2020 Abstracts

Gheen, Jared; Callander, Denton; Winner, Langdon (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Edenfield, Avery (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)

Technology has made great strides in advancing the dating opportunities for gay men through various dating apps and websites. Men, whether in or out of the closet, can utilize these tools to find potential friends, dates, hookups, or relationships. These advancements have enabled increased networking for gay men, but these technologies have been used to enforce racial biases.
This presentation will analyze how dating apps and websites designed for gay men have been used to further marginalize groups of individuals within the gay community. My research will examine what I have denoted as the "3 Ps" that should drive design/interface decisions: Purpose, Perception, and Practice. Each feature and design within these applications should have a purpose that takes into account prejudicial biases that may be present. In addition to the intended purpose of the feature, the perception of how users will interpret the feature should also be heavily considered. Finally, the actual practice of the feature should be tested to ensure that the practice, perception, and purpose of the feature align and are not misused to marginalize members of the community.

Research will include work done by others in the field, specifically Denton Callander, due to his extensive research on racism and sexual racism on dating web services. Specific features within apps will also be examined and analyzed through the method of the "3 Ps" to explain their (un)intended consequences.

The results from my research will enable future technical communicators, software developers, and technology consumers to be aware of and address technologies that may reinforce or enable marginalization of minority groups.

McDannell, Colleen; Kessler-Harris, Alice; Derr, Jill Mulvay; Schneider, Dorothy; Thistle, Susan (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: McDannell, Colleen (University of Utah, Humanities)

My research aims to understand and analyze the ways in which Latter-day Saint women in the 1950s justified and reconciled their participation in wage labor with their religion.
My research is based on primary source material in the Aileen H. Clyde Twentieth Century Women's Legacy Archive. This archive includes a collection of letters that were written to Ramona Cannon to be published in the "Confidentially Yours" column in the Deseret News from 1948 to 1965 and include writings of women addressing their challenges and concerns. I use this resource to analyze the experiences of individual women and specifically their understanding and justification of their involvement in wage labor. I also use secondary source material to establish women's relationship to labor in the United States.

My goal is to draw conclusions about how LDS women who were involved in wage labor justified their participation when they lived in a society heavily influenced by the LDS Church and it's on emphasis women's domestic roles. The Archive letters show a pattern of women who felt they had to justify their labor practices through extenuating circumstances that necessitated temporary participation in wage labor, including wives with sick husbands, single mothers, and a society dealing with the effects of WWII, as well as women who actively sought to participate in the workforce by selectively choosing jobs and opportunities to supplement what could be seen as extensions of the domestic roles they were expected to fill in the home.

This balancing act for women is relevant not only to the twentieth century but reflects an ongoing struggle worldwide for women. This case study of Latter-day Saint women illustrates how women in a close-knit religious community reacted to changes in labor expectations and provide an important outlook on understanding the relationship between women and wage labor.

Verstegan, Richard; Foxe, John; Arblaster, Paul (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Sand Alexa (Caine College of the Arts, General Studies (Arts)); Duncan, Jennifer

Horrifying and under scrutinized the Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis (1587) depicts endless pages of sixteenth century torture methods inflicted upon Catholic martyrs, leaving sufficient room for questions waiting to be answered. The largest and most pressing question this book offers is why it was created. When exploring different conclusions to such a question it is important to understand the contextual history and nature of a rare object such as this. There is probable cause that this book was created in response to John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, which was published 24 years prior to the publication of the Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis. It is also possible that the author of the Theatrum Crudelitatum, Richard Verstegan who was an Anglo-Dutch Catholic, was a propagandist supporting the idea that martyrdom was a form of resistance to oppression of religion at this point in history. There is sufficient evidence supporting this theory. In Foxe's Book of Martyrs there are limited illustrations of torture merthods where as in Verstegan's Theatrum Crudelitatum there is an overwhelming amount of vivid and equally horrifying engravings depitcing Catholics as weak. It is equally important to take a look into the author's personal history to gain more explanations for the creation of the Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis. Richard Verstegan was an Anglo-Dutch Catholic that studied English at Oxford University without obtaining a degree. It is thought that he left due to his religious beliefs at the time. He was later a propagandist of Duke and Guise before settling in Antwerp, Belgium where he published and illustrated his work. This rare book even served as a precedent as to what happened to those not of the Protestant faith. The Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis by Richard Verstegan was created for both personal reasons and propagandistic opportunity.

