Dr. Karl Adam’s collaborative research project explores the topic of disability selective abortion. The debate in bioethics relating to this topic has come to focus on the so-called “expressivist objection” to disability selective abortion by Adrienne Asch. According to this, disability selective abortion sends the message to disabled people that their lives do not matter or are less valuable than those of able-bodied people. We believe the literature has veered off course in focusing on the expressivist objection because what is pro tanto wrong with disability selective abortion is not what it communicates, but what it is, namely discrimination based on disability. This account is compatible with a broadly pro-choice position. Discrimination often deprives people of things they have no prior right to, a particular job for instance, while being wrong because it denies the things in question for the wrong reason. Our account is also compatible with the idea that disability selective abortion can sometimes be justified while being pro tanto wrong. We plan to write a journal article arguing for this position, defending it against potential objections and exploring some of its policy implications.
Dr. Tim Bersak’s collaborative research project focuses on basketball analytics by automatically collecting and organizing play-by-play data into a format that allows for novel analyses beyond what’s typically available in a box score. In particular, the research is focused on analyzing lineup level, rather than individual, factors that are related to on-court performance and success. In addition to collecting the data, the research project will spend much of the upcoming summer developing new ways to organize the data, as well as generating automated reports that can present the information in an intuitive manner with the hope of improving in-game decision making. While the primary focus of this project is on basketball analytics, we also will learn tools and approaches that can be applied to other sports or any other project that involves data scraping or automating the collection of data from external sources.
Dr. Camille Bethea’s Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Project explores Afro-Brazilian culture and acts of social and political activism. More precisely, it hones in on a specific aspect of Afro-Brazilian culture – Afro-Brazilian dance, including samba, samba-reggae, capoeira and "Blocos afro"– and focuses on the question of how these dances have been used politically as a form of activism and/or social protest by historically marginalized communities. This question is particularly compelling when we consider that the origin and history of many Latin dances are strongly tied to the social and political activism of marginalized communities. The goal of our project would be to show how historically, and even today, many Afro-Brazilian groups use dance in similar ways: as a shared act of resistance for social change, cultural liberation, political expression and to bring attention to social issues such as poverty, corruption and racism.
Dr. Bradham's collaborative project seeks to quantify the impacts of large mammal herbivores on tropical forest structure and nutrient cycling in the Brazilian Pantanal. This involves deploying motion-activated camera traps to capture mammal behavior and the construction of fenced and unfenced plots couplets. Fenced plots exclude mammals from entering a part of the forest, while adjacent unfenced plots allow mammals to enter and interact it. Collectively, these data will elucidate what species are present and the role they play in forest regeneration (e.g. through trampling) and nutrient cycling (e.g. through biological processes). This is a part of a larger, international research project assessing how variations in interspecific interactions shape tropical forest sustainability.
Dr. Kelli Carroll’s project focuses on the genetic and molecular factors regulating embryonic development using zebrafish as a model system. Her work has two main directions. First, she is collaborating with researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas to develop a new imaging system using zebrafish to screen common medications for their potential to induce unintentional cardiac arrythmias in patients. The goal of this project is to prospectively identify potentially arrhythmogenic drugs so that patients taking them can be carefully monitored for cardiac abnormalities. Second, she is using whole-genome sequencing data from patients with unidentified genetic diseases. In many of these patients, potentially problematic mutations in poorly understood genes have been identified. Her lab is studying the expression patterns and function of the genes in developing zebrafish in the hopes of better understanding human disease.
Dr. Michael Lee Cato’s collaborative project/study focuses on exploring the molecular mechanisms that underlie coral bleaching, where algal symbionts are expelled by coral their hosts in response to elevated ocean temperatures. Specifically, he is focusing on mutations that accumulate in algae that have been selected for resistance to these elevated temperatures in recent studies. By comparing wild-type and resistant algae, Dr. Geoffrey Mitchell (Wofford College) has identified proteins and protein families with mutations that confer heat resistance. Dr. Cato will express and purify several wild-type and mutant proteins to explore the effects of these mutations on protein thermal stability. These wet lab studies will be run in parallel with molecular dynamics simulations that will further explore, at the atomic level, how mutations affect protein dynamics and conformational stability. The results of these studies will help connect heat resistance to the mutations that provide this resistance and may allow us to uncover novel strategies for mitigating heat stress in corals.
