Jonathan Rambousek

Barriers to Mental Health Care Among Active-Duty Military and Veterans

When military personnel come home from deployment or transition out of the military, they often do not know that they need mental health care. If they are aware that they need help, service members and veterans likely do not know where to look for that help. A culture of stigma may foster mental health care avoidance in active-duty and military veterans. Researchers have recently suggested that entrenched attitudes against mental health treatment seeking and risks to career advancement are likely to blame. Future directions will also be reviewed including the need for researchers to delve more deeply into the role veteran status of providers could play in the likelihood of service members and veterans entering and continuing treatment, as well as the need for more effective non-pharmacological interventions.

PSY 499, Senior Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

Join by Zoom

3:00 – 3:25 PM

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Stella Reaka

Substance Use in Prison: A Never Ending Cycle

Issues regarding the prison system evoke concern worldwide, in part because punishment has largely replaced rehabilitation. Individuals with substance use disorders in the prison system are being punished for their disorders rather than getting the treatment they need in order to be successful in society. Recent trends in research will be reviewed, e.g., prison release from prison without treatment, and evidence that ongoing treatment after release results in higher risk of recidivism and lethal overdose. Future directions will also be reviewed, including the need for researchers to explore the impact of increased rehabilitation on society.

PSY 499, Senior Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

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2 – 2:25 PM

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Emmalee Rusk

A History of John Hinckley v. United States and Incarceration of the Mentally Ill

John W. Hinckley Jr. attempted to kill President Ronald Reagan, killing White House Press Secretary James Bradley in the process. The jury of the trial of John W. Hinckley Jr. v. United States found him Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. This sent the people of the United States into an uproar as they desired justice.

The Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 was then put in place to restrict the use of the Insanity Plea. 

However, the Act is now under scrutiny for an unfounded relation between it and the mass incarceration of the mentally ill in U.S. jails and prisons today. This presentation comes to the defense of the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984 from these allegations through the history of John Hinckley and his attempted murder of President Reagan, the trial, and the affect of the Act.

HIST 499, Senior Capstone

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

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9:30 AM – Noon

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Drenna Thompson

Gender Expression on the Autism Spectrum

Gender expression on the autism spectrum is currently a highly salient topic, with researchers indicating a high rate of fluid and unique identity within this population. Autistic individuals are more likely than neurotypicals to have a non-conformist relationship to gender, whether that be identifying outside the binary, disregarding gender roles, or being transgender. Recent trends in research will be examined, e.g., how autistic children express their gender identity and the struggles they face, and how queer people contacting gender clinics often also receive referrals for an ASD evaluation and potential diagnosis. Future directions will also be reviewed including the need for ASD-specific sex education, as well as inclusion of ASD voices in related research.

PSY 499, Senior Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

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4:00 – 4:25 PM

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Jessica Woods

Arguing for Argumentation

I asked random individuals a series of questions relating to arguing, verbal aggression, and argumentativeness. I found that many people believe that arguing has a negative social stigma, argumentativeness is bad, and that verbal aggression is directly linked to the idea of arguing. Other questions revealed why people believed arguing was bad, and what elements made up a positive or negative arguing experience. From these conversations, I discovered that the social definition of arguing has become separated from the researched definition. I will also talk about debate, and why the word was repeatedly brought up as a positive alternative to arguing. Tone, attitude, and open-mindedness will be analyzed as contributors to healthy or unhealthy arguments. The idea that the American culture has created a society afraid of arguing because of brittle relationships and unhealthy arguing tactics that involve verbal aggression will end the presentation.

COMM 213, Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

L203

Cl ere to view the live stream

10:30 – 11 AM

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Anthony Wurst

Successful Argumentation in Prayer to God

Should we present arguments before God in prayer? I believe that our prayer life can be enriched by offering argumentative prayers as taught in the scriptures. Dr. Srader has a unit in his Argumentation and Debate course on why we should use argumentation in prayer. In it, he offers three examples of stories from the Bible where successful argumentatuve prayers that convince God to change His mind are offered. To expand this teaching, I presented Dr. Srader with another such example in the story of Abraham. I suggested this as an example of argumentative prayer which convinced God to change His mind as he argued for the lives of the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. In this talk I will present what Dr. Srader had before my suggested addition. Next, I chronicle our conversations on the issue, which were argumentative. I then discuss how Abraham’s form of argumentation with God fits into Dr. Srader’s definition of an argument, and we crescendo by practicing. I will offer an argumentative prayer asking God to help us to lead a meaningful life based on John 15:12-17. Then we will discuss the talk together.

