HUMANITIES DAY - FULL SCHEDULE
Farnsworth Pavilion
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 | 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Welcome and opening remarks 10:05-10:10 am
Oral Presentations
Session I: Tuesday 4/9, 10:15 – 10:50 am, Farnsworth Pavilion, RMC
Lily Scholnik
Reproductive Governance in Post-Cold War Latin America / Gobernanza reproductiva en Latinoamerica después de la Guerra Fría
Reproductive governance refers to the use of laws, state programs, public opinion, and other means to control, influence, and monitor reproduction. In the Cold War era, fears of overpopulation and communism intertwined, resulting in several instances of overt reproductive control in the form of forced sterilizations and contraception in Latin America. In the post-Cold War era, global human rights conferences defined reproductive rights as human rights, and methods of control transitioned to less overt means. This work examines obstetric violence and public opinion as two such means of reproductive governance.
Mentor: Dr. Claire Branigan / SPAN 477 Literature and Post-memory in Argentina
Hannah Hoskins
A Tale of Two Cities as a French Novel
Out of all of Dickens’ 20 finished novels, A Tale of Two Cities is perhaps the most widely read, and the most un-Dickensian. This project focuses on the idea that the novel takes inspiration from its French setting in crafting a novel that falls along both French and English narrative conventions and tropes. By examining the French literature of the Victorian period, we can develop a larger understanding of why A Tale of Two Cities stands so uniquely amongst Dickens’ other works.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 410 and ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Catt Nguyen
La femme étrangère : Le refuge exotique, le reflet du désir d’un homme blanc
This presentation examines the construction of the “foreign female” by the white male gaze as a reflection of the white man’s desire, an exotic refuge from the industrializing world in the context of Western imperialism during the 19th century. Different archetypes of “the foreign woman” in the 19th century were analyzed, from the “seductress” to the “courtesan” to the “concubine”. Though they remain different from each other, they all are the manifestation of how white men fetishize non-european women under imperialism. To this day, they still demand our awareness of harmful representation, if we want to break the imperialist chains.
Mentor: Dr. Jacqueline Couti / FREN 413 Black Venus / Vénus Noire
Break, 10:45-11:00 am
Session II: Tuesday 4/9, 11:00 – 11:50 am, Farnsworth Pavilion, RMC
Lauren Huffmaster
Women and Property in Late Medieval Castile, 1300-1500
Scholarship on women's status in Medieval Spain as been hamstrung between scholars who cite the patriarchal provisions of the centralizing law, the "Siete Partidas" (pub. 1350 onwards) and those who insist on women's agency regarding their ownership, use, and transfer of property. Lauren Huffmaster cuts the knot by examining the palimpsest of legal regimes that existed in different regions of Castille before the promulgation of the "Siete Partidas". She studies surviving contracts and wills to show how propertied women cherry-picked provisions from old and new legal regimes to advance their family's position throughout the period.
Mentor(s): Dr. Maya Irish and Dr. Aysha Pollnitz / HIST 403 and 404 History Honors Thesis
Rijuta Vallishayee
Performing Identity: Opera Bans as Qing Dynasty Governance of Social Identity, 1647-1908
"Performing Identity" investigates the purposes of the Qing Dynasty's (1647-1908) censorship of opera. While scholars have typically viewed the bans as hypocritical, ineffective, and arbitrary, Rijuta Vallishayee studies proclamations, letters, and official reports to argue that the Qing were really attempting to reinforce traditional social identities. Certain forms of opera threatened conventional performances of gender, Manchu culture, and Confucian morality. The Qing were constant cultural gardeners who pruned weeds in their empire with precision.
