2015 MOM Journal
The Meeting of Minds Journal of Undergraduate Research is specifically designed to offer undergraduate students the opportunity to experience the manuscript submission and review process.
Students who participate in the Meeting of Minds conference are invited to submit a written version of their presentation to the Journal Review Board for publication in the volume which corresponds to the presentation year. The initial volume published in 1998 incorporated submitted papers from the inception of the conference through the past year (i.e., 1993-1998).
This journal gathers selected works presented at the 23rd annual Meeting of Minds conference, which took place on May 15, 2015 on the campus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
This lively undergraduate forum showcased the research projects of students from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the University of Michigan-Flint, and Oakland University. The projects captured here — an impressive array representing a wide range of disciplines and methods and topics — are the products of close collaboration between the students and their dedicated faculty mentors. Some projects were traditional academic ones, and some were creative presentations that are hard to capture in the pages of a journal but enriched the live conference with performance and the use of multi-media.
Over 250 participants took part in the conference as both presenters and audience members. Presentations were grouped into themed sessions combining multiple disciplinary perspectives on related topics. This was an opportunity for students to see how different disciplines define and explore problems in uniquely productive ways, and to generate some speculation and communication across disciplinary boundaries. We know this was gratifying for students, because the post-presentation comments were thoughtful and provocative, and because so many of the presenters went on to refine their project reports for publication.
Like the Meeting of Minds conference, this journal celebrates student research—from the inception of a project to the articulation of the findings for a larger audience, applying fresh rhetorical conventions and new insights gained in the aftermath of the conference. Research and creative projects carried out under the direction of a faculty member arguably represent the ideal culmination of an undergraduate education. The student not only synthesizes and displays the knowledge and skills gained over years of work in an academic field, but begins to think with her own mind and speak in her own voice, participating in the creation of new knowledge and new modes of expression. These projects mark the intellectual transition to the world of graduate study and the professions for which most of our students are bound. We thus warmly thank the faculty mentors on each campus for shepherding this process as well as the Meeting of Minds Coordinators and support staff at the participating campuses. Special thanks are due to my colleagues, Anne Hitt, Robert Stewart and Beth Dawson at Oakland University, Andre Louis at UM-Flint, as well as to Gabriella Eschrich, Maureen Sytsma, and Sharie Beard at UM-Dearborn, who managed the conference registration process, planning, and logistics.
We invite you to sample the work presented in the following pages. These papers are a window into an exciting undergraduate encounter with the rewards and demands of academic research and with the fruits of intellectual and creative inquiry. We hope you enjoy the results of our students’ efforts.
– Susan Gedert, Meeting of Minds Coordinator
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, UM-Dearborn
Functional Grooming in Lemur catta (PDF)
Student Author: Jessica Ringel
Faculty Co-author: Francine Dolins
Faculty Sponsor: Francine Dolins
Affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Ethical Perceptions Regarding Research Participation Requirements (PDF)
Student Author: Candice Mayer
Faculty Sponsor: William McKibbin
Affiliation: Department of Psychology; University of Michigan-Flint
Self-Enhancement While Reporting Positive Psychological Changes Resulting from a Stressful Event: Research on Japanese and American Youth (PDF)
Student Author: Leah McDiarmid
Faculty Sponsor: Kanako Taku
Affiliation: Department of Psychology; Oakland University
High School Bullying in Japan and America: Impact on Self-Esteem and Personal Growth(PDF)