Dr. Lori Cruze’s collaborative project focuses primarily on the reproduction of the Eastern Bluebird. Eastern Bluebirds typically nest in tree cavities created by woodpeckers or natural decay, but they readily accept nest boxes as an alternative breeding site. Nest boxes are not only crucial for the conservation of cavity-nesting birds, but they are also a valuable tool for studying reproduction. In 2022, Dr. Cruze launched a long-term study to examine the productivity and survivorship of Eastern bluebirds in the Upstate. Several environmental factors, including the timing of breeding, have been proposed to influence the reproductive success of songbirds. The proposed project is a continuation of a long-term, longitudinal study that examines the reproductive output and success of the Eastern Bluebird.
Coming soon!
Dr. Philip Dorroll’s collaborative project uncovers the hidden histories of interreligious contact and religious diversity in South Carolina. The research focuses on little-known primary sources that document these forgotten yet powerful moments in the early history of the state. The student will have the opportunity to assist in the analysis of existing material that Dr. Dorroll has previously collected, and/or to propose or discover their own documents that they wish to investigate. Examples include the 1846-1847 letters of Charleston native George Ingles Crafts that describe his travels in Istanbul, Egypt and Jerusalem; and a page of Qur’an passages handwritten in Arabic in 1768 by an enslaved person in South Carolina- possibly the oldest surviving piece of Islamic religious culture from the American South. The results of this research will be presented to the public and the Wofford community via a newly designed website that Dr. Dorroll will maintain as a publicly accessible resource on the forgotten history of intercultural and interreligious contact in South Carolina.
Dr. Ezgi Akpinar Ferrand’s collaborative student research project focuses on transferring core market research and business skills to a select Wofford student while helping a local business with their go-to-market strategy. The Upstate South Carolina has a vibrant business ecosystem with a number of up-and-coming and promising start ups. According to business literature, about 40% of new businesses fail due to no market need or limited market potential, and another 15% will fail due to their poorly formed marketing strategy. Dr. Ferrand and her student research partner will help a chosen business with this type of vital market research support. They will pick the relevant company with the help of South Carolina state government office of South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA). The recent published impact of SCRA on the state economy was deemed over $1 billion. Dr. Ferrand has worked with this office among other state and federal agencies for the past several years, helping over 225 businesses with her undergraduate and graduate research assistants in Clemson University. In her experience, this type of collaborative research is transformational both for the student researcher and also for the participant companies. She would like to continue this type of work at Wofford College.
Dr. Fontaine’s collaborative study explores the development of the president’s authority to restore domestic order during times of insurrection, rebellion and lawlessness. The project examines how presidents used the Insurrection Act of 1807, which provides the statutory foundation of this aspect of presidential authority, and broader constitutional or extra-constitutional claims to justify military use in domestic politics. Dr. Fontaine’s research explores the politics of domestic order using a theoretical framework emphasizing individual presidents’ agency, strategic choice and creative uses of institutional authority and capacity. This project is a great opportunity for students interested in American political development and the presidency. The student will also travel with Dr. Fontaine to Washington, D.C., to do archival research.
Building upon the work of previous summers, Dr. Ramón Galiñanes Jr.’s collaborative project examines citizenship, nation and ethnicity in Spain’s Second Republic. By utilizing a rich archive of newspapers from Spain in the 1930s, the collaborative project seeks to address a number of questions including the following. How were different groups in Spain represented in newspapers during this critical time period between 1931-1939? How did the representational strategies of various media outlets in Spain influence the meaning of nation, ethnicity and citizenship?
