Research indicates that deceitful videos tend to spread rapidly online and influence people’s opinions and ideas. Because of this, video misinformation via deepfake video manipulation poses a significant online threat. This study aims to discover what factors can influence viewers’ capability of distinguishing deepfake videos from genuine video footage. This work focuses on exploring deepfake videos’ potential use for deception and misinformation by exploring people’s ability to determine whether videos are deepfakes in a survey consisting of deepfake videos and original unedited videos. The participants viewed a set of four videos and were asked to judge whether the videos shown were deepfakes or originals. The survey varied the familiarity that the viewers had with the subjects of the videos. Also, the number of videos shown at one time was manipulated. This survey showed that familiarity of subjects has a statistically significant impact on how well people can determine a deepfake. Notably, however, almost two thirds of study participants (102 out of 154, or 66.23%) were unable to correctly identify a sequence of just four videos as either genuine or deepfake. Overall, the study provides insights into possible methods for countering disinformation and deception resulting from the misuse of deepfakes.

UNG Author's Reception Bibliography 2023

CC BY 4.0 Attribution

What You See Is Not What You Know: Deepfake Image Manipulation

Cybersecurity involves using various methods, technologies, and processes to prevent security breaches while protecting computer systems, networks and programs from malicious attacks and other threats. Cybersecurity and network systems are major components of critical infrastructure. Cyber infrastructure is essential for a society to function/operate securely in a digital space, while conducting vital cyber operations. Governments of major global cities like Atlanta and Johannesburg, strive for advanced cyber infrastructure to protect themselves, individuals, and entities from various cyber dangers. These cities residents would also rely on existing cybersecurity policies and infrastructure to access digital services and make efforts to mitigate their risks to crime and other vulnerabilities. 
Research method focuses on demographic of adults aged 18-35. Correlational study conducted comparing and analyzing trends between demographics in Atlanta/Johannesburg. Data collection methods include archival (derived) data from secondary data points. Survey also conducted on residents in each city. Analysis conducted on collected data, which seeks to understand if the data conveys any type of relationship between the variables being studied, and also explore whether any other variables could have been influencing factors in the trends shown by the data. I will conduct a critical analysis of all data to help me better understand the trends in cyber risks, behaviors, and vulnerabilities in young adults aged 18-35.





UNG Annual Research Conference 2023

CC BY-NC 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial

A Comparison of Trends In Cybersecurity Between Atlanta & Johannesburg

This study examines several factors involving police “use of force,” and the debate concerning its appropriate use.  Officers decide if use of force is necessary under a variety of settings, and therefore require a standard by which to determine if it is appropriate. Justification requires three conditions, collectively known as the “Objective Reasonable standard:” 1) severity of the crime, 2) if the suspect is an immediate threat to self or others, and 3) if the suspect is actively or passively resisting arrest. Once the decision to use force on a suspect has been established, the appropriate degree of force required for the occasion must be determined, based on a “use of force continuum.” Mild application of force may be sufficient in one instance, or it may require up to and including “Deadly force.” in another. Deadly force is appropriate when the following conditions have been met:  1) the suspect possesses a deadly weapon, 2) she or he poses an immediate threat with that deadly weapon, and 3) there is probable cause. In that scenario, officers are authorized to arrest with or without a warrant, and may shoot the violent fleeing felon. The case of a nonviolent fleeing felon is left to the officer discretion based on civilian safety. Deadly force is “force likely to cause serious bodily harm or death”. Public perception on police is shaped by socio-economic status, race, biological sex, and age group. Favorable perceptions of officers are older, white, and female. 


Public Perceptions and Understanding on Police Use of Force 

While modern-day readers depend on science as a main source of reasoning, Frazer emphasizes the inevitability of humans' desire to bend or control nature through magic, then science, then religion. Within the fantasy realm, studies show that authors typically value yet sow discourse through the use of one of the three aforementioned universal orientations toward the unknown. 
The Witcher Series, however, serves as a resolution of tension and paired with Frazer's "The Golden Bough", invites this contemporary argument. Not only does The Witcher series emphasize the cyclical nature of human behavior, reflected in "The Golden Bough". Andrzej Sapkowski fortifies a defense for continued integration of this trinal. Enriched by magical folkloric texture, readers find themselves affirming a living appreciation for science, magic, and religion together helps to resolve mixed tensions throughout The Witcher series. 

Science, Magic, Religion, and Witchers?: Interpreting Trinality in Sapkowski's The Witcher

In 2016, the future of the Atlanta Central Library was put to a vote. Conservationists rallied against façade-altering renovations such as the installation of more windows, seeking to preserve famed Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer’s final work and citing historical merit. Meanwhile, critics advocated for the total demolition of the library, referring to critiques commonly levied against Brutalist works, such as the description of the structure as unwelcoming and depressing. Many may not consider the fraught history of Brutalism in the U.S, its association with communism and the housing crisis during the Cold War, and how lingering anti-communist sentiment may have influenced the decision to put the library up for demolition. 
Ultimately, the decision not to demolish the building was reached, and in July of 2018, the library was closed for its three year long complete renovation effort. While the library retained some of its iconic Brutalist elements such as a sculptural concrete exterior and Breuer’s original interior scissor staircase, the facade was irrevocably altered. 
However, little conversation has been had as to why specific architectural elements were preserved while others were not. This research study details how the proposed demolition of the Atlanta Central Library is representative of a larger trend amongst Western institutions, as well as how specific aspects of its renovation are indicative of the Brutalist resurgence. This is achieved through a summary of Brutalist history, its connection to the Cold War and public housing projects, and a discussion of how increasing wealth disparity among generations has contributed to the Brutalist resurgence. 

