Journal of Undergraduate Research

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From 2008-2015, the Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUR) was a publication of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of Kansas that highlighted the scholarly works of undergraduate students across campus. The goal of the JUR was to provide visibility to undergraduate research at KU, including student's personal stories about the research process and, of course, the products of their hard work. The publishers wanted to show other students, instructors, future employers, and parents what undergraduate research looks like at KU, and student work is the best way to highlight the diversity of academic inquiries going on across campus

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Recent Submissions

  • Publication
    Journal of Undergraduate Research, Fall 2015: End Matter
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01)
  • Publication
    “Strong Female Characters” An Analytical Look at Representation in Moffat-Era Doctor Who
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Flynn, Nichole
    The current era of Doctor Who, beginning in 2010, under showrunner Steven Moffat has presented a downward trend in the representation of nuanced female characters, as well as racial and sexual minorities. This essay will be analyzing the representation and presentation of the three main female companions under Moffat’s run as showrunner, as well as those few characters of minority sexualities and racial identities. This discourse will be made through an intersectional feminist perspect ive with a focus on feminist TV studies, critical race theory, and queer theory. The key concepts to be included are that of agency, heteronormativity, and the male gaze. Moffat’s female characters are limited in the roles in which they are allowed to fill. While Russell T. Davies’ (showrunner from 2005-2009) companions had a range of personal and public conflicts and issues, Moffat’s companions are shown to only fulfil the “traditional ideal feminine roles [which] has four dimensions: fulfilling cultural standards of beauty and fashion, performing domestic/family skills, caring for and satisfying the needs of others, and acquiring male attention .” Each of the three major female characters created by Moffat are shown to only have agency when fulfilling one of these four dimensions.
  • Publication
    Chinese export porcelain and global spaces of imagination
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Reynolds, Julia
    This paper will examine a Chinese porcelain plate from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The plate was produced in Jingdezhen, China ca. 1785-90 and acquired in Iran in 1888. It is painted in pink enamel with a landscape scene in the center and a double border around the edges. The landscape depicts pagoda houses interspersed with rocks, flowers, and trees. It is heavily stylized so as to seem “exotic” and “oriental” to the European eye. The double border consists of a diaper border outlined with a spearhead border. While the plate was manufactured at the site of the imperial kilns, it was intended for export to Europe as part of Chinese porcelain trade. This is made evident in the English transfer-print decoration with its clear, crisp lines and decallike look. Its purchase in Iran reflects British influence in Persia, which was a colonial subdivision of the British Empire from 1783 to 1971. This paper will consider the Chinese porcelain plate from the perspective of material culture and globalization as well as a limited amount of post-colonialism. Lines of questioning will include: the original setting in English dining customs and culture, its situation within the World Ceramics galleries of the Museum, and the role of British imperialism and its influence on those who used and consumed the Chinese porcelain plate. This will allow for a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the artificial construction of China in the British Empire.
  • Publication
    “I Don’t Want to Grow Old and Weak Like You!”: Conceptions of Idealized Masculinity in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Ale-Ebrahim, Benjamin
    Iranian women are often at the forefront of feminist discourse on gender roles in the Middle East. There can be no question that this is important work and there are many questions about feminine gender roles in the Middle East and Iran that remain unanswered. However, gender norms in this family-centered society are often shaped by their relation to the opposite sex. As such, social scientists must understand both men’s and women’s roles in order to gain an appreciation for the complexity of social dynamics in a predominantly gender-segregated country like Iran. While most literature on the subject of gender in Iranian cinema focuses on women, little has been written explicitly about men and masculinity. This paper will attempt to close some of the gaps in this research by contrasting the category of the “ideal Iranian man” in popular films from two major periods in Iranian cinema—the highly Westernized era of the 1960s and 70s and the politically Islamist era of the 1980s and early 90s. Just as the nature of the Iranian national consciousness underwent a drastic change following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, so too did the nature of Iranian gender norms. By analyzing two films each from the pre- and post-revolutionary eras using three important variables—class conflict and religious piety, male-female sexual dynamics, and age differences among men—I will trace the path of these changes and suggest reasons for the similarities and differences one can observe between pre- and post-revolutionary Iranian films.
