Original Research

Cecilia Von Mann, "The Great Epidemic of 1853—the Untold Battle of Mobile and the Saffron Knight"

My project, The Great Epidemic of 1853—the Untold Battle of Mobile and the Saffron Knight, looks into the deadly Yellow Fever outbreak in Mobile during 1853. Through working in the archives of the Burke Library, I was able to discover information about the Great Epidemic of 1853 not only in Mobile but also through the lens of Spring Hill College. The college and the Spring Hill area was believed to be safe from the horrible disease that plagued Mobile and much of the South. However, the Saffron Knight marched through Spring Hill College causing the school to cancel exams early and killing one Jesuit. After delving into the Vice President of SHC’s diaries, letters from Fr. Gautrelet S.J., and the school’s prospectus, I am able to show the story of Spring Hill and Yellow Fever and how the school fits into the larger picture of Yellow Fever epidemics in the South. Although my research covers a great deal of information on the disease, the impacts on Southern public health, and a comparison between the effects of the epidemic on New Orleans and Mobile, my URS presentation will focus in on the most fascinating part and my own archival research on the story of Spring Hill College in the Great Epidemic of 1853.

Lauren Cowan, "End Mass Incarceration "

This presentation will show how extensive mass incarceration is in the United States. It will provide current statistics, graphs, and personal accounts of how corrupted our prison system is. This presentation will also include ways for this issue to be rectified.

Brigit Reynolds, "Memories and Monuments"

Recently, around the world, a memory boom has taken place and questions about how to deal with the troubled history of different countries have emerged. This is especially true in the United States and Spain due to the ways in which historical memory has been dealt with regarding Confederate and Franco-era statues. It is not necessarily the physical statues that people have issues with, but rather, it is the memory that is attached to these figures and what they represent that creates a split in how the public perceives them. In the United States, monuments to Confederate soldiers and leaders are located all over the nation. This split is also prevalent in Spain where Franco era monuments abound. In both nations, the calls to remove the monuments have been met with strong opposition. This project, Memory Boom: Blowing Up the Debates on Monuments, utilizes normative and rationalist theories to examine the multifaceted debates over Confederate and Francoist monuments both historically and today.

Angelika Luc, "Nomophobia"

Cell phones have expanded their use to include a wide range of functions that are not limited to communication. However, with the expansion of the abilities of cell phones the use of other items are becoming obsolete; that is, it can appear that individuals are becoming reliant on their phones which can lead to addiction (Roberts, Yaya, & Maloni, 2014). In the present study, we sought to determine the level of dependency individuals place have with their mobile phones. In addition, we wanted to determine the reasons individuals felt stressed and anxious when their cell phones were unavailable. The study consisted of four White/European-American women and one Mixed-Race/Ethnicity woman. All of the participants were students at Spring Hill College with ages ranging from 19 to 22. The participants were asked to put their phone away for two hours at a time and then write a free response regarding how they felt after each trial. We hypothesized that there will be a high level of dependency on the cell phones as well as a high level of anxiety when the phones are turned off. The participants displayed a level of dependency on their mobile phone (M = 3.07, SD = .295); however, the fear of feeling disconnected (M = 3.19, SD = .536) is greater than the amount of anxiety (M = 2.69, SD = .725) the participants had. The dependency score of the participants supported our hypothesis; however, the level of anxiety was not as high as anticipated.

Spencer Raynal, "Cities and the Power to Act"

The project regards research on the abilities of cities to push international policy. It specifically looks at global climate change policy as the example of how cities are affecting policy outside of the state.

Rebecca Williams, "Lights Out as a Möbius Strip"

A Mobius strip manipulates the game Lights Out so that when the top is connected to the bottom, pressing a top row button will also effect a bottom row button. This creates a block matrix. Using determinates, one can find when the game is not completely solvable. There will also be a pattern found when taking the characteristic polynomial of the block matrix of any size.

Brennan Fontenot, "The 2015 Migration Crisis: Unexpected Consequences"

This presentation will entail an analysis of the 2015 Migration Crisis in Europe based on empirical data and theoretical framework. Research for this presentation includes data on migrant behavior, policy decisions, and voting trends across Europe. The theoretical framework applied to this presentation will be realism, which focuses on security, economics, and power. This research seeks to outline effects of mass migration and give guidance to understanding mass migration in the future.

Shelby Smyth, "The Effect of Social Comparison on Academic Motivation"

Social comparison, the process by which humans evaluate their performance by comparing to others, plays an important part in the academic domain. When compared to someone who does better or worse on a test or in a class, to what extent does this affect one’s motivation to do better academically? The current research examines the effect of social comparison direction on the future academic motivation of students, while accounting for their pre-manipulation academic motivation and self-esteem. I asked Spring Hill students (n = 87) in lower-level psychology courses to take a pre-test of academic motivation and self-esteem. Then, students from the pool of participants (n = 29) volunteered to complete the manipulation phase of the study, where they were randomly assigned to read one of two fictional narrative from a Spring Hill College student about their first semester of college, followed by five comprehension questions, and a post-test of academic motivation. After conducting a one-way between group analysis of covariance, there was no significant difference between the upward and downward social comparison groups on post-manipulation academic motivation.

