Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Bridging The Divide Between Gen. X And Millennials, Floyd Miley

Black Issues Conference

The problems that plague the Black community are a multi-dimensional phenomenon deeply rooted in systemic racism. For 400 years, the Black experience in America has been one of subjugation, segregation, lynching, discrimination and racism. The historic Civil Rights Movement changed legislation, but it didn’t change racist attitudes or institutions.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, America has witnessed a resurgence of White supremacists’ attitudes, beliefs, values and practices towards people of color, especially Blacks. His administration supports the social, political, criminal justice and economic institutions that negatively affect the Black community. As a result, Blacks have the highest incarceration rate, poverty violence …

Identity Complexities Of African American First-Generation Students, Chandria L. Harris

Black Issues Conference

Identity Complexities of African American First-Generation Students

African American first generational students struggle with identifying who they are and how they are supposed to show up in their college communities socially and academically.

This session will guide attendees through the thought process of an African American First-Generational Students and solutions to assist them with persisting to graduation.

Dating, Friendship, Courtship: Developing Healthy Relationships (Women Only), Reggie Jenkins

Black Issues Conference

"Dating, Friendship, Courtship: Developing Healthy Relationships" is a powerpoint presentation that is designed for young adult women. It defines the difference between courtship, dating, and friendship. It goes into detail regarding what dating really entails and what questions to ask when going out on dates. It also explains how dating and friendships are really about self-discovery. It explains what personalities to avoid while dating and steps to take toward self-empowerment. The purpose of this presentation is an attempt to prevent future trauma and abuse within the Black community. Its also an attempt to empower young ladies by providing a thorough …

Greencap In The House: Resilience Tools To Unify The Black Community, Rick Held, Treasure Hightower, Stan Johnson, Ida Miles, John Floersh, Kaleeisha Huffine

Black Issues Conference

GreenCAP in the House: Resilience Tools to Unify the Black Community

This presentation describes how a small, scruffy youth development organization is leveraging its community outreach and engagement efforts around environmental literacy in the 'hood to build a coalition of inner city organizations aligned to identify and address a broad swath of community resilience issues.

Combating Intersection-Related Imposter Phenomenon In The Workplace Through Career Readiness, Simone Stewart

Black Issues Conference

Research has determined that Impostor Phenomenon (IP) most likely occurs in members of minority groups, students, first generation professionals and persons for whom success came quickly. Other studies have shown that many professional women are One of the ways to combat IP is through the development of competencies needed in your career. Attend this workshop to learn how to develop strategies to approach career competency while on campus and throughout your career to keep you on top of your game!

Foundations Of Minority Leadership: Creating A Leadership Course Specifically For Our Needs, Marcelius L. Braxton, Lorneth Peters

Black Issues Conference

This presentation provides insight into a new hybrid, service-learning course introduced at Austin Peay State University entitled “Foundations of Minority Leadership”. With respect to leadership, individuals who are minorities often face difficulties that the majority does not have to consider. As a result, minority individuals often do not have the opportunity to address issues that would be beneficial for their mentoring/leadership needs. This presentation will highlight the structure of a course specifically for minority individuals. It will also provide some examples of how two instructors use contemporary readings such as, “Minority Leader: How to Lead From the Outside and Make …

Destined For Dissonance: Unpacking The Duality Of Being Black And Christian, Christie D. Banks, Matthew K. Best, Marcus Jones

Black Issues Conference

Abstract: We know that the Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade is how our African ancestors became involved with Christianity, and for many this involvement was a forced tactic of bondage. Does the disconnectedness from the horrors and hypocrisy of the slave trade make you question your faith? Or has the Black Church and its role in your community been a pillar in walking out your faith? Is the injustice that brought our people to America a part of our complex Christian history? Or is being Black and Christian an oxymoron? Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk is as relevant a …

Stand Up And Be Counted, Kimberly Smith

Black Issues Conference

“Stand Up and Be Counted”- The presentation spotlights the US Census over 200 years, the American minority by the numbers, and wielding the 2020 census as a tool for the next decade of minority political and social empowerment.

