Teagle Foundation Projects

Impact of Structural Inequalities on Hispanics/Latinos

• Student
• Analia Albuja
• Truman State University

• Mentor
• Dr. Sumi Colligan
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• Anthropology

This project seeks to explore the relationship between Hispanic populations in the United States and Healthcare. By reviewing and analyzing relevant literature, we hope to better understand how structural inequalities impact the health of Hispanics. Our first interest is to examine historical and societal factors that have given rise to these inequalities over time. With this foundation, we plan to identify health patterns found amongst Hispanics, such as any diseases that are overrepresented. Once we have pinpointed what health issues are especially prominent in these populations, we can attempt to identify the factors that contribute to them and explain these patterns. We will evaluate the effects of socioeconomic factors, geographical locations of communalities, the legal status of residents and occupational hazards. Findings will be shared in a 30 minute Skype presentation to a "Culture, Health and Illness" class at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. The Project will be overseen by Dr. Sumi Colligan, a medical anthropologist and faculty member at MCLA.

Parliamentary Enclosures of the 19th Century

• Student
• Chelsea Beresford
• University of North Carolina at Asheville

• Mentor
• Dr. Gail Savage
• St. Mary's College of Maryland
• British History

This project will survey twentieth-century secondary scholarship on the topic of English parliamentary enclosures during the early nineteenth century. Historians have differed widely over the causes of enclosure and the impact of this legislation on the landless poor. Once the main lines of interpretation have been discussed, the project will turn to the wider cultural and religious views informing the enclosure acts, how emerging notions of agricultural efficiency and labor discipline in the early industrial revolution helped shape elite attitudes toward the causes of poverty.

Artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

• Student
• Mamie Cox
• Truman State University

• Mentor
• Dr. Elizabeth Gand
• Fort Lewis College
• Art History

Mamie Cox along with Dr. Elizabeth Gand, Assistant Professor of Art History at Fort Lewis College will complete extensive readings, discussions and a large research project which discusses the life and art of Post-Impressionist artist, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. Lautrec had lifelong problems with his legs and mobility as a result of stunted growth. It is widely held, that because of his disabilities, Lautrec distanced himself from the aristocratic world in which he was brought up and opted for a more bohemian lifestyle in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris where he felt she was more easily accepted. The social history of late nineteenth-century Montmartre Paris where Lautrec spent most of his artistic career and was the direct inspiration for many of his painting and posters will be studied, along with the newly emerging field of disability studies. These reading sand discussions will culminate in a substantial research paper ranging of approximately 25-35 pages completed by the end of the Spring 2012 semester.

Facebook and Peer Pressure

• Student
• Amanda DeCarlo
• University of North Carolina at Asheville

• Mentor
• Dr. Karol Maybury
• University of Maine at Farmington
• Social Psychology

Our study is examining how people perceive others’ status updates on social media sites (like Facebook). We are examining whether the number of “likes” received by a person’s status update impacts a fresh viewers’ ratings of that status update. The hypothesis is that informational conformity will play a role in users’ personal assessment of a particular status update. We predict that viewers who see status updates a high number of “likes” will rate it as more humorous, appropriate, and entertaining. The increasing pervasiveness of social media and electronic communication makes this study extremely relevant to the realm of person perception and social psychology.

Gender in Medieval Literature

• Student
• Hillary O'Brien
• Keene State University

• Mentor
• Dr. Teresa Kennedy
• University of Mary Washington
• Medieval Literature

A twelfth-century text, The Lais of Marie de France, provides stores of verse romance. Typical of courtly literature, her lais tend to focus on chivalry and courtly love. Among the many romances the three that I hope to focus on are “Guigemar”, “Yonec”, and “Bisclavret” is cursed to often transform into a werewolf. I will examine the medieval meanings attributed to these animals in the most contemporary Bestiary text and possibly in Celtic mythology, which Marie may have drawn upon, to find the latent meaning behind Marie’s use of them.

Income Gap and Crime Rates

• Student
• Chris Rieve
• University of Mary Washington

• Mentor
• Dr. Bill Lofquist
• SUNY Geneseo
• Sociology

This project will study the relationship between the income gap and the crime rate based on comparisons between the European Union states or the United States. In either of these comparisons we will be looking at the impact of a more socialistic program, to one that is not as socialistic. We will compare the governmental structures and how effective they are at preventing crime.

Topics in Japanese Literature

• Student
• Kalynn Smith
• Midwestern State University

• Mentor
• Dr. Nozomi Irei
• Southern Utah University
• English

During my elementary and middle school years in Hawaii I was exposed to Japanese culture. Rather than the typical Spanish or French classes in school, we were offered Japanese, which taught us a little of the language and culture. By reading and watching certain materials, I gained an understanding of even more, such as mythology and history. Now that I’m older and have access to more academic materials, I’ve done some light research over other aspects of Japanese culture such as Bushido, the Bakumatsu and the Meiji era, among others. However, as an English major, I want to know more in the way of Japanese literature as well as its history I would to study Japanese writers and how their culture is presented in fiction.

Presidential Rhetoric in Public Speeches

• Student
• John Tienken
• University of Illinois Springfield

• Mentor
• Dr. Jay Self
• Truman State University
• Communications

As American presidential rhetoric has evolved over the last 225 years, this research project will examine how the expectations of presidential vernacular have developed or changed. Many have argues that this evolution has been degeneration to an anti-intellectual presidency; others contend that the purpose of presidential rhetoric has changed, and still others believe that the quantity of presidential speeches has diminished the quality. Obviously there is difference in style, between president and over time, but at a deeper level, the content of presidential rhetoric seems to be different. The intellectual rigor has changed and the emotional tenor has evolved in presidential speeches. My project will answer what is behind this change by looking at a selection of presidential speeches.

COPLAC Brand Refresh

• Student
• Pei Miller
• Shepherd University

• Student
• Michael Haynes
• Shepherd University

• Student
• Joannie Drake
• SUNY Geneseo

• Mentor
• Kristin Kaineg
• Shepherd University

Mentor, Kristin Kaineg, will lead a team of three students, Pei Miller, Michael Haynes and Joannie Drake through the exciting and complex steps necessary to rebrand an existing non-profit organization. The long distance team will explore the key messages of the brand, research like-minded organizations, profile the target audience, create a new identity, and deliver a cohesive design campaign for the organization.