Psychology majors Hannah Grace Allison and Dakota Dawn Goldsmith are using a popular photo-editing app called “InstaBeauty” a little differently than most Instagram users. The student researchers altered the appearances of six female arrestees to make them fit common social beauty standards for a study on facial profiling.
Allison and Goldsmith presented their research yesterday at the ninth annual Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium, which featured more than 150 oral and poster presentations this year. Guided by Dr. Jutta Street of the psychology department, they were able to show that people perceived the women in the unaltered photos as more aggressive compared to Caucasian women than the altered photos.
“We set out to see how people perceive each other based on appearance alone with a survey,” said the researchers as they walked their 11:30 a.m. audience through their findings. “We found that the altered photos had a higher percentage of positive traits attributed to them.”
Allison and Goldsmith won second place in the Undergraduate Oral Presentations division of the symposium. The award-winning presentation topics ran the gamut from the impact of yoga to the formulation of teeth-whitening strips and evaluations of the NC Brunch Bill. For much of the day Wednesday, the upper floors of the library illustrated the diverse academic pursuits of Campbell’s student body.
While many presentations displayed concrete research findings, sophomore Christian Studies major Miles Hunt took a different approach. His presentation, “Nevertheless, She Persisted” was a sermon that he delivered last year at his home church while his pastor was on sabbatical. He and his faculty advisor, Jennifer Garcia Bashaw, crafted the presentation based on coursework from Bashaw’s class “Women of the Bible and the Church.” Focusing on the persistence of the Canaanite Woman from the Gospel of Matthew, Hunt drew parallels between the woman’s dedication to her daughter and the mission of the church to persist on behalf of the underserved.
Hunt said the goal of his unique presentation was to “bridge the gap between academia and the pew” and show that faith and research can not only share space, but that the combining of those worlds can lead to a greater understanding of what it means to live a missional, faith-driven life.
“I wanted to show that the space between the pulpit, academia and the pew is shrinking for the good of all involved,” Hunt said.
The winners
More than 150 students showcased their research and artwork with visual displays and oral presentations at this year’s symposium, while six students took part in a virtual symposium by hosting video presentations online and 11 gave musical performances.
UNDERGRADUATE ORAL PRESENTATIONS
- 1st: Caroline Wilson, “Enabling & Constraining: Structuration Theory in the Campus Kitchen at Ballard University,” Dr. J. Dean Farmer, Communication Studies
- 2nd: Hannah Grace Allison & Dakota Dawn Goldsmith, “Facial Profiling,” Dr. Jutta Street, Psychology
- 3rd (tie): Zach Berly, “Demobilizing the Andean Abyss: Entertainment Education in Colombia,” Prof. Brian Bowman, Communication Studies
- 3rd (tie): Rachel Davis, “Portrayal of Conditions of Steerage Travel in the Age of Mass Migration,” Dr. Sal Mercogliano, History
GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL ORAL PRESENTATIONS
- 1st: Shaina Gordon, Tanner Mabry, & William Rathell, “Investigation of an Anomalous Muscle in the Hand,” Dr. Maxx Toler & Dr. Bonnie Brenseke, Osteopathic Medicine
- 2nd: Timothy Carl Williams, “Aversion to the Best: The Subtle Advances of Sloth,” Dr. Cameron Jorgenson, Divinity
- 3rd: Gabrielle Gallagher & Emilee Handyside, “Development of a Novel Transformation Procedure to Modify the Mitochondrial Genome,” Dr. Warren Lushia, Osteopathic Medicine
UNDERGRADUATE POSTER PRESENTATIONS
- 1st: Brynn Hudgins, “Comparison of Rate of Perceived Exertion Load and Daily Wellness Scores,” Dr. Jennifer Bunn, Exercise Science
- 2nd: James Giddens, “Tropical Dry Forest Restoration,” Dr. Christopher Havran, Biology
- 3rd: Elizabeth Johnson, Taylor Jones, Madison Sauls, & Jordan Whittenton, “The Correlation Between Parenting Styles and Social and Academic Outcomes in Collegiate Level Students,” Dr. Jutta Street, Psychology
GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL POSTER PRESENTATIONS
- 1st (tie): Sheniece Carpenter, Diana Charles, & Megan Gidron, “An Analysis of the Association between a Diagnosis of Depression and Comorbid Chronic Diseases in Patient Visits with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS),” Dr. Melissa Holland & Dr. Michael Jiroutek, Clinical Research
- 1st (tie): Gitanjali Kerkar, “Pediatric Milk Based Efavirenz Freeze-dried Nano-emulsion Formulation and Characterization,” Dr. Qinfeng Liu & Dr. Mali Gupta, Pharmaceutical Science
- 1st (tie): Ina Lico, Dominic Putala, Saadiya Sehareen, & Robert Shebiro, “Cadaveric Case Study: Squamous Cell Lung Carcinoma with a Review of Targeted Therapies,” Dr. Bonnie Brenseke & Dr. Terrence Mitchell, Osteopathic Medicine
- 1st (tie): Ninad Mukadam, “Formulation and Evaluation of Econazole Nitrate Transferosomes,” Dr. Antoine Al-Achi, Pharmaceutical Science
FINE ARTS
- 1st: Sharon Park, “Lily Frog Cup,” Prof. Maggie Horvath
- 2nd: Susana Martinez, “Red Flower,” Prof. Breck Smith
- 3rd: Maya Palmer, “Puppy Love,” Prof. Breck Smith
VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM VIDEO PRESENTATIONS
- 1st (tie): Sequoia Miller (Campbell Online), “The Effects of Interpersonal Relationships on Urgency of Altruistic Behaviors,” Dr. Katherine Van Allen, Psychology
- 1st (tie): Mary Gatti (Campbell Online), “Making Virtual Reality a Reality in Schools,” Dr. Terrie Bethea-Hampton, Education
- 3rd: Emily Newton (CPHS – Master of Clinical Research Online), “The Role of Psychological Factors in Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders,” Dr. Miranda van Tilburg, Clinical Research