URCAF Abstracts 2018

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10057/15179

2018 URCAF Organizing Committee

Chair: John Hammond, Liberal Arts and Sciences (Math/Social Sciences)

Shuang Gu, Engineering

Anthony May, Business

Kimberly Engber, Honors College

Janice Ewing, Education

Susan Sterrett, Liberal Arts & Sciences (Humanities)

Abu Asaduzzaman , Engineering

Aaron Bowen, University Libraries

Kelly Anderson, Health Professions

Dinorah Azpuru, Liberal Arts and Sciences (Social Sciences)

Taylor Williams, Student Member

Sponsors :

Academic Affairs

College of Education

College of Fine Arts

Office of Research and Technology

Barton School of Business

Cohen Honors College

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

University Libraries

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 11

There, Her
(Wichita State University, 2018-04-06) Ashbrook, Natalie; Vasquez, Sabrina
This work is a choreographed dance duet. The premise of the work is the choreographer’s own struggle with an anxiety disorder, in a way to encompass the experience of someone with this mental health problem. This piece was not only created to bring the concept of mental illness to light but also to put it in a way that the audience can understand how anxiety feels in the mind. Another major theme of the work is the difference between being unmedicated for this issue and being able to have control over anxiety with the help of medication. And despite the fact that medication can aid in functioning with it, anxiety is a part of someone. The process of creating this work was a method of therapy for myself. As the choreographer, I had to come to terms with accepting that this was how I have to live, but that it does not incapacitate me. Most of the inspiration during the process was that one half of the duet is the anxiety and the other is the person who suffers from it, so it was necessary to work in a lot of partnering work. This is any kind of movement that involves lifts and weight sharing, to evoke feelings of being pressured or controlled. The participants worked very hard with me to find a balance between the two of them so that the movement looks sudden but has the control and power on both sides of the choreography. The piece comes to a conclusion with carrying this weight but not being weighed down by it.
Too tight: Days of night
(Wichita State University, 2018-04-06) Vernon, Ruth; Jones, Kerry
This creative work is a selection of poetry on the theme of mental health. Mental health is something I am passionate about. I look to incorporate an aspect of confessional poetry without over-exploiting the form; I hope to relate to young adults dealing with similar issues by shedding light on a topic that is oftentimes hushed and overlooked. I wish to convey my truth on the matter and show that while there are dark and scary aspects of being sick, there can always be light if one looks hard enough. Humor is important to think about in regards to hard-to-talk-about issues because it can show that even though the subject matter is serious, people can still find ways to enjoy life and make the most of what is being given to them. My time spent at Prairie View is reflected in this work, as well as things I witnessed and conversations I have had with others surrounding mental health. This is not reflective of everyone dealing with mental health issues, but can be translated to each person's own journey of self-discovery. Most of these poems were crafted during the fall of 2017 and have been worked on since then, with peers and family.
Evaluating the effectiveness of program delivery of leadership training
(Wichita State University, 2018-04-06) Radley, Katelyn; Bolin, Brien L.
The purpose of this evaluative descriptive research will be to understand how the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) can improve in both program delivery and the evaluation of trainings. Using existing quantitative and qualitative data collected after leadership trainings, this research will be aimed at program improvements. Through analysis of end of program feedback forms, the investigators hope to learn what ideas have been most useful to participants over the past several years. The research will allow investigators to explore ideas that the participants in the program find helpful or difficult to apply to their own leadership challenges. Recommendations on potential program evaluation process improvements will be submitted to the organization. Methods: This study will deploy descriptive methods to evaluate the KLC trainings. There are 1817 surveys that will be used for this study. Data was collected over the course of 2017 in KLC’s three core programs, You Lead Now, Lead for Change, and Equip Lead. Findings, Interpretations, and Summary: Preliminary quantitative analysis indicates that the Equip to Lead and Lead for Change programs tend to be most helpful to participants in regards to making progress on their leadership challenges. In contrast, the You Lead Now program struggled to reach previous benchmarks set by the organization. These preliminary findings will be used to understand how the organization might capitalize on successes of certain programs while also improving the experience for participants who attend a program at the leadership center.
18th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum
(Wichita State University, 2018-04-06) WSU Undergraduate Students
A more represent democracy: Cultural factors conducive to the election of women
(Wichita State University, 2018-04-06) Fox, Kaitlin; Azpuru, Dinorah
There is a large gender gap between the number of women in America and the number of female legislators serving in state legislatures and Congress. Often, legislation reflects this divide and leads to the implementation of policy that fails to address the wants and needs of women across the country. The effects of primarily male-led legislative bodies has been strongly seen after the 2016 election, producing a record number of women running for office in the midterm elections. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze what cultural factors are the most conducive to the election of women by answering the question of why some states elect more women to their state legislatures and to Congress. Based upon the literature that has been reviewed, the concept of culture ranges from traditional to moralistic, and to explore these classifications more in-depth this study will analyze factors that shape culture, such as religiosity, and the levels of education in the state, alongside control variables such as the percentage of women in the state, and the main ideology prevalent in the state. To test these variables, an SPSS dataset was built from operationalized survey data obtained from the Pew Research Center, and linear regressions were ran to determine the causal relationships between cultural factors and the number of women in the legislature from each state. Analyzing these results will work to provide a better understanding as to why there are state-by-state discrepancies in the gender gap occurring in legislative bodies across America.

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