Library Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence (LAURE)

http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5157

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Outlaw Operators, Then and Now: Why the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act Failed to Prevent the Contemporary Black Lung Epidemic
Perkins, Meredith
After being nearly-eradicated by the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, coal worker’s pneumoconiosis is resurging at unprecedented rates—and predominantly in Central Appalachia’s former company-owned coal towns. Seeking to address social determinants of health less reported on in existing black lung research, this article explores how systems present-day coal operators use to dodge accountability for worker’s health and undermine public policy protections mirror behaviors exhibited by company town operators 100 years ago. Using the epidemic’s epicenter, Harlan, Kentucky, as a case study, this article ultimately argues that the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act failed to eradicate black lung because the policy, albeit largely successful, does not fully deter ‘outlaw operating’—a modern practice rooted in the region’s longstanding history of coal operators who deny accountability for workers’ health.
Islamic Iconography in the Ottoman Empire
Luyster, Emily
The recently acquired 19th-century Ottoman manuscript in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections offers a fascinating glimpse into Islamic religious practices during the late Ottoman period. The object, a medallion-shaped prayer book containing extracts from the Quran and prayers in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, features images associated with the prophet Muhammad and sacred sites such as Mecca and Medina. The guiding question of this project continues to be: what does this artifact say about Ottoman religious practices? What was it used for, and why was it constructed the way it was? While much about its origins remains uncertain, the book’s distinctive features—its small, circular, concertina format—suggest it may have been used as a personal amulet or a protective charm, possibly carried into battle or stored on a military standard. The manuscript’s contents align with other late Ottoman devotional books featuring symbolic imagery of relics. The intentional crafting of this manuscript suggests that the colors, materials, and iconography all have meaning in the cultural context of the book. The research presented i simply the initial steps toward understanding the significance of portable, talismanic prayer books.
Designing for Neurodiversity: Introducing Equity to the Resort Experience
Lambert, Erin
This thesis is the first part of a two-part project researching inclusive design practices as a case study within the hospitality industry. It aims to answer the question—what design conventions can be utilized to create more equitable, welcoming spaces for guests who are neurodiverse? And how can this be done in a respectful, beneficial manner? This research pulls upon a literature review, a building and site study, and precedent and code research to provide context for program and design interventions in the subsequent design project resulting from this work. Multiple journal articles and scientific studies acting as the basis for the research question introduce a notion of marginalization and trauma that has created a barrier to travel for many individuals who are neurodiverse. Combining critical research with design interventions could be the answer to these travel barriers and become a new industry standard as hospitality projects are developed.
Geographic Inequalities: Exploring Green Space Access in New York City
Snee, Maggie; Blank, Zoe
Access to green space, areas such as parks, outside playgrounds, and general plant life, has been linked to positive physical and mental benefits. In metropolitan areas like New York City, it can be difficult to find and access green space, and certain areas within NYC have very limited access to these spaces. This project explores factors related to green space availability around NYC, specifically on patterns between racial demographics and access to green space. This is done through an analysis of Tree Equity Score (TES), a measure by American Forests on how much tree access exists in individual census blocks nationwide. This analysis shows that many communities of color, especially in Queens and the Bronx, have far less access to green space than their primarily white counterparts. We also explore New York’s history of redlining to evaluate the possible foundation of this geographic inequality. This spatial analysis identifies many areas of color that are linked to historic redlining, and many of which fall on the end of the TES.