Mentor(s): Dr. Jaymin Kim, Dr. Lisa Balabanlilar, Dr. Asyha Pollnitz and Dr. Tani Barlow / HIST 403 and 404 History Honors Thesis
Bora Göbekli
Migrant Labor, Trade Unionism, and Politics: The Case of Greek and Turkish Migrant Workers in West Germany in the 1960s and 1970s
The West German Guest Worker Program (1955-1973) facilitated the immigration of hundreds of thousand Turks and Greeks, the descendants of whom still reside in the country. This thesis evaluates the success of Unions and Labor institutions in navigating the consequences of this large-scale worker migration, many of which were unforeseen. Bora Göbekli argues that the presence of the migrants also connected the German labor market with the rest of Europe, drawing the country into close contact with the politics of the migrants’ countries of origin as well as international concerns like Germany’s role within the European Economic Community (EEC) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Mentor(s): Dr. Carl Caldwell and Dr. Aysha Pollnitz / HIST 403 and 404 History Honors Thesis
Kyra McKauffley
“Not a Practical Deterrent”: Nuclear War and the Death Drive in Dr. Strangelove
Jean-Louis Baudry argues that the unconscious expresses its desires through technological development. For instance, Baudry proposes that the unconscious desire for regression drives the development of cinematic technology, which recreates the environment of the womb. Technologies of mass destruction—like nuclear bombs—similarly express unconscious desires because the death drive arises from the desire to return to the womb. The film Dr. Strangelove illustrates nuclear warfare and the mechanized political and military apparatus that controls it as a product of the death drive, but it also demonstrates how this system conceals from consciousness the true, unconscious desire motivating its development.
Mentor/Class: ENGL 373
Break, 11:40 am -12:00 pm
Session III: Tuesday 4/9, 12:00 – 12:50 pm, Farnsworth Pavilion, RMC
Group panel: Mastering First Person (Joana Quan, Vivian Philips and Maggie Smith)
Joanna Quan
Breaking Point, Mending Hearts: An Asian American's Journey to Wholeness
Through narrative flashbacks (“glimpses”), imagery, and various forms of memorabilia, this experimental memoir captures my journey of being admitted to a psychiatric ward in 2020. In addition, it focuses on my healing journey afterward as a young Asian American woman with immigrant Chinese parents. The main themes that underlie this memoir include identity, self-love, love addiction, and the power of family therapy for Chinese families. My hope for this project is to spread awareness and add to the representation of Asian Americans struggling with mental health and the challenges that accompany the fight for peace of mind.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Vivian Philips
Examining the essay form
In my presentation I will discuss the intricacies of the essay form as a creative nonfiction medium. My body of work, a collection of humorous essays, is a compilation of works I have been crafting for the past year that combine serious stories with levity.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Maggie Smith
Clean: A Memoir
Clean: A Memoir is the story of how my upbringing in a legalistic Evangelical Christian community gave me an obsession with remaining “clean” of everything that could be considered immoral, from sex and drugs, to intrusive thoughts and racism. It is sectioned into three parts: “Mind” explores the most internal manifestations of the obsession within my head; “Body” reveals how the obsession came into play physically in my interactions with my body and immediate interpersonal relationships, and “World” examines the impacts on my engagement with larger fields like academia, social media, and activism. My research has included analyzing dozens of memoirs, essays, and articles about how troubled religious upbringings can affect neurology and cause obsession with morality, and what life looks like afterward.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Daniela Bonscher
Freedom Families on the Mexican Border: Texas Slavery and the Underground Railroad
Many are familiar with the powerfully significant northern Underground Railroad; there were also southern routes from Texas to Mexico that have received less scholarly attention. Turning our attention southward, one can examine the impact of Texas’ relationship with slavery and location on the Mexican border upon the lives of enslaved and freed people during the U.S. Civil War era. Enslaved people moved both ways along this southbound Underground Railroad, frequently traversing national borders. Their movements and maintenance of their family units demonstrates a utilization of their opportunities to eventually settle and build lives for their future generations in freedom.
Mentor: Dr. Fay Yarbrough
Break, 12:40-1:00 pm
Session IV: Tuesday 4/9. 1:00 – 1:30 pm, Farnsworth Pavilion, RMC
Sowmya Viswanathan, Maegan Aljure
Gynecological Abuses in the Latiné Community
This project focuses on advocating for the bodily autonomy of Latina women to prevent modern gynecological abuses. We will study the forced sterilization of Latina women, the neglect of reproductive healthcare needs of Latina women in detention centers, as well as the lack of informed consent and unnecessary medical procedures experienced by Latina women. Additionally, we will examine the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, immigration status, and socioeconomic factors that exacerbate vulnerabilities to gynecological abuses within the Latiné community. Last but not least, we will investigate the role of healthcare providers, community organizations, and policymakers in addressing and stopping these abuses.
