Siena and the Other: Looking at the Tenshō Embassy in Siena

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Lydia Breksa and Faculty Mentor: Eric Dursteler, History Introduction During the early modern period in Italy (1400s-1700s), nobles and organizations (e.g., guilds, oligarchies etc.) established a pattern of using artwork to demonstrate their power, standing in society, and relevance to current events. The exchange of diplomatic visitors, known as embassies, was common at this time […]

Using AVIRIS and Machine Learning to Map and Discriminate Bull Kelp and Giant Kelp along the Pacific Coast of the United States

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Tanner Thompson and Dr. Ryan Jensen, Department of Geography Introduction Kelp forests provide food and shelter for many organisms, and they are an important part of coastal ecosystems throughout the world. Along the Pacific coast of the United States, kelp forests are made up of one of two species of kelp: bull kelp (Nereocystis Luetkana) […]

Implementation of Recurrent Neural Nets in Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators

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Christ Rytting and Dr. Kerk Phillips, Economics Department Drivendata.org says “In the year 2000, the member states of the United Nations agreed to a set of goals to measure the progress of global development. The aim of these goals was to increase standards of living around the world by emphasizing human capital, infrastructure, and human […]

Development and Evaluation of an EEG-Based Symbol-Digit Substitution Task

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Christopher Beckett and Dr. Bruce Brown, Department of Psychology Introduction The event-related potential (ERP) method has led to major advances in the experimental exploration of the neurological correlates of human cognition (Luck, 2005). The usual process is to take EEG (electroencephalographic) recordings during a cognitive task. The recording is timelocked to a stimulus so that […]

Mormon Masses: An Analysis of the Improvement Era’s Advertisements to the Separate Genders circa. 1927-1933

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Nicole Wechsler and Dr. Rebecca DeSchweinitz, History Department Introduction This project analyzed two main documents, comparing and contrasting the different LDS youth periodicals, namely the Improvement era and the Young Woman’s Journal. In this project I analyzed advertisements within the Improvement Era during the merger of the Young Woman’s Journal and the Improvement Era with […]

Prenatal Androgens and the Stability of Temperament and Anxiety: A Study of Testosterone-Mediated Digit Ratios in Rhesus Macaques

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Alexander Baxter and Dr. J. Dee Higley, Psychology Department Introduction Prenatal androgen exposure (PAE) is the organizational force that masculinizes the brain. It has impact on other parts of the body as well. For example, PAE induces growth in the ring finger. Consequently, the pointer-to-ring-finger digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) is frequently used to assess PAE.1 […]

Ketamine as a Predictor of Excessive Alcohol Intake: A Rhesus Monkey Nonhuman Primate Model

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Ryno Kruger and Dr. J. Dee Higley, Psychology Department Introduction In 2014, 8.7 million teenagers in the United States reported drinking alcohol, with the vast majority engaging in binge drinking1. Due to the rise of underage drinking and alcohol abuse, it is of increasing importance to study variables that influence risk for alcohol abuse and […]

Nabataean Course Ware Pottery Chronological Dating System

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Jake Hubbert and Dr. Cynthia Finlayson, Anthropology Department Introduction The course ware pottery created by the ancient Nabataeans of Petra, Jordan is unique and one of the most understudied pottery types from the Hellenistic and Roman eras in the Near East. My research project involved developing an updated seriation organization of these pottery types based […]

Exploring Ideocentrism: Ideology-Conflict and Out-Group Discrimination

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Ryan Hemsley and Dr. Robert Ridge, Psychology Department Conflict has long been a topic of interest in the social sciences. There is considerable research that has examined conflict through bias, prejudice, out-group discrimination, and in-group preferential treatment. (see Burne et al, 1975; Hewstone et al, 2002; Kilduff et al 2016) However, the literature focuses disproportionately […]

“To Bring the Old and to Lead the Young:” Hmong Identity Formation in Transferring Cultural Knowledge Between Generations

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Venice Jardine and Dr. Gregory Thompson, Anthropology Department While many theorists in Psychology have proposed various universalistic models for development, specifically ethnic identity development, and while these theories clearly have much to offer in the way scholarship on the topic of identity development, they are severely limited in their scope for the same reason that […]