Nurturing Student Scholars in the
Humanities and Social Sciences
A SEPCHE Faculty-Student Undergraduate Research Project

Click here for a full listing of abstracts and related poster presentations.

Overview

Nurturing Student  Scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences is an undergraduate research project of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education  (SEPCHE) created with support from The Barra Foundation and the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE). The project enabled student researchers and faculty mentors to engage in collaborative research within a wide range of humanities and social science disciplines during the 2008 and 2009 summer terms.

The benefits to undergraduate students and to their professors of working collaboratively on research projects are widely documented. Students engaged in scholarly research have an enriched educational experience that results in substantially lower attrition rates, higher GPAs, increased self-confidence and ability to think independently and enhanced professional advancement opportunities compared to peers not involved in undergraduate research.

Despite this widespread recognition of the value of student-faculty research as a key factor in student engagement and growth, most of the opportunities to participate in an intensive summer research experience still exist within the mathematics and science disciplines.  The colleges and universities of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education (SEPCHE) developed this initiative to address this imbalance. 

Project Goals

“Nurturing Student Scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences” sought to expose students to modern research in the humanities and social sciences, increase their understanding of the body of current knowledge in their field of study, and provide an opportunity to contribute new knowledge within their disciplines. It was hoped that additional project outcomes would include: the enhancement of student intellectual, professional and personal growth, fostering of meaningful faculty-student mentor relationships, publication and/or presentation of students’ original research, and creation of a model for undergraduate research across the disciplines that can be adopted by other groups of small colleges. Ultimate goals beyond the time limits of the project included preparation for graduate work for those students who demonstrated both the proclivity and intellectual ability to contribute long term to their fields and to integrate the humanities and social science project into a full-fledged undergraduate research program, expanded to embrace all disciplines.

Outcomes

Twenty-two students from the eight SEPCHE institutions participated in fourteen collaborative research projects over two summers with faculty from Arcadia University, Cabrini College, Chestnut Hill College, Gwynedd-Mercy College, Immaculata University, Neumann University and Rosemont College. Two projects were continued from Summer 2008. Research was conducted in the following disciplines: Communications, Criminal Justice/Criminology, English, History, Political Science, Religious Studies, Psychology and Philosophy. Click here for a full listing of abstracts and related poster presentations.

Summer 2008/09 Research Projects

Researching a Young Adult Historical Novel: The Effect of the Spanish Influenza on 1918 Philadelphia (2009)
This project involves research for a young adult historical novel set in the Philadelphia region during the fall of 1918. The first draft of GRACE RISING is complete; however, further fact checking and “enriching” with authentic period detail is desired. The novel centers on a 17-year-old girl’s efforts to help save lives during the influenza pandemic of 1918. While the novel centers on the pandemic, it also has themes of civil rights, immigrant rights, and universal suffrage.

Philadelphia’s Contribution to the Golden Age of Children’s Literature in the United States (2008)
The project analyzes the contributions of the Philadelphia area on the Golden Age of Children’s Literature in the United States, from mid-19th century through the First World War. Philadelphia was a publishing hub for juvenile literature, both books and periodicals. The region was at the epicenter of the growing field of illustration with local artists A.B Frost, Howard Pyle, and N.C.Wyeth making major contributions. Area women were also making significant inroads in writing and illustrating for this market. Female illustrators included: Elenore Plaisted Abbott, Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley.

Freckleton: The Largest Civilian Air Disaster of World War II (2009)
This study assists in the compilation of the biographies of the nine American airmen who died in the crash as well as to assist with interviews of the civilian survivors. The investigation gathers and interprets media coverage of the crash from 1944 to the present.

How Race and Gender are Framed in the Black Press (2008)
This investigation analyzes coverage of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike and then leads to further research of press coverage of the Black Power Movement in Black newspapers looking specifically at the roles of female and male journalists and the framing of race and gender.

How Race and Gender Are Framed in Local News Coverage (2008)
Scholars have found that consolidation of media outlets has created a phenomenon where media executives are making decisions about what to include in local news reports even though they do not live in the cities where they broadcast these stories. This paper argues that this has led to increasingly stereotypical reports about minorities and people from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Mirroring the Movement: Earl Caldwell and the Rise of Black Power (2008)
This research focuses on the role the media played in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike, and the efforts of New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell. Caldwell, one of the first black journalists at the Times, highlighted Black Power militancy in his reports. This presentation argues that while covering the strike Caldwell began embracing Black Power ideology.

