotional, physical, and mental consequences endured by human trafficking victims, and identifies the actions of human rights organizations that are working to alleviate human trafficking around the globe. The presentation will conclude with suggestions audience members can follow in order to help combat human trafficking both locally and globally. |
Exhibit: Journey Through Stark County's Past04/29/2016The Bicentennial of Stark County sparked interest in doing a public history project. Paul Bradley, Michael Archer, Chris Martau, Heather White, and Dani Sprout came together to create an exhibit that covered aspects of Stark County history. The exhibit covers these topics: Robert Pinn of the civil war, Hoover, War children of WWII, Meyers Lake Amusement Park and Moonlight Ballroom, and The Canton Bulldogs and Football Hall of Fame. Each researcher took their topic and broke down the history to be able to put the exhibit together with artifacts from museums and personal collections, photos, and timelines. Through research, the group explored the various aspects of Stark County history, focusing on the events and individuals that shaped the area. Though the topics are vastly different, one common thread brought them together: their importance to Stark County as a whole. The reason why each topic was chosen was for their importance to the area. Meyers Lake brought economy and activity to Stark, Hoover brought industry and had a hand in bringing the children to North Canton to protect them from the horrors of war, the Canton Bulldogs brought sport and leisure and the hall of fame brought travelers and history, and Medal of Honor recipient Robert Pinn shows a patriotic nature. It is the hope of the presenters that this exhibit will inspire citizens of Stark County to explore the history that is around them. |