SPARC FESTIVAL
CELEBRATION OF
SENIOR HONORS SCHOLARS
April 25-26, 2017
www.msmary.edu/sparc
Welcome from the University Honors Program Director
Members of the Mount St. Mary’s University faculty dedicate themselves to excellence
in both scholarship and teaching, integrating the latest developments in their disciplines
into classroom instruction. The Honors Program offers students a unique opportunity
to work closely with our expert faculty on research projects involving topics of shared
interest. These projects serve as capstone experiences in the honors students’ majors
and as springboards to graduate schools and professions.
Each year, the Mount’s SPARC (Scholarship, Performance, Art, Research and Creativity)
Festival celebrates academic excellence. The festival showcases the scholarship and
creative projects of our undergraduates, who represent the College of Liberal Arts, the
School of Natural Science and Mathematics, the Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business,
and the School of Education and Human Services. Our senior honors students are
responsible for a significant portion of the program through the presentations they
give on their research projects. In addition, each year a Mount professor is chosen by
the Honors Committee to give the Honored Faculty Address at the festival’s opening
ceremony. Layton Field, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology, will deliver this year’s
address on Wednesday, April 26 in Knott Auditorium from 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
We invite you to join us on the Mount’s main campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland. All
senior honors project presentations are free and open to the public. Presentations are
in the O’Hara Dining Room located in Patriot Hall and Laughlin Auditorium located in
the Coad Science Building, with the speakers, times and topics listed in this brochure or
found online at sparc.msmary.edu.
If you need directions to these venues or any further information, please call me at
301-447-8387 or email me at [email protected].
We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these events!
Jennifer L. Staiger, Ph.D.
Director, University Honors Program
Jennifer Staiger, Ph.D.
Director of the University Honors Program | COAD 212B
Mount St. Mary’s University |Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727
301-447-8387 | [email protected]
SPARC Festival Planning Committee
The success of this festival depends upon months of work by the SPARC Festival Planning
Committee and the University Honors Committee. The festival is made possible by the
generous support of our administration and by the time and dedication of numerous
students, staff and faculty.
SPARC Planning Committee
Mark Carlson, D.M.A.
Josey Chacko, Ph.D.
Katy Dye, Ph.D.
Teresa Fabregas, C‘17
Corinne Farneti, Ph.D.
Layton Field, Ph.D.
Brian Heinold, Ph.D.
Nick Hutchings, M.F.A.
Kimberly Mazziott, C‘17
Michelle Ohanian, Ph.D.
Fred Portier, Ph.D.
Sarah Scott, Ph.D.
Jen Staiger, Ph.D.
Mike Turner, Ph.D.
Kimberly Springer, M.Ed.
GHM Society Leadership
Alyse Spiehler, C’17, President
Connelly Magin, C’17, Vice-President
Sydney Magin, C’17, Secretary
University Honors Committee
Jennifer Staiger, Ph.D., Director
Josey Chacko, Ph.D.
Carolyn Cook, Ph.D.
Jack Dudley, Ph.D.
Paige Hoschschild, Ph.D.
Michael Turner, Ph.D.
Support Staff
Jamie Everett
Denise Ausherman
Erika Butts
Karlie Herbert
Emily Wass
Hilary Douwes
Mary Bender
Lisa Reed
Lisa Rhoads
Karen Shorb
Senior Honors Projects Schedule
TUESDAY, April 25
Session I
Location Time
Student Name
Department
5-5:30 p.m.
Laughlin
5:45-6:15 p.m.
Auditorium
6:30-7 p.m.
Brigid Flay
Ecomonics
Amy Bielicki
Business
Katlyn Yano
Accounting
5-5:30 p.m.
Leeanne Leary
English
5:45-6:15 p.m.
Kathryn Quinn
Visual &
Performing Arts
6:30-7 p.m.
Bernadette O’Keefe
English
7:15-7:45 p.m.
Paige Spangler
English
8:45-9:15 a.m.
Jianne DeRaya
Science
9:30-10 a.m.
Katherine Wu
Science
Johanna Papa
Science
11-11:30 a.m.
