Fall 2020 Virtual Honors Symposium

This research evaluates the performance of commercially available breathing masks in filtering airborne nanoparticles at manufacturing sites. Data has been collected and analyzed in order to analyze the behavior of nanoparticles and the effectiveness of filtration methods. Finally, conclusions are drawn for future applications of masks and molecule screening equipment.

This thesis focuses on drone development from a flight control perspective by using piezoelectric actuators as ailerons. This was tested by simulating a piezoelectric actuator under full, half, and no power, attached to four different airfoils and subjected to three different headwind speeds.

Pressure Vessels are common pieces of equipment in industry used to store large amounts of fluid. Generally, they rest on loadcells. This dual-purposed research experimentally proves the effects of dynamic wind loading on pressure vessel loadcells and explores surface imaging techniques to analyze a fracture within a broken loadcell.

In this research, the early stage growth and solidification mechanisms of grey iron was examined through experimentation via fast quench analysis. Samples were obtained along various solidification stages for metallography and cooling curve analysis which resulted in a better understanding of the leading phase during grey iron solidification.

In the late fifth century, the Germanic Franks conquered Gaul and established the foundation of France. But how did they find an identity, a sense of themselves? Through the use and creation of their own legal texts, the Franks were able to find an identity as Christian conquerors and law-givers.

Olga ruled as Grand Princess in tenth-century Kievan Rus’ - with 10 pages dedicated to her in the Russian Primary Chronicle - the only woman to have either distinction. Her ancestry is thought to be Varangian (Viking). How does she compare to the Viking women in the west, of the Icelandic Sagas?

Unemployed and estranged from his partner, Ronnie Babes fills his afternoons writing "Rainbow Stew": a novel that explores the life of Ronald Baker, a desperate man struggling to keep his life together. Through the frame of a novel within a novel, this thesis explores gender roles in the deep south.

Euphemisms for genocide function as terministic screens, affecting how perpetrators, victims, and society view events of “genocide” as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This thesis provides an analysis framework and typology for categorizing euphemisms for genocide used in ten historical instances.

Differences between male and female filmmakers have been analyzed via feminist criticism around the male and female gaze. Renditions of 'The Beguiled' have been used to test if the position and amount of women on the crew affected the gaze of the film and the representation of the women.

This paper explores the events of the Holocaust from a feminist perspective, examining the specific adaptations made by European women as a means of survival. Regardless of age, ethnicity, or background these women all shared one enduring quality: resilience

This study compares the nature and determinants of beliefs about the causes of poor oral health outcomes. We collected data on the conceptualization of “good” or “bad” teeth, and a series of factors in explaining why some people have “bad” teeth. Respondents favor individualistic over structuralist reasons for poor oral health outcomes in aggregate.

“Ageism is an untrue assumption that chronological age should be the main determinant of human characteristics and that one age group is better than another” (Cavannaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2015, p. 31). Even though America is currently undergoing population aging, ageism is still experienced by 77% of adults (Novak, 2012). Although there has been an abundance of research on the outcomes of ageism (Burnes, et al., 2019; Kallio & Thomas, 2019, Scott, 2019) not as much attention has been given to strategies to combat ageism. The current study compared qualitative feedback from two groups of college students at the completion of a service learning endeavor. One group of students interacted with frail older adults and the other group interacted with active older adults. Analysis included thematic framework (Lindsay, 2019) of qualitative data to explore group differences on perceptions toward aging between the two groups of students. A discussion of results will be presented in terms of the impact that intergenerational programming may have on ageist attitudes.

As sustainability becomes more important to consumers, brands will have to adapt to stay competitive. The best way to advertise sustainability through social media has not yet been studied. This project explores different methods of social media promotion in an effort to find the most effective means of advertising sustainability.

This research examines the mental healthcare barriers that exist for transgender/gender non-conforming individuals versus cisgender individuals in an attempt to further understand the healthcare gap between these distinct populations. These findings will provide new insights to address healthcare barriers and develop clinical programming and educational materials suited to this community.

