The Honors College

The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Sicily with a particular focus on the d’Hauteville family. The d’Hauteville family was integral to the conquest, shaping and forming how it was undertaken and their actions directly guided how the conquest unfolded. To fully understand this question, it was necessary to exam the conquest and the d’Hautevilles within their own contexts.

The long-term objective of this research is to synthesize and develop a set of functionalized hexaphenylbenzenes capable of the controlled release of volatile fragrant molecules, otherwise known as “pro-fragrances”. The focus of current work is on the synthesis of original appropriately substituted 4,4’-diphenylacetylenes (tolanes). These tolanes may be capable of scent release and can be cyclized with catalytic amounts of cobalt octacarbonyl to form hexaphenylbenzene molecules.

Hollowing is a short creative fiction novel about fatherhood, illness, loss, and devotion. The book tells the story of Cole, a man who is facing several problems in his life. His wife is terminally ill and his son is repeating his father’s mistakes. While trying to hold his family together, Cole faces conflicts with jealousy, infidelity, respect, and denial. He must overcome his stunted understanding of emotion and contend with an unhealthy perception of masculinity linked to his troubled childhood in order to try and guide his family towards the happiest future for all of them.

This undergraduate thesis examined the use of baby sign and how it affects a hearing baby’s language and communication skills. Previous research indicates that there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about the impact of baby sign on communication skills, but the use of baby sign has proven to be a potentially beneficial language tool. Baby sign does not delay speech development or negatively impact communication, and many families find that it improves children’s language skills.

This study examines what effect mindfulness has on anxiety and memory levels in comparison to a suppression and control group. Participants underwent natural, suppression, and mindful conditions while being shown a series of positive and negative images and rating how happy/unhappy (valence) they felt and how excited/calm (arousal). After answering a series of questionnaires, participants were tested on their recall levels.

Water was sampled upstream and downstream of coal refuse areas at Big Stony Creek, Cove Creek, and Shupe Creek in Scott Co., Virginia to determine if coal waste acid mine drainage (AMD) had an impact on water quality before, during, and after a reclamation project removed the refuse material and relocated it to a disposal site. Samples were tested for Cl- and SO42- using ion chromatography (IC), and Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES).

Driven by financial difficulties within the households of southern families during the Civil War, women entered the workforce on an economic basis, which unintentionally instigated a social transformation of traditional gender roles. For example, John and Meta Grimball’s eldest daughter Elizabeth entered into the public sphere as a teacher due to the family’s economic and personal losses. By doing so she defied her parents’ wishes, and independently took control of her financial wellbeing.

Among practices in the field of health care, there exists a common understanding of the importance of evidence-based practice. Evidence-based care, combining rigorous empirical research of a treatment with the desires and goals of the patient, focuses on the implementation of treatments that are proven to be effective and can apply to the best interests of all parties involved. These ideas pervade numerous healthcare fields, including the practice of occupational therapy.

My thesis is a multimodal project inspired by a/r/tography, a theoretical framework that involves thinking holistically about art educators as artists, researchers, and teachers who navigate these identities fluidly in their lives within and outside of school settings. The core of a/r/tography is a way of thinking about these three main (overlapping) arenas that art educators move in between and the unique and unpredictable possibilities that emerge from practicing in these ever-changing spaces.

Society commonly believes that as individuals age they become more conservative. However, literature on the topic indicates that this may not be true. To understand what factors shape individuals’ attitudes about the federal government this research compares the Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial generations attitudes towards the federal government and trust in government by utilizing questions from the 1978-2012 American National Elections Studies.