May 2, 2025
Reception & Presentations 2pm to 5pm
Cal Poly Humboldt Library
Search Presenters & Abstracts
Presenters & Abstracts: Search
A Separation of Women and Rights: the Reproductive Equality Fight
Jacqueline Farrington
Geography & Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Through focusing specifically on the relevance of spatial organization of territory and women’s rights concerning reproduction, a case that can exemplify the age-old struggle of the belief of the majority governing the private lives of all would be the Texas case of Roe v. Wade. The political and geographic results of this monumental court decision centered around abortion may be seen in the torrent of other similar cases that deal with women’s rights in relation to reproductive care across the U.S When more scrutiny is applied to this singularly defining case, it becomes more than a few fast facts. Through the ages, Roe v. Wade has been the political foundation upon which women’s reproduc
Activating Creativity in Elementary EFL Writing
Benjamin Taylor
English
Graduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
I served 27 months as an elementary EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and found that rote memorization was the dominant teaching strategy. Pohnpeian teachers wanted interactive classrooms that engaged students creatively, but they often lacked the resources or training to create such an environment. The presented activities are the product of collaborative efforts with 4th-through 8th-grade Pohnpeian teachers over a two-year period. Activities could be modified for a range of second-language learning contexts and environments.
Analyzing Variation in Taphonomic Processes within Artificial Substrates
Carolyn Hinson
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This study aims increase understanding of the taphonomic processes associated with the decomposition of nonhuman mammalian remains (as a proxy for human remains) in human altered substrates. Most prior taphonomic research has been restricted to regional studies focusing on the decomposition in environments outside of direct human interaction. This study will focus on temperature, weight, and organic matter fluctuations between the various artificial substrates in the beginning and termination of the decomposition process in order to better understand the effects substrates have on taphonomic processes.
Analyzing Bloodstain Patterns using Animals’ Blood Versus Synthetic Alternatives
Taylor Ernest
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
Claudia Alvarado
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Passive stains, transfer stains and projected/impact stains will be created with various tools and tested on multiple surfaces including: cotton, linen, and carpets. The components of the Bovine blood versus stage blood will be used for analysis and comparison. This research will help determine if synthetic blood provides an accurate representation for bloodstain pattern analysis in research. After all experimental work and calculations are complete, statistical analysis will be conducted to determine the statistical validity of using synthetic blood alternatives to analyze bloodstain patterns.
Analysis of Soil pH in Relation to Decomposition
Erika Ebel
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
Alyssa Haggard
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
Kiaya Charlton-Grant
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
Casey Hegel
Anthropology
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This research attempts to observe the effects organic decomposition has on the soil pH and aims to determine if pH levels are altered when remains are frozen opposed to unfrozen. Weekly qualitative observations and soil tests were conducted on six naturally decomposing swine limbs. We hypothesized that there would be a slight delay in the cycling of pH levels for frozen remains.Three frozen and three control limbs were deposited atop of undisturbed soil and observed for five consecutive weeks at the Simulated Archaeology Site at HSU. This research intends to address the correlation between pH levels and decomposition, which can be beneficial for future taphonomic research.
Where Kitsch Meets Custom: Recent Native American Architecture in Northern California
Julie Alderson
Art
Faculty
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
A wave of new construction projects sponsored by Native American tribes is currently sweeping across Northern California. Federal recognition and Indian gaming have brought with them a flurry of development opportunities, particularly for casinos and tribal services buildings. An overview of such structures illustrates significant differences between the buildings tribes build for the general public, versus those that they construct for their own use. Such analysis helps demonstrate both the vision the general public has of Indian tribes, as well as the vision tribes have of themselves.
Tibetan Nationality: tourism, commodification, and souvenirs preserving identity.
Kristopher Anderson
Geography
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Over the summer of 2014 research was conducted in China and Tibet. The main focus of the research involved the social identity of the Tibetan people and the perception of the people and place through he yes of a tourist. In order to find the perceptions and identity of the people the tourism industry was analyzed using textual analysis and participant observation. Souvenirs in particular were a focal point of the research leading the author to a belief that however difficult and even destructive the tourism industry can be on a place and people in this case it seems that the industry may be serving as an mechanism of national identity preservation.
2015 Humboldt International Film Festival Poster
Anna Ladd
Studio Arts
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This poster was created for the Humboldt International Film Festival. Working as a team, the HIFF crew were able to come up with an idea, and then follow through with creating and perfecting the poster. It's designed to catch the eye, draw the audience in, and deliver the information in a pseudo-minimalistic way. Its primary focuses were to be readability, text hierarchy backed by an eye-catching illustration.
Ophiocordyceps Sinensis: A Study of Tibet’s Caterpillar Fungus, and the Possible Anthropogenic Nature of its Recent Population Decline
Nicholas Fox
Geography
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Ophiocordyceps sinensis, or Caterpillar fungus, has been used as a cure all for millennia by Tibetan nomads. The fungus which parasitizes the larva of moths is also used in China. Supply of the prized fungus, which only grows on the Tibetan plateau and northern slope of the Himalayas, was not always available to the Chinese given the remote nature of the plateau. In recent decades however, developing relations between China and the Tibetan region have led to increased gathering of the fungus. This poster will discuss the history of O. sinensis as medicine, as well as the modern relationships between the fungus and the people who use it, and what that means for the fungi’s future.
Chinese Governmentality: Emerging Greenhouses on Rural Tibetan Landscapes
Lucas Reyes
Geography
Undergraduate Student
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
This study explores changing agricultural conditions and practices on the Tibetan Plateau. Through textual discourse supported by field observations, agricultural practices are assessed. I explore the works of Goldstein, Paltridge and past HSU field research to argue that the Chinese government addresses this nourishment problem through policy, an intricate display of governmentality. The rural Tibetan livelihood is marginalized and degraded through Chinese policies noted by Goldstein designed to bring the Tibetan population into a market-driven economy. While rural farmer adopt green revolution technologies and weigh the economic benefit of grain subsides I see greenhouses on the horizon.