The increased prevalence of female legislators has been shown to increase voter turnout. Overall, a diverse government will feel more democratic and thus more welcoming of participation. I theorize that this remains true with female candidates in executive elections and female chief executives and that both will increase voter turnout.

Over the past few years, the United States has been facing an ethical issue with the police regarding excessive use of force and police brutality. Recently, the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more have caused civil unrest in communities across the nation who seek immediate action against officer misconduct. This study investigates how various external factors such as race and geographical location influence a person's perception of the police. Data were collected from 845 participants via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) online marketplace and findings reveal that geographic location, more so than race, influence perceptions of the police. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Families who are reunified from foster care are at a critical point in terms of continued family unity, and need additional support during this time of transition to prevent future reentry into foster care. Utilizing the perspectives of DFCS caseworkers, suggestions were made as to what services should be offered.

How and to what extent does the difference between the cultures of a refugee and the country they settle in affect refugees' integration? I examine the effect of cultural distance on integration using both quantitative and case-study analysis. I expect that high cultural distance will result in worse integration outcomes.

This thesis is designed to measure the prevalence of intimate partner violence among young adults in a college setting. Using an anonymous survey, students at Georgia Southern University were asked about their experiences with IPV, as well as their knowledge and perceptions of victim’s services both on and off campus.

The purpose of this paper is to examine existing research on anti-racist education; then synthesize that information into strategies that teachers can use to promote anti-racism in their classrooms. The design of this study is to create tolerance-centered lesson plans using the Inquiry Design Model.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE’s) allow students to participate in research. In this project we measured increases in analytical skills, content knowledge, and attitudinal measures to determine predictors of student learning gains. We found an increase in analytical skills and content knowledge. Self-efficacy and first-generation status significantly predict learning gains.

This study explores the effects that occupational fraud has on non-profit organizations. This study will also examine how non-profit organizations choose to respond to instances of fraud and the reasons behind these choices.

Over the years, energy policies and regulations have been created on a nationwide level for the efficient use of energy (UE), renewable energy sources (RES) and related CO2 reductions. Within recent years, a burgeoning number of voices have emphasized the importance of incorporating sustainability into investment portfolio construction. Sustainability is the doctrine of ensuring that short-term actions do not limit the range of long-term economic, social and environmental options. Co-integrating the realities of the present with the possibilities of the future. This leads to the viable questions: Is sustainability a viable measure in portfolio construction? Do sustainable portfolios outperform or underperform conventional portfolios? Policy advances and technological innovations are coming together and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy – a society more productive and less dependent or independent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the creation of goods and services.

An observational analysis is first performed using historical price data from the 1900 Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index (DJSGI) and the S&P 500 returns from 1999- 2000, to show the superior performance of the less carbon-intensive companies in the North American region market, which supplements evidence from existing literature in the market's unfavorable pricing of companies that increase climate change risk. Daily closing prices of all the companies and the benchmark indices (S&P 500) are taken for a twenty-year period of January 1999– December 2019. The results indicate that there is difference in the performance between sustainable portfolio and the traditional conventional indices.

Since the turn of the century, financial markets have seen unprecedented volatility. This volatility has been exacerbated by two potential drivers: Noise traders and Fintech. By examining historical volatility within US equity markets, evidence is provided to support that the increase in volatility is due to these factors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the agreement between laboratory measures (i.e., dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and air displacement plethysmography) and criterion multi-compartment models for the purposes of estimating body fat percentage in sixty Division-I collegiate female athletes.

Human trafficking is a global problem of pandemic proportions. There is much debate on how to define human trafficking, create a victim profile, implement referral resources after rescue, fund, and criminalize. Further still is the lack of protocol in the clinical setting such as emergency departments, obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatric departments across the United States. Upon review of literature, no studies of human trafficking in nursing curricula have been published. Given this finding in the literature review, a qualitative study to measure current knowledge, perception and potential bias amongst nursing students and faculty was tested in conjunction with this analysis. The findings in the study population parallel the findings in the literature which correlate to the need for more attention and protocol to combat this problem.