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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease characterized by inflammation and neurodegeneration, with a cause that remains largely unknown. A commonly prescribed treatment is fingolimod; however, while this treatment may be effective at reducing the progressive accumulation of disability, there are serious implications associated with its prolonged use. Many potential alternatives are currently being researched, including the possible use of the melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) as a future therapeutic target. With her faculty mentor Dr. Neil Haave, Alexandra explored the existing research on MCAM and its function in inflammatory diseases such as MS will be explored; based on her research she then proposed a potential next step in MCAM research.
❐ PDFMisogynistic undertones can be found throughout Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, but perhaps most clearly in the Franklin’s Tale. This can be found in the blatant masculine misreading of Dorigen’s oath made “in pley,” or “in jest.” In this paper, I argue that Aurelius’s uncertainty in the legitimacy of Dorigen’s oath as well as her attempts to delay him only aid in his ability as a masculine character to misread her. I also ultimately assert that Aurelius’s pleasure stems not from having sexual power over Dorigen, but instead in having anticipatory pleasure in her; rather than following through with her oath, he releases her back to her husband as a gesture of respect towards him. Furthermore, I claim that because of the rules of courtly love during this time, which Susan Crane expounds upon, a problematic gendered power structure is seen which allows women virtually no agency. In order to make these arguments, I rely both on a close reading of the text, as well as the research that various medieval scholars have published. The implications of my paper are significant, as they suggest that because of the misreading that occurs in the tale, Chaucer introduces the dangerous idea that it is only natural to bend the words of a woman in order to fit the desires of a man.
❐ PDFAisha, Muhammad’s most beloved wife, was arguably one of the most politically and religiously active female figures in Islam’s history. Aisha was Muhammad’s youngest bride; although her age at marriage has been widely debated, most Muslims and scholars would agree she was no older than 11 when they were married. After the death of the Prophet, Aisha became increasingly vocal, she cofounded the Sunni sect of Islam and became one of the foremost conveyors of hadiths. The actions she took during her life greatly influenced the Muslim community and even in death Aisha’s influence continues to grow. Specifically, Sunni, Shia, and Westerners perpetuate their individualized depictions of Aisha to propagate their differing perspectives of the Islamic faith. Regardless of the vast differences in perspectives in which she has been viewed by these various groups, there is a commonality that highlights Aisha’s influence over the development of Islam. That commonality is that each depiction of Aisha is used as a tool by the differing groups to further their beliefs. This article does not attempt to validate or discredit the varying views of Aisha as conveyed by these factions. Rather, it serves as an analysis of how these images of Aisha are promoted by each of of these groups in order to support their own interpretation of Islam.
❐ PDFI spent several months throughout Spring/Summer 2015 researching the Hare Krishna community in Seoul, South Korea. This essay is a journalistic account of my experiences and an attempt to figure out what it means to be part of a counterculture– a social deviant– in the most Confucian society on Earth.
❐ PDFTo better understand the background to the rise of the Safavid Empire in fifteenth-sixteenth century Persia, this paper will examine the predecessors to the Safavid movement, namely the Sarbadar state, the Nurbahkshi, and the Musha'sha. All of these movements shared certain commonalities with each other, particularly in their radical millenarian ideology, and set crucial precedents for the Safavid transformation that would forge an empire. All of these movements emerged from Sufi orders and featured a messianic world-view focused on the figure of the Mahdi, a prophesied savior in Islam who would appear before the end times, and the leaders of the later fifteenth-century movements, including the Safavids, would claim descent from the line of the Imams (descendants of 'Ali, the fourth caliph, and the true successors of Muhammad in Shi'i Islam) to enhance their claims to be the Mahdi. My central argument is that the existence of these predecessors to the Safavids demonstrates that the Safavid transformation from a peaceful mystical order into a militant extremist movement was not an anomaly, but rather part of a larger historical pattern of the growth of Shi'i-tinged millenarian extremism out of Sufi groups in Persia during the fifteenth century.
❐ PDFVolunteering, which is an important form of prosocial behavior, has an enormous impact on the well-being of communities and our daily lives. In 2013, it was estimated that $173 billion worth of time and energy was spent volunteering. The aim in this study was to learn more about prosocial behavior and altruism by examining how traditional values, gender, personality, and religion are associated with prosocial behavior among college students. Data were collected through surveys given to 80 students (71 female and 9 male) that were composed of the Traditional Values Measure, the Honest Humility subscale of the HEXACO, the Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale, and a volunteer activity chart designed specifically for this study. It was hypothesized that prosocial behavior would be positively correlated with religious involvement, honest or humble personalities, and traditional values. Correlational analyses did not support this hypothesis. In addition, there were no expected differences between the amount of prosocial behavior provided by males or females, and this null hypothesis was supported in the current investigation. In future studies, a larger sample size, more gender diversity, and more variety in the field of study would possibly yield significant results when looking at helping behavior in college students. Given the positive impacts of volunteering and prosocial behavior, studies such as this help to inform researchers how to increase prosocial behaviors that better communities and lives.