Latoya McGlorthan
Science
8:45-9:15 a.m.
Bari Boyd
English
9:30-10 a.m.
Jessica Huhn
English
10:15-10:45 a.m.
Sara Curley
English
11-11:30 a.m.
Connor Burne
Political Science
1-1:30 p.m.
Grace Wagler
Science
Megan Crandall
Science
Kelly Weiss
Science
Omomayokun Ojo
Science
4-4:30 p.m.
Sarah Bonson
Science
1-1:30 p.m.
Joseph Theis
English
1:45-2:15 p.m.
Connelly Magin
History
2:30-3 p.m.
Matthew Koury
Psychology
3:15-3:45 p.m.
Giofranco Libonate
Science
4-4:30 p.m.
Rebecca Schisler
Philosophy
6-6:30 p.m.
Alyse Spiehler
Philosophy
6:45-7:15 p.m.
Anne O’Neil
Theology
7:15-7:45 p.m.
Hannah Dunham
Psychology
8-8:30 p.m.
Kayla Morrow
Philosophy
O’Hara
Dining
Room
WEDNESDAY, April 26
Laughlin
Auditorium 10:15-10:45 a.m.
Session II
O’Hara
Dining
Room
1:45-2:15 p.m.
Laughlin
2:30-3 p.m.
Auditorium
3:15-3:45 p.m.
Session III
O’Hara
Dining
Room
Session IV
O’Hara
Dining
Room
Senior Honors Project Abstracts
Tuesday, April 25 | Honors Session I
| Laughlin Auditorium |
AMY BIELICKI
Examining the Effectiveness of Cross-Platform
E-mail and Social Media Marketing to Millennials
Mentor: Mary Beth Graham
This project highlights the effectiveness of cross-platform
marketing to students at Mount St. Mary’s University. Recent
studies show that digital advertising followed by a television
advertisement increases the overall effectiveness of the
advertisement. Conducted research for this study included
placing an advertisement on social media prior to an
organization’s regular marketing platform to record changes
to event attendance. Events with a consistent attendance
were chosen for this study in order to gauge any fluctuations
in attendance based upon the introduction of the digital
advertisement prior to an email and the organizations’
normal marketing platform.
BRIGID FLAY
The Ethics of Economic Sanctions: Economically
Ineffective and Morally Objectionable
Mentor: Michael Barry, Ph.D.
Economic sanctions have been a popular foreign policy
choice for the United States and other nations for an
extensive period of time. As a result, many citizens of
sanction-targeted countries are severely impoverished
and suffering while the political leaders of those countries
remain unaffected. Through a case study approach, this
project explores the morality and effectiveness of economic
sanctions, concluding that in nearly all circumstances they
are unsatisfactory. Going forward, nations should adopt an
approach to sanctions that does not place negative economic consequences on civilian populations and that preserves
the goal of international relations: cooperation and peace.
KATLYN YANO
Employee Retention in Humanitarian Aid
Focused Nonprofit Organizations
Mentor: Josey Chacko, Ph.D.
Employee retention is a strategically imperative task for
humanitarian organizations amidst a growing skills shortage
concern. This task is even more difficult when much of the
current employee retention literature focuses on strategies
applied in the for-profit business context. This paper
examines and clearly defines the humanitarian context
through the evaluation of humanitarian operations and
employee retention literature. In addition, this paper looks
to explore and analyze the effect of various strategies on
retention in humanitarian organizations.
| O’Hara Dining Room |
LEEANNE LEARY
From the Inside: Observations of Extreme
Poverty and Resounding Love
Mentor: Ernest Solar, Ph.D.
This series of essays follows a home and school dedicated to 37 children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This glimpse
into their lives does not attempt to make sense of each
individual tragic past, but instead tells a story about where
the children are now while commenting on themes such as
baby-feeding, Christianity, Missionary Children, orphans,
Tent City, and The Ravine. Creative Nonfiction will be used
as the vehicle to tell this story. The research being done
in accordance with this project tests the idea that CNF is
the most appropriate format for these narratives, and will
allow for emotion, interaction, and the human experiences
of suffering and love without detracting from the truth of
these lives.