COMM 325, Argumentation and Debate

Doyle Srader

L203

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1 – 1:30 PM

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Anthony Wurst

The 60s Student Movement: Ignoring Marxist Evil on Display

During the 1960s, many key formative movements happened in the life of our nation. One such movement was the communist student movement. In this project, I explored the communist student movement by attempting to answer the following question, “Didn’t the students of the 1960s know that communism was a catalyst for hundreds of millions of deaths and countlesss other human rights offenses?” In answering this query, we might speak in defense of the students that the former attempts at communism “did not do it right”, and further that the students would not have had access to real time information about the ills of Mao and Khrushchev during their time. But the evidence suggests that these are false assumptions. I reveal in this project some of the most prominent voices in the communist student movement of the 1960s to show what the students were being taught about commmunism. I then reveal some blaring, prominent, credible, and easily accessible sources of information on the contemporary ills of communism that the students should have used to respond in rejecting those teachings. I discuss the question of how this could have happened then, what we can learn from this dilemna and what encouragement the Bible has for us today on this subject. To finish, I welcome critical feedback and discussion.

HIST 317, Studies in American History: The 1960s

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

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9:30 AM – Noon

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Jasmine Aguilar

Take a risk

Taking a risk may be scary and intimidating to many. Studies have found that people rather stay passive rather than confronting an uncomfortable situation. There is a strong desire to maintain a positive reputation, and it causes people to second-guess themselves and take a safe route instead. Practicing assertiveness tactics can help a person become more confident. This speech will cover how to overcome our uncertainties and push us to be assertive.

COMM 312, Advanced Public Speaking

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

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1- 1:30 PM

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Jasmine Aguilar & Jesse Gerlach

Collegiate Persuasion Strategies for COVID-19 Prevention Measures

The following study explored the persuasive appeals of COVID-19 prevention by Sarah Lawrence College and Presbyterian College. This research synthesized the course content of COMM 450: Persuasion to make observations on both institute’s COVID response strategies and how they differed from one another. Those observations were based on the comparison between the two college’s social media posts concerning COVID-19, and newsletters produced by the colleges. The researchers then offer a few conclusions off of those observations, and offer potential methods of improving those implemented strategies. 

Keywords: persuasion, COVID-19, persuasive appeals, communication

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

L203

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2 – 3 PM

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Ashley Alldridge, Mary Grace Blaser, Gage Garcia & Ikani Naulu

Team Andrews Capsim Project

Within the business simulation, Team Andrews sought to provide state of the art technology at reasonable prices, with priortizing the ever-changing wants and needs of our customers. We implemented both a niche cost strategy and a differentiation strategy to create desirable products. Our three products included Able, After, and Alpha in which each focused on different segments of the market. We based our weekly decisions and measured our succes on the following: Sales, ROS, leverage, contribution margin and market share. We prioritized employee training hours and recruiting expenditures. In the end, Able was our cash cow, our other products remained stable and we never had to take out an emergency loan. 

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy
Dave Quirk

Microsoft Teams

9 – 11:30 AM

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Awbrie Ammons-Jackson

Addressing Emotional Overload in Elementary Classrooms

This research explores how to address students’ emotional overload while in the classroom. In my research, I found multiple research-based strategies on how to teach students emotional regulation and coping skills that will prevent them from having to be removed from the learning environment and missing valuable instructional time. This research focuses primarily on teaching in a traditional, face-to-face classroom but could also be applied to working in a virtual classroom or distance learning models. 

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Paige Amstutz

Listening & Loneliness

Listening to others share personal stories is one way that we, as humans, make meaningful connections. Three individuals who would not ordinarily be given a platform to share their story were interviewed using Anna Deavere Smith’s method of listening. Portions of each interview will be performed with the intent of giving a voice to those who would otherwise be overlooked by society. The performance is a means of response as it relates to the Hurier Model of listening and is a technique used to enhance listening skill.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

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10:30 – 11 AM

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Paige Amstutz & Sarah Reinecker

University Covid-19 Persuasive Appeals 

Colby College and University of Notre Dame used similar persuasive appeals to encourage students to follow Covid-19 precautions. This project explores the specific appeals used by each university, their effectiveness, and overall lessons learned. 

