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Great Student Presentations from 2017: The Power of Words: An Etymological History of “Wife” by Kristine Eck

On Jan. 21, 2017 five million people worldwide participated in the Women’s March to advocate for many issues, including equal rights for women. Every individual rally had something in common: words. There were signs, speeches, protesting and chanting as people tapped into the indisputable power of words. With every social or political movement, the language of the time changes with it. This is inevitably true for the word “wife.” In its most basic form, “wife” refers to a woman who is married. But to a lot of people, myself included, “wife” seems to conjure images of ticky-tacky homes, knee-length pastel skirts and a suffocating male dominated culture that just won’t go away. Where did these negative connotations come from and how are they changing in the current social and political climate? This presentation will explore the etymology of the word “wife” to seek answers to these questions, while also looking to a future where “wife” means lover, equal partner, most trusted friend and companion.

Faculty sponsor: David Hargreaves

Great Student Presentations from 2017: The Next Step in Nuclear Energy: The LFTR Design by Andrew Leingang

This presentation will introduce the potential of a Thorium Reactor. It will include a brief history of nuclear chemistry, some fundamentals of the science behind it and a description of how power is generated in a nuclear reactor. However, its main focus will be on examining the feasibility and potential of a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), the advantages of implementing it and what problems are associated with its use.

Faculty sponsor: Arlene Courtney

ASL Interpreted Sessions at AES

To support increased access and fewer barriers at AES, we are working to identify which sessions we have confirmed will have AES interpreters present. These will be indicated in the program and schedule. Please know that there will also be interpreters on site, too, to hopefully address any additional interpreting needs.

If you plan to attend or present at ASL and want to request ASL interpreting, there is a simple form to complete.

AES Open Houses

PURE hosted two open houses to introduce and explain changes to AES, and to show off the new approach to poster sessions in the Columbia Rooms, on April 16th and April 24th. While there were a handful of enthusiastic attendees, we are going to cancel the last AES open house scheduled for May 21st.

If you have any questions about AES, please feel free to review the site and our blog posts–if the questions are still not answered, please email us and let us know how we can help!

Great Student Presentations from 2017: The Effects of Work-Family-School Balance on Non-Traditional Student Affect by Emily Fleming and Amanda Schmaltz

The purpose of the current study was to gain a greater understanding of the daily demands that students experience and further examine the effects of those experiences on daily moods. Both work and educational demands were examined in terms of nervousness, loneliness, distress and fearfulness. This study was conducted using mixed methodology. Specifically, participants filled out an initial assessment along with a daily diary consisting of a brief survey for 21 days. Fiftythree non-traditional students, enrolled at least part-time, living with a significant other and at least 21 years of age, participated in the study. Results showed that as school demands increased so did distressed, scared and nervous moods. Increased work demands correlated with increased nervousness and loneliness. These results were thought to be related to role strain and a lack of feeling understood or supported at work. As this study was the first of its kind, it was groundwork for further research in the area of non-traditional student demands, stressors and the role of potential social support to alleviate some of these pressures.

Faculty sponsor: Deborah Brannan

Great Student Presentations from 2018: German University Help vs. United States by Amalia Morse

The presentation will consist of my educational experiences studying abroad in Germany as well as my observations of the German university system. I will show the contrast of how University of Freiburg and Western Oregon University differ when it comes to advising and registering for classes. Though my involvement at a German university was limited to one German semester, I was there for six months, and I believe I have interesting and useful information to share regarding my experiences with the German university system.

Mentors: Bryan Dutton, Misty Weitzel

Plenary Presentations 2019: Our presenters and their presentation abstracts

Dr. Diane Baxter
Stepping into the Light: Thoughts on Performance Anxiety
This presentation will focus on how we can do our best under duress.

Dr. Annie Ittner
Learning How to Read in Another Language
How can the arts and sciences help make sense of learning to read in another language? The school communities in our country are increasingly multilingual. Multilingualism is an asset to the learning environments in classrooms. Neuroscience tells us that the bilingual brain has greater cognitive flexibility. Understanding this cognitive flexibility can help teachers develop a classroom environment where students learning how to read can capitalize on their strengths. One way teachers support this is through exploring the arts of literature, writing, and storytelling.

Dr. Gay Timken
Play – art, science or…?
“In our play we reveal what kind of people we are.” Ovid, Roman poet (427-347 BC)What is play? Why do we play? Is play art or science, or neither? How does play change with age, and should it? “We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing” Ben Franklin

Dr. Dan McCarthy
What illusions can tell us about perception
If there is one thing that can be learned from the study of visual perception, it is that we do not see the world as it is, but rather construct our reality based available cues in the environment. Seeing the world appears so effortless that we often take for granted how complicated vision actually is. In certain cases, we misperceive the world, and sometimes we perceive things that do not physically exist outside our minds. Such visual illusions that ‘break the brain’ can provide very informative insight into the underlying neural mechanisms that give rise to our visual experience. Here, I will show several compelling examples of visual illusions and discuss how we can learn about the brain from instances in which it fails to arrive at the ‘right’ answer.

Dr. Leanne Merrill
It’s Turtles All the Way Down: Self-Similarity in Mathematics, Music, and Life
Self-similarity originated as a mathematical term, but it describes an idea that pervades many scientific and artistic realms. Mathematical fractals, musical frequencies, and recursive computer algorithms all exhibit self-similarity in various forms. What can we learn from the study of self-similarity across disciplines? This talk seeks to explore connections across disciplines through the lens of self-similar structures.

Great Student Presentations from 2018: Rwanda: The Journey by Haley Morris

Five short weeks turned into a lifetime of gained perspective. As one of nine U.S. students selected to participate in a National Science Foundation research grant, I had the opportunity to live, work and travel throughout the small East African country of Rwanda. A rapidly developing nation, Rwanda has experienced a dramatic increase in contraceptive use in the past 10 years. Using a qualitative approach, my colleagues and I examined what factors led to this increase, how other sub-Saharan nations could experience the same success, and how this rise can continue. From this research to the people I met and the experiences I gained along the way, this presentation will serve to share some of the encounters that have changed my life and widened my understanding of the world. My hope is to share with you a vast nation of progress, beauty and unimaginable strength.

Mentors: Bryan Dutton, Misty Weitzel

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Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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