Presenter: Kimberly Smith, MBA

Company: US Census Bureau

This workshop is designed to improve the awareness of civic responsibilities and participation in the decennial 2020 census. The information discussed will educate the audience on the history and process of the census, as well as, the impact of census data on minority communities.

Format:

The presentation will begin with census introductory information and …

The Effects Of Relationships On Ans Function And Wellness, Olivia M. Maples

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

The quality of relationships and social networks plays a vital role on well-being (Feeney & Collins, 2015). Social support is linked to positive biological profiles in that social support protects against the negative effects of changes in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function. Furthermore, when exploring Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) function, higher heart rate variability has been shown to reflect a psychophysiological state compatible with social interaction (Quintana, Guastella, Outhred, Hickie, & Kemp, 2012). Social support has been shown to buffer against the negative effects of life stressors (Cohen & Wills, 1985), and ultimately, mortality (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010). In …

Disneyfication And Education, Reagan A Yessler

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Disneyfication in theater means the increase in popularity of Disney plays and the resulting reshaping of modern plays to more resemble those of Walt Disney, in order to gain viewership. In most cases, this means a shift to a musical format featuring upbeat ballads and gaudy but family-friendly costumes. While many theatre elitists frown upon such trends, this project shows how Disneyfication fosters renewed interest and enjoyment in theatre across age groups. A case study of the Knox and Sevier County school systems in Tennessee examines patterns of interest and enjoyment in the nation’s most popular plays via snowball method …

Identifying Cystic Fibrosis (Cf) Skeletally: A Proposed Differential Diagnosis, Clare Remy

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disorder that affects the mucosal lining of the lungs and digestive system due to a defective gene that causes blockages of tubes, ducts, and passageways. The type of mutation correlates with the severity of the condition, but with modern medicine individuals can live into their 50s. We propose a differential diagnosis for identifying CF in the skeleton based on bony pathologies that occur in higher frequency in CF patients. CF patients exhibit chronic sinusitis, clubbing of hands and feet, vertebral fractures/collapse and abnormal curvature, significantly shorter stature, lower bone density, rib fractures, and an …

Modern Chinese Development Of Latin America, Alexander Tripp

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

China, a rising global hegemon, has become increasingly interested in close economic and political relations with Latin America since the turn of the century. These relationships have been centered around two traits, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the export of raw materials. China has fully invested itself into the region in order to develop and maintain the production of certain goods necessary for upkeep of its massive population and industrializing economy. I test the significance of four prominent raw materials in Chinese trade with Latin America to determine their impact on Chinese FDI. Using this method, I gather and gauge …

The Effects Of Stress And Anxiety On A Cued Attention Task, Catalina L. Gonzalez

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Previous research has shown visual attention tasks like the Infant Orienting With Attention (IOWA) Task are effective in identifying individual differences in spatial attention (Ross-Sheehy et al., 2015). Given visual attention is influenced by factors like stress/anxiety (Grillon et al, 2016) it may be possible to use attention tasks to identify participants high in stress and/or anxiety. Fifty-four adults completed a modified version of the IOWA task. Participants then completed the Perceived Stress Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and were divided into three groups: Low_Stress/Low_Anxiety (LSLA), High_Stress/Low_Anxiety (HSLA), and High_Stress/High_Anxiety (HSHA). A Condition x Stress Group ANOVA revealed only a …

Acute Social Defeat-Induced Neuroinflammation In The Vmpfc Of Syrian Hamsters Via Microglial Activation, Thomas Clarity

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Research suggests causal relationships between neuroinflammation and stress-related psychopathologies. Exposure to moderate or chronic psychological stress in rodents leads to increased activation of microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells. The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a key limbic region involved in top-down regulation of psychological stress and mediates the deleterious effects of microglial activity following prolonged restraint stress. While there is a growing body of literature indicating that chronic social defeat increases microglial activity in the vmPFC, there has been little research investigating the effects of acute social defeat stress. Here, we used an acute social defeat paradigm in …