Digital Commons Network^™

Wooster Magazine: Fall 2019, Caitlin Paynich

Wooster Magazine: 2011-Present

The College of Wooster prepares graduates to serve their global community. Hear from Military Alumni of Wooster and Model UN Alumni about their experiences, and learn about the group of current students who traveled to London this summer to study theatre and culture. This issue also includes the 2019 Annual Report, a look inside the office of Pam Frese, professor of sociology and anthropology, and alumni answers to the prompt: “What is your favorite spot on campus?”

Commencement 2019 The College Of Wooster

Commencement Programs

This program features the information regarding the commencement of 2019 at the College of Wooster that took place on May 13, 2019 at 10:00am. The program includes the college's mission statement, the commencement participants, the ceremony schedule and the list of graduates. The "For the Class of 2019" speakers were Christina Marie Gorey '19 and Mylo Apollo Quinn Parker-Emerson '19. The names of those whose degrees were conferred August 31, 2018 and December 31, 2018 are featured.

Wooster Magazine: Spring/Summer 2019, Caitlin Paynich

Wooster Magazine: 2011-Present

The spring/summer 2019 issue of Wooster reflects a refreshed design including an update Oak Grove section as well as a Tartan Ties section focused on alumni activity and class notes. The news section covers updates to the president's staff, retirements as part of an early retirement incentive program, and a mentoring story featuring David McConnell, professor of Anthropology and Kate Atwell '20. The traditional I.S. issue features seniors Melissa Dods (archaeology & geology), Araam Abboud (classics & biochemistry and molecular biology), Marcus Bowers (psychology), Mallory Crane (English), Jordan Griffith (political science & history), Ellie Howell (archeology), Francisco Martinez (history), Annabelle …

Responsible Collaborations: Scholarship And Cultural Heritage Assets, Irene Herold

All Faculty Articles

I recently served as a national consultant on collaborations between libraries and museums. There are not that many articles published about collaborations and cultural heritage collections, although I suspect many unreported activities are being done in the field. From the 2009 program my College Libraries Section (CLS) committee developed when I was CLS chair on town/gown relationships (Our Town, Common Ground) with public and academic librarian panelists to a 2016 article, cultural heritage institutions and collaboration has been a focus of mine. My life and work experiences gave me a broad exposure to a wide variety of cultures, cultural norms, …

Six Of One, Une Demi-Douzaine De L’Autre: Detecting Cross-Language Code-Switching In A Continuous Narrative, Melissa Kadish

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study examined how cross-language code-switching is processed and perceived. The following experiment compared how long English-French bilinguals, English monolinguals, and English-speaking French-language-learners took to detect instances of French/English code-switching in a semantically-rich narrative. Bilinguals displayed shorter change-detection response latencies than language learners and monolinguals, but the latter two groups did not significantly differ. These results provide insight into how the observed cognitive differences between bilinguals and monolinguals may develop, and offer support for the multi-language lexical processing theory of language interference. This study also addresses potential sociocultural origins of the observed language-level differences in code-switching perception by examining …

Exploring Topics Of The Art Gallery Problem, Megan Vuich

Senior Independent Study Theses

Created in the 1970's, the Art Gallery Problem seeks to answer the question of how many security guards are necessary to fully survey the floor plan of any building. These floor plans are modeled by polygons, with guards represented by points inside these shapes. Shortly after the creation of the problem, it was theorized that for guards whose positions were limited to the polygon's vertices, the floor of n/3 guards are sufficient to watch any type of polygon, where n is the number of the polygon's vertices. Two proofs accompanied this theorem, drawing from concepts of computational geometry and graph …

The Politics Of Exclusionary And Inclusionary Zoning: The Road To Residential Segregation, Emily M. Partika

Senior Independent Study Theses

This paper aims to explore why some suburbs adopt land use policies that encourage exclusivity and segregation, meanwhile others adopt land use policies that encourage inclusivity and integration. Specifically, I analyze the social, economic, and political factors that motivate the adoption of certain land use policies. This research extends Charles Tiebout’s public choice theory in conjunction with Michael Danielson’s theory on local government autonomy over land use regulation. These theories combine to explore the understudied relationship of median voter pressure on local government to explain how political actors adopt policies motivated by pressure from from residents, or median voters. Additionally, …

Signing In The Margins: Manifestations Of Professional Identity And Creative Agency In Viking Age Oval Brooches, Eleanor Howell

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Teaching Data Reproducibility Through Service Learning, Anne Nurse, Trish Staiger

All Faculty Articles

Data reproducibility is becoming increasingly important in the social sciences, but it has yet to be incorporated into many undergraduate sociology programs. This note describes a service–learning activity that can be added to an introductory statistics course. Students partner with a nonprofit and analyze quantitative data to answer questions selected by the agency. Reproducibility is the central mechanism of communication between the nonprofit, the students, and the course instructor. An assessment of the project suggests that students achieve an understanding of how to create reproducible data. They also come to see its value as a method of communication about data …

Introduction: History And Trends Of Chinese Folklore Studies, Lijun Zhang, Ziying You

All Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

In The Company Of Citizens: The Rhetorical Contours Of Singapore's Neoliberalism, Rohini S. Singh

All Faculty Articles

This essay explores how the language and priorities of the corporate world seep into the halls of government, and the ensuing implications of such rhetoric. Situating my analysis in Singapore's National Day Rally addresses from 1960 to 2018, I uncover two rhetorical signatures unique to Singaporean neoliberalism: the location of national character in economic performance, and the act of packaging and selling the nation to its people. I conclude by examining the implications of a corporate constitution of the nation for evoking affective ties to the nation, and by considering the value of Singapore's case to broader critiques of neoliberalism.