The Relationship between Vernacular Architecture and Embodied Energy
Allen, Audrey
At the core of green building initiatives exits low embodied energy. This concept suggests the importance of reducing emissions in architectural development by implementing low-energy materials through low-energy mechanisms. This ensures the holistic sustainability of a building, so materials are not exploited for the sake of other sustainable design features. Consequently, vernacular architecture maintains similar principles, as it involves locally sourced materials. Therefore, exploring a relationship between vernacular architecture and embodied energy could produce an optimized method of achieving sustainable architecture. This review serves as an investigation of this concept to determine a potential benefit to maintaining vernacular architecture when pursuing low embodied energy. A case study of the Frick Environmental Center (FEC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is analyzed to explore the addressed topics in an applied context (i.e. Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, 2021). This involves analysis of the FEC’s sustainable design features using the 3 E’s and Ten Shades of Green sustainability frameworks (i.e. Buchanan, 2005). A precedent, the Cope Environmental Center, is also reviewed to address the historical context of the case study and how it showcases sustainable development progression (i.e. Cope Environmental Center). Through the analysis of the FEC, an informative relationship between vernacular architecture and low embodied energy is apparent, as the use of both concepts in tandem promotes optimal environmental design and the increased value of a building. Further investigation of this relationship could inspire new mechanisms for achieving sustainable architecture, propelling the movement toward environmentally-conscious design. References Buchanan, P. (2005). Ten shades of green: Architecture and the natural world. Cope Environmental Center. (n.d.). Cope Environmental Center. Retrieved November 30, 2023, from https://visitcope.org/ Frick Environmental Center. (2021, October 20). Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. https://pittsburghparks.org/frick-environmental-center/
Countering the Dominant Ideology of the Christmas Movie Genre
Rosu, Ryan
In the world of cinema, a strange phenomenon emerged in the 1940s and continues to this day: this is the phenomenon of the Christmas movie. This paper investigates the question of what defines a film in the Christmas movie genre and what its ideological underpinnings are. The method of this project was to assess existing literature on Christmas movies, take extensive notes on a myriad of different Christmas films, and then to examine the patterns that emerge within this body of works. The conclusion of this paper is that there exists a clear Christmas movie genre, although not every film set at Christmas falls into this category. There are three narrative models for the Christmas movie: “Christmas Carols,” “Santa Claus,” and “Home for the Holidays.” These films uphold a conservative ideology that uses the device of nostalgia to uphold the values of 1950s America as the time of the “Golden Christmas.” In recent years, however, an alternative Christmas movie tradition has emerged. In Happiest Season (2020), Holiday Heart (2000), and Black Nativity (2013), the device of epiphany is used for the purpose of unsettling the status quo of the Christmas movies. These films suggest the lack of diversity found within the Christmas movie in the categories of race, gender and sexuality, and class.
Enabling New Interactions with a Library's Digital Collections: Automatic Gender Recognition in Historical Postcards via Deep Learning
Schuerkamp, Ryan
The Walter Havighurst Special Collections from University Archives & Preservation at Miami University’s King Library has a growing collection of over 600,000 historical postcards, with approximately 30,000 digitized, primarily from the Midwest during 1890-1919. This collection supports various lines of inquiry from users, such as analyzing the evolution of gender portrayal in popular media in the United States. However, manually separating the collection into postcards of males and females would take thousands of hours, which prevents the library from supporting sociological analyses at scale. Using an open postcard dataset, we trained deep neural networks to automatically detect people and classify them as male or female. We showed that this approach can accurately detect and classify females and confidently detect and label males for the library's collection of historical postcards. By employing deep neural networks, the library can enhance its metadata within hours and support new sophisticated research inquiries at scale.
Researching Lead Exposure Effects on Substance Use Disorders: My Passions in Environmental Health Equity
Thach, Chloe
With underlying neurological effects of lead (Pb) on learning and neuron firing, which is seen in consequential developments of learning disabilities, could the comorbidity of ADHD and SUDs be determined, in part, by Pb exposure? This study investigates a potential causal relationship between developmental Pb exposure and fentanyl addictive behavior with male and female mice in a Drinking in the Dark (DID) paradigm. Developmental Pb exposure and fentanyl use disorder (FUD) are both critical issues in public health, with ties to disadvantaged Social Determinants of Health and Adverse Childhood Experiences. With similar underlying neurological and demographical characteristics between Pb exposure and FUD, I hypothesize that Pb exposure puts one more at risk of FUD. I predict that this experiment will show that exposure to Pb leads to higher preference for fentanyl over water, even with aversive quinine additives, compared to mice in regular housing conditions. This study addresses public health concerns with experimental behavioral neuroscience to display a causal relationship between Pb and FUD. In this study, I will be able to pursue my deep interdisciplinary interests surrounding health equity. If results from this experiment support the concept that environmental conditions from society constructs are a cause of FUD, then I would argue that the War on Drugs should not be a war against people who use drugs, but a war against those harmful, systemic environmental conditions in order to provide effective and sustainable health change.
