Oglethorpe University Symposium in the Liberal Arts

This annual event brings together students and faculty in a day-long celebration of exemplary analytic and creative work produced by Oglethorpe students over the past academic year. The symposium's sessions provide a forum for students and faculty to recognize, discuss and learn from these outstanding endeavors. Panels, roundtables, poster presentations and performances present the fruits of both OU's liberal arts curriculum as well as student-driven initiatives, including senior honors theses, independent studies and experiential initiatives connecting Oglethorpe with Atlanta and the world beyond.

Pre-Session: 9:00 – 10:00 A.M.

Meeting of the Majors
All students are encouraged to meet with their major faculty and cohorts. Some sessions are casual, others more formal. If your major is not listed, please go to the session most related to your interests (for example, American Studies majors may choose History, Sociology or Politics).

Accounting – Conant Performing Arts Center
Art & Art History – Robinson 117
Biology – Earl Dolive Theater (Philip Weltner Library)
BioPsychology –Earl Dolive Theater (Philip Weltner Library)
Business Administration – Conant Performing Arts Center
Chemistry – Goslin 108
Communication and Rhetoric Studies – Talmage Room (Emerson Student Center)
Economics – OK Sheffield Suite (Hearst Hall)
Engineering – Lupton 203
English – Grenwald Room (Emerson Student Center)
History – Hearst 101
International Studies – Hearst 212
Languages – Hearst 204
Mathematics – Lupton 200
Philosophy – Hearst 112
Physics – Goslin 100
Politics – Hearst 212
Psychology – Hearst 208
Sociology – Lupton 318
Theater – Rehearsal Room B (Conant Performing Arts Center)

International Advertising: Global Audiences and Strategies
Dr. Anne Rosenthal – Robinson 104
Dan Cohl, “Does McDonald’s Standardize its Advertising in Western Europe?” (Shrikhande)
Carly Hallman, “International Advertising: Determining an Appropriate Strategy” (Shrikhande)
Megan Van Doran, “Advertising Coca-Cola in China: What Works?” (Shrikhande)
Ingrid Wiggberg, “Marketing Reggaeton as a Hybrid Entertainment Form in the US” (Shrikhande)

SESSION 1: 10:15 – 11:25 A.M.

Art & Culture / Music & Culture
Catherine Kelley and Dr. James Bohart – Hearst 114
Angela DeGroat, “Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum” (Bohart)
Mariya Finkelshteyn, “Gregorian Chant, Islamic Chant, Egyptian Chant: Yesterday and Today” (Bohart)
Stephanie Laubscher, “All Things Shining: The Visual Art of the Films of Terrence Malick” (Kelley)
Ember Melcher and Devon Simons, “The Musical Techniques of Mozart in Don Giovanni and of Bizet in Carmen” (Bohart)
Chelcie Rowell, “Carol, Killer-Virgin: Female Stereotypes in Roman Polanski’s Repulsion” (Kelley)

Narratives of the Self
Dimitri Liebsch and Dr. Linda Taylor – Talmage Room
Jake Brisendine, “Odysseus: Cunning in its Many Facets” (Liebsch)
Peggy Cooke, "More Than a Beautiful Face: Women in the Odyssey" (Lutz)
Amanda Frotscher, “Examining the Self: Rumi and St. Augustine and the Question of Spirituality” (Taylor)
Russell Gelvin, “Odysseus, Me and the Struggle of Life.” (Taylor)
Matt Lewis, “Rumi’s Three Life Lessons: Love of Self, Love of Fellow Man and Love of God” (Taylor)

From Pythagoras to NUMB3RS: Mathematics Ancient & Modern
Dr. Philip Tiu – Grenwald Room
Jacob Hoyer, “The Primary Role of Primes”
Robert McGee, “Mathematics on Prime Time”
Joshua Phillips, “Pythagoras: The Theorem and Much More”
Elizabeth Richmann, “Forever Fascinating Fibonacci”

