CONWAY, Ark. (Dec. 3, 2008) – Hendrix College has awarded more than $71,000 in Odyssey Grants to students and faculty for experiential learning projects.. The grants will allow Hendrix students to introduce the community to a garden in the heart of campus, present innovative research at outstanding international conferences, assist with the birth of lambs, explore Roman Catholic architecture in Italy, and make a difference in the lives of local children, along with numerous other projects.
In the Fall 2008 funding cycle, the Committee on Experiential Learning awarded Odyssey Grants totaling $71,710.88 to 24 projects. This cycle broke the previous Fall records in both the number of requests and the dollar amount sought. Since the Odyssey Program’s inception in the fall of 2005, the CEL has awarded more than $978,000 to support student and faculty projects.
The Odyssey Grant recipients include:
Rebecca Boone, The Politics of Love-Postmodernism, Culture and Religion Conference; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Dr. Aaron Simmons. Can love become part of a political project? Does it have public meaning? Can there be a politics of love? Becca Boone will explore these issues at the Postmodern, Culture, and Religion Conference at Syracuse University this spring. She’ll get to hear internationally prominent philosophers, theologians and psychoanalysts explore the topic from their own academic and theoretical viewpoints. “As a religion major and politics minor, I am interested in this conference specifically because I feel that my vocation is to understand and work at the intersection of the religious and political spheres,” Boone said.
Laura Broederdorf, Outdoor Brochure and Online Guide to the Arkansas Garden; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Dr. Joyce Hardin. The Arkansas Garden, situated between DW Reynolds and Martin Hall, was created in 2001 to help familiarize the community with the native plants of Arkansas. Its divided into sections featuring the prairie, butterfly and hummingbird plants, medicinal plants and native trees and shrubs. Laura Broederdorf knows that the Arkansas Garden is underappreciated—and she hopes to change that with her project. She will create a brochure that focuses on the gardens layout and identifies each plant with both its species and common name. The brochure will be housed in a box near the garden. In addition, shell take photographs of the plants in the Arkansas Garden and incorporate them in an expanded on-line guide. “The website will include 2008’s fall plantings as well as any new plantings present in the garden for spring of 2009, totaling approximately 120 species,” Broederdorf said. The site will also have the history of the garden and interesting facts about the plants.
Dana Clark, A Day in the Life: Helping Special Needs Children to be Children; Category: Service to the World; Sponsor: Dr. George Harper. Dana Clark has a special interest in autistic children. Her younger sister is a student at Faulkner County Day School Milestones, a school for children with special needs. This spring, will coordinate a week-long fair on the school’s campus. “I want to give them a day in which they don’t have to worry about therapy and medicines, but instead focus on being a kid,” Clark said. The fair would involve fun and educational activities, along with exercise-focused games. She hopes to give the children the opportunity to experience the joy of a fair without the threat of sensory overload. The volunteers, parents, and teachers will have the chance to observe the children at play and possibly gain an inside look at how their minds work in problem-solving and interacting with others in a new experience.
Dana Clark, Susanna Hunter and Danielle Smull, Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius tener) mimicry and predation in the South-Central United States; Category: Undergraduate Research; Sponsor: Dr. George Harper. Biology students Dana Clark, Susanna Hunter, and Danielle Smull will call upon both their knowledge of reptiles and their artistic ability to create 1,800 clay replicas of snakes for field experiments. The students will focus on coral snakes and other snakes that mimic them as a way to avoid predation. Clark will explore the point at which the mimicry is so bad that the protection of looking like a coral snake disappears. Hunter will concentrate on whether specific colors or the contrast between light and dark keep predators at bay. Finally, Smull will examine the relationship between the width of the mimic snake’s black band and the predation rate. The students will set their experiments up in western Louisiana and southeastern Texas.
Bethanie Edwards, Professional Development at the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography 2009 Meeting in Nice, France; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Dr. Mark Sutherland. Bethanie Edwards plans to earn her doctorate in marine biogeochemistry. This January, she will present her recent research at the international meeting of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography in Nice, France. “Scientists from all over the world will be in attendance to present their research and engage in discourse about the most prominent research topics in the field of aquatic science,” Edwards said. She will be critiqued on her effectiveness as a speaker and offered feedback on the direction of her research on methods of measuring nitrogen fixation by marine bacteria in the field, which could impact current climate change research.
Alexandra Graddy-Reed, Senior Seminar: Comparing the United States and Italy’s Approach to Mental Healthcare; Category: Undergraduate Research; Sponsor: Dr. Ian King. As a senior Politics and International Relations major, Alex Graddy-Reed is preparing to write her thesis. She will conduct an examination of the American and Italian approaches to mental healthcare through a case study in San Francisco and Milan. “I will research each city’s healthcare system by structure, financing, and provision of care,” Graddy-Reed said. She will visit Westside Community Services in San Francisco, which is a private center. In Milan, she will study on of the Community Psychiatric Service Centers, a public provider of care. She will assess the success of each institution, particularly in how the patients are reintegrated into the community. She also plans to compare the public and private approaches of providing care.