“Documenting Shell Shock”: LAURE Research Story Essay
Myers, Laurel
Since the fall of my junior year here at Miami, I have spent much of my time devoted to studying the topic of shell shock in the United States, specifically examining the ways in which newspapers facilitated the spread of information— and misinformation— about the diagnosis during the World War I years. My research journey began in Dr. Andrew Offenburger’s course “Raiders of the Lost Archive”, where we were tasked with locating a research topic of our choice using the online newspaper repository Chronicling America as our main source base. Fascinated by the idea of how wars can produce a sense of collective national trauma— a topic introduced to me in the “History of the World Wars” course I took the previous year with Dr. Stephen Norris— I decided to explore the relationship between the collective trauma of modern warfare and the psychological trauma of shell shock. This project has since evolved into my undergraduate thesis for the History Honors Program, titled “Documenting Shell Shock: Developments in the Public Perception of Psychological Trauma in the United States, 1915-1922.” The thesis provides a chronological examination of shell shock in the United States through newspapers, beginning with the earliest reports out of Great Britain in 1915 and continuing into the interwar period to examine the lasting effects of wartime trauma on American recovery efforts. The first two chapters are included in my submission.
Communication: A Greater Analysis of Storytelling in Music Through Mayuzumi’s Bunraku
Hamon, Melanie
Imaginational responses similar to Eugene Gendlin’s “felt sense” appear in both music and writing. By studying a single composition for cello, Toshiro Mayuzumi’s Bunraku, writers, performers, and other creatives can better understand the relationship between two different fine arts and where their imaginational responses come close to converging. This study was completed by using Lisa M. Cook’s Venerable Traditions, Modern Manifestations: Understanding Mayuzumi’s “Bunraku” for Cello and various other sources to learn the background of the composer, analyze the piece on a technically, perform the piece, and compose a short story correlating with Bunraku’s nuances. This specific method allows for a researcher to gain contextual, theoretical, tactile, and emotional comprehension of the piece and to develop a conclusion regarding the connection between the fine arts as a result. The purpose of this paper is to use a single composition to reveal the division between two separate fine arts and to provide methods of manipulating this boundary to integrate the human experience into two or more fine arts. It is also meant to provide a framework for future studies examining and testing the relationship between contrasting creative disciplines.
Onward Echoes the Story: The Study of Religion amid Miami’s narrative of Justice & Change
Sistino, Isabelle
Since the protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, we see changes on a global to a local scale. In January of 2021, Apple committed to a $100 million pledge to challenge systematic racism including a new “first-of-its-kind global innovation and learning hub for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As we all know, Apple was by no means alone in this venture. Miami University took initiative with various DE&I task forces, new MU curriculum requirements, and guest speaker series. However, this was not the first time. Questioning how these changes differed from ones surrounding events in the late 1960s amid the protests of civil rights and anti-war, a paradox emerged as to the idea of “progress”. This project is an attempt to construct a framework of understanding of this current movement today by building on theories of religious scholars such as Charles Long and Max Weber. Weber theorizes how movements transform from charismatic authorities to become burglarized in the very institutions that had previously resisted. Long discusses how progress can only be made by understanding a “true and authentic story”. The reader is invited to explore the “unseen” story of Miami University and Middletown Ohio as they struggled with the very same issues in the 1960s-1970s. This project hopes to address the concern that today’s conversations may risk leaving unaddressed the challenges that prior generations hoped to have solved as suggested by Charles Long.
Everything But Carry a Rifle: An Article Examining the Members of the Women’s Army Corps and their Relationship to Guns
Snyder, Megan
In 1942, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs) was created to help alleviate expected manpower shortages for World War II. Converted to the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) and ofﬁcially made Army in 1943, the WACs performed duties across the United States and overseas in the Paciﬁc, European, and Mediterranean theaters throughout the war. This paper evaluates the ofﬁcial stance on the WACs use of and training on guns during WWII, how that stance changed over time during World War II, what the general public knew and believed about how WACs handled guns, and the lasting impacts of early policies about women and weapons in combat zones. Examining photographs, papers of Oveta Culp Hobby, US Army Air Force documents, articles from national and military base newspapers, previous historians examinations of the WACs, various propaganda materials, and oral histories of WACs that served during WWII are the basis of this paper.This paper develops our understanding of how public perceptions and surrounding national culture can inﬂuence military policies. This paper examines the complex interaction between the realities of war, American ideas of femininity, and the presentation of WACs by the United States Army, government, and free press.