Brutalism and the Atlanta Central Library 

There is little to no research on the relationship between the failures of the Weimar Republic and the Protestant church, especially as it was expressed through the perspective of visual art. Verist art increasingly captured these failures through the distortion and destruction of Christian tropes and themes. Max Beckmann’s Descent From the Cross is an explicit example of this as he declares the need for the separation of church and state by showcasing the beginning downfall of both the German church and state through iconographical distortion.  Few scholars have commented on the dramatic image nor its implications of how Germans saw and expressed their world during the Weimar era. Beckmann’s Descent from the Cross showcases a far more brutal reality of Christ’s death in comparison to earlier European depictions, such as Berlinghiero of Lucca’s The Deposition and Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece. This veristic approach manifests itself not just in the Neue Sachlichkeit style, but as a dissatisfaction in Christianity and government as well. Beckmann’s Descent from the Cross proves that a separation of church and state is necessary for both institutions to remain pure.  

Descent from the Cross: The Downfall of German Church and State through Verist Crucifixion Art

Music in the Mongol Empire was subject to foreign influence and exchange perhaps prior to and during the Mongol conquests of the 13th century. The current scholarly work being done on traditional Mongolian music of the Mongol Empire focuses almost entirely on the role the musical traditions and instrumentation held in Mongolian society, as well as their surviving contemporary practices. However, there is little to no research done on the cultural exchange between the Mongol empire and the cultures it subjugated pertaining to musical performance. Due to a scarcity of music in the primary sources. Though the influences can still be seen, we can be certain the exchange did take place, at the very least, in certain instances.
The stringed Mongolian instruments, the Yatuhan and Shugraga, have strikingly similar counterparts in China, the Cheng, and Sanzian. The Middle Eastern stringed Quanun, was also imported to inner Mongolia virtually unchanged. These instruments, and their respective uses in Mongolian culture, illustrate another example of cultural exchange during the Mongolian conquests of the 13th century. These influences, though their origins may be obscured in the sources as with much relating to music in Empire, the construction of these instruments and playing techniques share an undeniable similarity to instruments found in regions conquered, and subsequently controlled, during the Mongolian expansion of the 13th century.


Music in the Mongol Empire

During the time of the Mongol Empire, many independent medical traditions were put under a single Mongol administration, which resulted in a diffusion of diverse medical knowledge across its territory.  At the height of the empire, medical practices of the Muslim, Nestorian Christian, Jewish, and Chinese traditions flowed freely throughout. The Mongols themselves maintained their own medical traditions and were in turn influenced by the traditions of those they conquered. This paper explores how the people of the Mongol Empire understood medicine in different terms than we do today, typically taking a more holistic approach. The medical traditions of the Mongol Empire blurred the lines between what would today be called medicine, diet, and spiritual practices.  Despite their age, some of these practices bear a striking resemblance to the medicine of more modern times. Many of the trauma-related medical practices are described by the Mongols themselves, while the majority of dietary and spiritual practices come from Chinese and Middle Eastern sources or are observed by European travel accounts. 

Mongol Medicine

These UNG Students will read their testimony about coming from North, Central and South America to North Georgia and represent what it feels like to be an immigrant that had to leave their countries in war, move away from their culture, and their loved ones to become part of the US working force and pursue the American Dream. Some of these voices and/or family are currently working with agriculture, in poultry factories, or full time jobs at the same time as they are students at UNG. Their testimonies are the voices of many students in the community who know what is like to grow up being bilingual in an area not very diverse that still resists cultural diversity. Finally, these students will expose what is like crossing cultural and linguistic borders in a daily basis and how they learn to cope with all the challenges.


The Voices of the Latinx Community in North Georgia

In today's digital age, fake bomb threats, shooting threats, and swatting incidents are frequently made using modern software and hardware, such as the internet, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Virtual Private Networks (VPN), and mobile devices. The ease of access to these tools, along with the anonymity they provide, has led to an increase in these cybercrimes. They cause fear and panic among the public, tie up valuable law enforcement resources, and threaten national security.

The role of cybersecurity in solving these threats is crucial, as technology can also be used to track down those responsible and bring them to justice. Furthermore, improved cybersecurity measures can help prevent the likelihood of these incidents occurring in the first place.

This research examines what false bombing, swatting, and shooting threats are, how they are made, and the different methods used, such as spoofing and social engineering attacks. It also discusses forensic investigation techniques used in tracking down suspects, recent examples of such crimes, the legal involvement in such cases, as well as technological and ethical challenges faced.

Moreover, this research explores the psychological and physical effects on victims and the misuse of civil resources. Finally, it provides suggestions for prevention methods to counter these cybercrimes.

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