BERNADETTE O’KEEFE
The Irish Puppet Show: Alcohol and Agency in
James Joyce’s Dubliners
Mentor: Jack Dudley, Ph.D.
This paper focuses on the ambivalent representation of
alcohol in modern Irish literary culture by exploring how
James Joyce (1882-1941) imagined alcohol in his fiction.
In his writings, particularly Dubliners, alcohol instigates
and then perpetuates cycles of violence and economic
struggle, yet it is also one part of Irish hospitality. Its
potency in Joyce’s narratives varies from simple enjoyment
in “The Dead” to violent, alcoholic rage in “Counterparts.” I
examine how in these stories, the alcohol itself functions as
a character through the way it manipulates the perspective
of the protagonist and by how directly it affects the other
characters and their circumstances.
KATHRYN QUINN
PAIGE SPANGLER
This work communicates pilgrimage. Pilgrimage, at its
simplest essence, has three elements: it is a journey, it has
an end and it is of a spiritual nature. Physical pilgrimages
allude to the greater pilgrimage, life. Unless we participate
in life as pilgrims, contemplatively searching for our end, we
experience shallow existence. My ink paintings communicate this life-pilgrimage through marks, not images. The
marks, reminiscent of incense, suggest movement, silence,
and contemplation, without which one cannot participate
in pilgrimage. The work’s role is to draw viewers into contemplation of pilgrimage. Through contemplation, people
become pilgrims.
What resources are lacking in rural communities that
cause students to struggle in writing? Although writing is
a universal problem for young adults, how can writing be
improved for the students who need it most? This study
examines the benefits of journaling and conferencing as a
form of writing intervention for low-scoring writing students
at the secondary level. I will also examine writing samples
from college freshmen to see how going to college in a rural
community impacts writing. This study was completed from
October 2016 through February 2017.
Dusty Roads and Dusty Souls: Pilgrimage is the
Human’s Condition
Mentor: Elizabeth Holtry, M.F.A.
Farm to Table: Improving Writing Fluency in
Rural Communities
Mentor: Jack Dudley, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 26 | Honors Session II
| Laughlin Auditorium |
JIANNE DERAYA
Validation of miRNA 125 Target Sites in the
ace-3 and nhr-34 3’-Untranslated Regions
Mentor: Michael Turner, Ph.D.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded RNAs that play a
role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. They have the
ability to nonspecifically bind 3’Untranslated Regions (UTRs)
of a target messenger RNAs (mRNA) and inhibit translation.
Sometimes this results in diseases such as breast cancer.
Generally, base-pairing with complimentary sequences in
the 3’UTR of the target enables miRNAs to silence mRNA
targets. While there is a general understanding of the
binding of miRNAs and its targets, the base pairing between
the miRNAs and these targets is typically imperfect, thus
it is difficult to accurately predict miRNA binding sites
computationally. This experiment focuses on the validation
of two putative targets of miRNA125 - ace-3 and nhr-34
3’-UTRs. MiRNA125 is associated with the p53 tumor
suppressor protein in breast cancer. Dysregulation of
miRNA 125 ultimately leads to translationally inhibiting
the mRNA of the p53 tumor suppressor protein and
complications in the p53 signaling pathways. The
experimentally validated miRNA targets of miRNA 125 will,
hopefully, assist in the pharmaceutical research efforts to
accurately identify biomarkers and targets that will aid in
oncogenic studies.
LATOYA MCGLORTHAN
Determining the Outcome of Competition
Between Two Parasitoid Wasps
Mentor: Abigail Kula, Ph.D.
The experiment utilizes elements of the Lotka- Volterra
competitive model, which describes the rate of change of
a species on its population density and the density of the
competing species. When forced to share a resource, one
species of wasps will outcompete the other, producing
more offspring than its opponent. The other species has a
smaller body size and is presumed to be less competitive.
This species was given priority access to the resource to
determine if this will increase the species’ competitiveness.
Katherine Wu
Determining the Diploid Parentage of a Polyploid
Isoetes Species
Mentor: Abigail Kula, Ph.D.