Mentor(s): Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Jaquelyne Bardales
La historia de las prácticas de parto en México / The history of birth practices in Mexico
The medicalization of childbirth in Mexico has led to an excessive use of tests and an increase in cesarean deliveries. This is concerning as cesareans can have harmful consequences for both the mother and the baby. To address this issue, the Mexican Ministry of Health is encouraging doctors to work closely with traditional midwives, combining Western medicine with traditional beliefs. This approach aims to increase the autonomy of mothers during the birthing process. Mexican childbirth practices are influenced by a variety of indigenous, European, and African cultures. In this presentation, I share some of the traditional birth practices in Mexico. Presentation in Spanish
Mentor: Dr. Claire Branigan / SPAN 477 Maternal and Reproductive Health
Sydney Coldren
The Emergence of a Biomedical Understanding of Nutrition in Bolivia
This project maps the emergence of a biomedical understanding of nutrition in Bolivia, elucidating the impacts of conceptualizing nourishment as a science. In the 1950s, hunger was ontologically reconstructed as malnutrition, placed under the purview of Western scientists and NGOs. Instead of addressing the root causes of unequal access to food, these organizations focused on providing "better” calories, engendering dependency. In this research, I examine how the quantification of nutrition sidelines local knowledge and rewrites the cultural meaning of food as a deficit, an approach that continues to animate the geographies of power in food aid today.
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Concluding Remarks, 1:30 pm
Thanks and Encourage Audience to engage with Poster Presenters for another half hour in the Grand Hall.
Grand Hall, Tuesday 4/9 10 am – 2 pm
10:00- 11:15 Poster Sessions and Art on View
Art Viewing, Grand Hall, RMC
Session I: Tuesday 4/9 10:00 – 11:00 am
Session II: Tuesday 4/9, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Eric Chen
Harmonious Transmutation
My artwork combines charcoal and pen with surrealism to emphasize themes of juxtaposition and metamorphosis. These two mediums contain the energetic, rapid, and high-contrast mark-making crucial to my artistic investigation. My evolving process enables me to explore the intersections between the mysterious and the grotesque. The change of one form to another and the bizarre contrast between objects like melting shapes and solids have long fascinated me. My influences include Dalí's dreamscapes, Oppenheim's usage of striking contrast, De Chirico's mysterious, stretching horizons, and more. Ultimately, I aspire to discover my personal Surrealist interpretation. I could add onto an overlooked body of work like the spiritual surrealist art of Leonora Carrington or combine multiple Surrealist techniques — as found in my transformation of a melting bone — to make something highly original and captivating, and maybe even one addressing contemporary issues while incorporating newer, non-traditional mediums and working on larger scales.
Mentor: Professor Will Fowler / ARTS 225 Beginning Drawing
Tessa Domsky
Young Femininity
This collection examines the phenomenon of Girlhood and its connection to: gothic literature and the evolution of tuberculosis aesthetics via consumptive beauty in the digital age; the image of Woman and the uncanny; the use of textile as reference to the historic place of women in the home; and pain as an avenue for decoration. I reference the bounty of content online and its similarities to the gothic trope of the woman made beautiful by death. I expose the sentencing of generations upon generations of women to the domestic sphere, which has birthed the spirit of the home as woman. I peel back the layers of my figures and expose the open wounded truth of inevitable, violent femininity. This simultaneous masquerade and rejection of womanhood and the body is a neglected aspect of the tween girl experience, the duality of hand-me-down innocence and its underbelly of sexuality and pain.