Substance Use Disorder: A Criminalized Illness
Staarmann, Rickey
Fifty years after the onset of the “War on Drugs”, evidence shows these policies are epic failures. Overdose deaths are at an all time high, 85% of people who go through rehabilitation relapse, and 80% of people who are released from the criminal justice system (45% of the incarcerated population is in prison for drug crimes) will be reincarcerated within 5 years. After years of research the American Medical Association has classiﬁed Substance Use Disorder as a relapsing brain disease, yet as a society we still treat people with a substance use disorder as criminal and a substance use disorder as a social failing. The community as a whole would be better off if people were able to transform their lives and get well. Looking at case studies, national and state level policies, ﬁrst hand accounts, and secondary sources I make the case that our current policy of criminalizing drugs and then socially isolating people suffering from Substance Use Disorder are further exacerbating the problem and damaging our communities. Our policies make it nearly impossible for people in recovery to get housing, or employment. We need to reframe our response to the drug epidemic. People can and should be held accountable for their actions. If we treat substance use disorder as a disease and allow people suffering from substance use disorder to reintegrate back into society and the community, people will have higher success rates and our society as a whole will improve.
An Analysis on Research Methods involving American Poverty and Education
Young, Danielle
Historical injustice in the United States has caused an inequitable distribution of wealth, which especially disfavors minority groups based on race, ethnicity, and geographic location. Opportunities in education, career development, and community involvement are limited for children in poverty. This research journal addresses the following questions: How are poverty and education related? What can be done to pull US children out of poverty? Research was conducted through careful analysis of peer-reviewed articles, case studies, books, and government documents that are backed with national statistics that provide evidence-based data on educational attainment, rates of poverty, and demographics. Results show when rates of poverty increase, the chances of educational success decrease, thus exposing an inverse relationship between rates of poverty and educational attainment. Concluding, if society were to increase rates of educational attainment, the risk of poverty would decrease. Interior design is a service to society. Through extensive research, designers can create spaces that enhance a child's education. Presented in this journal are guidelines to create a community education and career development center. This center will provide children with the tools and opportunities to embrace their potential, and ultimately reveal an avenue toward economic stability. This design has the possibilities to be replicated in communities across the country, thus having a wider impact on remediating the number of children in poverty.
Understanding and Withstanding: Comparing Colombian and Mexican Responses to Migration Crises
Froude, Emily
In the late 2010s, deepening crises in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have led to the migration of millions from their homes in pursuit of refuge and asylum. Received primarily by Colombia and Mexico, these migrants and asylum seekers have encountered vastly different responses from the country in which they end up. Why have Colombia and Mexico, as countries with many similarities, approached the influx of migrants and asylum seekers in significantly different ways? Drawing on Jacobsen’s (1996) framework on state responses to migration, I analyzed Mexican and Colombian newspapers and supplemented initial findings with government documents, nongovernmental reports, and foreign news sources to find that the public discourse of each country shows that they differ in two key ways: Colombia’s identity includes a deeper sense of obligation to newcomers than Mexico’s, and Colombia’s regional policy is more autonomous than Mexico’s. These differences shape Colombia’s largely positive, humanitarian welcome of Venezuelans and Mexico’s more negative, militaristic response to Central Americans. This research may be used to help countries understand which aspects of their identity and foreign policy improve or worsen the experiences of vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, thereby enabling states to construct positive and internationally-sanctioned responses to migration crises.
Refugee Haven or Dumping Ground? A Comparative Study of Displaced Persons in Central Asia During World War II
Snyder, Megan
During World War II, Central Asia became a place for displaced people from across the Eastern Front. Displaced people included civilians and creatives from Ukraine and the western Oblasts, forced deportations, and refugees. How did these groups' different statuses affect their experiences and ultimately their survival in the Central Asia rear? This paper seeks to understand the similarities and differences in the experience of evacuees, deportees, and refugees in the Soviet Socialist Republics of Central Asia during World War II. By examining Soviet decrees, reports on “Fifth Columnists,” a memoir by a polish deportee turned refugee, and a wide variety of secondary sources providing detailed analysis of inaccessible primary sources formed the basis of this paper. Each displaced person's status and origins could restrict access to jobs, housing, food, and government support; these challenges to survival defined the shared experiences of displaced people in Central Asia. Assessing the Soviet Union's inability to solve the humanitarian crisis of displaced people and how the Soviet union's actions worsened the situation can better understand the failures of policies in humanitarian crises today. Understanding humanitarian crises of the past and identifying failure points in dealing with crises can help create plans and solutions for the disasters, human-made or otherwise, of the future. This research adds to our understanding of societal and human behavior in crisis times and develops our understanding of the Soviet Union's reaction to World War II.