History Through Film
Dr. Nick Maher – Earl Dolive Theater
Carly Hallman, “Honey, I’m Home: Motherhood and Self-Sacrifice in Hollywood after the World Wars”
Justin Hutson, “Naked City / Private Eye: Corruption, Identity and the Myth of Los Angeles in Polanski’s Chinatown”
Adam Rowe, “If It Bleeds It Leads: Natural Born Killers, 15 Minutes and the Media’s Obsession with Murder”
Daniel Suddes, “The End of Cooperation: A Comparison of the 1960s Counterculture Movement in the Films Easy Rider, Night of the Living Dead, Cool Hand Luke and Forrest Gump”

Honors Theses
Dr. Anne Rosenthal, Dr. Mario Chandler and Dr. Wm. Bradford Smith – Library Reading Room
Mallory Davis, “The Rhetoric of Legitimacy: Stages of Dehumanization in Discourse” (Rosenthal)
Stephen Germany, “Forces of Nature in Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic Literature” (Smith)
Anne Oredeko, “Through My Brothers’ Eyes: Black Manhood Seen Through the Literary Works of Chinua Achebe, Manuel Zapata Olivella and Ralph Ellison” (Chandler)

Premodern Japanese Literature
Dr. Robert Steen – 24 Hour Room
Chloë Edwards, “In the East Where Pleasure Lies: Sexual Politics in Heian Literature”
Teresa Finn, “Virtue in Heian Period Japan”
Rachel Hensler, “The Clash of Confucius and the West”
Joshua Means, “Zen and Haiku”

Poster Session: 12:00 – 12:45 P.M.

Biology and Biopsychology
Dr. Daniel Schadler and Dr. Karen Schmeichel – Emerson Student Center

Trish Baldwin, “Cancer Cell Migration Responds to the Use of a Protease Inhibitor”
Bhagwati Bhakri, “Color Change in Chameleons”
Mychal Boyd, “Research and Development of DNA Fingerprinting”
Caitlin Brightwell, “The Use of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer in Therapeutic Cloning”
Daniel Brown, “Coral Bleaching”
Hong Ho, “Environmental Adaptations of Beluga Whales”
Akele Jeffers, Carly Reed and Rachel Ribiero, “Anthrax and Death Signaling”
Kathryn Kimrey, “Maternal Behavior in Sea Otters”
Amel Komic, “Lukemia Cancer Clusters”
Pho-Tho Le, “The Effects of Taxol (Paclitaxel) Treating Lung Cancer”
Meagan Meekin, “Nucleus: The Perfect Package”
Meagan Meekin, “Population Conservation of Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles”
Michael Muller, “Mongoose As An Invasive Species in the Hawaiian Islands”
Heena Patel, “Reduction in Indus River Dolphin Populations Due To Construction of Dams”
Aimee Paulk, “Laminitis and Insulin Resistance in Horses”
Zanna Reid, “Side Effects of Birth Control in Women Ages 16 to 21”
Elga Sanchez, “Effects of Sonar on Whales”
Steven Sorci, “Actin and Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transitions in Cancer”
Steven Sorci, “Pitching a Cellular Tent: Changes in the Intermediate Filament Cytoskeleton and Actin-based Focal Adhesions Based on the Extracellular Matrix”
Meiji Tran, “Broken Heart Syndrome in Heart Attacks”
Alexandra Woychek, “Territoriality in Meerkats”

Advanced Experimental Psychology
Dr. John Carton – Emerson Student Center
Jessica Graner, “Perceptions of the Mentally Ill with Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia”
Lottie Kilbourn, “The Effects of Schemata and Methods of Information Reception on Memory and Retrieval”

Education
Ginger Williams – Emerson Student Center
Tiffany Desrosiers, “Internship in Education: Montgomery and Huntley Hills Elementary Schools, DeKalb County Public Schools”

Urban Ecology
Roarke Donnelly – Emerson Student Center
Meagan Meekin, Michael Muller and Brittany NeSmith, “Does Invasive Chinese Privet Compete With Trees For Water?”
Erica Minson, Sarah Sparks and Ashley Taylor, “Does Invasive Chinese Privet Compete With Herbs For Light?”