Mentor: Professor John Sparagana
Ellie Mandelker
Remembering Houston Hadassah
Inspired by my work as an intern at the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives in Fondren, and the newspapers we can not preserve at the archive, I created this collage. While archiving the Houston Hadassah Collection, I found it difficult to discard the newspapers once I photocopied and filed them. With approval from Woodson, I began collecting the newspapers after they were properly filed. I became enamored with the stories of these female Jewish leaders and began drawing them to further understand their stories. At the center of this piece is my multicolored lithograph depiction, surrounded by newspapers from the Hadassah collection and my ink drawings on vellum.
Mentor: Patrick Masterson / ARTS 312 Relif I
Poster Sessions
Session I: Tuesday 4/9, 10:00 – 10:30 am
Rita Ajit
The Enduring Authoritarian Regime of Hun Sen in Cambodia
This project examines the failures of Cambodian democracy from its conception in 1993 to the present day. In order to understand the legacy of the former prime minister, we investigate how Hun Sen eroded a fundamentally weak democracy by taking advantage of the very conditions which destabilized its conception. By strategically leveraging the weaknesses of historical trauma, disorganized civil society, and foreign donor dependency, he was able to eliminate regulation, control information, and consolidate power through authoritarian rule. The primary and secondary sources that we utilized demonstrate that the Cambodian People's Party was able to eliminate virtually all political opposition. The legacy of these 38 years of continuous rule by Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party has eroded the chance for democracy to prevail in the face of immense autocratic challenges in Cambodia.
Mentor: Dr. Carl Caldwell / PLST 315: Authoritarian Constitutionalism
Natasha Faruqui
HOPE and Inclusion: Expanding Definitions of Culturally Competent Care for Afghan Immigrant Women
Immigration as a process can be traumatic and is often accompanied by difficult feelings of loneliness, stress, and homesickness. Immigrant women often face poor mental and physical health outcomes that require more comprehensive study. This research project illustrates how HOPE Clinic’s Afghan female OB patients’ pregnancies were contextualized by their immigration experience to America. The goal of studying these women’s stories was to improve the patient-provider communication at HOPE Clinic, particularly concerning immigrant Afghan women. This study both publicizes these women’s unique experiences and reveals how sociocultural factors are affecting immigrant Afghan mothers in particular ways, potentially impacting their pregnancy and healthcare.
Mentor/Class: SWGS 494
Josie Feeney
Maternal malnutrition in Colombia/ La desnutrición materna en Colombia
Mentor/Class : SPAN 477 Special Topics
Abhi Jain and Sriya Kakarla
Assessing the Accessibility of Telehealth Initiatives on Minority Communities within Oncology Centers
This study aims to assess the accessibility and reach of telehealth campaigns targeted at minority patient populations within oncology institutions. With the rapid expansion of telehealth services driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, determining the usability of digital health interventions by minority communities, historically facing significant healthcare disparities, is necessary. This research employs a qualitative approach, comparatively analyzing the verbiage of campaigns from oncology centers themselves while also incorporating existing literature on the topic for a comprehensive analysis. The findings of this project underscore the need for tailored telehealth services within cancer-care institutions to ensure equitable access for minority patient populations.
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Catherine Cook
Palestinian Citrus Grove Labor as a Nationalist Movement
By the early 20th century, up to 38 million oranges were being exported from Palestine annually, with the center of production based in Jaffa. This was seen as a lucrative investment and attracted Zionist entrepreneurs hoping to establish “Hebrew labor” (meaning Jewish-only) plantations. However, many of these Hebrew groves actively employed Arab workers because of their local farming knowledge. This poster examines how colonial labor relations within citrus groves in mandatory Palestine reflected feelings of Palestinian nationalism.
Mentor: Dr. Abdel Razzaq Takriti / HIST 112 Modern Palestinian History
Session II: Tuesday 4/9, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Alysa Bijl-Spiro
We Are What We Read: An Exploration of High School Literature Curriculums
My research investigates the role of literary education in the social-emotional development of young adults. After completing a literature review, I surveyed Rice students asking them to identify and discuss the books they read during their senior year of high school and generated a list of over 100 books. I then identified the most popular books and analyzed trends among authors and their countries of origin. My research resulted in two primary conclusions: (1) the traditional Anglo literary canon continues to dominate high school classrooms and (2) students typically found non-traditional texts from diverse authors or nations more engaging.