Banning YouTube: Trends in Global Cybercensorship – A Comparative Analysis of Cases in China, the United States, Pakistan and Turkey (2009)
Through comparative analysis, this study offers a global overview of current internet video censorship practices and different motives behind the policies. It also examines the U.S. media attitude on ethical responsibilities of technological companies doing business abroad. Overall the research project sheds light on the impact of information technology and its challenges to traditional authorities and borders.

With Liberty and Justice for All:” The Lives and Perspectives of Women in Islam (2009)
This project explores the status of women in Islam while including areas of particular research: sources of influence, early historical background, early reform under Islam, female education, female employment, marriage, divorce, sex segregation, financial matters/financial obligations, inheritance, rape, honor killings, and Islamic women’s religious status and “place.” This study seeks to recover some of Islamic women’s perspectives for an American audience via qualitative means, with significant emphasis and use of related literature, religious texts, and online articles of a scholarly nature.

Reluctant Warriors: Athena and Joan of Arc (Can Joan Be Considered "Reluctant?") (2008)
Our research has consisted of ancient cultures, religious studies with an emphasis in Christianity, and history of the Medieval Era. These themes that we have came across lead us to understand the mythology of Athena, the religious and militant life of Joan of Arc, the similarities between these two significant figures. However, the thesis question is still unanswered and debatable due to the lack of primary sources and the need for further research.

Civil War Letters of Major Griffith Jones, 9th PA Cavalry, Phase II (2008/2009)
The goal of this project is to complete the chronological arrangement, cataloguing and transcription of approximately 4000 pages of digital images taken from numerous archives in central and southeastern Pennsylvania pertaining to Major Griffith Jones, before, during and after the war and to his regiment. This project developing a complete, compact archive (both disk and hard copy format) is of exceptional value because no biography of Griffith Jones exists and no collections of his hundreds of letters have ever been compiled, transcribed, edited or published. Only one older book-length history of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry has ever appeared in print.

Creating the Juvenile Violence Epidemic (2008)
Distinct terminology used by the media and the frequency of these terms over a time period of five years (during which school shootings occurred) is examined. Research of the media coverage of school shootings is approached and maintained by objective research methods in order to study a few facets of how the media can create juvenile justice epidemics simply by the time and amount of certain terminology it (the media) uses.

Historicizing the Coast: Postcards in American History (2008/2009)
Using a primary source collection of thousands of postcards from the turn of the century to the present, this project examines the meanings American tourists place on their vacation environments during the 20th century with the goal of understanding how Americans construct their environments and what those constructions mean at a specific historical moment. This research will form the basis of a book proposal solicited by the University of North Carolina Press.

Chaucer’s Intertextual Resonances with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2009)
In spite of the ongoing expansion of intertextual critique in Chaucer studies, significant research remains into its numerous literary influences. The relationship of The Canterbury Tales to another pivotal, and also contemporary, work of medieval literature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, impels further research through such similarities as each text’s imaging of Arthurian legend and courtly love. This project expands upon their comparative analysis. Specific focus is given to addressing the irony within each text as an anti-romance highlighting feminism in particular.

Internet Use among College Students: Frequency, Quality and Impact on Interpersonal Relationships (2008)
Much communication occurs over the internet and its impact on interpersonal relationships is unclear. The scope of internet usage has not been adequately gauged specifically in the young adult population. This study explores internet usage in young adults and to determine whether personality traits are altered in the online environment. 163 young adults participated in an electronic survey. The results highlight frequency of use, methodologies and reported personality traits on and off-line.

Religious Pluralism (2009)
This project explores several of the world’s faiths and argues that all are responses to a common underlying reality which cannot be known in itself. This investigation focuses on the view of religious pluralism advocated by philosopher of religion John Hick and argues that his view most accurately represents the human religious experience.

Nurturing Student Scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences is funded by grants from The Barra Foundation and the Foundation for Independent Higher Education.

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