❐ PDFHistorically, mosques have served as houses of worship for those practicing Islam. They are spaces intended for communal, group worship. However, despite the intent of serving as communal houses of worship, men and women do not experience mosques equally. Modern mosques tend to create a patriarchal structure where women do not have access to the same space, duties, or rights as their male counterparts. This paper explores the experiences of Muslim women who attend the University of Mary Washington to determine how their engagement with the space of the masjid differs by gender. In-depth interviews were conducted in order to explore their experience with the space as well as how that space is arranged, and how that arrangement is affected by gender. Participatory fieldwork was also conducted at the Islamic Center of Fredericksburg to further explore the space’s spatial arrangement. Through a discussion of sacred space and equality, the arrangement of Islamic sacred space, the physical divisions of this space, the inequality of these divisions, and the less visible traditions and norms that impose and maintain gender inequalities within mosques, this paper shows how sacred space can be used as a tool for marginalization.
❐ PDFThis paper attempts to examine the impact of the white imaginary on male Black athletes in two different historical and geo-political spaces. The intercollegiate careers of Charlie Scott, the first Black student to attend UNC on an athletic scholarship in 1966, and the University of Michigan’s 1991 basketball recruiting class, popularly known as the Fab Five exemplify the power of the white imaginary in these different temporal and geo-political locations. The imagined racial progress that threads together the white constructions of who, and what, Charlie Scott and the Fab Five were, conflates with the broader belief that racial progress has been made, and that race relations, in the U.S, continue to get better. This imagined racial progress simultaneously demonizes Black, masculine, bodies that attempt to obtain racial equity that challenge, or fall outside of, white, patriarchal, cultural norms. Examining Scott and the Fab Five within these contexts calls for the recognition that their intercollegiate experiences are invested in, and dispute, white notions of racial progress, especially as they interact with white constructions of Black masculinity.
❐ PDFThe arid Southwestern United States’ highly productive riparian ecosystems are in decline due to damming for irrigation purposes, which is in high demand due to prolonged drought conditions. Riparian forests are highly depended upon for their water quality, physical dynamic, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat. This water shortage has greatly affected vegetation in these areas, like Populus angustifolia, which have responded by altering their physiology. In an effort to understand the effects of damming on cottonwoods below McPhee Dam this three-pronged study focused on cottonwood canopy cover, xylem pressure, and a re-survey along a long-term transect to assess cottonwood survival over time along the Dolores River. Canopy cover was measured along three 100-meter transects at sites above and below the dam. Xylem pressure was gathered along the second transect at predawn and late afternoon once per month. Long-term data, along a permanent transect at site 3, tracked the fate of individual trees. Canopy cover, directly linked to discharge, was about 50% lower below the dam. Insignificant xylem pressure variation between sites suggested drought adaptation, or increased precipitation due to El Niño. These results demonstrate on-going effects of hydraulic modifications and the eventual loss of habitat during this time of increased drought.
This research is designed to examine and rewrite Erika Gottelieb’s theory of “the eternal feminine of the romantic cosmos.” This theory was first presented in Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trail. It outlines the parameters by which the female character is viewed and represented in dystopian fiction. This theory is satirical in nature, arguing that the role of the female is to serve as a weaker counterpoint to a male protagonist. The eternal feminine serves as a theoretical archetype works as a lens to view the female characters in dystopian literature, looking at literary examples such as George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, as well as a dystopic representation of the Garden of Eden. This theoretical archetype is then applied to Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games Series, focusing primarily on the female protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Through Katniss Everdeen, the eternal feminine is revised into a positive portrayal that allows for female characters in dystopia that are more dynamic and able to assume the role of hero. This revision also allows room for more positive characters development along gender lines while examining the progressive state of dystopian literature. This new state now offers a counter-narrative that actively combats outdated modes of interpreting dystopic literature.
❐ PDFThis research focuses on and explores the processes by which first-year undergraduate students compose their first university composition paper. The first half of this research examines previous case studies done in the field of first time composers, including studies by both Sondra Perl and Janet Emig. The second half of the research revolves around my own case study, which focused specifically on the first composition paper students write in Composition 101 classes. I performed my case study by recruiting and surveying students from a Composition 101 class in University of Montevallo’s College of Arts and Sciences. The survey asked their major and contained a series of nine questions that asked students their opinions regarding the differences between high school and university level writing, the process by which they composed their first paper, and their thoughts on how this composition class either benefitted or disadvantaged them. After receiving the completed surveys I examined and interpreted the responses in comparison to the previous case studies. The responses both mimicked the patterns of the previous case studies and presented new and unique patterns. Overall this research aimed to not only to get an understanding of what has been observed in composition studies so far but also to obtain an understanding of this particular classroom. In doing so, I was able to obtain a better understanding of the compositional processes of this classroom and how these results could influence the continuing process of writing pedagogy.
