Digital Commons Network^™

Affectivity As A Form Of Communication During Interactions Between Parent, Child, And Touchcounts, Qiang Lin

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This qualitative study examines communication in family mathematics settings, focusing on how embodied communication is constituted during parent–child interaction with a multitouch technology application, TouchCounts. Moving beyond information–transmission perspectives, the study adopts an embodied and relational approach centered on affectivity—conceptualized as the circulation of attunement, resonance, and intensity of movement and feeling across human and non-human components of the parent–child–TouchCounts assemblage. Drawing on close qualitative analysis of two selected video-recorded excerpts, the study traces how mathematical events unfold moment by moment through bodily action and material engagement, and how affective flow shapes how participants respond to one …

Montana Kaimin, October 1, 2026, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

August 2026 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

June 2026 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

U.S. V. Washington: Considering The Continuing Injunction Of The Boldt Decision, Nicholas Brown

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Judge George Hugo Boldt’s 1974 opinion in United States v. Washington was a landmark decision in the recognition of treaty fishing rights for tribes in western Washington. Not only did it recognize the entitlement to 50% of harvestable yields of fish within the tribes’ usual and accustomed fishing sites, but it also provided a permanent injunction to protect future fishing rights for generations to come. Now, over fifty years since the original “Boldt decision” was made, judges in the Ninth Circuit are debating whether the continued injunction to litigate intertribal disputes over treaty fishing rights is proper. This article considers …

Dissecting Word And Song: Observing The Interplay Between Linguistic Analysis And Ethnomusicology, Dashiell Elliot Schindler

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Ethnomusicology is a subfield within cultural ethnography that aims to provide detailed, descriptive analysis on contemporary music culture, applying cross cultural comparison to trace musical lineages and identify sounds significant to a select society. The field serves as an interdisciplinary measure to accurately index musical styles that serve as a cultural marker to the heritage to which they are ascribed. Linguistic analysis aspires to many of the same goals. It is one of the four major disciplines within anthropology, and has its sights focused critically on the examination of language in its spoken form. Linguists apply research methods such as …

“The Real Guards Are The Jungle And The Sea”: The History Of Island Prisons As Landscapes Of Fear And Discipline For Migrants, Dissidents, And Others, From Devil’S Island To The Contemporary United States, Iliana Capozzoli

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

By the 1850s, France established the infamous “Devil’s Island” penal colony in tropical French Guiana, an isolating place of punishment described as “the dry guillotine,” where the commandant would declare, “the real guards here are the jungle and the sea.” Upon being "freed," convicts were required to stay and work to build the "colony." Decades later, France would later send Vietnamese and Algerian political dissidents to the prison, which remained open until 1938. The threat of being sentenced to offshore detention has endured. Refugees crossing the Mediterranean are kept by the European Union on island sites, while Australia has received …

How Racism Affects Immigrants At The Us-Mexican Border, Meghan Schaeffer

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In recent years, the United States has been cracking down on immigration control, its political actions enforced by growing anti-Mexican sentiments that initially gained traction during the Great Depression. In March of 2025 I took a trip down to El Paso, TX to learn about the US-Mexican border crisis. I stayed with a refugee safehouse and listened to court officials, border patrol agents, immigration lawyers, and a number of refugees who had recently crossed the border and were in the process of applying for citizenship. The unjust and horrific stories I heard from all sides of the crisis were extremely …

Questioning The Accusation That Francois Duvalier Impersonated Baron Samedi, Tess Rosbarsky

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Historians, anthropologists, and journalists have all claimed that Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier modeled his personal style after the Vodou spirit, or Loa, Baron Samedi. Guarding the crossroads between life and death, Baron Samedi is a member of the Gede family, a group of vulgar and mischievous spirits who mock authority. The Baron wears a top hat, dark suits, and sunglasses with one lens popped out. Duvalier’s signature look also included a black suit and hat which he paired with his thick lens glasses. This research provides evidence against this claim holding that these stylistic choices could more easily be explained …