Anderson, Bethany; Ward, Hannah; Froerer, Cecily (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Gillam, Sandra (Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services, Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Department); Gillam, Ron (Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services, Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Department)

Children with language disorders face difficulties in producing organized and complex narratives. Many different assessments have been designed to allow clinicians to evaluate a child's narrative ability. The Test of Early Written Language - 3 (TEWL) is a formal test to assess the early written narrative abilities of children. Valid and reliable tests of the written language skills of young elementary age children are needed for assessing the outcomes of narrative interventions for children who are at-risk for language and literacy impairments.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the TEWL is a valid measure of narrative language in written stories by children who are at-risk for language and literacy problems.

Narrative samples from 189 children ages 6-11 were gathered as part of a larger study. Narrative samples were transcribed and scored using the Monitoring Indicators of Scholarly Language (MISL) rubric that assesses language microstructure and macrostructure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were computed to determine the extent to which the total raw scores on the TEWL were related to MISL microstructure, macrostructure, and total scores. Item analyses were conducted to determine whether a subset of items on the TEWL differentiate between writing mechanics and written language. Results are critical for using the TEWL as a valid outcome measure in studies of interventions for oral and written language comprehension and production.

Heftel, Christian (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Abbott, Scott (Humanities and Social Sciences, Integrated Studies)

The story of Oedipus and the Sphinx establishes man as an upright, standing creature who is defined, at least in the prime of his life, by his ability to stand and walk on two legs, having ceased using his arms for locomotion. The corollary to this is that things that cannot stand, or that have a different number of limbs, are definitionally inhuman. In "The Metamorphosis," Franz Kafka introduces a character who wakes up having gained a myriad of small, insectoid legs and having lost the ability to stand upright. Throughout the story, the author repeatedly draws attention to Gregor's new, strange limbs, emphasizing their inhumanity and their inability to support him bipedally. At the same time, the story repeatedly describes its human characters in terms of the actions of their arms and legs, the limbs which make bidepality possible.

This paper explores the contrast between Kafka's human and inhuman characters through the lens of the standing metaphor established in the Oedipus myth. It examines the points of similarity between Gregor's metamorphosis and Athanaeus's and Apollodorus's accounts of the Sphinx's riddle. In the end, it suggests that Kafka uses the notion of bipedality to emphasize not only the physical inhumanity of Gregor Samsa, but also the inhumaneness of his family.

Call, Emily; Manesse, Alana (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Colton, Jared (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)

What visual rhetoric was used in the women's suffrage movement and how was it effective? There were many forms of persuasion in the women's suffrage movement, some of the greatest examples being the visual rhetoric. Rhetoric in this analysis will be defined as linguistic and visual elements crafted with the purpose to persuade the viewer to believe in the presented truth and to conform with the represented female identity. For this presentation we will focus on two political cartoons from the suffrage movement: one pro-suffrage piece, Henry Mayer's "The Awakening" (1915), and one anti-suffrage piece, "Looking Backward" by Laura E. Foster (1912). While suffrage is often discussed through a feminist lense, we will apply a cultural rhetoric analysis as our primary research method with supporting analysis coming from a feminist perspective. Our analysis will use cultural frameworks with a focus on the cultural theorist Stuart Hall. Cultural rhetoric focuses our analysis on the values and practices of English and American culture in the 20th century rather than solely looking at the object of analysis. In that context, we will examine the rhetorical strategies the artists use to craft arguments to persuade the viewer to accept the "truth" they are presenting. Through the comparison of opposing pieces of propaganda, we will also show that truth is relative to the viewer. Through Hall's frameworks, we will analyze ideas about fixed meaning in the images, female representation in a culture, and the audience's response to rhetoric. As we examine these particular elements in conjunction with cultural rhetoric, the audience will gain insight into how pro-suffrage and anti-suffrage propaganda used similar rhetorical techniques to persuade its viewers.

Bedard, Tenaya G. (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Allison, James (Brigham Young University, Anthropology); Chase, Zach (Brigham Young University, Anthropology)

This research discusses the analysis of the faunal bones excavated from Coal Bed Village and how it compares to the other Montezuma Canyon sites in southwestern Utah. During the Pueblo I-III time periods, previous analysis for Montezuma Canyon sites has found a trend of subsistence strategies that rely heavily on cottontail rabbit for Pueblo I, deer for Pueblo II, and turkey for Pueblo III. This research determines that Coal Bed Village follows these trends, but we see an unexpected increase of cottontail rabbit in the Pueblo III period. This research discusses the possible reasons for this increase and how it could change our understanding of subsistence strategies among Montezuma Canyon in the Southwest during the Puebloan eras.