Identification of species in the plant genus Isoetes, which
bear a strong resemblance to tufts of grass, is notoriously
difficult due to their morphological simplicity and complicated evolutionary history. Allopolyploidy, or interspecific
hybridization combined with chromosome doubling, is suggested to be a significant speciation mechanism for Isoetes.
A new species, Isoetes graniticola, has been proposed as
an allotetraploid resulting from hybridization between I.
piedmontana and I. melanopoda. Parentage of this new
species was inferred from plastid and nuclear markers as
well as next-generation DNA sequencing.
JOHANNA PAPA
SARA CURLEY
MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are a relatively new member to the
RNA family. They are short non-coding single strand RNA
molecules, only about 22 nucleotides long. MiRNAs are
a part of the RISC complex that targets messenger RNAs,
which stops translation. Through three different databases,
a list of the theoretical gene targets of let-7 was created.
These genes were isolated from the genome of Ceanorhapditid elegans (C. elegans). Each gene was implanted
into a plasmid with the luciferase gene. Determination of
an actual target of a gene by let-7 will be based on the data
collected from a Fluorescence assay.
This project will argue that females were not entirely at
a disadvantage while living within the patriarchal and
misogynistic society of Shakespeare’s time, but rather that
they held the ability to take advantage of a certain type
of feminine power that was unavailable to their male
counterparts. This project will examine the foremost female
characters in several of Shakespeare’s works and describe
the advantage that these women possess in being able to
live a life balanced between stereotypically masculine and
feminine behaviors.
Validation of MicroRNA Let-7 Targets Within the
Ceanorhapditid Elegans Genome
Mentor: Michael Turner, Ph.D.
| O’Hara Dining Room |
BARI BOYD
The End of Heroism in the Literature of
the Great War
Mentor: Jack Dudley, Ph.D.
The nature of a hero during the Great War saw a radical
shift from the knight in shining armor of Arthurian legend to
a more complex and potentially darker ideal. David Jones’ In
Parenthesis, T. S. Eliot’s poetry and Sir Thomas Malory’s Le
Morte d’Arthur are crucial to understanding this shift in the
literary and cultural portrayal of heroism. I argue that the
Arthurian hero, although present in Jones and Eliot, changes
through the accidence associated with the draft, whose
individuality is irrelevant in the new form of war, and whose
identity is fragmented, losing cohesion, intentionality and a
sense of dualistic morality.
CONNOR BURNE
Trouncing Terror: Applying the Successes and
Shortfalls of Counterinsurgency in Iraq to the
Islamic State and Future Involvements
Mentor: Kristen Urban, Ph.D.
While U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy (COIN) proved
successful at mitigating insurgencies while U.S. forces were
in Iraq, the rise of the Islamic State reveals a lack of COIN’s
effectiveness in post-American Iraq. This project will assess
COIN’s role in achieving such polarized results. Before the
American withdrawal, COIN had laid the groundwork for
a stable and safe environment. After the withdrawal of
American forces, the Islamic State rapidly gained power.
After analyzing the successes and shortfalls of COIN in Iraq,
these lessons learned will be applied to revising COIN to
improve its effectiveness in achieving positive outcomes in
future U.S. involvements.
Avoiding the Stereotype: The Hidden Advantage
of the Shakespearean Woman
Mentor: Sarah Scott, Ph.D.
JESSICA HUHN
Marriage, Credit-Worthiness, and the Woman
Cahined in The Comedy of Errors
Mentor: Sarah Scott, Ph.D.
Within Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, Craig
Muldrew’s concept of “economy of obligation” appears in
two gender-specific forms: the commercial economy of men
and the marital-behavioral economy of women. Through
the dilemma of the golden chain, the social construct of
female reputation parallels commercial credit-worthiness,
wherein credibility is defined by one’s faithfulness to his
or her promises. In the domestic sphere, the imagery of
the chain symbolizes the bonds of marriage in the play,
framed as a relationship in which the wife pays a constant
debt of obedience to her husband to retain credibility or
suffers personally and socially. However, a husband does
not owe the same fidelity to his wife. Shakespeare uses the
circulation of the literal chain in the drama, along with its
metaphorical associations, to urge for mutual obligations
between husband and wife.