Student Authors: Jessica Genaw, Leah McDiarmid
Faculty Co-author: Kanako Taku
Faculty Sponsor: Kanako Taku
Affiliation: Department of Psychology; Oakland University
Gender and Age Differences in the Development of Hope Post Stressful Life Experiences(PDF)
Student Authors: Aundreah Walenski, Jessica Genaw
Faculty Sponsor: Kanako Taku
Affiliation: Department of Psychology; Oakland University
Establishing the Inter-Rater Reliability of a Reading Comprehension Assessment for Moderate to Severe Cognitively Impaired Children: A Pilot Study (PDF)
Student Author: Kristina Schofer
Faculty Co-authors: Joseph Musial, Patricia Drake
Faculty Sponsor: Joseph Musial
Affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Group Perception Tendencies (PDF)
Student Author: Robert Siegle
Faculty Co-authors: Robert Hymes, Dan Swift
Faculty Sponsor: Robert Hymes
Affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Differences Between Real and Imagined Memories Depend on Origin Modality (PDF)
Student Author: Najat Nahshal
Faculty Sponsor: Arlo Clark-Foos
Affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Assessing Personality with TAT Cards (PDF)
Student Author: Najat Nahshal
Faculty Sponsor: Caleb Siefert
Affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writing Software to Create an Automated Testing Environment for Improving Student Software Testing (PDF)
Student Author: Lauren Gaber
Faculty Sponsor: Bruce Elenbogen
Affiliation: Department of Computer and Information Science; University of Michigan-Dearborn
#Edcamp: For Teachers, By Teachers (PDF)
Student Author: Marissa McCann
Faculty Co-author: Annie Whitlock
Faculty Sponsor: Annie Whitlock
Affiliation: Department of Education; University of Michigan-Flint
Shirley Chisholm: How One Woman's Quest to Eradicate Oppression and Inequality Led to a Bid for the White House (PDF)
Student Author: Marlene Marion
Faculty Sponsor: Valerie Palmer-Mehta
Affiliation: Department of Communication and Journalism; Oakland University
M.I.A.: Breaking Stereotypes (PDF)
Student Author: Haylie Presnell
Faculty Sponsor: Kellie Hay
Affiliation: Department of Communication and Journalism; Oakland University
Turning from Traditional Media to Social Media as a Feminist Medium (PDF)
Student Author: Alex Sibo
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Proctor
Affiliation: Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Montaigne, Humanism, and the French Renaissance (PDF)
Student Author: Abigail Romain
Faculty Co-author: Gabriella Eschrich
Faculty Sponsor: Gabriella Eschrich
Affiliation: Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Hungry: Chronicles of a Young Woman who Doesn't Let Anything Go, A translation into English of Léa Frédeval's Les Affamés: Chroniques d'une jeunesse qui ne lache rien (PDF)
Student Author: Jossette Bailey
Faculty Sponsor: Dikka Bailey
Affiliation: Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Oakland University
Marie Curie (PDF)
Student Author: Soukeyna Sambe
Faculty Co-author: Gabriella Eschrich
Faculty Sponsor: Gabriella Eschrich
Affiliation: Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Second Language Acquisition and Transfer Errors (PDF)
Student Author: Tyree Martin
Affiliation: Department of Language, Culture, and Communication; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Robert Mapplethorpe: His Secret Garden (PDF)
Student Author: Julie Gallo
Faculty Sponsor: Claude Baillargeon
Affiliation: Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Countess de Castiglione: A Lovely Product of Her Environment (PDF)
Student Author: Sarah Matheny
Faculty Sponsor: Claude Baillargeon
Affiliation: Department of Art and Art History; Oakland University
Reshaping Genuine Doubt as a Virtue in Islamic Philosophy (PDF)
Student Author: Ali Najaf
Faculty Sponsor: Imran Aijaz
Affiliation: Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts; University of Michigan-Dearborn
An Analytical Solution of the Mechanical Bidomain Model with Compressibility (PDF)
Student Author: Steven Spencer
Faculty Sponsor: Bradley Roth
Affiliation: Department of Physics; Oakland University
Spewing Black Holes: Disentangling the Geometry of Outflows (PDF)
Student Author: Justin Wisby
Faculty Sponsor: Rajib Ganguly
Affiliation: Department of Physics; University of Michigan-Flint
Spewing Black Holes: Outflows from the Biggest Black Holes in the Universe (PDF)
Student Author: Paul Manion