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

L203

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2 – 3 PM

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Alexa Berry

Return to Play Rate after UCL Reconstruction: Tommy John Surgery

The ulnar collateral ligament is the most important soft tissue stabilizer during the overhead throw of a baseball pitcher. UCL reconstruction occurs when there is a complete UCL tears due to injury and this is a surgery to repair the torn UCL, it is also known as Tommy John Surgery. This project focused on determining if an athlete should receive Tommy John Surgery. Many different research articles were examined to determine the findings. There is a high return to play rate, but at the cost of performance levels decreasing. The decision to return to play depends on what the athlete wants and if they are okay with their performance declining for the remainder of their career. 

EXSC 425, Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Injury

Heike McNeil

S100

1130 AM – Noon

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Cameron Binaley

Bush and Obama: A Comparison of American Intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan

America has been at war with various countries and terrorist organizations in the Middle East since 2001. The most notable Middle Eastern wars America has been involved in are the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. This presentation compares and contrasts President Bush’s and President Obama’s forgein policy on how they dealt with Iraq, Afghanistan, and their allies.

HIST 430, History of American International Relations

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

10 AM – 1 PM

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Cameron Binaley

Battling Injury: Preparing for the Eugene Half Marathon

In preparation for the Eugene Half Marathon, I took the Jogging course. During spring break, I decided to run a half marathon to see what it would feel like. This mistake ultimately led to me injuring my IT Band three weeks away from the day of the race. This presentation will discuss what the training process for a half marathon looks like, including diet and exercise routine, and the consequences of training too hard too fast.

PE 107, Jogging

Greg Brock

P103

2:30 – 3 PM

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Cameron Binaley

Racial Activism at Bushnell University

With issues of racism and prejudice back in the nation spotlight, activist movements started by students have once again emerged in higher education. Since many of these activist movements are initiated by students of color at predominantly white institutions, students of color almost always meet resistance. This presentation will discuss the findings of a case study I conducted on a student of color student leader at Bushnell University. This case study will look at this student’s struggles and progress in the pursuit of racial equality at Bushnell University.

SOC 410, Global Issues: Race in America

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

10 AM – 1 PM

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Caitlin Bowen

Engagement Levels of Children and Online Schooling

For this presentation, I looked into what the research says about the correlation between online learning and student participation and engagement, and how to increase the level of student participation and engagement in an online format within the elementary school classroom.

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Carli Brousseau

Managing Talkative Students: Strategies for the Classroom

This presentation researches students who talk too much in class. I have included reasons this may happen, strategies for success, and research that backs up these strategies.

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Hannah Bucher, Makenna Hadaller, Jennifer Herrera & Orin Johnson

Team Chester Capsim Final Presentation

Chester has offered reliable products to mainstream customers over the past 8 weeks. Our brands offer value by providing unique, affordable options to fit our customer’s lifestyle and needs. We adopted a Cost Leader with a Product Lifecycle Focus, which gains a competitive advantage by keeping R&D, production and material costs to a minimum, enabling it to compete on the basis of price. Our products included Cake, Cookie, Cupcake, and Cracker. We have a clear understanding of how our strategy and mission statement relate to our execution, along with how much we aligned our decisions to them. We delivered all relevant information necessary for full understanding on our strategy, and included what we could have done different. Dissection and evaluation of our Product Life Cycles is both thorough and extensive and includes both our success and failure. We spend time looking into our Human Resources, and how HR and Automation, Payroll issues, Retention/attrition issues, and Training $$$ Spent (among others) did over the course our life in relation to each other. Our critique of foundation company success measures is thorough, and we dive into what we have learned about our strategy over the course (both the good and bad). In closing, we make final year projections and wrap up the overall success of the Chester Sensor Company. We project that Chester will end strong in R&D, Marketing, Production, and Finance, and is set to continue growing and building through the foreseeable future.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy

Dave Quirk

Microsoft Teams

9 – 11:30 AM

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Katia Burke

Dominance and Altruism: Are Dominant Women Attractive Now?