Gonzalez Herrara, Cindy; Garcia, Ignacio (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Garcia, Ignacio (History)

Guillermo Balderas became the first Hispanic, Spanish speaking bishop in the United States in the 1930s. By understanding his background in serving the church, we come to understand his views of the Mormon gospel, and through him, we get a glimpse of the Hispanic Latter-day Saints living in El Paso, Texas, and indirectly others across the United States. By looking at his life, we learn about the struggles of being Latter-day Saint and Mexican on the northern side of the southern border. Guillermo was also the son of Apolinar de Jesus Balderas, the second Spanish-speaking branch president in the United States.

Guillermo's family immigrated to El Paso, Texas in 1910.2 The community he lived in was segregated and he went to school in a segregated public school system. Guillermo's life spanned a time when Mexicans and Mexican Americans were starting to find their voice within their communities, and in the larger society. While he did not participate in politics or the activism of his time, Guillermo brought an ethnically-focused perspective to his religion. Part of that perspective came from his friendship with people of the Third Convention--a Latter-day Saint insurgency against the American church in Mexico--and also he lived experiences as a brown man in American society. For this presentation, I will discuss a letter he sent to church authorities when he was released and replaced by the first white bishop of his ward, and changes were made to minimize the wards "Hispanic ways". While he was unsuccessful in lobbying for his ward members, Guillermo, nonetheless, previewed some of the "outside imposed" concepts that have hampered Hispanic wards in developing their identity. At the same time, his letter reveals some of the concepts that Hispanic leaders in the church have carried out in their ministry. Through his dedication and faithfulness in the church, we see a reflection of what many Hispanic Latter-day Saints experience during this time. Despite the challenges, he continued to become a devoted leader within the church and helped many people within his congregation. He became an advocate for those of his color while still seeking to educate his white brothers/sisters.

Christensen, Nikki (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Kinkead, Joyce (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)

Folklore is one of the hardest subjects to define for students and professors alike. To this day, folklorists still dispute its accurate definition. The most popular contemporary definition is, "artistic communication in small groups"(Dan Ben-Amos). This research is to discover if English majors are more educated about folklore than non-English majors at Utah State University. Often, students will be immersed in folklore in their daily lives and never know it. This research is to answer how relevant folklore still is in today's society.

Truman, Jorden (Dixie State University)
Faculty Advisor: Pilkington, Olga (Dixie State University, English)

This paper uses literary analysis and theoretical framework of Regionalism to examine Barbara Kingsolver's novel Flight Behavior. Flight Behavior features Dellarobia, an inhabitant of a poverty-stricken Appalachian town, who discovered that a hill in her backyard became home to millions of wintering Monarch Butterflies. This abnormal flight behavior of the Monarch Butterflies for many in Dellarobia's community is seen as a gift from God, but for the outsiders, it is an ominous sign of climate change. The results of my analysis show that Kingsolver, although praised for her other novels set in the Appalachias, fails to address what Regionalist novels are criticized for: preventing the reader from taking sides with the educated master narrator against the abnormal or aberrant natives. Kingsolver's pursuit of the moral imperative comes at the cost of disparaging and humiliating the communities that makeup Appalachia. The ramifications of Flight Behavior are troubling because this "if you are not with us, you are against us" style of narration is prominent in climate change activist's discourse: creating enemies instead of allies.

Witham, Arianna (Dixie State University)
Faculty Advisor: Pilkington, Olga (Dixie State University, Applied Sociology)

Two of Shakespeare's plays Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet have plots that are largely dependent on the death of a female character. Looking at the deaths of Hero and Ophelia though the lens of feminist literary analysis shows that these deaths are transformative points. On the surface, these deaths are very different: Ophelia stays dead while Hero's death is only a ruse. However, the deaths of Hero and Ophelia transition both of them from persons to objects. In the case of Ophelia, after death all that is left is a corpse, and Hamlet and Laertes' altercation in Ophelia's grave on top of her body contradicts their sorrowful proclamations just before. After Hero re-enters society, admittedly as someone else, the only thing about her new identity that seems to matter is her physical similarity to the Hero most believe to still be dead. Considering genre prompts another comparison between these deaths. In Much Ado About Nothing, Hero's death prompts Beatrice and Benedict's confessions of love, and her return to society allows the weddings and celebration that finish the play and mark it as a comedy to happen. Tragedies are marked by the death and destruction of the characters, and Hamlet is no exception. Ophelia's death is a catalyst for events that lead to the deaths of the other characters. If she had been revived, then there would be no funeral, and the emotional stakes at the end of the play would not be as high. The deaths of both Ophelia and Hero serve to drive the plots of these plays, but at the cost of the personhood of each.