Dr. Karen Goodchild, art historian, and rising junior McCarver Stokes, an art history major, will work together researching early modern painting this summer. Stokes will be closely analyzing three 17th-century Dutch paintings in the Wofford Museum collection. Very little prior research exists on these paintings, and he intends to fill in some preliminary gaps and identify which work is best suited to become the subject of a longer independent study project that he hopes will result in a publication. Dr. Goodchild will be researching a painting by Italian Artist Dosso Dossi. The work was recently discovered in upstate New York but painted in North Italy in the 16th century. As is the case with Stokes‘s project, there isn’t a lot already written on the Dosso painting. Working towards similar goals, but with different images, Goodchild will help Stokes navigate a research process that starts from a minimal prior bibliography.
Natalie Grinnell’s research uses gender theory, queer theory and coercive control theory to examine Seth MacFarland's 3-season television series, “The Orville.” While earlier writers celebrate the inclusion of same-sex and non-binary relationships in the cult favorite, this study complicates the interpretation of The Orville as progressive by examining the primary romantic relationship on the show, between the ship's captain and his first officer, as a relationship which includes the harassment, stalking and emotional abuse of the female character under the guise of humor or sexual liberation. Like Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Grinnell argues that The Orville’s LGBTQ-friendly surface conceals a patriarchal hostility toward women.
Dr. Kimberly Hall’s collaborative research project aims to develop a cohort of student experts in humanistic AI collaborative research. Dr. Hall’s team will first acquire an advanced understanding of how generative AI tools—Chat-GPT4 in particular—can be used in humanistic research by learning how to complete a sentiment analysis of a sample of social media posts for a chapter in Dr. Hall’s current book project on narratives of authenticity in social media. Then, using the methods they have learned, students will develop and complete their own research projects in their major (or area of interest) through a humanities lab structure in which individual projects are supported by team meetings, shared resources and the workshopping of ideas and results.
Dr. Alysa Handelsman's upcoming research project was designed in partnership with Spartanburg Housing, public housing residents and Wofford students. This ethnographic project seeks to understand public housing residents' perspectives on employment, particularly barriers to employment and ideas for programs and support services to promote access to employment. Preliminary research with residents at Prince Hall Apartments (Highland) has led to this summer's project with residents at Camp Croft Courts (Southside) and Victoria Gardens (Northside). In addition to interviews and listening sessions focused on employment, the research team will also host planning sessions in which Wofford researchers will work with residents to design proposals for programs and initiatives to present to Spartanburg Housing by the end of the summer. Students from the research team as well as residents may be part of implementing some of these projects this coming fall. Spartanburg Housing consistently works to improve support services for residents, and they will use the research and programming proposals from this project to help them identify next steps to promote access to employment. The collaborative design of this project forms part of the team's philosophy of action anthropology; that is, collaboratively engaging in community-based research to design and implement programming for residents and with residents.
Dr. Bria Harper’s collaborative research project focuses on investigating the ways that Black girls cultivate their identities amid negative societal stereotypes. The project is particularly interested in the relationship between Southern geography as a cultural identity and the ways that Black girls and women initiate identity formation for themselves. This project will commence with the creation of a podcast that will be created and directed by the students. The purpose of the podcast is to allow the conversations and research to reach a broad audience as well as allow students the ability to gain skills and have a safe space to voice their thoughts.
The Harris research team has two main areas of focus.
The origin of life remains a mystery, with current research still focusing on hot geothermal environments akin to Darwin's "warm little pond". However, the potential for life on icy worlds is gaining attention due to the concentration and functionality of RNA in ice. Dr. Daniel Helman's summer research project aims to simulate icy environments in the solar system using water ice with various added salts to understand the potential for life emergence. This involves stressing the ice to mimic gravitational effects and experimenting with salt combinations to generate electricity—a first step in using this energy as a proto-metabolism to see whether such a system can generate complex organic molecules akin to the Miller-Urey experiment. Students will play a crucial role in designing salt recipes and freezing regimes, gaining practical skills and insights into abiogenesis and condensed matter physics concepts like piezoelectricity. The project will nurture academic and personal growth along with creativity and camaraderie at one of the many cutting edges now active in planetary and environmental science.
