Category: Oral Presentation
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The Persistence of Exclusion: Spatial Analysis of Racial Covenants and Their Distribution
By Natalie Lee Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steve Hanna Abstract In the early 20th century, racial covenants were embedded in land deeds to restrict property sales based on race, a practice that was widespread throughout Fredericksburg. These covenants often included perpetuity clauses that specified the duration of such restrictions. Through spatial analysis and data management, this…
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New antimicrobial agents on the block: Testing synthetic drug compounds on surrogate organism Mycobacterium aurum
By Aiddah Rotich Faculty Mentor: Dr. Theresa Grana Abstract With the rise of global infections involving drug-resistant tuberculosis, first line drugs are at risk of becoming less effective in treatments leading to the need for new synthetic compounds. Therefore, a robust system of drug testing procedures is needed to test their efficacy against the airborne…
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A Harmonious Legal System: True Justice Through Modernized Platonic Marxism
By Cian Batarla Faculty Mentor: Michael Reno Abstract The Marxist theory of the law is underdeveloped compared to the rest of Marx and Engels works. This can be chalked up to legal systems merely being part of the superstructure, by which the ruling class use to maintain power. In this essay I push back on…
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Evaluating Accessibility in Public Transit: A Case Study of Fredericksburg’s FREDGO! Bus System
By Allison Parrish Faculty Mentor: Jackie Gallagher Abstract People with disabilities and the aging population face significant barriers to using public transportation, limiting access to healthcare, employment, education, and daily activities. This study presents a critical review of Fredericksburg’s bus system, FREDGO!, examining current transportation infrastructure from the perspectives of these communities. Data was collected…
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New Insights from Old Sources: Using Hot Spot Analysis of Fire Insurance Documents to Characterize the c. 1800 Built Environment of Fredericksburg, Va
By Grace Hannah Buck Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jackie Gallagher Abstract The field of historic preservation makes use of many types of archival resources to understand past events, practices, and spaces that would otherwise be difficult to parse from extant objects. Though they can be used in their initial state, application of geospatial methods to certain…
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Loanwords and the Survival of the Basque Language
By Wiley Prior Faculty Mentor: Gonzalo Campos Dintrans Abstract This project posits that through loanwords, we can gain a better understanding of the relationship between the Basque people and their romance language speaking neighbors. This research also hopes to dispel common misconceptions surrounding the Basque language, emphasizing that what makes it so interesting is not…
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The impact of traffic on Red-Tailed Hawks in Shenandoah National Park
By Ainsley Lord Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gallagher, Dr. Bowen Abstract As National Parks become more visited and popular, there is very little known about how different animals are being impacted by this influx in humans. I worked to investigate if there is a correlation between the amount of car traffic through Shenandoah National Park (SNP)…
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A comparison of propaganda in Russia and China
By Matthew Clark Faculty Mentor: Dr. Emile Lester Abstract This work is the culmination of my research for an Honors Thesis in Political Science. In the context of my unique definition of propaganda, I compare propaganda in both Russia and China. During the course of this work, I focus on cultural erasure and transformation, economic…
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Genderama
By Allon Boettcher Faculty Mentor: Betsy Lewis Abstract My presentation examines the role of the woman character in Mexican 19th-century theatre through Isabel A Prieto’s works, which break societal expectations set by the hegemonic class (i.e., educated, wealthy men) despite Prieto’s somewhat typical personal life. Through these plays, Prieto poses herself as an early feminist…
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Sex or Survival: Does Wounding Elicit a Somatic Reproductive Tradeoff in Narnia femorata Males?
By Lillian Burbulis Faculty Mentor: Lauren Cirino Abstract Animals must partition resources into life history traits resulting in tradeoffs because resources are finite. A tradeoff is the allocation of resources to one trait over another. Life history theory states that energy is allocated in a hierarchical fashion. For example, somatic maintenance should be a higher…