Barker, Avery (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Kinkead, Joyce (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)

Clothing is a large part of a person's identity, it allows a consumer to express who they identify as outwardly. The demand for clothing that people identify has increased immensely over recent years. The industry is capable of producing mass amounts of clothing of all styles, yet we do not see a prominent amount of apparel that references books readily available to the consumer. That is why we will be looking at apparel that displays references to literature such as published works. By researching into this apparel, we will be able to determine what the literary apparel industry is, how it is growing, why we are seeing it now, how popular this apparel is, and how it relates to us. To answer these questions, we will be conducting surveys with English Majors here at Utah State University, interviewing professionals in industries that relate to literature apparel, and reviewing literature pertaining to apparel.

Bresee, Andrea; Abel, Emily; Adams, Roland; Ashby, Shelby; Barker, Avery; Borden, Eden; Christensen, Nikki; Eralie, Megan; Evensen, Cayenne; Haney, Cameron; Jensen, Mia; Jensen, Raychel; Julander, Alexis; Pulsipher, Chase; Roberts, Katie; Roundy, Talia; Schroeder, Janell; Wheeler, Shylee; Wood, McKenzie (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Kinkead, Joyce (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)

Although university students who major in English studies write consistently, often the writing behaviors are taken for granted, particularly the long-term writing lives of these students. How did they develop as writers? What strategies have they developed to be successful writers? What are their preferred tools and technology, the material culture of writing? How has their various cultures influenced their writing? Autoethnography is a type of qualitative inquiry that can help construct and analyze identity through both process and product. The parts of the term indicate what it means: graphy, referring to writing, also means to graph, describe, and analyze systematically one's personal experience � the auto as in autobiography or autograph. Ethno refers to how a person is placed within a cultural experience. How is the personal experience a reflection of culture or subculture? By using an autoethnographic approach, including intensive analysis of a week's writing, surveys, and interviews, that describes and interrogates their processes and products, the researchers, who are also the subjects, develop a profile of the writing lives of upper-division English majors at a land-grant, research university.

Park, Yeram; Lin, Jade; Ross, Micah; Stark, Michael; (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Stark, Michael (Life Sciences, Physiological and Developmental Biology); Hansen, Marc (Life Sciences, Physiological and Developmental Biology)

Neural tube defects (NTDs), which result from failure to close the neural tube during embryonic development, are one of the most widespread and common congenital malformations. Variance in these malformations can range from anencephaly (failure of the neural tube to close on the cranial end) to spina bifida (failure of closure on the posterior/dorsal end). Over the years, scientists have explored this field and have found different environmental factors that may attribute to the likelihood of NTDs. Some of these include fumonisin, valproic acid and more recently discovered, ceramide. To help counter NTDs, studies have shown that folic acid supplementation given to pregnant women has reduced the risk of NTDs and this has become a recommended suggestion by doctors. With its known preventative effects, this study aims to determine whether the preventative effects of folic acid can counter the harmful effects of fumonisin, valproic acid, or ceramide.

Bird, Devin; Nufer, Teresa; Wu, Bridget; Edwards, Jeffrey (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Edwards, Jeffrey (Brigham Young University, Physiology and Developmental Biology)

Drug addiction is a consequence of neural plasticity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an area of the brain's reward system, in which higher levels of dopamine are expressed. Research suggests that decreased activity of inhibitory _-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the VTA could be the cause of increased activity of dopaminergic cells in the VTA, and thus mediate opiate addiction (Tan). However, not much additional research has been performed to evaluate the plasticity of VTA GABA neurons and the role they play in addiction. Why are VTA GABAergic cells being inhibited and how? We hypothesize that inhibitory inputs onto GABA neurons in the VTA directly affect the degree of inhibition of VTA dopaminergic cells. Additionally, we hypothesize that GABAergic neurons of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) is a source input that extends into the VTA and inhibits VTA GABAergic neurons. We believe that inhibition from these LH neurons induces plasticity of VTA GABAergic neurons.

Through the use of optogenetics we have been able to isolate precise GABAergic pathways that lead into the VTA. Specifically, we have isolated input sources from the LH. These optogenetic experiments, in combination with electrophysiology, have allowed us to measure the specific effects that LH GABA neurons have on VTA GABA neurons. Currently, our data suggests that LH GABAergic cells do induce long-term depression (LTD) in VTA GABAergic cells, however, it is too soon to make any conclusions. Although experiments are still underway, we believe that LH GABAergic neurons play an important role in the drug addiction pathway by inhibiting VTA GABAergic neurons and inducing plasticity.