Wednesday, April 26 | Honors Session III
| Laughlin Auditorium |
SARAH BONSON
Synthesis and Characterization of Gold Micelles
for Use In A Targeted Drug Delivery System
Mentor: Patricia Kreke, Ph.D.
The treatment of disease requires the destruction of
harmful cells, which is often amalgamated with the death
of healthy body cells. A targeted drug delivery system
would allow drugs to be delivered exclusively to affected
areas, treating only harmful cells while leaving healthy cells
unharmed. This research focuses on the use of gold
micelles in targeting drug delivery, which could be
especially helpful in the effective treatment of diseases due
to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects
of gold nanoparticles and their potential in photothermal
therapy. Measurement techniques have been developed
to confirm the structure of these nanoparticles including IR,
NMR and microfluidic microwave measurements. A Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) instrument is also being developed
for characterization. Though these methods, the structure
of the system can be determined as well as the size of the
nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles have been
synthesized, thiolated, polymerized and characterized. At
the critical aggregation concentration (CAC), these nanoparticles will form micelles which could be used as a vehicle in
a targeting drug delivery system.
OMOMAYOKUN OJO
Characterization and Categorization of Mixed
Mouse Astrocyte Cell Lines
Mentor: Christine McCauslin, Ph.D.
Neuroinflammation is understood to be involved in multiple
neurodegenerative diseases but its biochemical process
within the human brain is yet to be fully grasped. The
exposition of the mechanisms involved in glial activation
is a pivotal step in improving our understanding, but this
requires the generation of a stable and valid model system
in which to analyze this progression. Cells were isolated
from one-day-old mice cortices then virally infected in prior
experiments to generate two immortalized mice glial cell
lines, J2B9 and J2B10. In order to determine the growth
characteristics and also confirm the identities of our cell
lines as mixed microglial/astrocyte cell populations, this
project aims to characterize the cell lines via neutral red
assays, cell counting assays, cell doubling assays, and antibody immunofluorescence staining. Our results suggest that
the doubling time of both populations are stable across
multiple weeks in culture. Both cell lines stained positive for
GFAP while J2B9 also stained positive for Integrin alpha
M. Though further research is required to fully confirm the
complete characteristics of our cells, our results support that
we have generated stable mixed astrocyte cell lines.
GRACE WAGLER
Determining the Effectiveness of aPKC Inhibition
in Preventing Retinal Vascular Permeability in
Disease States
Mentor: Michael Turner, Ph.D.
Diabetic retinopathy due to macular edema (ME) is currently one of the most prevalent causes of vision loss and blindness in modernized countries. A small molecule inhibitor
of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) could reverse vascular
permeability, which is a major contributor to ME. While
the long-term goal is to develop therapeutic options to
restore/reverse vision loss, part of the research is devoted
to assessing how effective aPKC inhibition is in preventing/
reversing retinal vascular permeability. To this end, the
protein expression of six kinases from the protein kinase C
iota domain was assessed, turning up negative results.
KELLY WEISS
Using CRISPR Technology to Identify Genes
Involved in HMGB1 Signaling in Glial Cells
Mentor: Jennifer Staiger, Ph.D.
In the human brain, a stroke leads to ischemic injury. The
brain then uses various proteins to go into the neuro-inflammation process. One of those proteins, high-mobility
group box 1 (HMGB1) is released from dying cells, stimulating inflammation of microglial cells. HMGB1 regulates
CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs) – transcription
factors that regulate a variety of cellular processes. The
goal of this research is to use CRISPR cloning technology to
better understand the role of C/EBPβ in neuroinflammation
by creating constructs to inhibit the expressions of certain
genes in order to better understand their roles in regulating
inflammation.
MEGAN CRANDALL
The Effects of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) on
Treatment Outcomes in Patients with Congenital
CMV-Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)
Mentors: Barbara Marinak, Ph.D./Michael Turner, Ph.D.
Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common cause
for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in the birth to early
adolescence population. It is difficult to identify patients
born with silent (asymptomatic) CMV due to late-onset
characteristics of the infection and lack of testing in
newborn screening programs. Hearing loss due to the CMV
infection in infants can be progressive up to six years after
birth. This study looks at differences in treatment outcomes
of patients with CMV-induced SNHL compared to patients
with non-CMV SNHL as well as the efficacy of research
available to practitioners treating patients with CMV.
| O’Hara Dining Room |
MATTHEW KOURY
The Interaction Between Delay Discounting and
Acute Stress
Mentor: Jonathan Slezak, Ph.D.
Impulsivity can be defined as preference for smaller,
immediate reinforcers over larger, delayed reinforcers. This
phenomenon is known as delay discounting; as the delay
to a larger reinforcer increases, the value of that reinforcer
decreases. Previous research indicates an association
between high delay-discounting rates and poor health like
obesity and drug abuse. This study builds upon previous
research indicating that the induction of acute stress in
subjects can increase impulsivity and stress levels. Using
a within-subject, pre-posttest design, we further examine
the relationship between stress and impulsivity. The results
suggest that there was no relationship between stress and
delay discounting.
GIOFRANCO LIBONATE
Determining the Role of SPEC1 in Human Cells
Mentor: Dana Ward, Ph.D.
SPEC1 is a protein that was discovered by Dr. Ward in her
graduate work, but its function remains unknown. The
role of SPEC1, a CDC42 effector protein, will be examined
through various experiments in order to better understand
the functions of this protein. Specifically its role in mitotic
spindle orientation, focal adhesion points, and cell morphology were all examined because previous experiments
alluded to these possible functions of SPEC1.
CONNELLY MAGIN
Imperial Envy and God-like Glory: Neoclassical
Art as Propaganda During the Reign of Napoleon
Bonaparte
Mentor: Jamie Gianoutsos, Ph.D.
Historians of Napoleon, by virtue of their research on the
images and symbols he promulgated during his reign as
emperor, have come to understand Napoleon almost
exclusively through his use of Roman imagery to justify
his ascension to power. However, this paper argues that
there is a significant theme of Napoleon’s reign that has
been overlooked in the past. Through the study of various
portraits that were commissioned by Napoleon and his
legislature, another image emerges that creates a religious
depiction of Napoleon as ruler, equating his authority to
that of Jesus Christ.
REBECCA SCHISLER
The First Amendment and the Common Good: A
Look into the Role of the Press
Mentor: Richard Buck, Ph.D.
Over time, the Press has developed as a necessary resource
for pursuing and understanding the truth. The Press undertakes a necessary position: holding those in leadership
positions responsible for their actions and reporting information crucial for the public’s knowledge. This project will
develop a philosophical analysis of Freedom of Press and its
contribution to the common good and human flourishing.
Two essential aspects of a flourishing society are peace and
justice, qualities that the Press protects. In order for liberty
to be preserved and truth to be uncovered, journalism
must be present as a conduit between public discourse and
society at large.
JOSEPH THEIS
The Naked Empire: An Analysis of Political
Correctness as a Method of Cultural Reform
Mentor: Sean Lewis, Ph.D.
Through an examination of linguistic structures and their
relationship to behavioral patterns as particularly pertaining
to cultural trends, I present an argument condemning
political correctness as a means by which the restriction and
alteration of speech may influence political institutions and
legal interpretations; additionally, I examine the current
crisis facing freedom of speech as it affects the cultural and
academic climate of the American university campus.
Wednesday, April 26 | Honors Session IV
| O’Hara Dining Room |
HANNAH DUNHAM
The Role of Priming in Stereotype Threat
Situations Involving Order Effects
Mentor: Robert Keefer, Ph.D.
This research is influenced by Smeding et. al’s (2013)
study examining order effects and their ability to create or
alleviate stereotype threat on girls’ math performance. The
present research centers on the hypothesis that eliminating
stereotype threat will eliminate order effects regarding
math and verbal testing. When primed to experience
stereotype threat, women should perform in accordance
with that stereotype and achieve higher grades on a
verbal-math test than a math-verbal test. In contrast, when
women are primed to feel masculine, thus eliminating
stereotype threat, they should perform equally on both the
verbal-math and math-verbal tests.