Previous research has examined the correlation between altruism and dominance in relation to men. This research suggested that men exhibiting high altruism paired with high dominance were perceived as more socially attractive than men with high altruism and low dominance. The present study sought to build upon this research and explore if a similar correlation exists for women. The hypothesis for this study was that participants would score the confederate with higher dominance as more socially attractive. This hypothesis was tested via two surveys that collected participants’ measures on social attraction. The data did not indicate a significant difference in social attraction between the high dominance and low dominance conditions revealing that participants found the women in both conditions equally attractive.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

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11 – 11:30 AM

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Katia Burke & Jordan Strehlow

Comparing University Persuasive Appeals

North Carolina Central University and Prairie View A&M University both entered into the 2020-21 academic year with the hope of persuading their students to do their part in limiting the spread of COVID-19. Through analyzing and comparing, it became evident that the two universities had different approaches on how to persuade their students. However, North Carolina Central was more successful at limiting the spread on their campus. North Carolina Central placed a large emphasis on community responsibility and used persuasive strategies that focused on others, while Prairie View A&M focused on shifting the attitudes of their students by reframing the pandemic and altering campus norms. This project seeks to explore how these different strategies may have contributed to the impact of COVID-19 on each campus.

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

L203

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2 – 3 PM

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Katelynn Caulley & Miranda Jensen

Supporting Students Online

Our research question is: “What are tools that we can use to help support students online?”. Through research, we found that implementing a goal-oriented classroom, mandatory check-ins, a positive learning environment, family engagement, and more would all help to improve student engagement in the online classroom. 

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Tyler Chase

Promoting Student Motivation with Goal Setting and the Growth Mindset

This project discusses a problem presented in the classroom and the research associated with potential solutions to the problem. The goal of this project is to promote student motivation in the classroom and the avenue I have chosen to accomplish that with is through goal setting and promoting a healthy growth mindset in the classroom. This project discusses how these two concepts work in tangent with each other in the classroom and how one cannot exist effectively without the other.

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Arjuna Chotu

Prevention of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome

Medial tibial Stress Syndrome is a common injury that occurs upon repetitive loading of stress near the posteromedial border of the tibia. Several athletes experience this injury but there is no guaranteed method of treatment. It is well established that there are several ways of treating the injury but the research is inconclusive to which method is the most prevalent. This study aims to determine whether the prevention option of strengthening the muscles around the tibia can lead to reduced pain of the medial tibial stress syndrome. Various studies have shown that strengthening can reduce the pain and cushion the load from the overuse and repetitive load of the muscles around the shin splint site. Studies that observed the overused muscles stated similar findings; muscles of the ankle inverter, evertors, and soleus were being overused and in order to cushion the load, it needed to be strengthened. As there is evidence to support that this method does serve a purpose, there is still uncertainty to which individual certain muscles need to be strengthened to insure the security of the pain. Nevertheless, strengthening should occur if an individual is experiencing medial tibial stress syndrome and other potential treatment options can be considered as well.

EXSC 320, Exercise Physiology and Neuromuscular Conditioning

Heike McNeil

S100

11 – 11:30 AM

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Sierra Coloma

Hamstring tendon graft vs. Bone Patella Tendon graft for ACL reconstruction

ACL Repair: Patellar Tendon graft or Hamstring Tendon graft? The dominant answer for this question is that it is ultimately up to patient characteristics and surgeon preference when looking to repair a torn ACL surgically. Previous research compares both the Patellar Tendon graft to the Hamstring Tendon graft which are the two most common autografts one could get in ACL reconstruction surgery, although no literature has made a definitive conclusion that one is more favorable than the other. I used my personal experience having had one of each graft in either leg and three very specific case studies to make a claim that one graft may in actuality be more favorable than the other. Contrary to what is most regularly assumed in literature, when specifically analyzing knee laxity, pivot shift and rupture rate, Patellar tendon may be slightly better. My findings indicated that there is no one graft that is largely better than the other, but that research and my personal experience indicates that Patellar tendon grafts could lead to better outcomes overall.

EXSC 425, Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal Injuries 

Heike McNeil

Noon – 12:30 PM

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Georgia Cook

Student Motivation and Engagement in the Classroom and Online

My presentation is regarding a first grade student who struggled with engagement throughout distance learning, and once we began to do school in a hybrid format, those same struggles manifested in the classroom as well. My research examined strategies to increase student motivation and engagement, both online and in-person. In the research, I found that using Tier 2 strategies, helping the student create academic and behavioral goals for himself, and giving specific feedback, among other strategies, were helpful in increasing student engagement.

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Ethan Crofts, Brandon Mills & Kelsie Helleweg

Baldwin Sensors

Throughout this presentation we will be going in depth of our teams journey throughout the past eight weeks of running a business. We will be covering our mission statement, business strategy, the products we created and their life cycles, the positioning of those products, success measures, HR findings, and what we project to come from our business. Throughout this whole process we created two products in two different market segments, high tech and low tech, and did what we thought was best in order to make those products and our business succeed.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy
Dave Quirk

Microsoft Teams

9 – 11:30 AM

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Jared Dodson

Mission Trips: Serving God’s Church or White Savior Syndrome?