Mentor: Dr. Margarita Castromán Soto
Bryson Jun
KATCOMS (Korean Augmentation to the British Commonwealth) during the Korean War
In this essay, I will explore the experiences of the Korean Augmentation to the British Commonwealth (KATCOMs) within the broader context of the Commonwealth’s participation in the Korean War and the decolonization of the British Empire. I examine correspondence letters exchanged between various
member nations of the Commonwealth, newspaper and magazine articles published during the Korean War, unit diaries, as well as memoirs and oral histories by Commonwealth veterans. These sources shed light on both the upper and ground-level understandings of the KATCOMs. These two levels of analysis are not entirely distinct as upper-level decisions shaped and legitimated ground-level interactions. However, there were also varied ground-level interactions among soldiers that could contradict upper-level decision-making and evaluations of the KATCOM. Beginning with a brief overview of the Commonwealth’s participation in the Korean War, I will discuss the establishment and management of the KATCOM program, Commonwealth media portrayals of the KATCOMs, and the ground-level interactions between KATCOMs and Commonwealth soldiers.
Mentor / Class: ASIA 495
Nelson Mills
Oppression or Acceptance, Machismo Remains: A Comparative Analysis of Queer Representation in Cuban Literature & Film
Through a comparative, historical lens, this presentation explores portrayals of queer men in Cuban literature and film. Critical analysis of works by Juan Francisco Manzano, Alfonso Hernández-Catá, Reinaldo Arenas, and Enrique Pineda Barnet reveals the omnipresent role of machismo in governing same-sex relationships. By placing these works in their historical contexts, this presentation argues that, regardless of time period and political landscape, Cuban authors and filmmakers tell a similar story in which, despite the characters’ best efforts, escaping hypermasculinity ultimately proves to be an unattainable goal. This presentation also seeks to publicize a more nuanced representation of LGBTQ+ rights in Cuba by providing translations and analyses of Cuban works that are currently only available in Spanish. Bringing attention to these works ultimately combats the current government’s carefully constructed public image of queer acceptance and reveals the key role machismo continues to play in contemporary Cuba.
Mentor / Class: SPAN 392 Trends in Cuban Culture
Elisabeth Millington
Healthcare Disparities Between Rural and Urban Communities Regarding Latino Migrant Workers
There is a significant disparity in the United States between urban and rural areas with access to healthcare. Lack of resources, closures, and mileage from homes to hospitals contribute to the disparity. There are many Latino migrant farmworkers located in rural areas. Farm jobs are at a high risk for occupational hazards that may result in serious injury and/or cancer. The lack of adequate healthcare in a nearby vicinity is very dangerous for these workers, as proximity to a hospital can be the difference between life and death. My goal is to write a research paper that analyzes the barriers rural communities face when attempting to access adequate healthcare, and the resulting consequences on migrant Latino farmworkers, using statistics on health issues in said communities and personal testimonies from healthcare workers in rural communities.
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Session III: Tuesday 4/9, 12:30 – 1:00 pm
James Belanger
French Picture Books and Effects on Preliminary Racial, Societal, and Exclusionary Beliefs
This study examines racial and societal themes in 25 contemporary French children’s picture books. It reveals that while inclusion is promoted, subtle xenophobic biases persist. Graphical analysis shows varied representation of characters, often highlighting cultural stereotypes. Despite a trend towards acceptance, the prevalence of exclusionary narratives suggests a dichotomy between French universalism and multicultural realities. The findings emphasize the importance of nuanced children’s literature in shaping inclusive attitudes early on.
Mentor : Dr. Julie Fette / FREN 320 French Children’s Literature
Daniela Covarrubias and Karen Marquez
Echale Ganas
Limited research exists for first-generation doctors as their experiences and difficulties are rarely recorded. From the few studies conducted, common themes emerge from the stories of first-generation doctors. The themes include isolation, limited resources, and resilience (Havemann et al. 2023). To raise awareness of the gaps between 12.4% of first-generation doctors and the remaining 87.6% of doctors, our artwork hopes to display the magnitude of emotions first-generation doctors may experience (Balch 2022).