  • Publication
    Type in Trier: The Relationship between Letters and the Oldest City in Germany
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Zimmerman, A. Claire
  • Publication
    Estimating Fluid Local Velocity within a Novel 3D Collagen Matrix Perfusion System
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Villanueva, Anna
    Traditional cell culture, performed on flat surfaces under static conditions, does not accurately represent physiologic conditions. As an alternative, groups have applied interstitial fluid flow (0.1- 2.0 μm/s) through a 3D cell-embedded extracellular matrix (ECM). Cells sense the flow via mechanotransduction, a process by which cells sense mechanical forces and resultantly respond with biochemical signaling. Previous work demonstrates enhanced cell morphogenesis under interstitial flow conditions. However, fluid flow is poorly described within these systems, stressing the need for a well-characterized 3D interstitial flow system. Understanding fluid mechanics within a perfusion system will help elucidate cellular response to flowinduced mechanical forces. The objective of this study was to quantify the fluid flow velocity through a controlled ECM. The changes in the collagen concentration are directly related to the fibril density of the collagen (stiffness). A fluorescent Rhodamine solution was pumped at a constant flow rate through a collagen matrixcontaining chamber. The resulting flow front was visualized at the center of the chamber using a fluorescent microscope. A Matlab program was developed to track the light intensity between time points to provide measures of flow velocity.
  • Publication
    “Wi Snackt Wedder Platt!” Bringing Low German back to Bremen and Lower Saxony through the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Anderson, Sara Sofia
    Since 1992, when the Council of Europe created the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, 25 member states, including Germany, have ratified the Charter. The Charter protects several minority languages in Germany, but only one regional language—Low German—is included. My thesis argues that the Charter has had a positive impact on preserving Low German by supporting developments in education, politics, and daily life. I demonstrate this using the federal states of Bremen and Lower Saxony as my two case studies. While these are not the only federal states in the Low German region, the year I spent studying near Bremen in Lower Saxony (2010-2011) woke my interest in the Low German language and its importance in the culture of these particular states. Their schools, for example, have implemented creative solutions to fulfill the stipulations of the Charter. As I show, Bremen and Lower Saxony can serve as models for other regions of Europe that want to preserve their native regional and minority languages, an important part of their cultural identity.
  • Publication
    On the Translation of Fear: A Study of Ecuadorian Kichwa Speakers and the US Immigration System
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01) Bova, Gustin
    This study addresses the situation of Ecuadorian Kichwa-speaking migrants who, upon arriving at the US border (and being put into Expedited Removal), claim a fear of returning to Ecuador. The study draws data primarily from the Credible Fear Interview stage of this process. The author performed interviews with Kichwa-English interpreters who have worked in Credible Fear Interviews, and complemented this with bibliographic investigation. The study ultimately argues that conflicting understandings grounded in language, class, and culture, along with procedural issues, are likely leading officials to deny the Credible Fear claims, and applications for relief, of Ecuadorian Kichwa speakers at an excessive rate. The study draws on the experience and judgments of interpreters, viewing them as both credible experts and constituents of the process itself. The study concludes with questions for further research and points for practical consideration.
  • Publication
    Journal of Undergraduate Research, Fall 2015: Front Matter
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01)
  • Publication
    Journal of Undergraduate Research, Fall 2015
    (University of Kansas, 2015-10-01)
  • Publication
    Optimum protein-excipient interactions using molecular docking simulations
    (University of Kansas, 2014-04-01) Tarar, Haider
  • Publication
  • Publication
    Performance study of supertree methods
    (University of Kansas, 2014-04-01) Niehaus, Patrick
  • Publication
    The potential of milkweed floss as a natural fiber in the textile industry
    (University of Kansas, 2014-04-01) Nehring, Julia
  • Publication
    Journal of Undergraduate Research, Spring 2014: Front Matter
    (University of Kansas, 2014-04-01)
  • Publication
    Breaking ground in Canaan: African-American community in Lawrence, 1870-1920
    (University of Kansas, 2014-04-01) Fowler, Paul E., III