This presentation will analyze the nature of short-term, U.S.-based mission trips and their ramifications on the missionary and those being ministered to alike. Through a sociological case study, this presentation will address the problematic elements in short-term missions, their effects on how race and diversity is viewed in the church, and potential ways of improving the way the church does short-term missions. 

SOC 410, Global Issues: Race in America

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

10 AM – 1 PM

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Hannah Duncan

Learning to Lament

The book of Psalms, containing both praises and laments, was used by Israel in worship. Western churches today, however, worship in praise more than lament, leading people to believe that their sorrow is from a lack of faith. The balance of praise and lament in the Church is important because it allows us to bring our whole self to God and acknowledge God’s response of faithful love. By looking at other cultures and understanding the language of the Psalms, churches can authentically worship God together through lament.

BTM 370, Book of Psalms

Joshua Little

L204

1 – 1:30 PM

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Jordyn Edewards

How do we as educators get our middle school students to turn on their cameras and be engaged in a zoom format of class? 

10 out of 15 students per zoom call (with my cooperating teacher at Agnes Stewart middle school) will never turn their cameras on during their classes. During a span of 1 month of research I observed as students came into class and automatically turned off their cameras and mics to do other things that were not related to class or homework assignments. The research found, over this span of time, allowed me to find six different strategies that  can help students to turn on their cameras and be engaged in class. The strategies I was able to implement during this time were……

1.) Admitting students into the classroom one by one five minutes before the start of class. (Checking with them on their camera use and how they are feeling today).

2.) Zoom polls, zoom annotation tools, zoom breakout rooms

3.) Have weekly 5–10-minute check ins with students about their work environment and how they are doing.

4.) Making sure resources are available to students and that they know how to access and use them. (Implementation Plan)

EDUC 321, Classroom Relations & Management

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Brian Kaelin

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Ariana Fuselier

The Pathology of Compartment Syndrome in the Lower Legs

This assignment discusses the pathology and anatomy of compartment syndrome in the lower legs. Compartment syndrome results in an increased amount of pressure build-up within the swollen compartments because the fascia does not expand very well. It is considered dangerous because it decreases the blood supply, oxygen, and nourishments that your compartments need to function.  The syndrome creates complications within a person’s lower legs by causing tissue damage, loss of body function, and even death. The syndrome can be diagnosed by taking the compartment syndrome measurement test. The amount of pressure that shows up by the test can be used to differentiate between whether it is chronic compartment syndrome or acute compartment syndrome. Normally chronic compartment syndrome is caused by over-exerting the muscles, whereas acute compartment syndrome is caused by an injury. Doctors suggest taking a break (rest), physical therapy, or even fasciotomy to help manage compartment syndrome.

BIOL 499, Senior Capstone

Paul Allee

L203

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12 – 12:30 PM

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Daniel Gerlach & Carina Haas

COVID-19 Research Term Project

Getting communities to comply to COVID-19 restrictions often times requires effective persuasive appeals. By studying the communication of leadership at two American colleges, Purdue University and Indiana University of Bloomington, we came to a greater understanding as to what works and what doesn’t work when crafting persuasive messages that can be helpful in not only this pandemic but for effective communication in future disasters as well. 

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

L203

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2 – 3 PM

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Jesse Gerlach

Communicating Complex Ideas: More Than One Way to Tell Stories

The following capstone project focused on the methodology of storytelling. This topic was chosen due to the lack of research exploring how stories could be told, contrasting the copious amount of research on the importance of stories. Additionally, it was chosen because the research concluded that storytelling is an effective form of communicating complex ideas. Thus, by having more variations of storytelling, we are better equipped to communicate those ideas.  To then explore those variations, an event was created to present unconventional methods of storytelling that all told the same story. After each artist presented their version of the story, the audience was asked to take a picture of the head presenter on the stage and post it to either Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag, #FreeFromTheChains. Then, the number of posts was compared to the total number of audience members. After the event had concluded and the numbers were tallied, 9 out of approximately 30 participants posted the photo, and approximately 222 people liked the posts. While the responses to the posts were not a part of the original design of the project, it was noteworthy. From this experience, the project leader learned many valuables lessons, including the power of unconventional methods of storytelling, the neurological components and effects of stories, and how to facilitate an online and in-person event.