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Tiffany Doan
The Ignored -- A Plea for a Home and Acceptance
The treatment of homeless people in the US provides a poignant perspective, pointing to the country's lack of infrastructure for citizens from low-economic situations. However, this issue also stems from negative stereotypes that perpetuates a cycle of drug abuse and poverty in the homeless community. Using literary analyses, this research aims to better understand the country's poor attitude towards the homeless community, the disparities within the community, and possible solutions for the affected to reenter society. I also hope to speak on my personal experiences, both abroad and domestically, regarding homelessness.
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Session IV: Tuesday 4/9, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
Kendall Lyman
Julian Huxley at Rice
This project investigates the history of Julian Huxley at Rice. Invited by Edgar Odell Lovett in 1912 to jumpstart the Rice Institute’s Biology Department, Huxley excitedly accepted the opportunity. Though his time at Rice was short-lived, returning to Europe in 1916 to participate in World War I, his effect on the Institute and Houston was great. From engaging in a series of popular yet controversial public lectures to working to develop the core of the biology degree, Huxley’s impact was immense. Therefore, with the Woodson Research Center, I am working to establish a narrative of Huxley’s years at Rice.
Mentor(s): Archivist Rebecca Russell and Dr. Luis Campos
Jena Manning
Deconstruyendo el fútbol machista en América Latina para incluir a las Mujeres
Aunque históricamente el machismo ha promovido el fútbol como un deporte patriarcal violento en América Latina, ha habido avances recientes en el disfrute del deporte por parte de las mujeres.
Mentor : Dr. Claire Branigan
Josie Feeney
Maternal malnutrition in Colombia/ La desnutrición materna en Colombia
Mentor / Class : SPAN 477 Special Topics
Daniela Covarrubias and Karen Marquez
Echale Ganas
Limited research exists for first-generation doctors as their experiences and difficulties are rarely recorded. From the few studies conducted, common themes emerge from the stories of first-generation doctors. The themes include isolation, limited resources, and resilience (Havemann et al. 2023). To raise awareness of the gaps between 12.4% of first-generation doctors and the remaining 87.6% of doctors, our artwork hopes to display the magnitude of emotions first-generation doctors may experience (Balch 2022).
Mentor: Dr. Luziris Pineda Turi / SPAN 333 Latine Healthcare Issues
Oral Presentations
Opening Remarks, 11:15 – 11:20 am
Session I: Tuesday 4/9, 11:20 – 11:50 am
Mariella Gonzalez Molina
Ima Hogg as a Collector: What did it mean to bring "American decorative art" to Texas?
Molina argues that Ima Hogg's activity as a collector at Bayou Bend should be contextualized in the twentieth-century US museum movement, which sought to portray the development of the "American style" in various cultural genres. In this case, Molina claims that Hogg's correspondence shows her collaborating and competed with the creators and curators of east-coast house museums. She took their work as models for her own attempts to bring "American decorative art" to Texas. Nevertheless, the part of the collection that Hogg herself established shows that this pedagogical impulse was often in tension with Ms. Hogg's sense of aesthetics.