Leah Groat, Lambing Season at the Heifer Ranch; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Dr. Nancy Fleming. Leah Groat loves animals, and she is passionate about volunteerism. This spring, she will combines her interests by attending the Extended Women’s Lambing Weekend at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark. She’ll learn about gestation, birth and the care of ewes and lambs. “The hands-on activities include post-lambing care, birthing checks, and cheese-making,” Groat said. Her experience will also include sessions on wool crafts, gender equity and sustainable agriculture. Women from across the country visit Heifer Ranch in the spring to gain a deeper appreciation of the impact a new lamb can have for families worldwide.
Society for Applied Anthropology 69th Annual Meeting, Sponsor: Dr. Anne Goldberg. Leah Horton and Lara Morrow, Category: Professional and Leadership Development; The Society for Applied Anthropology will have its 69th annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March. At the conference, applied anthropologists can present their research, receive feedback from fellow social scientists and network with others in the field. Anthropology majors Leah Horton and Lara Morrow will present their research at the conference. Horton’s research examines the growth of Arkansas’ Latino population, processes of place making on the part of Latinos in Conway, and the response of the city and aid organizations to incoming Latinos. Morrow will discuss the dramaturgical roles that are adopted within the field of erotic dancing. She hopes to explore the negative stereotypes about the dancers and how they are often based on detrimental generalizations. Kelsey Parker, Category: Special Projects; Kelsey Parker, Sarah Hughes, Samantha Henry, Lauren Van Zandt, Bethany Grove, Anna Johnson, Sarah Novak, Brigid Groggin and Erin Kinchen will volunteer at the conference and attend student-focused events. As volunteers, they will become acquainted with others interested in applied anthropology and learn more about the current projects, theories and methods in this academic area.
Fatima Orozco, House Building in La Esperanza, Mexico; Category: Service to the World; Sponsor: Dr. Rod Miller. Fatima Orozco will use her Spanish language skills as she volunteers with I-to-I Meaningful Travel to build homes in La Esperanza, Honduras, which is one of the poorest areas in the country. “The families and communities this program caters to have been subject to not only extreme poverty but also natural disaster,” Orozco said. She will help local families in building homes and schools. During her free time, she will also assist with translating jobs, enabling her to engage with the entire community.
Katherine Proehl, A case study of microfinance and its effects with the Group Natangué in Senegal; Category: Undergraduate Research; Sponsor: Dr. Kim Maslin-Wicks. In Senegal, Natangué means prosperity. Its the name chosen by a group of 400 women who have created a revolving credit system based on microfinance loans. Microfinance is a system in which borrowers take out small loans of about $20 or less to start their own small enterprises. The debt is repaid in regularly in small increments, and most loans are given to women. The entire family might benefit from the woman’s efforts since the additional income can be used for such things as better nutrition, housing or education for family members. “Poverty is still one of the main problems facing the vast majority of the world, and microfinance is one path to eradicating it,” Proehl said. She will devise her own impact assessment of Natangué to determine the effectiveness of the loans and whether future loans should be offered. Her study could show the positive benefits of microfinance in an academic and scientific way.
Alexandra Reilman, Experiencing the Sacred through Architecture; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Dr. Jane Harris. Alexandra Reilman will spend three weeks investigating Catholic cathedrals, basilicas and churches in Italy as she explores how architecture epitomizes the faith. “Every aspect from the floor plan to the art is an intentional profession of the Catholic view of the sacred (that which is perfect and holy),” she said. She will visit major religious sites in Rome, Amalfi, Florence, Pisa, Milan and Venice. She will record specific examples of the common architectural aspects and research the history behind the decorative statues and images in the buildings.
Katie Rice, San Miguel Writers’ Conference 2009; Category: Artistic Creativity; Sponsor: Dr. Alex Vernon. She’s already written a novel, but writer Katie Rice is eager to hone her craft. She will attend a four-day writing conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in February. World-famous authors will instruct participants in break-out sessions and intensive writing workshops. Participants will focus on topics ranging from travel writing to marketing and publication strategies. In addition, the writers will learn ways to generate new material, which Rice will use to produce a finished work for presentation on campus in the spring. “While I have extensive experience in journalism, blogging, and other non-fiction genres, this conference will give me a fuller view of my potential in fiction writing,” Rice said.