Student Art Exhibition
Dr. Alan Loehle – Hearst Great Hall
Leah Balch
Katie Dale
Sarah Darby
Irasema Gonzalez
Yang Kyu Kim
Luciana Lazzarino
Kyle Parker
Julie Vaughn

SESSION 2: 1:00 – 2:10 P.M.

Historical Perspectives on the Social Order
Dr. Douglas McFarland – Talmage Room
Lydia Cornelius, “Searching for an Objective Africa”
Stephen Germany, “Imagery of Natural Phenomena in Hellenistic Jewish Literature”
Stephanie Laubscher, “Rembrandt and the Hebrew Bible: Visually Reconstructing the Individual from Historical Narrative”

Genetics and Society
Dr. Karen Schmeichel – Grenwald Room
Sarah Kendall Gault, “DNA on Trial”
Kathryn Kimrey, “Is Faith Written in O Genes?”
Colin Kress, “Personalized Medicine and Morbidity”
Sarah Sparks, “Factors Influencing Alcoholism: Which Could It Be?”

Science Personified: A View from the Shoulders of Giants
Anne Salter – Library Reading Room
* Newton’s Principia, a rare book by Galileo, and Oglethorpe’s Einstein manuscript will be on display during this session.
Dr. Michael Rulison, “Demonstrating the Unthinkable: Einstein’s Recommendations for Verifying the General Theory of Relativity, Einstein’s Manuscript”
Dennis Taylor, Special Collections University Archivist, Librarian Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University, “‘E pur si muove’: The Dialogue of Galileo Galilei”
Jody Lloyd Thompson, Head, Archives and Records Management Department, Georgia Institute of Technology, “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica: A Look into Georgia Tech’s Rare Book Collection, Newton’s Principia”

Study Abroad
Dr. Jeffrey Collins – Earl Dolive Theater
Ember Melcher, France
Jessie Morris, Chile
Shanequa Shuler, Mexico
Jaime White, Spain

Creative Writing
Dr. Linda Taylor – 24 Hour Room
Catherine Barson (original prose)
Gillian Brady, "Why I Hate Boys" (original prose)
Aaron Cross, "You Might Not Want To Take Me Seriously, But..." (original prose)
Laura Miller, “Driving West” (original prose)
Sam Murray (original poetry)
Olivia Rocamora (original prose)
Lauretta Williams, “Mrs. Hooper’s Garden” (original prose)
Mike Willis, "The Touch of God" (original poetry)

Gendered Communication and Rhetoric
Dr. Anne Rosenthal – Robinson 104
Keith Griffin, “A Deeper Look at Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Through the Eyes of Deborah Tannen, Sandra Harding and Julia Wood”
Ramika Gourdine, “Not So Silent Night: A Burkean Analysis of Suzanne Stutman’s ‘Take Back the Night Address’”
Cara Tillotson, “Eating Disordered and Silenced: Recovering the Rhetorics of (Dis)Embodied Voices”

Theatre Alumni Make Their Mark
Dr. Deborah Merola and Aaron Bean ’04 – Lupton Auditorium
A presentation of the accomplished work of recent theatre alumni and multi-talented artists making the transition to professional careers in Atlanta theatre and beyond. Scenes will be followed by a roundtable on the transition from university to a life in the theatre.

Lynne Ashe performs a monologue from the world premiere of Iron Moon by Gabriel Dean ’03, Aurora Theatre, summer 2007
Kat Barrett ’05 talks about her on-going work at 7 Stages with Youth Creates and contribution to the fall 2007 OU production of Holes with North Atlanta High School, with video clip
Jessie Dougherty Dean ’03 sings the duet “Mary Sunshine” with Gabriel Dean from Reefer Madness, Dad’s Garage, fall 2006
Jesse Hinson ’06 performs his contrasting audition pieces for U/RTAs in NYC from Shakespeare’s King John (Arthur) and from Kimberly Akimbo (Jeff) by David Lindsey Abaire that garnered him an offer from Brandeis University’s MFA program in acting

SESSION 3: 2:25 – 3:35 P.M.