Mentor: Dr. Aysha Pollnitz
Group panel: Tropes, Literature, Technology (Huijun Mao and Scott Roche)
Scott Roche
You Can’t Play the Blues in Cyberspace
Technology is not a metaphor; it is material. Though abstractions that strip away variant details to expose the fundamental, invariant essence of the machine can be helpful, it is too easy to lose sight of what a technology is and more importantly how one works. One must be careful in deconstructing and discarding details of implementation. They don’t forget that protocols, procedures, and algorithms are not incidental, they are everything. Our social, culture, and economic life today is almost entirely mediated by networking technology. Generative artificial intelligence looms just as large in the world of tomorrow. My essay ties together the historical shift to networking society to the shift to come as our day-to-day becomes increasingly mediated by generative technology through a close examination of the systems themselves, the protocols and algorithms that encode new values and reinforce old biases.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 410 and 411 Reseach Workshop
Huijun Mao
A Quantitative Examination of Time and Space in Modernist Literature
Imagine reading hundreds of text files or literature work in a fraction of a second and extracting meaningful patterns from them. Text analysis opens the door to such possibilities. Join Huijun as he shares his experience in computational humanities research, delving into the intricacies of navigating computational resources, making decisions, and forming interpretations of data. By introducing a variety of text analysis tools, ranging from readily available software to programming in Python, Huijun will show how computational methods can quantify humanities/cultural questions and how humanists still hold the central position throughout the process.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 410 and 411 Research Workshop
Break 11:50 am - 12:00 pm
Session II: Tuesday 4/9, 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Group panel: The Literary Form: Poems, Plays, & Playlists (Hadley Medlock, Gabby Franklin, Ariana Wang)
Hadley Medlock
Love Notes
"Love Notes" is a collection of poetry and prose that asks both author and reader what it really means to love and how we express it through words. The collection is comprised of seven sections, each exploring a type of love as it was categorized in the ancient Greek language — everything from familial to romantic to platonic and even self-love. The pieces explore what love means through sibling relationships, long-term romances, breakups, and loving places, things, & your own self. Above all, though, this project hopes to be a vault of words and feelings — what did it mean for me to write about love in 2024 and how will that inform the future?
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Gabby Franklin
Pandora
Pandora is a modern adaptation of Pandora's Jar as a college decision story that examines how external powers, like family history, financial circumstances, and school situations, factor into the decision to pursue higher education and opportunity. This play follows Pandora’s journey to open the jar containing her college admission letters. To find her motivation, Pandora explores the stories of her family and friends assisted and hampered by her internal chorus. Though at the end of the play, Pandora opens her jar and makes her college decision, she does not find an answer to the uncertainties surrounding the future.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Ariana Wang
Parking in Another Lot
"Parking in Another Lot" is an album that delves into my emotional journey of letting go of past relationships, reshaping my understanding of my sexuality, and embracing the possibility of finding love again. I aimed to explore how to blend stylistic elements from personal memoirs about the queer and Asian-American experience into indie songwriting while maintaining the authenticity of the craft. The project encompasses ten two to four minute length songs carefully ordered to narrate the journey from beginning to end: starting with the transition to a new city, navigating the anguish of a heart-wrenching breakup, confronting generational traumas, and yearning for the promise of an ideal relationship.
Mentor(s): Dr. Sarah Ellenzweig, Dr. Alden Sajor Marte-Wood and Professor Tomas Morin / ENGL 411 Research Workshop
Meghna Yennu
The Truth is Not the "Truth": When social realities become scientific laws
It is not needed to go far from the opening of Emile Zola's Thérèse Raquin to understand the author's intention for the story; he explicitly states that the goal for this novel is "scientific", above all else. What exactly does Zola mean when he writes "scientific"? When does the expectations of society become the "truth" that was imposed onto the material world of Thérèse Raquin, and what does this tell us about how scientific thought is treated today? In Thérèse Raquin, we have a novel that is presented as scientific study, but how does our understanding of the "truth" in science today shift, if we were to examine scientific studies as novelistic?
Mentor / Class: FREN 414
Brandon Fantine, Mana Vale
Subaltern Escape: Exploring Parallel Experiences of State Control and Surveillance Among the Palestinians and Uyghurs
Digitality has become a dominant medium for state control; a tool capable of restructuring the very lives of marginalized subjects. Its interaction with the Global South has redefined not only territorial and political claims, but what it means to be human. Our research examines digitality in both the Uyghur and Palestinian contexts through a Deleuzean lens. The surveillance of these groups have constructed techno perceptual assemblages, altering the ways in which neoliberal logics and colonialism operate. Ultimately, this reshaping of subaltern experience has led to a revolution - a possible reterritorialization of land, capital, and state through strategies of escape. Drawing a comparison between the two, our research seeks to illustrate the relationship between technology and control such that we can better understand the past, present, and future of these conflicts.
Mentor: Dr. Kamala Visweswaran / ASIA 357 Algorithmic Cultures in Asia