Clintisha Sellers, "Global Health Crisis: Ambient Air Pollution - New Delhi and Beijing Case Study"

The focus of this project is to inform readers and viewers on the seriousness of ambient air pollution. Ambient air pollution has become a major concern for many health organizations over the past few years, and is ultimately becoming a global health crisis. Air pollution causes many health risks such as respiratory issues as well as equity and climate impacts. Around the world in many developing nations, a cloud of chemical particles is covering major cities growing thicker as each day passes. This cloud of particles is most commonly known as smog, a consequence of ambient air pollution. Cities need to become more aware of how they are contributing to this crisis through daily actions such as excess emission from vehicles, factories, cars, planes, and even cigarette smoke. Failure to acknowledge our contributions to this crisis will only cause air pollution to grow at a more rapid rate. The purpose of this research is to serve as an informational piece to provide the reader a greater understanding of the ambient air pollution through a case study focus on New Delhi, India, and Beijing, China.

Emma Carroll , "Effects of Computer Generated Images on the Consumer of Visual Mass Media"

Consumers are subjected to the use of computer generated images (CGI) in films and more recently in advertising. As the prominence of CGI technology expands beyond films, it is important as a consumer to be aware of the potential effect CGI might have on the consumer of digital visual media. Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality underpins the primary and secondary research to help explain the effects CGI on consumers’ perception of reality. Three focus groups were conducted on Spring Hill College’s undergraduate population to explore the participants’ thoughts and perceptions about CGI in films and advertising to answer this research question:

What are the effects of CGI in digital visual productions on consumers? Thematic analysis and the triangulation method were applied to the qualitative data gathered from the three focus groups. Common patterns included accepting CGI in films more than advertising, confidence in the ability to recognize obvious displays of CGI and expectancy of an altered perception of reality when viewing films and advertisements. With the advancement of CGI in advertisements, the participants concluded with the advice to be aware of possible misrepresentation and to explore the idea of implementing regulations including, but not limited to, mandatory disclosures of CGI usage and limits on the amount of CGI when representing a product.

Emily Booth, "A Multicultural Analysis of Migration and Territoriality"

The discussion over refugee admission has been a heated worldwide debate. In Europe migrants from Northern Africa and the Middle East have shocked their economies and lifestyles. In the U.S. and Canada migrants from South America, Africa, and the Middle East have posed serious questions about national security. All of these countries are being faced with diverse groups of people and at different magnitudes which determine their refugee policy. What is worth evaluating is the differences between the national crises and how all of these examples ultimately relate to a sense of territoriality. According to Human Territoriality: A Theory, by Robert D. Sack, “Territoriality is defined here as the attempt to affect, influence, or control actions, interactions, or access by asserting and attempting to enforce control over a specific geographic area.” The inability to maintain control over one's territory is undoubtedly what has driven much of the political debates of the western world. With the knowledge in mind that a lack of territorial security has been a driving factor in the political actions of the last decade, one begins to deliberate on the following questions. First, how does a Suprastate such as the European Union come to a consensus on how to handle issues of territory? Similarly, how does the U.S. tackle the same problems within their federalist territories? Is it politically possible to have a shared opinion on this when regional differences deter- mine how much you will directly be affected by the issue? Is a country such as Canada more likely to find political common ground due to the lower population and close providences? Lastly, can we come to an international consensus on positive means of handling the migration crisis? To evaluate these questions, I will look deeper into the policies of Italy, Sweden, Canada, and The United States, in hopes to gain a multicultural analysis of the refugee crisis. Then, I will deliberate on how these policies relate to the theory of territoriality.

Seydina Oumar Ndaw, "The Politicization of The French National Team"

The French national team represent the French population, not just figuratively but literally. The team is extremely diverse which correlates to the diversity of the population of France. And after the 1998 world cup, the national team became a sounding board, a central place to think about the question of national identity. The results of the team became part of the political struggle for power. A win meant proof that racial harmony is working in France for the Far left and a loss mean that the issues created by immigration were taking over there beloved National team by filling them with bi-national players that didn’t care about France.

Gabrielle Hulse, "Political Factors of Territorial Dispute Settlement"

Territorial disputes are one of the most common international phenomena and also one of the most likely events to lead to inter-state wars. It is imperative to understand these disputes in order to prevent or solve them. The purpose of this research is to disprove the preconceived notion that both states involved are working towards resolution, and instead approach the resolution through a neoclassical realist perspective which explores the idea that one state may want to further the dispute. This is illustrated through the case study of Belize and Guatemala. Through critical analysis of a history of negotiations, three main indicators were identified as reasons Guatemala would pursue conflict: social, economic, and political interests. Therefore, instead of cooperating with negotiations, Guatemala will resume being obstructive neighbors through incursions, looting, and political provocation because it benefits them more than solving it would. For this specific case study, this information can be used by Belizean policymakers to strategize accordingly against Guatemala’s instigations. On a wider scale, states involved in territorial disputes can detect the intentionality of their opponent by analyzing the patterns of state behavior, and make decisions based on that analysis.

