WELCOME
Theories in Action is a new, multi-disciplinary
conference giving Brown seniors the opportunity to
showcase their work to audiences across school
year, program and academic department. This
conference gives the Brown campus community a
moment to celebrate and recognize the challenging
work of synthesis and application of knowledge.
The event is a collaborative effort of the Curricular
Resource Center, the Dean of the College and the
Swearer Center for Public Service.
CONTENTS
Conference at a Glance
1-2
The Projects
Poster Presentations
Presentations
Roundtable Discussions
3-5
6-12
14
Acknowledgments
14-15
CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE
FRIDAY, April 30, 2010 - List Art Center
Poster Session, List Lobby, 4-6:00pm
Andrew Cohen Genetic Variation and Brain Structure
Yonatan Dolgin Emissions Impact of Electric Vehicle
Adoption in Rhode Island
Alanna Kwoka
Redefining Waves: Reconceptualizing
Feminism for the Twenty First Century
Jose Loya
Illusion of Wealth: Relationship of
Subprime Lending and Foreclosures in
Latino Communities
Emma Maines
Servants of Jesus and Mary
Andrew Raines Development Structures and Driving
Patterns: Towards a Predictive Model of
Average VMT on the ZIP code level
Mayra C. Reyes Know Thy Neighbor
Ngoc-Tran Vu
Gia Dinh: Talk Stories
Rall Walsh
Heat Flow and Melt Migration at
Subduction Zones
Hannah Wohl
Pervasive Effects of Poverty on Young
Mothers’ Academic Achievement in
New York City
Opening Reception, List Lobby, 4:30-6:00 pm
Remarks from Dean Katherine Bergeron, Dean of the College, and Dean
Besenia Rodriguez ’00, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research
Opening Convocation, List 120, 6:00-7:00pm
Professor Robert Self, Associate Professor of History
The University, the World, and the Politics of Knowledge
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SATURDAY, May 1, 2010 - Smith-Buonanno
Presentations, Concurrent Workshop Sessions, 12-3:50pm
12-12:50pm Art & Society
Mark Brown (Rm 106), Jesse Cohn (Rm G18), Gabriel Doss
and Jovan Julian (Rm 101), Michelle Tan (Rm 201), Alex
Tudela (Rm G01)
1-1:50pm Understanding the Developing World
Mark Caine (Rm 106), Steve Daniels (Rm 201),
Rosi Greenberg (Rm 101), Bianca Figueroa-Santana (Rm
G18), Masumi Hayashi-Smith (Rm G01)
2-2:50pm Science & Society
Madeline Brown (Rm G01), Charles Firestone (Rm 106),
Kevin Liou (Rm 201), Miguel Quintanilla (Rm 101)
3-3:50pm Thinking Locally
Corlis Gross and Theresa O’Neil (Rm 106), Hana Kawai and
Emily Taylor (Rm 201), Kyle Poyar (Rm 101), Madeline Ray
(Rm G01)
Roundtable Discussions, Concurrent RT Sessions, 4-5:20pm
1. The Missing Link: Market Based Solutions -Rm 201
Ibiayi Briggs, Nicholas Elenz-Martin, Lyla Fujiwara, Jeffrey Hay,
Joshua Kaplan, Jill Lambiase, Amy Liang, Paul Meier, Cody
Simmons, Gregory Stepina, Juan Vasconez, Matt Wilde
2. Off the Hill: Developing Community Partnerships-Rm 106
Khara Gresham, Hannah Kang, Rachel Levenson, Lianna Lipton,
Lana Robinson-Sum
3. Say What? Communicating Research and Why it Matters –
Rm 101
Kelsey Lane, Michael Levy, Matt Scult, Michael Yokell
2
PRESENTATIONS
POSTER SESSION
Andrew Cohen Genetic Variation and Brain Structure
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: John McGeary, Assistant Professor of
Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Description: Imaging genetics is a novel approach that
examines connections between DNA and aspects of
brain structure or function, taking full advantage of new
and powerful technologies.
Yonatan Dolgin Emissions Impact of Electric Vehicle
Adoption in Rhode Island
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Kurt Teichert, Environmental
Stewardship Initiatives Manager
Description: Yoni has analyzed the impact of electric
vehicle adoption in Rhode Island on individual and
statewide greenhouse gas emission profiles.