KAYLA MORROW
The Pilgrimage of Life: The Parson’s Manual for
Marital Harmony
Mentor: Sean Lewis, Ph.D.
My project considers marriage in The Canterbury Tales,
specifically The Wife of Bath’s, The Clerk’s, and The Franklin’s Tale. Each articulates a unique perspective on marriage
and women’s role within it. The Wife of Bath presents
marital happiness as requiring male submission and female
sovereignty; the Clerk asserts a husband’s sovereignty and
a wife’s complete submission; and the Franklin proposes
mutual respect and love in marriage. Though the Franklin’s
option seems a preferable equilibrium, I argue that each
of these three responses necessarily fails, and that the
Christian solution is appropriately found in the work’s
conclusion: The Parson’s Tale.
ANNE O’NEILL
The Effect of Youth Involvement in the Action
Francaise on Laïcité in France
Mentors: Paige Hochschild, Ph.D.
This combines both theological and Francophone perspectives to look at interwar France and the participation in and
foundation of anti-republican, royalist political movements
by Catholics. Encouragement for Catholic participation lead
to political movements appearing all over France; including
the Action Française movement. This encompassed
sub-groups appealing to youths. The Action Française was
condemned in 1926 as it drifted too far from the teachings
of the Church. The youths who had been joining the Action
Française movement were left and grew to be the leaders
of an increasingly secular France. These youths shaped the
secularized France that exists today.
ALYSE SPIEHLER
Human Flourishing and the Vocation of Stay at
Home Motherhood
Mentors: Sarah Scott, Ph.D./Jessy Jordan, Ph.D.
Stay-at-home mothers have been criticized in recent years
for not living up to their potential as rational, free agents
in contemporary society. Certain critics claim that these
women make the war on women possible, others that the
tasks of the stay-at-home mother do not amount to much. It
seems, however, that an account of human flourishing that
details the specific virtues necessary for a flourishing life
shows the error of such claims. This project offers such an
account and, additionally, analyzes stay-at-home mothers
in literature so as to bring this discourse out of the abstract
and into one’s lived experience.
Distinguished Faculty Address
Layton Field, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Mount St. Mary’s University
Layton Field, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the department of
sociology and criminal justice. He received his bachelor’s degree (2009)
master’s degree (2011) and doctorate (2014) in sociology from Texas A&M
University. Field specializes in population research examining the intricate
relationship between the population processes of fertility, mortality, and migration and society as
a whole. Field has published works in several outlets including one of the leading demographic
journals, Population and Development Review. In the nearly three years that Field has been at
the Mount, he has taught a wide range of courses including Population & Society, Social Research
Methods, statistics, introduction to criminal justice and Social Problems. He currently lives in Carroll
Valley, Pennsylvania with his wife, Lindsey, and four children, Abigail, Philip, Maximilian and Agnes.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABIES GONE?
FERTILITY DECLINES & THE SCIENCE OF POPULATION RESEARCH
Knott Auditorium, Main Campus
Wednesday, April 26 11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Who is having babies in the world today? What are some of the factors that impact that decision?
When will you have a child and how many? Why does any of this matter? These questions address
contemporary trends in fertility patterns that shape the world around us in very important ways.
Come join us for a discussion of the principles of population research including fertility, mortality
and migration that will explore these and many other questions.
Keynote Address
David Ginty, Ph.D.
Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
David Ginty, Ph.D., has worked for more than two decades to unravel the
mysteries of peripheral nervous system (PNS) organization and development.
He graduated with a degree in biology from Mount St. Mary’s College in 1984
and a doctorate in physiology from East Carolina University School of Medicine
in 1989. Following postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, from 1989 to 1994, Ginty joined the
faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he became an investigator
for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2000 and was promoted to professor in 2004. In 2013,
Ginty returned to Boston to become the Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology at
Harvard Medical School. Ginty’s research has revealed a core logic of sensory neuron organization
and key developmental steps that direct the assembly of neural circuits. His current research uses
sophisticated molecular genetic approaches to interrogate sensory neurons as well as spinal cord
and brain neurons with the goal of revealing the principles of development, organization and
function of neural circuits that underlie our sense of touch. Ginty is also interested in the cellular and
molecular basis of touch and pain sensations under disease conditions.