Core 4: Science and Human Nature
Dr. John Cramer – Grenwald Room
Jeffrey Brayton, “Your Eyes Can Deceive You” (Rulison)
Jailyn Johnson, “The Rise of Science in Western Civilization Was Not Inevitable” (Cramer)
Travis Kirspel, “Objectivity in a House Divided: Could There be Another Galileo Case?” (Rulison)
Jason Lewis, “Science and Culture” (Cramer)
Trevor Sheffield, “Mythology and Science: Two Aspects of the Same Reality” (Rulison)

Hispaniola in OUr Classroom: Student Conversations on Dominican/Haitian Life and Literature
Dr. Jay Lutz and Dr. Mario Chandler – Talmage Room
Revee Barbour
Nekisha Charles
Elena Dujour
Selamewet Gebrameskel
Sandhya Joshi

Roman History & Literature
Timothy Doyle and Dr. Douglas McFarland – Library Reading Room
Teresa Finn, “Roman Sexuality” (Doyle)
Lydia Hofstetter, “Lucan and the Body” (McFarland)
Stephanie Laubscher, “Catullus and BK9 of the Aeneid” (McFarland)
Wendy Madill, “Roman Propaganda” (Doyle)

Leadership and You
Dr. Kendra A. King – 24 Hour Room
Julier Comer, “The Law of Connection: Temperament and You”
Jennifer Cornelius, “The Law of the Inner Circle”
Joey DeJesus, “Reaching the Mountaintop”
Chelsia Green, “Leadership 101: The Individual and Society”
Corina McCarthy-Fadel, “Leadership Volunteerism: The Wave of the Future”
Alfonzo Mantilla, “The Love of Leadership”

Microfinance and the Poor
Dr. Peter Kower – Earl Dolive Theater
Kendra Billings, Alicia Garcia and Deborah Lubbe, Cote d’Ivoire
Anna Bryant (Agnes Scott), Kelly Korell and Camesha Mitchell, Malawi
Corin Deans, Samvel Kasyan and Robert McGee, Uzbekistan
Nathaniel Goldman, Brittany Gray and Sarah Knapp (Emory), The Dominican Republic
Ira Gonzalez, Margaret Hamilton (Agnes Scott), Ember Melcher and Christian Zavala, Mexico
Ralph Horton, Ashley Money and Jacob Springman, Cambodia

The Lively Arts
Dr. Deborah Merola and Adam Bailey – Lupton Auditorium
A presentation of some of the best moments from behind the scenes and in front of the footlights from theatre department courses, projects and productions.

Directing for the Stage II
-A poster board and presentation of the set and lighting design by Dusty Brown and Max Flick for A Fiction by Sasha Travis and WASP by Steve Martin, directed by Zoe Cooper and Sara Troficanto
-Scene from 4.48 Psychosis, directed by Jhana Grant, with Kiera Robbins, Caitlyn Post and Elli Perry
Our Town scenes with Hanna Fortenberry-Henry, Stephanie Dunnigan Hooper, Allison Rains and Michael Willis
The Vagina Monologues, directed by Heather DeVaney, with the monologue “My Vagina was a Village” with Sara Troficanto
Special Topics in Theatre: Intermediate Directing
-The Ferris Wheel by Mary Miller, directed by Sara Troficanto, with Aly Calder and Nick Etherington
Weekend at Oswald’s
-A medley of songs performed by Hanna Fortenberry-Henry
-A selected scene with Cliff Moore, Chris Latshaw, Nelson Hague and others

Evening Panel 1: 6:00 – 7:15 P.M.

Reading Our Worlds through Communication and Rhetorical Theory
Julie Benz Pottie and Dr. Anne Rosenthal – Robinson 104
Sybil Ogletree, “Perceptions of Media Influence and Moral Consequences: An Examination of the Motivational Effects of Television in the 1950s”
Michael Panzeca, “Teen Deception and Coordination: A Family Study”
Alicia Whelan, “Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath: Assessing Blame”

Evening Panel 2: 7:15 – 8:30 P.M.

Why OU? A Distinctive Liberal Arts Education for Working Adults, A Roundtable of Alums, Soon-to-be Grads and In-Progress Students
Roundtable Discussion – Robinson 104