Alanna Kwoka Redefining Waves: Reconceptualizing
Feminism for the Twenty First Century
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Gail Cohee, Director, Sarah Doyle
Women's Center
Description: Alanna’s honors thesis reconceptualizes
the wave metaphor of feminism from oceanic waves to
radio waves, which would add complexity and theories
of intersectionality to an understanding of feminism.
3
POSTER SESSION
Jose Loya Illusion of Wealth: Relationship of Subprime
Lending and Foreclosures in Latino Communities
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Hilary Silver, Associate Professor of
Sociology
Description: The high share of subprime loans in
predominantly Latino communities from 2004-2007 has
led to the continual decline of the urban core. The
change in discriminatory practices is evident by the high
levels of foreclosures in minority communities.
Emma Maines Servants of Jesus and Mary
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Lina Fruzzetti, Professor of Anthropology
& Daniel Smith, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Description: Emma’s thesis is an anthropological inquiry
into 21st century religious life.
Andrew Raines Development Structures and Driving
Patterns: Towards a Predictive Model of Average VMT
on the ZIP code level
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Kurt Teichert, Environmental
Stewardship Initiatives Manager
Description: Andrew aims to use job, housing, transit,
demographic, and growth rate data to model and better
understand how the physical dimensions of a place
4
affect the driving habits of those who live there.
POSTER SESSION
Mayra C. Reyes Know Thy Neighbor
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Evelyn Hu-Dehart, Professor of History
Description: Mayra’s poster illustrates an understanding
how the Fox Point community was gentrified in the
1960’s and 1970’s through institutional information and
first voice accounts.
Ngoc-Tran Vu Gia Dinh: Talk Stories
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Jennifer Williams, Visiting Assistant
Professor of Visual Art
Description: Tran displays intimate photographs that
explore one Vietnamese family through talk stories.
Rall Walsh Heat Flow and Melt Migration at
Subduction Zones
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Edgar Parmentier, Professor of
Geological Sciences
Description: Rall’s poster displays a thermal model of a
convergent tectonic plate boundary.
Hannah Wohl Pervasive Effects of Poverty on Young
Mothers’ Academic Achievement in New York City
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Dennis Hogan, Professor of Sociology
Description: Hannah’s thesis addresses how poverty
reduces academic achievement for young mothers through
the multi-level structure of historical context, institutions,
communities and families.
5
PRESENTATIONS
ART & SOCIETY
WORKSHOP SESSIONS (12-12:50pm)
Mark Brown
I Wanna See you Werq, Let Me See You Werq: The
Intersections of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in regards
to Vogue Evolution of America’s Best Dance Crew
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Patricia Ybarra, Assistant Professor of
Theatre, Speech and Dance
Description: Mark examines the intersections of race,
gender, performance and sexuality through the
choreography and cultural relevance of Vogue Evolution
from America’s Best Dance Crew, particularly focusing
on the notion of the “black male dancing body” from a
conceptual and embodied perspective. Come one,
come all- Be Fierce! (Rm 106)
Jesse Cohn
Three-Dimensional Explorations of Pixilation
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Paul Myoda, Assistant Professor of Visual
Art
Description: Through process-oriented installation and
sculpture, Jesse’s project considers the relationship
between the part and the whole. (Rm G18)
6
ART & SOCIETY WORKSHOPS (12-12:50pm)
Gabriel Doss and Jovan Julian Deep Roots::Low
Branches
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Elmo Terry-Morgan, Associate Professor
of Africana Studies
Description: This installation aims to examine race and
identity through the lens of the essay, photograph, and
sound. (Rm 101)
Michelle Tan Rose-a subtitled play
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Sanda Golopentia, Professor of French
Studies, Erik Ehn, Professor of Theatre Arts & Performance
Studies, and Annie Wiart, Senior Lecturer in French Studies
Description: Michelle’s play that is the result of a
compilation of real-life testimonies from Alzheimer’s
patients and caregivers alike. It explores memory,
language, and love; as well as what we do when faced
with their loss. (Rm 201 )
Alex Tudela The Other Youth: Post-Second World War
Constructions of Latino Youth
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Richard Meckel and Ralph Rodriguez,
Associate Professors of American Civilization
Description: Alex’s project is a survey and examination
of Latino youth during the postwar era as presented in
7
the media. (Rm G01)
WORKSHOP SESSIONS (1-1:50pm)
UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Mark Caine Engineering Modern Egypt: Water,
Technology, and Development
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Sherine Hamdy, Assistant Professor of
Anthropology
Description: Mark explores how Nasser’s Egyptian
government employed hydraulic technology to
produce modernity, both material and discursive, in a
newly independent Egypt. (Rm 106)
Steve Daniels Making Do: Lessons from and for
African Engineers
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Chris Bull, Senior Research
Engineer/Senior Lecturer
Description: Steve’s project is an investigation into
engineers and artisans in Africa’s informal economy
based on three months of primary research. What can
we learn from the creativity and resourcefulness of
these makers and what is their role in development?