HOW DO WE FEEL? AN EXPLORATION OF THE SENSORY NEURONS OF TOUCH
Knott Auditorium, Main Campus and live streamed to Frederick Campus
Wednesday, April 26 4:45–5:45 p.m.
Symphonic ensembles of neural impulses flow from our skin to our brains to convey tactile
encounters with the physical world. What are the instruments of these neural ensembles? How
does one composition of impulses signify a mother’s nurturing touch, and others a menacing
bug, a summer’s breeze, a tickle, a complex pattern of Braille dots, or raindrops? Our ability to
perceive and respond to the physical world is rooted in the cadre of intricate nerve cell endings
in our skin, the largest and least understood of our sensory organs. Indeed, the first step leading
to the perception of any touch is activation of nerve cells whose projections terminate in the
skin. These cutaneous nerve cells are called touch receptors or low-threshold mechanoreceptors
(LTMRs). Our research goals are: 1) to elucidate the response properties and functions of each
of the seven or more types of LTMRs; 2) to determine how LTMRs convey their impulses from the
skin to the spinal cord and brain; 3) to establish how the brain interprets myriad LTMR inputs to
achieve perception of both discriminative and affective (pleasurable) touch; and 4) to establish
how this system –the somatosensory system develops. We also strive to understand whether
and how dysfunction of touch information processing underlies tactile deficits in disorders of the
nervous system, such as autism, and during neuropathic pain. Our discoveries are revealing the
organizational logic of neural circuits that underlie touch perception and how alterations of these
somatosensory circuits give rise to sensory dysfunction in disease states.
SPARC Festival Schedule
Tuesday, April 25
3:30–5 p.m.
Opening Ceremony
Founder’s Plaza
4-4:15 p.m.
5–7 p.m.
5-7:45 p.m.
5-7 p.m.
5-6 p.m.
6-8:30 p.m.
7-8 p.m.
8-9p.m.
Opening Remarks
Student Debate
Honors Session I
Senior Art Exhibition
FIRE Talk Session I
Lightening Talks Session I
Split Recital
Bari Boyd Piano Lecture Recital
Founder’s Plaza
Cardinal Keeler Dining Room
O’Hara Dining Room and Laughlin Auditorium
Williams Art Gallery, Delaplaine Fine Arts Center
Phillips Library
Phillips Library
Horning Theater, Delaplaine Fine Arts Center
Horning Theater, Delaplaine Fine Arts Center
Wednesday, April 26
8:45-11:30 a.m.
9-11:30 a.m.
10-11:30 a.m.
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
1-2 p.m.
1-4:30 p.m.
1-4:30 p.m.
1-2:30 p.m.
1-2:30 p.m. 1-3:30 p.m.
2-4:30 p.m.
2:30-4 p.m.
3:30-4:30 p.m.
3-4:30 p.m.
4:45-5:45 p.m.
6-8:30 p.m.
6-7 p.m.
6-7:30 p.m.
6-8 p.m.
6-9 p.m.
Honors Session II
Lightning Talks Session II
Poster Session I
Distinguished Faulty Address
FIRE Talk Session II
Honors Session III
Performance Presentations
Poster Session II
Poets and Storytellers
Lightning Talk Session III
Lightning Talks Session IV
Moorings & Tolle Lege
FIRE Talk Session III
Poster Session III
Keynote Speaker
Honors Session IV
Internship Panel
Lightning Talk Session V
Theatrical Performance
Mosaic Expo
O’Hara Dining Room and Laughlin Auditorium
Phillips Library
Patriot Hall
Knott Auditorium
Phillips Library
O’Hara Dining Room and Laughlin Auditorium
Knott Auditorium
Patriot Hall
Mount Café
Cardinal Keeler Dining Room
Phillips Library
Mount Café
Cardinal Keeler Dining Room
Patriot Hall
Knott Auditorium
O’Hara Dining Room
Laughlin Auditorium
Mount Café
Horning Theater, Delaplaine Fine Arts Center
Cardinal Keeler Dining Room