Faculty Sponsor: Rajib Ganguly
Affiliation: Department of Physics; University of Michigan-Flint
Outflows from Growing Supermassive Black Holes: Peering Through the Dust Shroud (PDF)
Student Author: Joseph Richmond
Faculty Sponsor: Rajib Ganguly
Affiliation: Department of Physics; University of Michigan-Flint
Analyzing promoters of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes HST2 and STE23, whose mammalian homologs are involved in neurodegenerative diseases (PDF)
Student Authors: Usha Kadiyala, Krunal Patel
Faculty Co-author: Peter Oelkers
Faculty Sponsor: Peter Oelkers
Affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Stochastic Algorithmic Music Generation (PDF)
Student Author: Jason Lerner
Faculty Sponsor: James Hetrick
Affiliation: Department of Natural Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
The Shift In American Values From the 1950s to the 1960s Through the Context of Humor In Television Advertising (PDF)
Student Author: Christina Jones
Faculty Sponsor: Pamela Pennock
Affiliation: Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Interactions Between the Europeans and Ottomans in the Mediterranean Sea (PDF)
Student Author: Raphael Davidov
Faculty Sponsor: Rayne Allinson
Affiliation: Department of Social Sciences; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Defining Empowerment for Women in Bangladesh (PDF)
Student Author: Syeda (Fiana) Arbab
Faculty Sponsor: Suzanne Bergeron
Affiliation: Women’s and Gender Studies; University of Michigan-Dearborn
Copyright:
- Copyright for the materials within these pages belongs to these institutions jointly.
- Questions regarding the copyright should be addressed to the campus representatives listed below.
- Copyright 2015, University of Michigan Board of Regents and Oakland University Board of Trustees
University of Michigan Board of Regents:
- Michael J. Behm
- Mark J. Bernstein
- Laurence B. Deitch
- Shauna Ryder Diggs
- Denise Ilitch
- Andrea Fischer Newman
- Andrew C. Richner
- Katherine E. White
- Mark S. Schlissel (ex officio)
Oakland University Board of Trustees:
- Richard L. DeVore
- Richard Flynn
- Michael Kramer
- Scott G. Kunselman
- Ronald E. Robinson
- Mark E. Schlussel
- Melissa Stolicker
- W. David Tull
- George W. Hynd (ex officio)
The University of Michigan-Dearborn Executive Officers
- Daniel Little, Chancellor
- Catherine Davy, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Kenneth Kettenbeil, Vice Chancellor for External Relations
- Mallory Simpson, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement
- Jeffrey Evans, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs
- Ray Metz, Interim Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Life
The University of Michigan-Flint Executive Officers
- Susan E. Borrego, Chancellor
- Douglas G. Knerr, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Greg Tewksbury, Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance
- Mary Jo Sekelsky, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Oakland University Executive Officers
- George W. Hynd, President
- James P. Lentini, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
- John W. Beaghan, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer to the Board of Trustees
- Rochelle A. Black, Vice President for Government and Community Relations
- Geoffrey C. Upward, Interim Vice President for Development, Alumni and Community Engagement
- Glenn McIntosh, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
- John O. Young, Vice President of Communications and Marketing
- Betty J. Youngblood, Vice President for Organizational Development and Strategic Planning
- Victor A. Zambardi, Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees
Meeting of Minds Campus Representatives
- UM-Dearborn: Gabriella Eschrich and Susan Gedert, 313-593-5490
- UM-Flint: Andre Louis, 810-762-3383
- Oakland University: Anne Hitt and Beth Dawson, 248-370-2140
The University of Michigan and Oakland University, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employers, comply with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The universities are committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the University of Michigan Senior Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388 or Oakland University’s Director of Diversity and Compliance, 203 Wilson Hall, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan 48309-4401, 248-370-3496.