Undergraduate Research Symposium

A Celebration of Students, Faculty

and Collaborative Learning

April 7, 2022
3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

With its fifth Undergraduate Research Symposium, Maryville College again joins other college and university members of the Council on Undergraduate Research this month in promoting the importance of “high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship.”

The symposium, which is open to the public and free to attend, gets underway at 3:30 p.m. with oral presentations beginning in three locations. Students of the Math & Computer Science and Natural Sciences divisions will present their research in the Fulmer Family Room of the Clayton Center for the Arts. Presentations by students of the Languages and Literature, Humanities and Fine Arts divisions will take place in the Harry H. Harter Choral Rehearsal Room. Students representing the Social Sciences will present in Anderson Hall, classroom 140.

In all, 14 students will give oral presentations.

Starting around 4:45 p.m., students will share poster presentations in the upper-level Grand Corridor of the Clayton Center. During poster presentations, attendees will be able to talk to seven students from five different academic divisions about their research and/or internship experiences.

A reception will coincide with poster presentations.

Undergraduate research has been a distinctive feature of the MC curriculum since 1947, when a two-semester, faculty-guided independent study was made a graduation requirement of all students. Although the name for it has changed over the years — Special Studies, Independent Study, Senior Thesis, Senior Study — the required project has remained a common, shared experience binding alumni whose graduations span 75 years.

“Senior Study involves discipline and effort over several months — a student is challenged to take a big project, break it down into a series of more manageable tasks, and then complete those tasks one after another. It involves work for faculty as well, since an individual faculty member is engaged with the project the entire time,” said Dr. Dan Klingensmith, vice president and dean of the College. “But it’s worth doing: Our graduates consistently tell us that Senior Study was one of their most valuable experiences at Maryville College. In a recent survey of young alumni, more than 82 percent reported that completing independent research at the College was a ‘very important’ or ‘important’ factor in their career success.”

 Below is a listing of all student participants and titles of their presentations.

Oral Presentations – 3:30 p.m.

Natural Sciences and Math & Computer Sciences Divisions

Fulmer Family Room, Clayton Center for the Arts

D.J. Cooper ’22 (Business Analytics) – “Major League Pitchers after Tommy John Surgery”

Becca Roberson ’22 (Biology) – “Population and Pals: A Study on the Gopher Tortoises of Cumberland Island and Their Commensals”

Samantha Stacey ’23 (Biology) – “The Horseshoe Crabs of Cumberland Island, Georgia: A Population and Spawning Survey”

Fine Arts, Humanities and Languages & Literature Divisions

Harry H. Harter Choral Rehearsal Room, Clayton Center for the Arts

Chloe Hamlett ’22 (Writing Communication) – “A Cry in the Dark: Communications Practices in Major Criminal Investigations”

Scotty Leach ’23 (History) – “The Decline of the Ottoman Empire and its Effect on the Palestinian Region and Peoples”

Antonella Moscoso ’22 (Literature in English) – “The Influence of Italian Immigration on American English from 1820 to 1940” 

Makayla Nance ’22 (Theatre Studies and Writing Communication) – “An Exploration of the Absurd in Narrative and Dramatic Styles” Play: Lines from Scarlet

Social Sciences Division

Anderson Hall, Classroom 140

Angela Anderton ’22 (Sociology) – “You Mad Sis?  Black Women and Racial Battle Fatigue in Higher Education: A Biopsychosocial Analysis”

Hailey Carmichael ’22 (Sociology) – “How Prevalent are Nationalism and American Exceptionalism in Tennessee’s Public Education System?”

Sarah Cardall ’22 (International Studies) – “Corporate Consciousness: Morality in Governance and Social Responsibility”

Tyler Ramsey ’23 (Finance/Accounting) – Presentation on Internship with Whitlock and Company

Ana Tisdale ’22 (Criminal Justice) and Josh Campbell ’22 (Criminal Justice) – Presentation on Internship with New Hope Children’s Advocacy Center

Poster Presentations & Reception

4:45 p.m., Grand Corridor, Clayton Center for the Arts

Taylor Allin ’22 (Health & Wellness Promotion) – “Occupational Therapists Experiences using Virtual Telerehabilitation Therapy during the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Emily Bridges ’23 (Marketing) – Internship with iXSystems

Matthew Campbell ’21 (Business Analytics) – “Statistical Analysis of Home Advantage During Covid-19 in English Premier League Soccer”

Davis Clothier ’22 (Exercise Science) – “Psychological Effect and Resiliency Due to Long-term Absence Injuries in Collegiate Athletes”

Micaela Mouser ’22 (Criminal Justice) – Internship with Blount County Sheriff’s Office

Nadia St. Thomas ’22 (Biochemistry) – “Observing the Dynamics of Bacterial Symbiont Transmission in Steinernema nematodes”

Megan Strunk ’24 (Art) – Internship with the MC Design Lab