Pugh, Sam; Valentine, Julie; Miles, Leslie (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Valentine, Julie (Brigham Young University, College Of Nursing); Miles, Leslie (Brigham Young University, College of Nursing)

Rape is generally recognized as a sexual assault by a male perpetrator to a female victim. However, sexual assault is a crime that affects all genders. Although the majority of rapes are male to female, current findings indicate that one in seventy-one men will be raped in their lifetime. Over time, research has recognized the psychological effects and underreporting that ail male rape victims. However, very little has been reported regarding short tandem repeat (STR) DNA findings from sexual assault kits of male victim rapes. These STR DNA profiles prove to be highly influential in the detainment and prosecution of perpetrators. After an extensive search for earlier publications concerning the topic, only three articles were found to have relative correlation to this topic. Current best practice is to obtain STR DNA profiles from sexual assault kit samples to enter into the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate DNA analysis findings from 266 sexual assault kits collected from male sexual assault victims and compare predictors for the development of CODIS-eligible STR DNA profiles of male victims to female victims. Our study methodology is an exploratory, retrospective design to identify male rape victims from a sample size of 5,758 victims who received sexual assault forensic examinations with sexual assault kit evidence collection. Approximately 5% of the victims in our study were male (N=266). Male victims were found to have more physical or mental impairments. Male victim cases revealed significantly less development of STR DNA profiles and CODIS-eligible DNA profiles of the perpetrator (p=.007). Due to low STR DNA profile yields and increased targeting of mentally impaired or otherwise vulnerable male victims, we must improve our response to male victims to ensure justice to all victims of sexual assault.

McRae, Elisa; Solis Leal, Antonio; Giler, Noemi; Karlinsey, Dalton; Quaye, Abraham; Berges, Bradford (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Berges, Bradford (Brigham Young University, Microbiology and Molecular Biology)

HIV-1 infects CD4 T-cells by inserting its genome into a cell's genetic sequence. CRISPR technology allows for gene editing within the cell, causing a break in DNA sequences targeted by specific guide RNAs. Plasmids encoding CRISPR and guide RNA (gRNA) genes, in the context of lentiviral delivery vectors, will be transfected to produce two lentiviral vectors. In vitro experiments include human T cells that will be transduced with the lentiviral vectors and analyzed with flow cytometry to determine cells that express CRISPR and gRNAs. These cells will then be sorted to create a population of cells that express both the CRISPR and gRNA genes and will then be infected with the NL4-3 strain of HIV. For in vivo experiments, human hematopoietic stem cells will be transduced with the lentivirus vectors, after which they will be transplanted into humanized mice, thus producing a human-like immune system for testing the efficacy of our anti-HIV approach. After the human immune system has sufficiently developed in the mice, HIV-1 will be introduced. We expect that human immune cells with CRISPRs will be protected against HIV infection and death due to the use of gRNAs. These cells are postulated to no longer be susceptible to HIV-1 infection, thus preventing further cell lineages from becoming infected. We will analyze data for three main endpoints: 1. Cell killing of HIV, 2. HIV rebound due to the high mutation rate of the virus, 3. Amount of HIV replication, examined by assessing the viral RNA outside of cells using Q-RT-PCR. Data from this project will support whether cells transfected with CRISPR and guide RNAs offer cell lineages that adequately disrupt the HIV-1 genome. Efforts of this study hope to address HIV infection in humans following trials with humanized mice.

Gottfredson, Sarah; Chaston, John (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Chaston, John (Life Sciences, Plant and Wildlife Sciences)

The microbiome of Drosophila melanogaster can have significant effects on the host, and many of these have been studied. However, the reason why the bacterial species associate with and persist in D. melanogaster has not been studied in depth. Here we define persistence as how long a microbe associates with a host. The early assumption has been that the D. melanogaster gut microbiome is established solely through diet, but recent work suggests that other factors may be at play in the microbiome establishment. This experiment aims to study the correlation between bacterial genotype and persistence in the D. melanogaster microbiome. In this study, a metagenome wide association (MGWAS) was done using 40 different strains of bacteria to find distinct bacterial genes that are significantly correlated with persistence. To do this, each strain was mono-associated with twenty-four individual flies. The flies were reared for fourteen days, transferred onto new food three times a day for two days, homogenized, and plated. Using the significant genes found through the MGWAS, the same experiment protocol will be used to test mutants of these genes for their effect on persistence. These data will provide us with distinct genes that are necessary for effective bacterial persistence.