The University of North Georgia’s 20th Annual Research Conference will be held March 30-April 2, 2015. On March 30 and 31, the conference will be held on the Dahlonega campus in the Library, rooms 163, 382, and 369. The Gainesville campus will host the conference on April 1 in the Robinson Ballroom, and the Oconee campus will host it on April 2 in SRC 522.
Please note our keynote speaker, Dr. Joseph Oppong, will present an address on undergraduate research and medical geography on all three campuses as follows: March 31 (Dahlonega) at 2:30 in LTC 382; April 1 (Gainesville) at 1:30 in Robinson Ballroom; April 2 (Oconee) at 11:00 am in SRC 522. Refreshments will be provided at each.

UNG Annual Research Conference 2015

An appreciation for classic literature among young readers is slowly losing its strength in numbers. It is rare that young readers look to classic literature for any other purposes other than academic assignment. Readers distance themselves from authors and works of literature, because they are often unaware of the state at which an author was writing. If readers pay close attention to the text, analyze the characters and relationships that exist within the novel, and couple it with some background information concerning Mary Shelley and her personal experiences, parallels between author and text can be made. This exercise in recognizing and appreciating the author brings the author off the pages of a textbook, and into the mind of readers. Shelley transforms from a vague concept to a conscious being inside the mind of readers. Motivating readers to examine the text in relation to the author can give readers the practice in critical thinking that is necessary later in life. he how prevalent an author may be in his or her text. If readers would approach reading with an open mind and awareness of the author, readers would be able to gain a more fulfilled reading experience. Taking time to unpack a piece of literature is crucial, especially in young readers as it aids in developing and cultivating critical thinking skills. Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein poses at the perfect model to allow readers to analyze the text in relationship to the author.

"How ignorant art thou?" Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Everybody has their own personal opinion of how the world around them should be, or an opinion of what they think about society. Every time period focuses on certain passions of civilization and the literary trends of that time fall in suit. The movement or time period of literature that we are currently in is considered to be ‘postmodernism’. This includes literary characteristics such as metafiction, temporal distortion, magical realism, and faction. David Foster Wallace, a postmodernist author, was not a writer who by chance produced amazing work. He knew he wanted to be an incredible writer that people took seriously, and that’s exactly what he did. In his book, “Girl With Curious Hair”, and other works of literature, Wallace used a series of short stories as a way for him to portray how he saw society and his views on postmodern literature. In this particular book, he uses a variety of different styles and methods to construct the 11 different short stories. It is no secret that the book as a whole was written with a mind-bending point of view. In wanting to be seen as an individual, Wallace breaks the rules in all aspects of the word. Reading a piece by David Foster Wallace is truly an experience of stepping into the mind of a genius.

An Insight Behind The Mind of David Foster Wallace

Everyone wants to be learn faster, remember better, be smarter. One company that promises to provide these benefits is Luminosity. The promise of neuroscience-based brain training in the form of fun, simple games that can be accomplished in just a few minutes a day is appealing to many people. But are the claims too good to be true? We investigated the claims made by Luminosity and their competitors to determine whether there are actually significant benefits to using this kind of software.
Our research also looked at alternatives to brain training software such as meditating, language-learning, and exercising. While high-tech games are fun and entertaining, how do they compare to these more traditional activities? Not only are these options often free, but they have been used far longer than the digital brain-training. Thanks to this extended history of use, there is also significantly more published research about these options.
Another point that our research considered is that not everyone’s brain is the same. After reviewing the available options, we discuss the best candidates for each type of brain improvement desired. Children, adults, and seniors are considered. We will present our audience with not just an overview of the available options, but also an understanding of what techniques would be most beneficial for their situation. In turn, this information would be beneficial for helping individuals make informed choices about how to spend their time and resources to reach the maximum improvement in cognitive function.