❐ PDFTypically considered a proto-feminist, Wilde occasionally lets slip a conservative ideology in his adherence to traditional gender binaries within the confines of the romantic sphere. The internalized binary set Wilde most heavily employs in certain writings relates to Artifice/Reality, where men are associated with Artifice and women with Reality. In specific scenes of The Picture of Dorian Gray, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde explores romantic dynamics under the duress of the genders' diverging preference for elements of deception and artificiality in heteronormative romantic relationships. This scheme inherently reinforces the patriarchy and sexism of the Victorian age by the nature of its engendered roles. When a couple's conflict reaches a detente or conclusion, the men tend to regain the position of control in the relationship, serving to simultaneously restore Victorian ideals of male dominance and female adherence to morality, complicating Wilde’s reputation as a proto-feminist.
❐ PDFThe music industry nets 15 billion dollars a year, and unlike many other industries, is largely immune to market fluctuations. If we are to believe that people vote with their money, the average American must value music enough to sacrifice other aspects of his/her life to avoid a decrease in spending on music. Music is also an expense that spans individuals across the economic spectrum. This makes research into pop music relevant to a majority of people. This paper will use recent advances in the availability of data on music to draw conclusions on how musical tastes change in the face of changing economic, political and social times.
❐ PDFAs one of the few Anglo Saxon poems with a female voice, “The Wife’s Lament”offers an alternative presentation of how to properly demonstrate loyalty to one’s lord. The notably obscure language in the poem lends itself to be interpreted in multiple ways, particularly in terms of the gendered language surrounding the idea of loyalty. Other Anglo Saxon works convey winning renown in battle as a specifically masculine form of displaying platonic love or fealty. These same works also reinforce a feminine form of fealty through the idea of remaining/waiting in the home, which functions to display feminine romantic rather than platonic love. However, “The Wife’s Lament” essentially presents this static form of feminine romantic fealty through masculine terms of platonic loyalty—which the reader may interpret a romantic desire for her lord or an underlying desire to shirk the expectation that the feminine form of fealty has placed upon her. Tolkien also draws on this gendered display of fealty along with the obfuscated love language of “The Wife’s Lament” through Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings, specifically in how she initially mistakes her feelings for Aragorn as romantic rather than platonic. Her very deliberate confusion between lover and lord functions to highlight the problematic nature of framing romance with masculine language of loyalty. When Eowyn discovers the true nature of her feelings to be decidedly platonic, she proceeds to go into battle rather than remain in the hall—effectively presenting a challenge to gendered roles of fealty.
❐ PDFRiparian vegetation is highly sensitive to variations in the hydrologic cycle seen on dammed rivers. The San Juan River is unique in that it is impacted by dams both up and down-stream. Upstream, Navajo Dam greatly reduces flows while downstream Lake Powell has decreased the river channel base level. This reduction in stream gradient has resulted in the formation of a wedge of sediment 71.1 feet thick at its deepest point. Differences in channel characteristics and river gradient influence vegetation shifts. This study was conducted to quantify the differences in river gradient, channel width, species diversity, percent cover, and height structure of riparian vegetation above and below sediment aggradation. Results indicate a marked difference between three distinct reaches correlating with the sediment aggradation. Upper sites showed greater species diversity, decreased density and an abundance of bare ground. An intermediate reach correlating strongly with the proposed zone of river sediment deposition by Gianniny et al., showed a significant switch to dense Baccharis/Phragmites. Species composition in the lowest sites was more homogenous dominated by the dense growth of willow and tamarisk. These results correlate strongly with differences in environmental conditions between the three reaches, especially related to channel width and river gradient.
❐ PDFCountless studies have demonstrated that exposure to violence increases aggressive behavior. The present study expanded this research by examining the effects of auditory (hearing) and visual (seeing) stimuli on perceptions of violence and personal aggression. College students were exposed to an auditory, visual, or both auditory and visual clip of a violent film. Perceptions of violence in the film and personal feelings of aggression were measured. Results indicated that participants perceived a film clip to be more violent when they could only hear it, followed by when they could only see it, as compared to when they could both hear and see the film. Participants in the visual and auditory conditions also reported feeling more aggressive than participants in the auditory-visual condition. Results suggest that media representations of violent content can influence viewers’ perceptions and feelings of aggression even in the absence of explicit modeled behaviors.