{"id":9850,"date":"2022-04-12T22:35:39","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T22:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/15\/students-shine-at-furman-engaged-2022\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:47:19","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:47:19","slug":"students-shine-at-furman-engaged-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/students-shine-at-furman-engaged-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Students shine at Furman Engaged 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 14th<\/sup> annual Furman Engaged took us from the stage to the field and from the lab to the community \u2013 and countless other places \u2013 as 700 students presented and reflected on their engaged learning experiences.<\/p>\n

The day before the campus-wide celebration, the Class of 2022\u2019s Senior Furman Fellows<\/a> shared reflections on their four-year pathway experiences. The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health hosted a panel about women in healthcare, moderated by Dr. Lauren Messinger \u201906, a board-certified OB\/GYN at Foxhall OB\/GYN, in Washington, D.C. and the co-director of Maternal Health, The 1789 Fund.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan Singer performs his senior recital.<\/p><\/div>\n

Students also presented their creative works in the Senior Exhibition Presentations, read from The Echo, and shared music and theater projects. Here are just a few of the immersive opportunities that Furman students shared with students, faculty, staff, employers, alumni and the broader community:<\/p>\n

Politics: A laughing matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

In her first year-writing seminar, Danielle Vinson, a professor of politics and international affairs, asked students to analyze the intersection of humor and politics. Naturally, they gravitated toward mediums they enjoy.<\/p>\n

Mary Pearson \u201924 focused upon the ways political affiliation influences the types of humor used by two well-known comedians, Seth Meyers and Greg Gutfeld. Her findings showed that political affiliation not only shapes joke selection but also the individual\u2019s comedic style and tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrevious research shows that liberals are more abstract and scattered, and Meyers proves this through his random comedy segments and use of analogy,\u201d whereas Gutfeld \u201cdesigns his humor for Republican audiences who tend to favor tradition and humor with boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Pearson, Boland Grayson \u201924 researched the differences between conservative and liberal humor. Rather than focusing on stand-up comedians, Grayson\u2019s studied how humor is presented and used in articles on two popular political websites, The Babylon Bee and The Onion.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince these networks are in the business of appealing to certain political groups and making money, they use humor that appeals to as many people as possible and isn\u2019t quite as complex as you might get with a standup comedian on stage,\u201d said Grayson.<\/p>\n

The White House has also embraced humor in recent years, according to Anna Hicks \u201924. Through her analysis of Obama\u2019s speeches, late night TV show appearances and State of the Union addresses, Hicks concluded that recent presidents use humor for a variety of purposes \u2013 to deflect, persuade, distract and seek common ground with voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresidential humor will continue to grow in years to come,\u201d she predicted, \u201csparking discussion, influencing vote and changing the landscape of presidential interactions with the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whose neighborhood is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look both ways while doing summer research at Furman.<\/p>\n

Asha Marie Larson-Baldwin \u201922 learned that lesson dodging traffic in the Village of West Greenville, doing interviews to study the effects of gentrification on small-business owners. One of the tongue-in-cheek goals she outlined was \u201cto not get hit by cars on Lois Avenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t stop for anybody,\u201d she told the Furman Engaged audience Tuesday morning during a session of interdisciplinary presentations moderated by Yang Gao, an assistant professor of sociology.<\/p>\n

Larson-Baldwin, who is pursuing an independent curriculum Bachelor of Arts in advocacy and justice studies, did have a more serious goal in mind for her research. She hoped to find, through her interviews, who curates the idea of a neighborhood \u2013 who decides who belongs and who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Another summer research project, undertaken by Ellie Winters \u201922, an anthropology major and linguistics minor, investigated the origins and peculiar characteristics of a word coined on the internet: \u201csmol.\u201d The term, often used to describe cute, petite creatures, crosses the border between the written and spoken word, her research found, the \u201co\u201d in \u201csmol\u201d representing a \u201cgraphic and phonetic roundness\u201d that adds to its meaning.<\/p>\n

Willie Cornish \u201922, a composition major, and Emma Mehigan \u201922, a music theory and church music major, presented their research on trends in music performances at Furman (finding that Johann Sebastian Bach was the most popular composer in both eras they studied).<\/p>\n