(Rm 201)
8
UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPING WORLD (1-1:50pm)
Rosi Greenberg Politics and Power in the Art Worlds
of Palestine/Israel
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Lina Fruzzetti, Professor of Anthropology
Description: Rosi’s project is an exploration of personal
political and power relations in the Palestinian art
world, specifically focusing on joint Palestinian-Israeli
projects and the Palestinian boycott of Israeli cultural
(Rm 101)
institutions.
Bianca Figueroa-Santana The Development of
International Law and Human Rights
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Barbara Buckinx, Visiting Lecturer in
Political Science
Description: Bianca discusses the relationship between
international law and human rights and the
enforceability of this body of law. (Rm G18)
Masumi Hayushi-Smith Buddhist Peacemaking in Sri
Lanka
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Vasuki Nesiah, Visiting Assistant
Professor in International Studies
Description: Masumi explores issues of power
dynamics, politics, reconciliation, ethnonationalism,
Buddhist philosophy and spirituality through the lens of
the youth peacemaking program of the Sri Lankan
organization Sarvodaya Shramadana. (Rm G01)
9
WORKSHOP SESSIONS (2-2:50pm)
SCIENCE & SOCIETY
Madeline Brown Symbols of Beauty and Power: An
Analysis of Flower Depictions in Classic Maya
Iconography
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Thomas Garrison, Postdoctoral Fellow in
Archaeology
Description: Madeline examines how the Classics Maya
depicted flowers in their iconography and what these
flowers symbolized in Mayan culture. (Rm G01)
Charles Firestone Why does the rabbit escape the fox
on a zig-zag path? Using Virtual Reality to Investigate
Predator-Prey
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: William H. Warren, Professor of
Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences
Description: On arid African plains and manicured
Midwest lawns, prey often escape their predators along
torturous zig-zag paths, instead of simply running
straight away. What accounts for this odd bit of
behavior? Humans “predators” are immersed in a
virtual environment to figure out why. (Rm 106)
10
SCIENCE & SOCIETY (2-2:50pm)
Kevin Liou Return to the Heart: Narrative Approaches
to Medicine
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Arnold Weinstein, Professor of
Comparative Literature
Description: Kevin discusses how art, literature, and the
humanities can enrich the practice of modern medicine
with the ultimate goal of reminding us that we are not
simply bodies: each of us is also a story. (Rm 201)
Miguel A. Quintanilla Jr. Does Size Matter? Scaling in
Insects
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Sharon Swartz, Associate Professor of
Biology and Jerry D. Daniels, Associate Professor of Engineering
Description: Miguel’s project is a scaling and comparative
study of the beetle and stick insect exoskeleton in addition to
developing a new design for force platforms. (Rm 101)
WORKSHOP SESSIONS (3-3:50pm)
THINKING LOCALLY
Emily Taylor and Hana Kawai The Work Children Do
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Peggy Chang, Director, Curricular Resource
Center
Description: Emily and Hana’s thesis looks at conflict and
building community in a New York City Public School. (Rm 201)
11
THINKING LOCALLY WORKSHOPS (3-3:50pm)
Corlis Gross, Theresa O’Neil Displaced: An
Examination of Homelessness in Rhode Island
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Hilary Silver, Associate Professor of
Sociology
Description: This documentary looks at the lives of five
different homeless individuals, their activism, and a
general analysis of homelessness in Rhode Island
(Rm. 106)
Kyle Poyar Adaptation to Climate Change in Rhode
Island
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: J. Timmons Roberts, Professor of