Griffin Morgan, "Drone Warfare: Public Perception and Popular Culture"

Analyzing Drone Warfare in popular culture in comparison to reality, and the erroneous nurturing of the drone program to the public by media and popular culture due to the United States Government's parsimonious nature in terms of drone program details.

Catherine Lea, "Developmental Stages of Identity Development"

This flowchart illustrates a multidirectional model of Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development combined with James Marcia’s Identity Status Theory to illustrate how LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) adolescents explore and achieve their sexual orientation identity. The chart shows how adolescents move through the different identity statuses proposed by James Marcia during Erikson’s stage of identity achievement vs. role confusion and how those experiences are affected by LGB identity. As younger generations see their sexual orientation as an identity, it’s important for psychologists to understand the psychosocial aspects of this identity and factors that may affect the positive or negative implications of it on their patients.

Emily Alexis and Laine Wendel, "Color Theory and Prosocial Behavior"

Seven undergraduate students colored a coloring sheet while receiving either complimentive or critical comments about their coloring abilities. Then the students were given three dollars and asked if they wanted to donate the money to a charity or keep the money. One out of the seven students only donated one dollar, the rest donated three. Meaning critical comments did not have an effect on altruistic behavior. Then the seven participants wrote answers out for how they would react to three different scenarios. One scenario was used as a filler, the other two were used to measure prosocial behavior. Because not enough people originally signed up to do the full experiment we used students in intro level psychology classes. We had 38 participants fill out a Prosocial Behavior Survey (the same one that the other 7 participants filled out) along with the three scenarios. Our results concluded that there was no significant relationship between prosocial behavior and action.

Hali Gibson, "Water: Cash Cow, Corruption, and Concern"

Through this case study of the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Prichard, the corruption and mismanagement in the face of public outcry will be analyzed. This paper attempts to answer the reason why the board continues to act with no regard to their fiduciary responsibilities. Acting in the financial interests of its individual members and friends, not that of the citizens they are chosen to represent, the board has undermined the will of the people at every turn. The level of corruption and mismanagement is a blatant disregard for the needs of a city in poverty. In their constant struggle for power, the board has endangered customers by ignoring infrastructure problems and blatantly refusing to maintain vital utilities services while overcharging customers. This study will shed light on these issues and give detailed proposals on how to address them.

Kristen Dunham, "Making a Statement: Consumer Response To Brands’ Social and Political Messages"

In a highly politicized world, it is not uncommon to see a brand putting forth a message in support of a certain social or political cause or taking actions that support those causes or beliefs. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore how consumers respond to brands with social or political messages in their marketing communications and activities. Based on the theoretical conceptualization of public advocacy and social identity theory, the researcher developed hypotheses that people would respond positively or negatively to a brand depending on the social and political content of a brand’s message. An online survey was administered to a convenience sample of the population to collect quantitative and qualitative information pertaining to people’s perception of brands with social and political messages and how they would respond to those brands. The hypotheses were not fully supported due to lack of validity for the survey instrument. However, the researcher could fail to reject the hypotheses due to lack of statistical significance in the responses. Thematic analysis also showed support for the hypotheses and other findings in the literature review.

Shelby Thornton, "Moral Obligations to Artificial Intelligence"

With the flourishing of the technological world, it is likely that new models of artificial intelligence will be created. Models that think and look like humans; much more advanced than the “AI” of our current time such as SIRI or Alexa. With this creation, there will be new moral considerations to acknowledge in regard to the concept of personhood.

Following this thought, my work began by formulating the question: “What would be our moral obligation to potential artificial intelligence (if any)?” My research then became finding criteria by which personhood can be determined, which I found in Mary Anne Warren’s article, “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”; Examining what determines a person’s intrinsic worth, which I found answers for in C. Ellsworth Hood’s article “Kant on Inalienable Rights”; Explaining how artificial intelligence can be defined, which I found in Pie WANG’s article, “What Do You Mean By ‘AI’”; Then applying the sufficient criterion for personhood to the definitions of AI to determine how each should be treated.

However, instead of being able to answer our moral obligations to artificial intelligence, I discovered that artificial intelligence is much more ambiguous than I realized. Also, Mary Anne Warren’s criteria all fall under a single criterion for personhood which is that: a being be guided by a Kantian principle of reason. Due to the ambiguity of AI and the limitations with Warren’s criteria as well as my simplified criterion, there remain some cases of artificial intelligence for which the criterion are not sufficient to provide determination for or against personhood.

Charles Mattingly and Joseph Cook, "Regression Analysis: Voter Trends in the 2018 Congressional Midterm Elections"

The research project we will be working on will mainly consist of a multivariable regression and residual analysis in order to see which independent variables significantly effect Congressional election results. The dependent variable will be the percentage of elected Congressmen for each state that are Republican. We will use a mixture of social, economic and political independent variables to support our regression. After we have run our regression analysis, we will eliminate the insignificant independent variables and re-run the regression analysis with the hopes of more accurate results. Once we have fully completed our regression analysis, we will attempt to perform a market basket analysis, in order to see which independent variables are most associated with voting behavior. We are not entirely sure that this analytical model will be applicable to our research data but hope to explore this possibility with the professor’s assistance.