Christine Fasana \u201922, a chemistry major, studied the Upstate<\/a> Medical Legal Partnership<\/a>, a program from Furman, Prisma Health Upstate and South Carolina Legal Services connecting residents to legal resources that may help to solve health problems. One major way the MLP helps, Fasana found, is by reducing what she termed \u201cguardian stress.\u201d Health outcomes improve, she learned through interviewing 19 MLP clients, when guardians get the economic and social support they need to meet household challenges.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Students enjoy jazz performed by their peers in front of the Trone Student Center during Furman Engaged 2022.<\/p><\/div>\n

Crucial conversations<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the phone rang at 2 a.m., Miriam Stevens \u201922 picked up.<\/p>\n

She was an intern working the 6 p.m.-6 a.m. shift for the Julie Valentine Center, one of 14 rape crisis centers in South Carolina. Stevens had completed 29.5 hours of training, but when it finally came to counseling those in crisis, the interactions were \u00a0intense. Fortunately, she had Jamika Nedwards, the crisis program director, to guide her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one note (Nedwards) gave me was not to underestimate my abilities,\u201d said Stevens. \u201cShe said, \u2018You have no idea how much you calmed that client down just by being yourself and not trying to be clinical, or the way most people would take on this role.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Nedwards\u2019 words left an impression on Stevens.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I hope that that is what I brought into all the calls,\u201d she said. \u201cWho knows, maybe I am the one person on the outside telling them that they were brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens will be one of Furman\u2019s first four women\u2019s, gender and sexuality studies majors to graduate this May. The others are Alexis Clark,\u00a0Riley\u00a0Hughes and Queen Trapp.<\/p>\n

Through the Office of Spiritual Life, Trapp examined values-based behaviors, healthy sexuality, changing sexual perceptions, the intersection of politics, sex and religion, and gained a better understanding of Furman\u2019s history, using the university archives. Hughes wrote podcast material for Stichting Heppie Seks, a Dutch advocacy group that highlights the reality that those living with disability still have sexual desires. Clark served as a \u201ccatch-all\u201d support for Jasmine Road, a two-year residential program for women survivors of human trafficking, prostitution and addiction.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The first cohort of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies majors, all graduating in May, from left: Queen Trapp, Alexis Clark, Miriam Stevens and Riley Hughes, pictured after each presented on their engaged learning experience at Furman Engaged 2022.<\/p><\/div>\n

For better mental health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biology major Taylor Carson \u201922 offered two stark figures: 706,000 adults in South Carolina have a mental health condition, and 183,000 have a serious mental illness.<\/p>\n

In her research, she became familiar with members receiving services from Gateway, a local nonprofit that connects those with mental illness with various types of support, including concurrent psychiatric care and a medication regimen. Carson is now designing a survey for members in order to create a program to help them access other resources, such as health insurance.<\/p>\n

As a case study, Carson focused on bipolar disorder, which manifests as a continuum of mania (highs) and depressions (lows) with periods of normalcy, to examine calcium channel blockers. She cited research that found calcium-signaling dysregulation to be responsible for a lot of the mood fluctuations associated with bipolar disorder. The condition is largely treated with pharmacological products, which can have serious side effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also hard to manage this concurrent care where we have multiple medications that include antipsychotics, antidepressants and anticonvulsants,\u201d said Carson. \u201cSo I wanted to look further into why this was so complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, she said, a lot of research focused on genetics, which has been important in identifying heritable factors but has not been as good at helping with managing the disorder itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo because of that, a lot of these new treatments are focused on developing new drug targets, such as calcium channel blockers, which is really important,\u201d said Carson, \u201cbecause if they\u2019re able to block the up-regulation of calcium, they may be able to better regulate moods with perhaps one medication rather than using a lot of concurrent therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes a village \u2026 of farmers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Producing food can bring social and environmental harm. But there are ways to change farming methods to reduce those effects, and community can play a key role. Gracie Bartel \u201922, a Spanish and sustainability science double major, visited 10 small sustainable\u00a0farms in the upstate and interviewed them about their interactions with other\u00a0farmers and community stakeholders, along with details about their sustainable\u00a0farming methods.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bartel conducting research at one of the 10 Upstates farms (farm unnamed for privacy).<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI also sent out a survey to the community stakeholders and created various maps in ArcGis,\u201d said Bartel. \u201cI analyzed all of these different data sources to determine if social connectivity between small\u00a0farmers can increase resilience as well as disseminate knowledge of sustainable\u00a0farming methods in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her findings? \u201cHigh social connectivity coupled with close geographic proximity to other\u00a0farms is very beneficial for the success and resilience of small sustainable\u00a0farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where the data lead<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the English Premier League to South Carolina real estate and marriage premiums, Furman students demonstrated how data can be sliced and diced and put into practical (i.e. career potential) use, thanks to a new data analytics minor that launched this year.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Liu \u201922, Salem Wear \u201922 and Max Young \u201922 presented a summer research project they worked on with Claire Gillaspy \u201922 and Justin Hager \u201922, who are studying abroad this semester. They took to the virtual pitch running data provided by ESPN through statistical analysis and mathematical modeling to rank players based on offense, defense and ball control.<\/p>\n

