Spring 2000 MAPs

AFRICANA STUDIES: "African Refugees: An Exploration of Media-Generated Perceptions and Personal Narratives." Leah Ray [Professor Cannon Schmitt, Professor Katya Gibel Azoulay] This project explored the media's attitude toward African refugees and how it plays a powerful and precarious role in establishing the causes which shape the American conscience. We examined personal narratives and refugee memoirs, analyzing the personal histories they present from the dual perspective of literary studies and Africana or African studies.

AFRICANA STUDIES: "Fear of a White Planet: The Whitening of Hip Hop." Colin Guthrie [Professor Katya Gibel Azoulay] This MAP considered academic, historical, and pop cultural contexts in order to fully evaluate and appraise both the phenomenon of white men in Hip-Hop, specifically in rap music and also debates about this phenomenon. The final product was an event that combined the methods of performance and a formal presentation on campus, May 9, 2000.

ANTHROPOLOGY: "Celtic History." Christina Hanson [Professor Douglas Caulkins] This project was a guided reading exploring Celtic, specifically Welsh, mythology and folklore and how this translates into modern constructions of Welsh identity by both the Welsh and non-Welsh. The project was followed by summer research in Wales. The written result of this project was in the form of a final MAP write-up and a senior thesis.

BIOLOGY: "Determination of a Genetic Individual of Aspergillus niger var. phoenicus." Anna K. Donovan [Professor Kathy Jacobson] This MAP proposed that A. niger var. phoenicus, a significant seed pathogen of Welwitschia mirabilis, Namibia's national plant, relies primarily on asexual means of reproduction, namely spores resulting from simple mitotic division. We examined the vegetative interactions between individual single spore isolates in Namibian populations and subsequently conducted a preliminary survey of genetic diversity within these populations using molecular markers.

BIOLOGY: "Scientific Publishing and the Electronic Process." Jeremy Tolbert [Professor Peter Jacobson] This independent study focused on the process of scientific publishing, particularly in the biological sciences, with an emphasis on the use of electronic publishing as an alternative to the traditional methods. We also focused on understanding the current scientific publication process and how the peer review process is conducted. We constructed two surveys: one survey targeted editors and their publications, and examined the particulars of their publication process and how they utilize electronic methods; the second survey targeted authors of scientific publications, examining their thoughts on the traditional publication process. This project culminated in a final paper reporting the survey findings.

BIOLOGY: "Pollination Ecology II." James Fausto [Professor Vincent Eckhart] This independent study completed data analysis (and expanded and upgraded a manuscript) for research initiated during the summer of 1998. The research was a thorough field study of a long-standing idea in plant ecology (the reproductive assurance hypothesis) that had been proposed to explain the evolution of self-pollination in plants. Professional pollination biologists will review drafts of a paper describing the research. The final manuscript will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Research poster was presented at Family Weekend and the Science Building dedication.

CHEMISTRY: "Determination of Binding Sites of Noncovalently Bound Complexes by Electrospray Ionization Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry." Christian Petersen [Professor Elaine Marzluff] This project was a continuation of research done last semester [Fall 1999] to probe the secondary and tertiary structure of noncovalently bound complexes, with a special emphasis on the determination of binding sites. We also planned to investigate the related question of the dynamics of proteins in solution, a property that is thought to affect their biological functionality.

FRENCH: "Advanced Special Topic: Postcolonial Identities." Tyler Bradbury, Julia Kase, Kate Kleinworth, Jennifer Stob [Professor Jan Gross and Professor Susan Ireland] This seminar explored the ways in which contemporary literary works and films from the francophone world give voice to the interrelated notions of individual and collective identity. It covered both writers of immigrant descent living in France and Quebec and also French-speaking authors from Africa, Indochina, and the Caribbean. This seminar culminated in each student preparing a research paper (in French), a comprehensive annotated bibliography for French Department archives, and an oral presentation in French.

HISTORY: "Marriage in the Ladies' Home Journal." Jason Stohler [Professor Victoria Brown] The goal of this MAP was to engage in a quantitative and textual analysis of 30 years' worth of the monthly column, "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" from The Ladies' Home Journal. Combined with other marital advice literature, this analysis traced shifts in advice to Americans regarding what constituted an ideal marital relationship. This research culminated in a paper.

MUSIC: "J.S. Bach's Six Sonatas for Violin and Concerting Harpsichord: A Discussion of Their History and Perspectives on Their Performance." Jacob Bertrand [Professor Elizabeth Hays] While the small body of Bach's extant chamber music contains some unique features, it has been the focus of relatively few specific scholarly studies. Jacob made an analytical compendium of the essential features of those violin sonatas with concerting (rather than accompanying) harpsichord, placed them in historical context, and offered commentary on how one might approach their performance from an historically informed perspective. He wrote a 30-page paper and also presented his findings in a lecture/demonstration, with my collaboration on harpsichord, using both Baroque and modern violins.

PHILOSOPHY (Also RELIGIOUS STUDIES): "Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Studies in European Philosophy: Nietzsche." [Professor Tyler Roberts and Professor Alan Schrift] An intensive examination of the entirety of Nietzsche's writings. Texts included The Birth of Tragedy, On the Use and Abuse of History, Daybreak, The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols, The Antichrist, and Ecce Homo. In addition, students were given the opportunity to confront the works of Nietzsche's important interpreters, including among others, Heidegger, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault, Irigaray, Blondel, and Nehamas. The course was run as a trial MAP course. The MAP component consisted of an end-of-symposium on Nietzsche, in which some of the students in the course participated in the symposium as organizers, presenters or respondents. The Nietzsche symposium (culminating this semester's MAP seminar in philosophy/religious studies) took place on May 5-6 in South Lounge of the Forum. Each student wrote a 20-plus page paper, part or all of which was presented at the departmental Honor's Symposium in Spring 2000.

PSYCHOLOGY: "The Effects of Sexism on the Production of Images." Jessica Warady and Brenan Smith [Professor Laura Sinnett] We were interested in furthering the study of face-ism through an analysis of what causes face-ism. Recent studies have found that individuals with higher facial prominence are judged as being more competent than individuals with lower facial prominence. We examined whether a subject's sexist attitude influences gender differences in facial prominence in the art they produce and the art they prefer. The students presented "Sexism in your Photo Album: How Sexism Affects the Photos You Take and the Photographs You Prefer" on campus, May 9, 2000.

PSYCHOLOGY: "Advanced Special Topic: Senior Seminar." Nicholas Breitborde, Elizabeth Chilcoat, Jennifer Collins, Courtney Hougham, Leah Hrachovec, Jessica Kroger, Hilary Lueck [Professor David Lopatto] The purpose of the seminar was to challenge the student to synthesize a comprehensive view of the broad discipline of psychology. Students examined texts regarding physiological, behavioral, cognitive, social and developmental perspectives on current topics in psychology. Discussion focused on the consolidation of these perspectives into a comprehensive point of view. Students choosing the MAP option were required to compose a thesis in which they proposed an application of the synthetic approach to scientific, clinical or societal problems. This senior seminar culminated in a series of on-campus talks by the MAP students on April 20, April 27, May 4, and May 11, 2000.

THEATRE: "Deconstructing Self and Other: 19th and 20th Century Humanities." Nicholas Terpolilli [Professor Ellen Mease] This project involved an independent study of nineteenth- and twentieth-century intellectual history, with particular attention to literature and literary criticism. The focus of this project was Romanticism's cultural influence on the major theoretical innovations in nineteenth-century intellectual history. We worked toward a final project that focused on the figure of Shelley's "Asia" and the implications of that figure from the text of Prometheus Unbound and for the "other."