Improving Cognitive Function: As Easy as a Walk in the Park

Far from being a simple and straight-forward parable of good and evil, Nabokov’s infamous novel entitled Lolita artfully creates a vast “grey area” of morality for the audience to become lost in. This presentation will focus specifically on the concept of guilt and innocence in an abusive relationship and explore the complexities that often lead to victim-blaming, either by society, acquaintances, or the abused person herself. I will highlight some of the subtle clues which clarify the murky situation between Humbert Humbert and Dolores Haze, including how he refuses the child personhood by consistently referring to her by the nickname Lolita during most of the novel. I will also demonstrate that despite Humbert’s attempts to shift blame onto the child, the glimpses we receive at various points in the text show Dolores Haze to be a strong character who makes the best of being in a difficult situation. I will also show how, at the end of Lolita, the reader who has thought critically about the issues raised by the novel has a new and well-earned understanding of the line between guilt and innocence--not just in the lives of the characters from the world inside the novel but also in the situations frequently observed in today’s media, social networks, and even in the reader’s own life.

Beyond Lolita: A Look at the Real Humbert Humbert and Dolores Haze

This presentation will focus on the ideas of agency and motivation within the narratives of the novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and the film American Beauty by Alan Ball.
A narrator’s motivation within a novel or film is one that can be explored through the idea of agency. Nabokov’s “Lolita” is narrated by the character named Humbert Humbert, a man in his mid-thirties who gets deeply involved with the young preteen named Dolores Haze. Humbert recounts his experiences with Dolores as if it were a confession in the novel, addressing the readers as a jury. Similarly. Alan Ball’s film, “American Beauty” is narrated by Lester Burnham, a middle-aged man growing tired of a typical suburban life that he takes ultimate control of once he meets his teenage daughter’s friend, Angela. In what most would call a “mid-life crisis”, Lester begins to pursue who he wants to be, and what he truly wants in life, including the pursuit of Angela. Both of these narrators are telling their stories from the end of their lives- Lester from the afterlife, and Humbert from a prison cell. As agents, these narrators are choosing to tell their stories- which makes us as the reader/audience ask, what is their motivation? Agency relates to intention, each of these narrators have something that they’re trying to achieve by choosing to tell their stories. While Lester’s message in “American Beauty” is easier to comprehend and speculate, Humbert’s intentions by sharing his story is more difficult to approach. This presentation will focus on the complexity of the narrator’s use of agency and the motivation behind it all.

Lolita & American Beauty: Motivation Behind the Narrative

Eric Kelly
Allison
EV Chem
2.20.2015
Title: Copper, Magnesium, and Lead Content in Dust Samples from Chemistry Labs, UNG Gainesville Campus
There are many types of metals and metal salts used in the freshman chemistry labs, some of them potentially harmful. Well-known examples include lead, mercury, and cadmium. The use of vent hoods and other precautionary actions are taken to prevent the release of these contaminates into the surrounding settings. However, trace amounts of these materials may escape into the room. The likelihood of release is related to the physical state of the reactants and products and the type of experiment performed. Experiments that require students to dispense and handle powdered metal salts can result in outright spills, or improper technique can lead to small releases that over time contribute to an increase in metal content in room dust. In addition, experiments that involve burning metals or their salts results in products that can escape into the surroundings as airborne particulates. In this study, dust samples collected from chemistry labs and from other locations within the science building as well as samples from other buildings on campus have been analyzed to determine the levels of copper, magnesium and lead present in the dust. Dust sample collection followed a standard operating procedure published by Brookhaven National Laboratory. Metal content of the samples was determined by flame atomic adsorption and copper, magnesium and lead content from various sample locations have been statistically compared.
Keywords: Flame Atomic Adsorption, Dust, Metal Salts.

Copper, Magnesium, and Lead Content in Dust Samples from Chemistry Labs, UNG Gainesville Campus

