Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Thoughts And Prayers, Chloe Kardasopoulos

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Examining the symbolic Gun against its tangible counterpart illuminates abstract attachments of power and superiority this nation associates with the weapon. These elements loaded in the Gun transform the weapon into an object representative of American identity. Analyzing ideological commitments within the Gun guides a critical response to examine disproportionately increasing national gun violence against stagnant federal gun control. The ongoing gun debate must be analyzed in its entirety, beginning at its source - the Second Amendment. Scholars such as Gary Wills dissect the Second Amendment to extract its contextualized intent from modern writers’ manipulated interpretations. It is not the …

Murmurs Of Revolution: Mythical Subversion In Dostoevsky, Connor Guetersloh

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Throughout history, cultural designation has been plagued by unpredictability. It is all but impossible to know when the next revolution, violent or subtle, will arise and turn systems on their heads, systems appraised as carved in stone. If it is all but impossible, then the possibility still remains: Is there a hidden link to be discovered, to track and predict the outcomes of social unrest bubbling beneath the surface of society? I suggest that there is; this hidden link can be traced back to the field of semiotics, and primarily moves in a swift, subtle manner. Said link is known …

Zombie Culture In Past And Modern Mythologies, Lehua Johnson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

In modern media the notion of a zombie brings to mind the images of rotting flesh, a desire for flesh, and surviving in a desolate post-apocalyptic world. While zombies have certainly evolved into a niche genre separate from horror and science fiction, it is imperative that the origins of this modern-day phenomenon are explored and analyzed in an academic context. From the empty threats of the goddess Ishtar in ancient Mesopotamia to urban legends of former Haitian slaves, the foundation of zombie culture provides strong insight to humanity’s fear of losing itself to mere corporeal forms. Zombie culture is the …

Fringe Groups And Their Beliefs In Conspiracies, Gianluca Allesina

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

My topic centers around the series of questions asked in the Chapman University Survey of American Fears on conspiracy theories and the degree to which Americans believe in them. The claims of such theories can range from strange, but ultimately harmless, such as the belief that the United States faked the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in 1969, to accusations with much serious implications such as the belief that the government is hiding information on the Las Vegas and/or Sandy Hook mass shootings. The latter recently made news with the biggest advocate of the “false flag shootings” belief, none other than …

“They’Re Bringing Crime:” White Fear And Closing Borders, Hanna Rosenheimer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Leading up to the 2016 election, popular rhetoric surrounding immigrants to the United States took a marked turn. This change can be partially explained using Piotr Cap’s proximization theory, a threat-based discursive model that relies on locating threatening events in proximity to the audience in order to justify preventative or protective measures. Quantitative public opinion data from the Chapman University Survey of American Fears suggests that a disbelief in immigrants’ ability to assimilate is strongly correlated with a fear of immigrants committing crimes. White Americans who hold these beliefs typically tend to favor or strongly favor preemptive punitive action against …

Analyzing Gun Control: Nature Or Nurture?, Josie Chan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The year of 2017 was deemed the deadliest year for mass killings, which explains the growing tension between those who want stronger restrictions compared to those who do not. In October 2017, 59 people were killed, with over 500 people injured in the Las Vegas massacre. When a national tragedy of such magnitude strikes, it immediately stirs up talks of gun control measures. Whether it is the National Rifle Association funneling more money to fight for 2^nd Amendment rights or passionate Americans fighting for stronger gun restrictions, the debate regarding government restrictions on firearms and ammunition proves to be …

Yellow Fever: Asian Representation In Western Pornography, Chye Shoong Chin

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This research project seeks to explore the various implications porn films make on Asians Orientalism. Generally, Asians in pornography are composed of multiple negative archetypes, all based on the underlining purpose of servitude. Characters are portrayed through stereotypes including the use of colonial language to misrepresent Asian men and women in both straight and gay porn videos. Referred to as Orientalism, this ideology exploits Asian characters to privilege the White, male viewer. My research project investigates the following question: How are Asians represented in gay and straight pornographic films and pornographic scenes?

I will be applying scholarly arguments to various …

Sources Of Fear In Climate Change, Ryan Shiri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Extreme weather patterns like floods, storms, droughts, radically dry and radically cold seasons are just a few extremities of the new normal accelerated by climate change. This research paper focus on how a more aggressive climate along with changing economic and political factors have affected the public’s fear for climate change. Using data derived from the Chapman Fear Survey, this paper will attempt to identify the main the actors contributing to fear of climate change. The data will regard a four-year regression following six variables that relate to climate change. The variables will be the public’s fear in oil spills, …

Images, Art, And Paraphernalia: Analyzing Tactics Of The United Farm Workers And The Coalition Of Immokalee Workers, Felicia Viano

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What do grapes and tomatoes have in common? Both of these foods have been or are major points of contention for influential farm worker movements. The United Farm Workers formed by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Gilbert Padilla in 1962 has become a hallmark of success in labor history. This movement used traditional yet innovative methods of social movement strategy, eventually branding themselves as a household name. The images and paraphernalia such as buttons, bumper stickers, and posters distributed during the Delano Grape Strike seemed like a simple concept at the time, but there were strategic decisions made to incorporate …

The Effects Of Health-Promoting Signs Encouraging Stair Use In Parking Structures, Fiona T. Tang, Vincent Berardi, Benjamin D. Rosenberg

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This research study aims to promote physical activity by encouraging stair use rather than elevators using persuasive point-of-choice prompts. The current investigation is comprised of two sub-studies: pilot testing, which we have completed; and the main study, which will be conducted in the fall. While most studies in this area use observation to count pedestrian traffic, a novel component of the current research is that we will use a pressure mat to measure stair and elevator use. As such, before completing the main study, we completed two pilot studies to test the feasibility of the mat technology and the messaging …

2018 Chapman Environmental Audit: Sustainable Purchasing Policy, Kc Hoppel

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Chapman University maintains its commitment to a “campus culture that promotes a sustainable future” in its Sustainability Policy, which was implemented in 2014. However, the University currently has no mechanism to ensure this sustainable decision-making process occurs. One of the surest ways to guarantee this change is to enact a University-wide sustainable purchasing policy that ensures consistency between departments. Institutions benefit from sustainable procurement by receiving more efficient and long-lasting products, protecting and enhancing the local and global environment, supporting innovative technologies, creating a diverse supply chain, and gaining a competitive edge as a leading institution. A few cost-benefit analyses …

Faces Of Time: Developing Protocol For The Crowdsourced Annotation Of Time Magazine Images, Aisha Cornejo

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This project served to aid with the development of a research project that aims to analyze the progression of the appearance and context of women’s faces in Time Magazine images from 1960 through 1990. This will be accomplished by using Mechanical Turk to employ crowdsourced labor to extract every image of a face from select issues of Time magazine over the time period of interest. Mechanical Turk will also be used to label the following characteristics of each face: photo/drawing, gaze direction, context (ad/feature/cover), color/monochrome, ethnicity, age, gender, presence of a smile, and image quality. My work focused on the …