University Writing & Research Conference Program Spring 2016

Session 1: Debunking Stereotypes: Race and the Media

10 a.m. (Ames B101)
Moderator: Erin Speck

Neeraj Jaisinghani, "Too Funny or Too Far? The Satirization of Race in Comedy"
Professor Niles Tomlinson

Alaina Taylor, "Agenda-Setting and Power: Why CNN Was Racist in Their Coverage of Hurricane Katrina"
Professor Mark Mullen

Session 2: Interrogating Cultural (Mis)Understandings

10 a.m. (Ames B105)  
Moderator: Bill Gillis

Jazmin Kay, "Can A Plane Ticket Buy You Culture? Modern Volunteer Tourism and Its Impact On Cross-Cultural Understanding and Social Change"
Professor Pam Presser

Claudia Rodriguez Sanchez, "'La Otra Cara': The Effects of Parental Deportation on Adolescents’ Development and Identity in the U.S. 
Professor Bernardita Yunis

Session 3: Why Not to Judge a Film by its Trailer: A Study of Stereotypical Distortion of Romantic Comedy Marketing

10 a.m. (Ames B109)  
Moderator: Caroline Smith

Yonah Bromberg Gaber, "Why Not to Judge a Film by its Trailer: A Study of Stereotypical Distortion of Romantic Comedy Marketing"
Professor Caroline Smith

Session 4: Flirting and Finery: Painting Status in Shakespearean England and Golden Age Holland

11:30 a.m. (Ames B101)  
Moderator: Rachel Pollock

Caitlin Shaffer, "The Paradoxical Ruff: An Essential Accessory of the Shakespearean Age"
Professor Rachel Pollack

Amanda Gryga, "Women in the Balance: Metsu's View on Feminism" 
Professor Rachel Pollack

Session 5: Rethinking Religion: Drawing the Pope, Greening Judaism

11:30 a.m. (Ames B105)
Moderator: Beth Johnston

Zachary Lyda, "Papacy in Partisan Cartoons: Political Cartoonists’ Changing View of Pope Francis"
Professor Michael Svoboda

Lauren Petersil, "The Lack of “Green” in Jewish Environmental Ideology"
Professor Elizabeth Johnston

Session 6: Authenticity and Identity: Masculinity in Film and Storytelling in Rap

11:30 a.m. (Ames B205)  
Moderator: Lowell Abrams

Alexandra Franco, "Man Up, Bro: The Reassertion of Masculinity in 21st Century American Film"
Professor Caroline Smith

Cole Fisher, "Keepin’ It 100: The Strife to Display Complete Authenticity in Hip-Hop"
Professor Wade Fletcher

Session 7: Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys So White, So Male -- and What to Do About It

1 p.m. (Ames B101) 
Moderator: Phyllis Ryder

Nina Meli, "And the Emmy Goes to… Methods to Help Improve Hollywood’s Race and Gender Imbalances" 
Professor Phyllis Ryder

Lisa Carter, "An Impression Management Approach to Black Artists" 
Professor Phyllis Ryder

Session 8: Framing War: Media Coverage of U.S. Conflict in Haiti

1 p.m. (Ames B105)
Moderator: Julie Donovan

Sofia Nicholas, "Race, Place, and Representation: Exploring American Newspaper Coverage of the U.S. Invasion of Haiti in 1915" 
Professor Mark Mullen

Session 9: Race and Sports, Money and Politics: Disentangling the Research Process

1 p.m. (Ames B205)
Moderator: Gordon Mantler

Mariana Lopez, "The Psychological Benefits of Sports: Aiding Integration and Educating Audiences"
Professor Gordon Mantler

Erik Schmid, "The Buck Doesn’t Stop Here: Money in Congressional Politics"
Professor Susan Koenig

Session 10: How Does That Make You Feel? Popular Culture as Therapy

1 p.m. (Ames B109)  
Moderator: Michael Svoboda

Abigail Fields, "Music and Emotion: Why Do We Listen to Music?"
Professor Matthew Riley

Maria Gergoudis, "Grieving Through Media: How Grey’s Anatomy Can Help You"
Professor Katherine Larsen

Session 11: The Princess and the Bear: Changing Cultural Constructs in the Media

2:30 p.m. (Ames B101)  
Moderator: Tolonda Henderson

Alexander Fried, "Putin's Bear-Chested Cult of Personality"
Professor Michael Svoboda

Abi Raj, "Disney Princess Films: A Push Towards Egalitarianism"
Professor Bernardita Yunis