Mary Hays wrote The Victim of Prejudice (1799) and Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein (1818) during the British Romantic period; however, scholars have not yet written about them in conjunction with one another. Taken together, these two texts demonstrate a pervasive feature of women’s constricted lives at the time and reflect the impossible circumstances that women faced. Applying Julia Kristeva’s and Lacan’s psychoanalytic theories, I argue that when Hays’s central character Mary Raymond and Shelley’s creature, whom Shelley used to provide a voice for the otherwise voiceless female characters, enter the symbolic order, they come to understand the significance of their material bodies and their lack of power. In Kristevan terms, Mary and the creature attempt to return to the mother, to the prelinguistic, semiotic stage by sloughing off the material. Mary Raymond, for example, enters the symbolic order when Sir Peter Osborne rapes her and calls her a “beauty,” objectifying her. Afterward, she recognizes her subordinate role. Similarly, the creature recognizes society’s injustice when he, too, enters the symbolic order. After he learns language through the DeLaceys and recognizes his “otherness,” he comes to understand his subordinate role in society. When Mary and the creature become aware of their bodies, they attempt to reject society’s confinements and transcend its boundaries; however, their transcendence is momentary and they ultimately fail. Despite their failure, they achieve freedom in the return to mother, or the “chora,” when Mary rejects society’s labels and the creature dreams of an Eve to love.

“For What Crime Was I Driven from Society?”  Women in Mary Hays’s The Victim of Prejudice and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Joseph Oppong is a Professor of Geography and Associate Dean for Research at the University of North Texas, where he has been teaching and doing research since 1992. He is also adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth. Dr. Oppong’s research centers on the geography of disease and health services and seeks to answer the question: who is getting what disease and health services where and why? Previous research topics include HIV/AIDS in Africa and Texas, Buruli Ulcer in Ghana and Tuberculosis in Tarrant County. A native of Ghana, Dr. Oppong has a BA in Geography from the University of Ghana and Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. He has served as Chair of the Medical and Health Geography Specialty Group and also the Africa Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers. Dr. Oppong served as a Steering Committee Member and the US Representative to the International Geographers Union (IGU) Commission on Health and Environment (CHE) from 2004-2012. His current research focuses on disease mapping and simulating geographic patterns of communicable disease spread.

Disease, Vulnerability and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

In "Monster Culture (Seven Thesis)," Jeffery Cohen claims "Monsters are our children...They ask us why we have created them" (28). Cohen also claims monsters are born at a crossroad in societal values, they evade categorization, they represent our fears and anxieties, they cannot be defined or controlled, and they escape any attempts to eradicate them (12-13). Although Cohen focuses on fictional monsters such as vampires and werewolves, his argument applies equally well to school shooters. This essay takes a historical view of school shootings, tracing the beginnings of this phenomenon to more recent events, demonstrating that as media coverage of the violence increased the monster grew worse over time. In the 1990's, the number of school shootings increased rapidly along with the advent of twenty four hour cable news, which as Cohen said, fed the monsters. From Columbine High to Virginia Tech to Sandy Hook Elementary, the monsters’ savagery increased despite society’s efforts to control and eradicate them. Media outlets profited from advertising as their audiences tuned in for countless hours seeking answers as to why the monsters killed, how they were able to kill, and how they could be stopped. As the monster morphed, the ability to profit off of the monster also morphed. Hollywood grossed billions from The Hunger Games, a tale of children killing children, in which the last child standing, the child who killed all the other children, is glorified. Did we create our monster children to feed off of society’s fear and fascination of them?

8. School Shooters: "Monsters are our children"

Early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft directly confronted the female stereotypes of the eighteenth century in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Over 50 years later, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote an epic poem, Aurora Leigh, about a female artist who must decide between marriage and her profession. Both Wollstonecraft and Browning believed that women should not value marriage over career and encouraged women to focus on intellect, not outer beauty, and to pursue the more rigorous studies left for men, including science and mathematics. After tracing the arguments of both authors, this co-authored paper uses current educational and social research to argue that while less obvious, eighteenth century stereotypes continue to affect women today. Educational research demonstrates that young children become aware of gender roles and expectations from an early age, a problem that can affect their future prospects. Despite Wollstonecraft’s and Browning’s defiance of social norms, these gender biases continue. For example, the focus in women’s magazines on external beauty reflects continuation of the social pressure to marry. In the professional world, the 77 cent wage gap, the glass ceiling, and the lack of women in the STEM fields demonstrate that equality has not yet been achieved. While today’s causes are different from Wollstonecraft’s and Browning’s, feminists are still working to end lingering eighteenth century stereotypes.