Sociology
Description: Kyle assesses the costs of unabated climate
change in Rhode Island and the Economic efficiency of
policies to protect against these impacts. (Rm 101)
Madeline Ray A Motion in the Ocean State: The
Criminalization of Prostitution in Rhode Island
Faculty/Staff Sponsor: Kay Warren, Professor of Anthropology
Description: Madeline’s thesis is a legal ethnography of
the debate over prostitution and trafficking in a modern
city-state (Rm G01)
12
ROUNDTABLES DISCUSSIONS
The Missing Link: Market Based Solutions
Ibiayi Briggs, Nicholas Elenz-Martin, Jeffrey Hay, Amy
Liang, Gregory Stepina, Juan Vasconez Ulterius
Enterprises
Lyla M. Fujiwara, Joshua Kaplan, Paul Meier, Matt
Wilde Developing Mobile Games on the Android
Platform
Jill Lambiase Social Networks and Group Based Lending
in Providence with the Capital Good Fund
Cody Simmons Co-Fund: Co-funding College
Opportunities
Rm201
Off the Hill: Developing Community Partnerships
Khara Gresham Dental Outreach Program at the MET
Hannah Kang, Lana Robinson-Sum National College
Advising Corps: Overcoming Educational Barriers
Rachel Levenson Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and
Enrichment: Creating and Sustaining a Successful
Community Partnerships
Rm106
Lianna Lipton Preventing Dating Violence
Say What? Communicating Research and Why It
Matters
Michael Levy, Kelsey Lane, Michael Yokell,
Matthew Scult University Keystone Program
Rm101
13
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CONFERENCE SELECTION COMMITTEE
Gail Cohee, Lecturer, Gender and Sexuality Studies & Director,
Sarah Doyle Women’s Center
Tom Doeppner, Associate Professor of Computer Science Kerri
Heffernan, Adjunct Lecturer in Education & Director of Faculty
Engagement, Swearer Center for Public Service
Richard Fishman, Professor of Visual Arts & Director, Creative
Arts Council
Vasuki Nesiah, Visiting Assistant Professor in International
Studies
Minoo Ramanathan ’11, Human Biology Concentrator
Jan Tullis, Professor of Geology
Patricia Ybarra, Assistant Professor of Theatre, Speech and
Dance
CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE
Shelley Adriance, Assistant Director of Leadership
Development, Student Activities
Emma Buck ’11, Literary Arts & Independent Concentrator
Gail Cohee, Lecturer, Gender and Sexuality Studies & Director,
Sarah Doyle Women’s Center
Linda Cunningham, Program Director, Educational Equity,
Swearer Center for Public Service
Linda Dunleavy, Associate Dean of the College for Fellowships
& Pre-Law, Dean of the College
Alan Flam, Senior Fellow, Swearer Center for Public Service
Janet Isserlis, Program Manager, Adult Language & Literacy,
Swearer Center for Public Service
Besenia Rodriguez ‘00, Associate Dean of the College for
Undergraduate Research
14
Kisa Takesue ‘88, Associate Dean of Student Life
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CONFERENCE SUPPORT
Catering Services
Facilities Management
Media Services
CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Katherine Bergeron, Dean of the College
Besenia Rodriguez ‘00 , Associate Dean of the College for
Undergraduate Research
Robert Self, Associate Professor of History
CONFERENCE STAFFERS (CRC)
Lizzie Baron '10.5, Leave-taking Co-Coordinator
Emma Buck '11, Independent Concentration Coordinator
Roman Gonzalez '11, Independent Studies Coordinator
Molly Jacobson '10, MAPS & CRC Outreach Co-Coordinator
Arthur Matuszewski '11, Independent Studies CoCoordinator
Minoo Ramanathan '11, Leave-taking Co-Coordinator
Emily Taylor '10, CRC Outreach Co-Coordinator
Blayne Tesfaye '11, Careers in the Common Good
Coordinator
CONFERENCE COORDINATORS
Peggy Chang, Director, Curricular Resource Center and
Engaged Life Partnership
Amanda Machado '10, DUG/Capstone Conference CoCoordinator
Nikkisha Smith '10, DUG/Capstone Conference CoCoordinator
15