Before the Numbers Disappeared: Media and Perception of the 1937 Soviet Census
Baloun, Jessica A.
This thesis surveys the 1936 All-Soviet Census and its importance to national image under Stalin as an explanation for its suppression shortly after completion. The census served as a vital data collection tool for the socialist regime and as a point of pride and nationalism. By studying the census as it was promoted, this research explores how Stalinist media functioned in 1936, how promotion of the census reflected concerns of the government, and the nature of Stalinist propaganda at the time. The state implemented a marketing campaign to help push the significance of the census and recruit the roughly 1 million workers needed. The campaign was not able to assuage the potential danger perceived in giving the government personal information, fears further cemented after heightened persecutions throughout 1937. Characterization of the census and its use in governing are highlighted through close analysis of the newspaper campaigns of the Moscow News and Pravda. Public and private life in the census is discussed through the diaries of enumerators and intellectuals in an attempt to understand the fears, but also indifference to the census. The 1937 census was fraught with foundational issues even before enumerators began and was reflected in the undesirable results it yielded. Through media posturing and personal trepidations, power is given to the otherwise mundane act of people counting and through the lens of Soviet society, the 1937 census stood at a tipping point to the political tensions that would define the greater half of the Stalinist era.
The Application of Machine Learning to Digitized Postcards as Artifacts
Nieto, Andrew; Sandy, Jacob; Laycock, Kyle; D’Amico, Christian; Giabbanelli, Philippe J.; Levar Wegner, Alia
When machine learning is mentioned in the news, it is rarely in the context of historical artifacts. Often, the public learns about what machine learning promises through news about optimizing workflows, improving trading algorithms, or even changing health outcomes for patients. However, this project demonstrates that machine learning techniques and tools can be used to develop new insights and collect new information on historical artifacts such as the Bowden Postcard Collection at Miami University.
Alternatives to Exclusionary School Discipline: An Outline for Educational Administrators
Komer, Jack; Wasburn-Moses, Leah
Exclusionary discipline practices are intended to help students learn to act appropriately when in reality they have been shown to lead to negative school outcomes and exacerbate the “school to prison pipeline”. This article outlines four promising and lesser known alternative interventions to Exclusionary discipline: Restorative Practices, Check-in/Check-out, Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Cognitive Interventions. The intent of these alternative interventions is to foster positive school outcomes in the greater school and local community. The purpose of this paper is to provide Educational administrators with a practitioner friendly resource outlining current evidence-based alternatives to Exclusionary discipline with strengths, limitations, examples, recommendations and where to go for further information.
The Paper Person: A Comparative Analysis of Rhetoric and Truth in Environmental Economics, Literature, and Policy
Maltbie, Anna; Mannur, Anita
Environmental issues such as deforestation and climate change are some of the most pressing concerns today and require a concentrated global response. How does the rhetoric surrounding these topics affect how people understand them and form potential solutions? First, I analyze the rhetoric in Garrett Hardin’s 1968 “The Tragedy of the Commons,” one of the most influential economic articles in environmental studies. Hardin considers potential solutions to the overconsumption of natural goods with his famous example of a herdsman allowing his cattle to overgraze in a pasture. His scientific rhetoric that constructs an objective, factual truth dehumanizes the individual. This is reflected in his proposal to restrict human reproduction to stop overpopulation. Hardin’s solution reflects the dangers of removing the individual from the conversation when trying to solve an innately human problem. Next, I analyze three examples of environmental literature, focusing on how historical accounts centered around lived human experiences and imagined spaces provide platforms to explore environmental issues through a subjective, experiential construction of truth. I juxtapose these analyses of environmental economics and literature with a rhetorical analysis of the Paris Agreement, one of the most significant international environmental laws concerning climate change. In my thesis, I explore how the rhetoric around these concerns influences the policies constructed and implemented to combat them. I argue that while the Paris Agreement considers human rights issues and the ways in which countries are capable of combating climate change, there is a lack of enforceability that may lead to countries not reducing their carbon emissions. I conclude that there must be a combination of flexibility and accountability in environmental policies to ensure equitable and effective implementation.

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