The Cat, The Shoe, And The Bayonet: Kinship With Magically Concealed Items In A 19th Century Missoula Home, Logan E. Nickel

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In 2016, UM faculty and students excavated a mummified cat, a girl's shoe, and a Civil War bayonet concealed within the structure of a late 19th century house. My research led me to discover that the intentional enclosure of certain objects considered to be magically protective into the walls or foundations of family dwellings is a longstanding practice found across the world, including in the northern European context from which the homeowners descended. Tracing the historical and archaeological record of so-called concealment or foundation rituals, I examined the continuities and changes in such practices from ancient northern European religions through …

Representation And Placement Of Emerging Bilinguals In Gifted Education, Morgan Bailey

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The underrepresentation of bilingual students and students from diverse cultural backgrounds in gifted education programs remains a persistent equity concern in the United States. As of 2021, 10% of public school students were emerging bilinguals, yet they comprise only 3% of gifted education classrooms (Serrano, 2019). This disparity highlights systemic barriers in identification and placement practices.

This presentation will provide a comprehensive review of research on gifted identification practices and their impact on emerging bilinguals, with the goal of promoting increased equity in education and improving understanding of how better practices can be implemented.

Sources include peer-reviewed journal articles from …

Benefits And Challenges Of The Use Of Narrative Texts In Linguistic Analysis, Logan J. Sites

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In this presentation, I consider some benefits and issues of the use of narrative texts for linguistic research. The discussion is framed by the analysis of the Séliš-Ql̓ispé suffix -m based on narratives transcribed by Hans Vogt in 1937. The stories were recounted by One-Eyed Tom and translated into English for Vogt by Joe Abrahamson. The data in this presentation is taken from Camp 2007 and Ward 2008, two interlinearizations (morpheme by morpheme analyses) of several of the Vogt texts. The analysis of -m provides an opportunity to demonstrate the usefulness of narratives in linguistic work, as Camp (2007) and …

The Future, And History Of Uzbek-Kyrgyz Relations In Kyrgyzstan, Luke J. Jensen

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Kyrgyzstan was once hailed as Central Asia’s Island of Democracy, as one of the realms in which hope for a democratic post-Soviet world seemed brightest. Today Kyrgyzstan is near-forgotten, with next to no western media attention, significantly less economic support, and rampant internal problems. Kyrgyzstan today suffers from corruption, disastrous minority relations, and a generally high level of poverty. The focus of this paper is to examine how minority relations, primarily Uzbek-Kyrgyz, have deteriorated in Kyrgyzstan, and what can and should be done, politically, socially, and economically to help ease the tension in Kyrgyzstan. The primary points of focus for …

Military Medals And Fraternal Jewels Of America: Analysis, Care, And Cataloging, Anna Kropf

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This project produced a guidebook focused on providing instructions on proper technique for laboratory analysis, collections management, and cataloging practices pertaining to American military medals and fraternal insignia. While fraternal phaleristics is relatively unstudied, military medals and awards have been extensively studied and are fairly common in museum collections. Both are important sources of historical information and thus should be treated with respect and handled with care. Fraternal and military insignia indicate membership or achievement within a social group and hold different meanings for different members of the public. Their conditions vary depending on various environmental factors including humidity, temperature, …

Minutes From The April 2, 2026 Meeting Of The University Of Montana Faculty, University Of Montana--Missoula. Faculty

University of Montana Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

Meeting minutes from the April 2, 2026 meeting of the University of Montana faculty.

April 2026 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Forensic Implications Of Hydrochloric Acid (Hcl) Exposure On Dna Preservation In Human Teeth, Shaelyn Zimmerman

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Identity is a human right, and forensic anthropological methods aim to return identity to decedents. DNA methods are considered the gold standard because fingerprints and dental comparison may not be applicable in cases of unidentified individuals or those with no known records. Identification efforts also may be hindered when perpetrators attempt to obscure a victim’s identity with corrosive substances, such as hydrochloric acid (HCl).