Session 12: "Stars and Shadows Ain't Good to See by": Misrepresentations and Stereotypes in Film and Education

2:30 p.m. (Ames B105)
Moderator: Gordon Mantler

Isabel Meskers, "The Impact of Negative Stereotypes On Latin@ Students" 
Professor Bernardita Yunis

Zachary Hyde, "Schizophrenia on Screen: A Historical Analysis of 'A Beautiful Mind' " 
Professor Gordon Mantler

Session 13: Confronting Asian and South Asian Stereotypes in Music and Media

2:30 p.m. (Ames B205)
Moderator: Lauren Kaczmar

Lydia Schalles, "The Struggle of Asian American Musicians" 
Professor Jee Yoon Lee

Savita Potarazu, "Adoption vs. Adaptation: South Asian Women in U.S. Media Culture" 
Professor Jee Yoon Lee

Session 14: From Muslim Saming to Fat Shaming: The Uses and Abuses of Satire

2:30 p.m. (Ames B207)
Moderator: Zach Elder

Sudhamsh Tippireddy, "Be Funny or Die: The Representation of Radical Islamic Terrorism in Film and Media" 
Professor Niles Tomlinson

Justin Rezkalla, "Shame On You: Nicole Arbour’s Failed Satirical Attempt on Fat Shaming" 
Professor Niles Tomlinson

Session 15: Music and Absence as Catalysts of Change

2:30 p.m. (Ames B112)
Moderator: Kathleen Dawson

Hillel Zand, "Finding Harmony: Using Music as a Mechanism for Conflict Resolution between Israelis and Palestinians" 
Professor Matthew Riley

Sophia "Rocket" Claman, "The Importance of Absence in Myanmar's Fight for Democracy" 
Professor Susan Koenig

Session 16: Guess Whose Story is Still Not Told: Race and Racism in Film Today

4:10 p.m. (Ames B101) 
Moderator: Tolonda Henderson

Crystel Sylvester, Homenum Revelio: Revealing Racial Prejudice in the Harry Potter Franchise 
Professor Katherine Larsen

Elsa Katz, Racism and Race in Hollywood: Then and Now 
Professor Phyllis Ryder

Session 17: Evolving Identities

4:10 p.m. (Ames B105)
Moderator: Niles Tomlinson

Isabel Pellegrino, "Biophilic Design: Discovery Through Art"
Professor Elizabeth Johnston

Anna Ostrow, "Identity Struggles in Asian American Adoptees"
Professor Jee Yoon Lee

Session 18: Jane Eyre, Remix, and Trigger Warnings

4:10 p.m. (Ames B109)
Moderator: Katherine Howell

Kathryn Urban, "Humanizing Bertha Mason: An Examination of Textual Imposition and Victorian Oppression"
Professor Katherine Howell

Christiana Miller, "Jane The Submissive"
Professor Katherine Howell

Allison Hall, "Interconnectivity Between Abusive Behavior in Adulthood and Abuse Experienced throughout Childhood: Why Rochester’s Current Mental Health Relates to Childhood Development in Jane Eyre"
Professor Katherine Howell

Session 19: Fighting Loneliness with Dignity

4:10 p.m. (Ames B205)  
Moderator: Abby Wilkerson

Justin Dembowski, Esther Lee, Matthew Appel, "Fighting Loneliness with Dignity"
Professor Abby Wilkerson

Session 20: Navigating Science Through Tunes and Shakespeare

4:10 p.m. (Ames B207)
Moderator: Rachel Pollock

Hayley Seal, "Shakespeare on the Horizon"
Professor Rachel Pollack

Mitchell Opatowsky, "Background Music: What’s going to finish my work the fastest?"
Professor Matthew Riley

Session 21: She is Worthy: Gender Identity in Film and Sport

4:10 p.m. (Ames B201)
Moderator: Ann Brown

Grace Fisher, "Girls Ruck Harder: Gender, Conflict, and Rugby"
Professor Sandra Friedman

Allison Kubick, "If She Be Worthy: Feminism in the Marvel Universe"
Professor Katherine Larsen

Session 22: Capturing the 'Unrepresentable': Genocide and Mental Disorder in Hollywood Film

4:10 p.m. (Ames B112)  
Moderator: Wade Fletcher

Sarah Elizabeth Espinel, "A Fight for Deinstitutionalization as Seen Through the Twisted World of the Cuckoo’s Nest"
Professor Gordon Mantler

Brittany Nguon, "Genocide in Films: Hollywood’s Obsession with Happy Endings and Dramatization"
Professor Wade Fletcher