Coming soon!
Dr. Rhiannon Leebrick’s collaborative project focuses on single parenting in academia. The student researcher will be responsible for helping to gather existing scholarship on single parenting in academia making sure to have a variety of diverse perspectives (as it relates to class, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, citizenship, types of institution one works at, age, religion, etc.) and helping to identify scholars interested in writing about this subject for an edited volume of personal essays on the subject. The student's work will also be to help co-author a literature review of scholarly articles from sociology, anthropology and gender studies (and other related fields) that focus on peer reviewed research on single parenting. The student needs strong writing, time management, and organizational skills.
Dr. Stephen Michelman’s collaborative project examines the philosophical implications of psychogenic pain -- physical pain “syndromes,” such as lower back pain, knee pain and sciatic pain, that lack clear structural/ physical causes and are strongly correlated with emotional and psychosocial conditions like anxiety, depression, incarceration, job-loss and divorce. Students will assist in a review of medical and psychological studies on outcomes for elective pain-related surgeries and on the roles of emotional and psychophysiological factors. Our guiding hypothesis is that elective surgeries for pain-syndromes will have poor outcomes compared to standard surgeries with clear-cut underlying medical causes (like hernia or bone fracture) because the former surgeries are not addressing the underlying cause of the pain, which is emotional and psychological rather than structural or anatomical. After surveying the literature, we then consider the implications of our findings for a revised understanding of the relationship between mind and body in the production of pain.
Dr. Geoff Mitchell is in the third year of a National Science Foundation-funded research project that is using lab-grown sea anemones to understand the cellular mechanisms of coral bleaching, which is happening at an alarming rate worldwide. It occurs when ocean temperatures increase just a couple of degrees above their normal summer maxima, putting stress on corals and causing them to destroy or expel the algal symbionts living in their guts. Unfortunately, corals rely on these symbionts for the energy they produce from sunlight. Without them, corals become sick and usually die. By deciphering the specific cellular events that lead to coral bleaching, Dr. Mitchell hopes to help save coral reefs for future generations.
Dr. Amanda Olsen's collaborative research project focuses on women serving on the board of directors and how this influences firm decisions about (1) management of key firm fundamentals, (2) responses to shareholder proposals on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and (3) voluntary ESG disclosures for US firms. The project will exploit the announcement and implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in the European Union (EU) to determine whether (1) US firms respond to global pressures about ESG issues and (2) whether US firms with women serving on the board respond differently to those without women. The project aims to contribute to the finance literature on the global implications of ESG regulation and on women's influence in finance.
Dr. Ramin Radfar’s collaborative project focuses on the folic acid one-carbon transfer, which plays a critical role in cell duplication. Folate binding proteins or folate receptors are expressed at high levels in numerous cancer cells to meet the folate demand of rapidly dividing cells. As such, folate binding proteins have become the viable protein target for the synthesis of many cancer treatment medicines and drugs. In this project we will work on purification, enzymatic, inhibitory and crystallization studies of this protein.
Coming soon!
Dr. Katherine Steinmetz’s collaborative research project focuses on the influence of paced breathing on memory. We are investigating how paced breathing can be used to regulate emotional responses (heart rate, skin conductance, skin conductance levels) and how that regulation may influence memory.
Dr. Patrick Whitfill’s collaborative project and study focuses on the creative work of two students, Jackson Casey and Reid Jackson, both exemplary young poets. Our goals for the summer are three-fold: 1) to produce a minimum of twelve pages of poetry for the purpose of graduate school admissions and potential publication; 2) to read the work of a series of contemporary poets who teach in graduate programs and discuss them at length, including the journals associated with their respective writing programs, and 3) to begin the lifelong learning process of how to teach ourselves after the formal education ends. To accomplish these goals, both the professor and the students will read voluminously and closely, produce exercises based on readings, discuss, in detail, the aesthetic value and qualities of both the outside reading and the original work, and to begin to experience what it means to create a small and dedicated group of workshop readers and peers.