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Faculty Scholarship Celebration

 

Wednesday October 16, 2024


The Faculty Scholarship Celebration is a daylong event in the style of an academic conference featuring the research of the Westminster College Faculty. Presentations occur in a panel format featuring two faculty members per session, with the entire day representing one third of our faculty scholars. This event is intended to not only introduce the students in the Inquiry course of the First Year Program to the wide variety of faculty scholarship, but also serves as an opportunity for all Westminster Undergraduates to discover and explore the research and creative works happening across all departments at the college. Academic panels are meant to foster intellectual exchanges and all members of the campus community benefit from the advancement of knowledge that will occur at this event. The academic engagement occurring at the 2024 Faculty Scholarship Celebration will culminate with an evening Keynote Session featuring the 2024 Henderson Lecturer Summer Zickefoose.

 

 

Schedule of Events


8:10 a.m.

Recovering Critical Minerals from Waste Streams

Dr. Pete Smith, Professor of Chemistry

Spilling the Tea: Fermentation Effects on Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of Kombucha

Dr. Jessica Sarver, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Chemistry with Gabbie Garza, Senior Biochemistry Major

Witherspoon Lakeview
9:20 a.m.

Being Invisible: Scholarship and Translation in the 21st Century

Dr. Jeffrey Bersett, Professor of Modern Languages

Rethinking the “Pathology” of Emotions through World War I French Medicine

Dr. Katherine Ellis, Visting Assistant Professor of Department of Modern Languages

Witherspoon Lakeview
9:20 a.m.

Protecting the Public Interest: The Search for a New Generation of Accountants

Keith B. Bittel, CPA, MBA, MS Ed., Assistant Professor of Business

Small Business Project opportunities

Eric Gaber, Lecturer & Director of Westminster Entrepreneurship Center

Witherspoon Maple
10:30 a.m.

Russia’s Great Power ambition and its Relative Position in the Material Distribution of Power

Dr. Michael E. Aleprete, Professor of Political Science & International Studies

How do high achieving students place value on aspects of their educational experiences?

Dr. Jamie Chapman, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Studies & Sociology

Witherspoon Lakeview
10:30 a.m.

The Effects of Nature Therapy on Stress, a Summer Drinko Research Fellowship

Dr. Helen Boylan Professor, Center for the Environment with Alexandra Bender, Sophomore Biology Major

“Westminster’s Green Team: Communication at the Intersection of Science, Sustainability, and Social Media,”

Bradley Weaver, Lecturer of Broadcasting & Sports, Broadcasting and Sports Program with Reid Sanderson, Senior Broadcasting and Sports Major

Witherspoon Maple
11:40 a.m.

Using Mexican salamanders as a model for studying wound healing and tissue regeneration

Dr. Joshua Corrette-Bennett, Associate Professor Biology & Molecular Biology

Studying How Nicotine and ADHD-like Behaviors Interact in Human Subjects and Rodents: The Benefits of Dual Perspectives.

Dr. Deanne Buffalari & Dr. Jessica Rhodes, Associate Professors Psychology & Neuroscience

Witherspoon Lakeview
11:40 a.m.

Not Everything is “Easy”: Improving Mathematics Textbooks

Dr. Pamela Richardson, Professor of Mathematics

Antecedents Influencing Persistence of Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)

Jen Waldo, DBA, MBA, MS Ed., Assistant Professor of Business

Witherspoon Maple
12:50 p.m.

Re-Envisioning Course Delivery and Instruction: Supporting the Development of Higher Education Students through Consideration of the Hierarchical Order of Needs

Dr. Emily Mazzant, Assistant Professor of Education

Navigating Barriers and Gender Performance: Exploring the Experiences of Women in Leadership within Men’s Professional Sports

Martha McGrath-Brown, A.B.D., Instructor of Sport Management

Witherspoon Lakeview
12:50 p.m.

Including the Old Order Amish in Higher Education Diversity Curricula

Dr. Kristin Park, Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice Studies

Telling Western Pennsylvania History through Slavery and Abolition

Dr. David Horst Lehman, Assistant Professor of History

Witherspoon Maple
2:00 p.m.

Brand Placement: Reviving a research agenda with a new look at an old topic

Dr. Brittany Rowe-Cernevicius, Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication & Social Media

"Barbie": Examining the Subjectivity of a Sociopolitical Film

Dr. James Rhoads, Professor of Political Science

Witherspoon Lakeview
2:00 p.m.

Independent Research - Students ask the right questions

Dr. Andy Bain, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice & Sociology

Major is minor! Ongoing challenges of measuring musicality

Aaron D. Himes, Instructor of Music & Director of Bands

Witherspoon Maple
3:10 p.m.

Contact Zone: Supernature and Culture in the Big Thicket

Dr. Timothy Grieve-Carlson, Assistant Professor of Religion & Philosophy

The negativity bias and the positivity effect: Changes in the processing of emotional information as we age

Dr. Eric Fields, Assistant Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience

Witherspoon Lakeview
3:10 p.m.

Vector biology research at Westminster College

Dr. Diana I. Ortiz, Associate Professor of Biology

Using Computational and Experimental Chemistry to Understand Histone mRNA Degradation

Dr. Patrick Lackey, Associate Professor of Biochemistry with Mason Baldwin & Gabby Hunter Senior Biochemistry Majors

Witherspoon Maple