Sample Notes From Bouwsma's Commonplace Book On Kierkegaard's Fragments And Postscript, Ronald E. Hustwit Sr., O.K. Bouwsma

O.K. Bouwsma Collection

O.K. Bouwsma, better known for his imaginative essays of ordinary language philosophy, was a life-long reader of Kierkegaard. Emerging from the Christian Reformed tradition of Dutch Calvinism, Bouwsma initially found a philosophical basis for Christianity in the British Idealism of F.H. Bradley. But while finding his way through that idealism by was or orientation that Wittgenstein provided for dissolving philosophical abstractions with imaginative grammatical investigations, Bouwsma found Kierkegaard the tonic that would cure his philosophical indigestion with Idealism in keeping with his philosophical pursuit of understanding Christianity. As he found his way through the metaphysics of Idealism by way of …

Cowboys And Tiaras: The Role Of Child Gender Nonconformity On Evaluations Of Same-Sex And Different-Sex Families, Andrew David White

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Pursue This Discourse Instead: Deconstructing Settler Colonialism And Climate Change Through Art, Carolyn S. Webster

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Says Who? A Feminist Challenge Of Moral And Epistemic Authority In Advocacy, Coral Ciupak

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, “The Challenge of Feminist Ethics,” describes the project of feminist ethics to respond to patterns of inclusion and exclusion within the dominant tradition of moral thought and practice. I then highlight several features of consideration in feminist ethics that are useful in its response and subsequent development of alternative representations of moral life. My second chapter, “The Moral and Epistemic Commitment of Advocacy,” discusses the field of advocacy as morally and epistemically engaged through practices of speaking for others. I give reasons to believe that the commitment underpinning …

Expectation Versus Reality: An Examination Of The Training And Awareness Primary Care Physicians Have About Communication Differences And Sensory Sensitivities Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) Present And Accommodations Provided During Office Appointments, Rachel H. Topper

Senior Independent Study Theses

The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, this study investigated the awareness and training primary care physicians have about the communication differences and sensory sensitivities adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may present. Second, this study examined how primary care physicians accommodate for the communication differences and sensory sensitivities adults with ASD may present, as well as how they integrate caregivers during office appointments. Most of the prior research regarding these topics only focuses on pediatric populations. To expand this literature, data were collected through an online survey that was distributed to primary care physicians. The results revealed that …

The D&D Sorting Hat: Predicting Dungeons And Dragons Characters From Textual Backstories, Joseph C. Macinnes

Senior Independent Study Theses

Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game which focuses heavily on character interaction and creating narratives. The current state of the game's character creation process often bogs down new players in decisions related to game mechanics, not a character's identity and personality. This independent study investigates the use of machine learning and natural language processing to make these decisions for a player based on their character's backstory - the textual biography or description of a character. The study presents a collection of existing characters and uses these examples to create a family of models capable of predicting a character's …

Dancing With Wooster: Strengthening Community Through Self-Expression And Collaborative Art, Juliana Davis

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Tying Truth's Shoes: The Value Of A Realist Notion Of Truth Within Democratic Discourse, Emma Arvedon

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis attempts to answer the question; what is the value of a realist notion of truth in democratic discourse? It is divided into 4 main chapters, along with an introduction and some short concluding remarks.

In my introduction I attempt to give some preliminary reasons I became interested in this question in the first place. I also clarify some terms that I will use for the rest of the paper.

The first chapter is devoted to delineating a realist notion of truth. I focus on defining features of the theory, consider other competing theories of truth, defend a realist …

Determinants Of Latinx Patients’ Perceptions Of Trust In Their Physicians At The Primary Health Care Level, Emani J. Kelley

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study examines the predictors of Latinx patient’s trust in their primary healthcare providers. Specifically, this study tests patient and physician characteristics that contribute to feelings of trust in the healthcare setting. Latinx adults from primary care clinics in Southern California and a legal aid office in Canton, Ohio, completed surveys on their perceptions of cultural sensitivity, compassion, and communication received from their physicians in addition to overall feelings of trust toward their physicians. Surveys also asked participants about their language preference, generational status, and demographics. Data was analyzed using a linear multiple regression model with trust as the dependent …

Optimizing Timber Harvest Value: A Dynamic Programming Investigation, Kayleigh T. Dietz