Previous studies have shown teeth are an excellent source of DNA. Large posterior teeth are often preferred because they contain the highest concentration of DNA and are more likely to survive taphonomic processes due to their …

Epigenetic Constraint Landscapes And Repair-Mediated Genome Evolution In Human Lineages, Jaymes Mozingo

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Evolutionary change is often framed primarily in terms of mutation and selection, yet this perspective overlooks a prior, testable question: which genetic changes are permitted to persist within the genome at all. This project presents a methods-driven pilot analysis that examines whether epigenetic regulation of DNA repair context constrains the retention of rare genomic variants, leaving a falsifiable signature in population-level data. The study uses de-identified, consented high-coverage Y-chromosome sequencing data and public phylogenies (e.g., FamilyTreeDNA, YFull). An explicit, a priori variant-selection rule is applied to define a class of rare lineage-discordant SNP states arising within a specified downstream phylogenetic …

Lovecraftian Hybrids And Transgender Embodiment, Mari K. Newman

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

     While much of Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s oeuvre has been analyzed by queer theorists for homosexual metaphors within Lovecraft’s monsters, less argued is the subject of his hybrids mirroring transgender embodiment. I posit the rise of transgender identities in the Western mainstream and access to breakthrough gender-affirming care in the United States during Lovecraft’s life lend to a reading of his hybrids as embodying gender queerness. The proposed research is a literature review which draws upon interdisciplinary texts ranging from scholars in the social sciences—such as sociology and anthropology—to the hard sciences such as ecology and health sciences.

In this paper, …

There Is No Intonation Rule For Yes-No Questions In Blackfoot, Chance Lockwood

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Cross-linguistically, the intonation of questions differs from the intonation of their declarative counterparts. For example, the intonation of an English question is normally raised at the end of the sentence, while the intonation of a statement is not. Also, in some languages the range of pitch is greater in questions than in statements. However, to my knowledge there are no intonation studies on Blackfoot that focus on questions, only on other elements of intonation, such as pitch movement, stress predictability, and rhythm. Using Praat, a program designed for acoustic speech analysis, I examined the intonation patterns of 19 statement-question pairs …

Adoption Under Constraint: Testing Rodger’S Diffusion Of Innovation Model In Rural Appalachia, Stewart Rebecca Williams

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Model is one of the most used frameworks for research in evolutionary archaeology. It assesses how populations adopt innovations and how innovations spread between groups. The model emphasizes social and community communication networks as well as adoption phases that include testing and potentially adapting an innovation to better fit a population's needs.

However, I believe that this model assumes a level of personal and community agency and access that is simply not present in many populations in our post-industrial, globalized world. I use rural Appalachia as a case study for constrained or limited agency due to …

Human Identification Through Forensic Skeletal Analysis: Three Case Reviews, Shelby Feirstein

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Human identification through forensic skeletal analysis: three case reviews

Article Co-authors: Joe Adserias-Garriga*, Shelby Feirstein, Dakota Bell, Hannah Skropits and Dennis C. Dirkmaat (https://doi.org/10.1093/fsr/owae053)

Establishing a positive identification of human remains found in a forensic setting is often accomplished through DNA, fingerprints, or odontology. However, when these primary identifiers cannot be applied, practitioners can rely on combining points of concordance derived from other identification modalities, such as antemortem trauma, pathology, or unique skeletal morphologies, to build up a case for identification. In order to conduct these comparisons, forensic anthropologists must be well trained and experienced in human skeletal variation and …

Anty 101h.51: Anthropology & The Human Experience, Erin D. Rosenkrance

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Anty 101h.Vh1: Anthropology & The Human Experience / Hamilton, Erin D. Rosenkrance

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Anty 133x.01: Food And Culture, David Garrett Kerr

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Anty 101h.01: Anthropology And The Human Experience, David Garrett Kerr

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Ling 474.50: Historical Linguistics, Irene N. Appelbaum

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Anty 414.01: Forensic Anthropology And Bioarchaeology, Elizabeth A. Bews

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Ling 574.50: Historical Linguistics, Irene N. Appelbaum

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.

Anty 208.50: Anthropological Statistics, Tabitha R. Marko

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2026-2030

No abstract provided.