Docia Loehr \u201922 used several variable selection techniques to create a model for predicting home value in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Diehl \u201922 and Cabot Fowler \u201922 asked if the marriage premium that saw married men making more than unmarried men in the twentieth century still existed, and they expanded it to include women. Using a fixed effect regression model, they found that married men make 8.6% more than never-married men, and married women make 3.8% more than never-married women.<\/p>\n

Maggie Lewis \u201922 talked about her experience with the data analytics minor, including attending DataFest<\/a> at Emory University in March.<\/p>\n

About 60 students have already declared a data analysis minor, said Kevin Hutson, professor of mathematics.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s good news and bad news in \u2018The Complex 2020s\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody understands the role social media plays today better than the generation that was literally raised with it. One of the first major social networking sites, SixDegrees.com, launched in 1997 \u2013 25 years ago. Since then, the students in Professor of English Lynn Shackelford\u2019s Professional Communication course have seen how Facebook, Instagram and other sites have changed society.<\/p>\n

Their verdicts: As suggested by the title of their Furman Engaged session, \u201cThe Complex 2020s,\u201d there\u2019s good news and bad news.<\/p>\n

First, the bad news. Alexandra Rick \u201922, a communication studies major, presented her findings on the direct impact social media has on mental health in adolescents. Studies have found that 82% of adolescents report mental health problems, such as mood, anxiety and eating disorders, correlated with social media. Fear of missing out (FOMO), comparing one\u2019s self unflatteringly with others, and cyberbullying aggravate the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not here to preach at you today,\u201d Rick clarified. \u201cI just spent two hours on TikTok.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Libby Mulligan \u201922, Isabell Carrico \u201922, Alexandra Rick ’22, Kristin Nauman \u201922 during their Furman Engaged presentation.<\/p><\/div>\n

Isabell Carrico \u201922, a business administration major, researched the revelations of Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, who alleged that the company\u2019s practices harm children, sow division and undermine democracy in pursuit of profit.<\/p>\n

Carrico\u2019s research not only affected her opinion of Facebook and its new parent company, Meta, it may have also affected her job prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a notification that Meta was hiring,\u201d she said, \u201cand it immediately went into my trash bin.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is potential good news for small-business owners, however, found Libby Mulligan \u201922, a communication studies major. She researched several ways in which Instagram influencers can change consumer behavior and suggested strategies entrepreneurs can use to harness that influence.<\/p>\n

And Kristin Nauman \u201922, a psychology and communication studies major, found that livestreaming concerts did bring some badly needed revenue into the music industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research showed that while musicians were harmed, the damage didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the performers, it\u2019s not just the behind-the-scenes ticket sales,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the food vendors, it\u2019s the operations, it\u2019s the people attending these concerts.\u201d<\/p>\n

With pandemic restrictions easing, live music is making a comeback, aided by social media, Nauman said.<\/p>\n

But even given any potential benefits, educating children and parents about the dangers of social media is key, Rick concluded, as are regular social media cleanses. In fact, she\u2019s due for a cleanse herself, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hands are hurting right now because I scroll so much,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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