Senior Independent Study Theses

Operations research models have been and continue to be integral to the implementation of forest management strategies. Fundamental operations research models such as linear and dynamic programming have respective advantages and disadvantages when applied to any forest system. An overview of five fundamental operations research models are provided in terms of a timber harvesting system. Timber production management is a branch of forest management that seeks to optimize the economic benefits of harvesting timber. The time-stage nature of timber harvesting systems makes dynamic programming a particularly useful model for timber production management. Thus, dynamic programming is the primary model discussed …

Applying Gadamer: An Evaluation Of Interpretations Of The Confucian Analects By Different Schools Under The Light Of Gadamerian Hermeneutics, Yifeng Xu

Senior Independent Study Theses

This thesis attempts to analyse and evaluate several interpretations of the Confucian Analects under the light of Gadamerian hermeneutics. In chapter 1, I explicate Gadamerian hermeneutics and analyse Gadamer’s hermeneutical view. In chapter 2, I introduce a challenge to Gadamer’s theory regarding the problem of objectivity, give Gadamer a limited defence, and then reconstruct Gadamerian hermeneutics in order to answer the challenge. Chapter 3 deals with some further concerns about the application of Gadamerian hermeneutics in terms of evaluating interpretations. Chapter 4 and 5 are spent on analysing two groups of interpretations of the Confucian Analects as well as the …

A Hott Approach To Computational Effects, Phillip A. Wells

Senior Independent Study Theses

A computational effect is any mutation of real-world state that occurs as the result of a computation. We develop a model for describing computational effects within homotopy type theory, a branch of mathematics separate from other foundations such as set theory. Such a model allows us to describe programs as total functions over values while preserving information about the effects those programs induce.

Perseveration Or Perseverance: Investigating Interpretations Of Echolalia, Self-Stimulatory Behaviors, And Intervention Approaches For Children Who Have Autism, Ashlynn Rae Kufleitner

Senior Independent Study Theses

The broad purpose of this study was to examine professionals’ perceptions of self-stimulatory behaviors in school-age children who have autism and the relation of these behaviors to communication. More specifically, I investigated whether and how speech-language pathologists and applied behavior analysis therapists address these behaviors during therapy by analyzing what factors may influence the selection of intervention methods and how these methods may be used to shape restrictive behaviors into functional communication. Through pursuing this topic, I hoped to increase research concerning the ways that echolalia and self-stimulatory behaviors are perceived by clinicians who work with clients on the autism …

Effects Of Personal Styling On Constituents’ Perceptions Of Candidates, Cassidy D. Ktsanes

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study aims to measure the extent to which personal styling and gender presentation has on public perceptions of candidates. The hypotheses in this study were that masculine styling leads to more positive trait evaluations which in turn leads to a higher number of votes and more conservative rankings—this all, however, was assumed to be conditional on the sex of candidate. This is due to gendered expectations that derive from the gender binary. The overall findings of this study cannot reject the null hypothesis. This study found that: as masculine styling increases perceptions of competence and compassion significantly decrease, as …

Modal Notions And Semantic, Boyu Wu

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Language Of Disability, Language Of Disorder: An Investigation Of Lived Experiences And Perspectives Of Individuals On The Autism Spectrum With Respect To Communicative Interventions, Rebekah Burkhart

Senior Independent Study Theses

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences and first-person perspectives of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with respect to interventions for communicative differences and/or deficits characteristic of autism. This study extends limited research into autistic experiences of interventions in the domain of communication. Furthermore, by extending prior research into neurodiverse values among speech-language pathologists (SLPs), this research contributes to the body of professional literature through exploration of autistic voices as in-group sources of expertise on ASD. The researcher recruited participants online, utilizing mixed methods in the form of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to …

Inviting Others In: How Oppression Affects The Self, Mylo Apollo Parker-Emerson

Senior Independent Study Theses

Broadly, the focus of this thesis is to consider how oppression affects the self. More specifically, this project supports the claim that there is a conflicting imposition (by being oppression) placed on queer folk in black (American) Christian spaces that affects the self. The position is elucidated through a four-chapter structure. In the first chapter, I provide a charitable reading to Mead’s theory of the self. I end the chapter by considering how a dissonance may occur. In chapter two, I define identity through a hermeneutical lens and supplement this theory by considering the ways identity can be imposed and …

"But It's Not Fair!": Effects Of Experimenter Familiarity On Inequity Aversion In Dogs, Kia Radovanovic

Senior Independent Study Theses

Inequity aversion, defined as having a negative reaction to unfair treatment, was considered to be a uniquely human trait for decades but has since been found to exist in a variety of animals, including primates and dogs. Although dogs have been shown to be affected in their decision making based on their familiarity with the humans testing them, this effect had not been previously examined in regard to their responses to inequity aversion. This study aimed to partially replicate the results shown in the first ever study to find inequity aversion in dogs and to further investigate whether their responses …

Talking Red White And Blue: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Polarization And Congressional Floor Speech, Dawson Patrick Honey

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.