Keywords: Communications, stories, unconventional methods of storytelling

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

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11:30 AM – Noon

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Nate Graham, Kiana Machin, Skye Urban & Haley Voorhees

Virtual Study Abroad: Tour of East Asia and it’s major religions.

We will be taking a virtual tour of East Asia, and using as a guide for our adventure the major religions the major religions of the region of Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Looking at their origins and seeing how they evolved and how they continue to impact the region and world today.

RELS 220, Living Religious Traditions of East Asia

Ronald Palmer

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

1:30 – 2 PM

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Annelise Helbling

Do Instagram Profiles Accurately Portray Religious Faith? 

Have you ever judged someone on social media without knowing them? With billions of users worldwide, social media can be a powerful tool to selectively present oneself to the world and build perceptions of others without a personal relationship. Previous studies have examined the accuracy of personality depiction on social media, however, little research has looked into the role of religious views and social media depiction. Can you tell if someone is religious based on their social media? To tackle this question, this study examined the relationship between the strength of one’s religious faith and the way they present themselves online through a mixed-methods approach. With use of The Santa Clara Religious Faith Questionnaire, the researcher examined whether or not people can accurately judge one’s faith based on their Instagram posts. Additionally, the researcher investigated which aspects of a person’s online profile indicates faith or lack thereof. Qualitative results indicated themes of partying and vanity were predictors of being judged low in faith while photos with community and modesty were predictors of stronger faith. Profiles which lacked any indication of faith scored low in faith. Results showed that people cannot accurately judge one’s faith based on their Instagram profiles however the content posted will influence observers judgements. 

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L204

10 – 10:30 AM

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Tiffany Hilkey

Infinity in Mathematics

I will be doing a comprehensive survey of infinity in mathematics. Infinity is much larger and more complex than human calculation can handle, but it happens to appear quite often in mathematics. It is introduced as a limit in Calculus, and this is usually the first real encounter with it. Looking at set theory and infinite sets reveals that infinity actually comes in different sizes, even though it is infinite. There are still things that mathematicians can’t figure out about infinity, and that goes to show how complex it is.

MATH 499, Senior Capstone

Connie Wilmarth

P114

Noon – 12:30 PM

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Hannah Hull

Dressing Uniquely Can Improve Your Mental Health

Dressing uniquely can improve your mental health. As humans, we all have a need to be unique. However, when it comes to clothing, we typically are lazy shoppers. When we take the time and energy to develop our own personal style, we will give ourselves more energy in the long run, as well as increase our self-esteem and confidence.

COMM 312, Advanced Public Speaking

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

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1:30 – 2 PM

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Maddy John

Capstone: Love, Premam, Kaadhal the Podcast

For my senior capstone, I decided to start a podcast about intercultural communication with my husband Shijo. We promoted the podcast through social media like Facebook and Instagram. In every episode, we would discuss a communication concept or theory and how it related to our experiences as a couple. Through our recording sessions, we learned about aspects of each other’s culture we had never expected. We went through a lot of trial and error, and it was challenging at times, but overall we found the experience very rewarding. In this presentation I’ll be discussing the successes and shortcomings of our podcast and the things we learned in the process of making it.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

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Noon – 12:30 PM

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Maddy John

Why you should study abroad in India

When I decided to study abroad in India, I was met by loads of questions from family and friends. Are you sure it’s safe? What language do they speak there? How do you know the educational instruction will be quality? Why not go to Europe? Soon after arriving in India, I learned that many of these questions came from common misconceptions about India. In this presentation, I’ll discuss my own experience and what you can gain from studying abroad in India that can’t be found anywhere else, while debunking common misconceptions. 

GLST 295, Study Abroad

Lauren Riley

Bucher Room

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11 – 11:30 AM

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Tyler King

Examining the Christian Departments at Bushnell

In higher education there has been many complaints that the concepts are ethnocentric around white western culture. It is clear that this could have some racial implications that could be detrimental to our society. This study aims to check if the books that professors in the Christian Ministry department and Bible and Theology department, are written by ethnically diverse authors. My hypothesis is that the lack of diversity within the reading causes minority students to be less engaged in the material. Through looking at the textbooks assigned in the classes we will be able to determine if they are all written by a certain group. I hope to point out a clear fixable issue at Bushnell that can change so that we can encourage diversity so that different ethnicities feel welcomed in the Christian departments.

SOC 410, Global Issues: Race in America

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P103

10 AM – 1 PM

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