Alex Schroller and Kevin Watford, Growing Green: An Interdisciplinary Analysis; Category: Special Projects; Sponsor: Prof. Robert Glidewell. Alex Schroller and Kevin Watford will explore the trends in the production and commercialization of food. In Austin and San Antonio, they will conduct interviews with executives from the grocery companies Whole Foods and H-E-B along with conversations with local growers at farmers’ markets in each city. First, they will explore the modern trends toward organic and locally-grown produce. Second, they will seek clarification of the politics governing agriculture and food production in the United States. Finally, they will explore how the grocery companies market and brand their foods, along with corporate strategy and its moral implications.
McCaull Vandergriff, Students Helping Students; Category: Service to the World; Sponsor: Rev. J. J. Whitney. McCaull Vandergriff has given her time as a leader of the Students Helping Students (SHS) program at Hendrix. Odyssey support will allow Hendrix students to offer tutoring services, meals, and fellowship to schoolchildren in the Pine Street Community near campus through the spring. “Many different groups and individuals will benefit from the continuation of this program,” Vandergriff said. SHS serves elementary to middle school children, with volunteers helping the children finish or check over their homework. Then everyone shares dinner and participates in a fun activity or games. In addition, a special parties and celebrations are planned to reward the students for their hard work.
Matt Youngblood, Urban and Rural Argentina: Immersion into the two lives of Argentina; Category: Global Awareness; Sponsor: Dr. Lilian Contreras-Silva. Matt Youngblood has formulated a semester abroad that emphasizes both language skills and organic farming in Argentina. He will begin with three weeks of instruction at a language school in Buenos Aires, where he will stay with a host family. He will then live and work on an organic farm in La Rinconada, a small rural town. The farm follows conservation agriculture and management intensive grazing techniques, emphasizing the use of compost and the careful rotation of crops and animals. “The freedom this trip gives me to travel will allow me to see a wide stretch of Argentina, from rural to urban, and from the Patagonias to the Pampas,” Youngblood said.
Shauna Zajac, “Wasta” and the Global Economy; Category: Undergraduate Research; Sponsor: Dr. Jay Barth. “Wasta” may be defined in Arab society as “connections,” traditionally implying mediation or intercession, typically on behalf of relatives or close friends. It is used in a variety of social situations ranging from tribal negotiations to employment. Shauna Zajac will research the impact of wasta as a means of networking for socio-economic benefit, particularly on the tourism industries of Jordan. “I intend to focus not only on how wasta itself affects this area of economic development, but also how the perception of wasta impacts the development of tourism and international investment in the region,” Zajac said. She will map the networking of businesses in Jordan related to tourism and collect data on the patronage system in the industry.
Dr. Jay Barth, POLI 306: Arkansas Politics and Government Practicum; Category: Professional and Leadership Development. Twice a week, students in Dr. Jay Barth’s “Politics 306 Arkansas Politics and Government Practicum” class will travel to Little Rock to work with entities directly involved with the legislative process, including individual legislators, political party caucuses, interest groups or media outlets. These groups will give the students an insider’s look at the Arkansas General Assembly. With the high price of gasoline, this Odyssey Grant to help pay the students’ transportation costs will ensure that participation in the practicum isn’t a financial burden.
Dr. Robert Dunn, Seismic/Infrasound Investigations of Earthquakes and Convective Storms; Category: Undergraduate Research. Physics student Jean Pierre Rukundo will help upgrade the Hendrix College ring laser this spring to allow it to measure rotation on a north-south axis in addition to the vertical axis. He will operate the ring laser, perform the computer analysis, and help identify the source of the observed responses. The laser can detect seismic waves created by earthquakes and infrasound (very low frequency sound waves) generated by tornadoes, hurricanes, and volcanoes. This is of particular interest to Rukundo. He is a native of Rwanda, which is subject to violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Dr. David Hales, Student Travel to American Chemical Society National Meeting to Present Research. Category: Undergraduate Research. Seventeen students will present the results of their research at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City this March. They will join more than 400 other students from around the nation to share their findings in an undergraduate research poster session. Approximately 12,000 professional chemists and chemical engineers will be attending the meeting, giving the students the chance to network with experts in the field.
Dr. Meghan Probstfield, The Presentation of Sociology Through Visual Mediums and Clinical Frameworks; Category: Undergraduate Research. Dr. Meghan Probstfield will take a group of students to present their visual and clinical sociology projects at the Social Science Association conference in Denver, Colo. Visual sociology projects are photographic essays that involve a personal and integrative statement about a social problem. Clinical sociology is based on the concept of intervention—such as with an individual, group, community, organization or even on a national or global scale—to help create a solution for a social or interpersonal problem.
Dr. Daniel J. Whelan, Global Governance: An Odyssey to Geneva; Category: Undergraduate Research. In May, five students from Dr. Daniel J. Whelan’s International Law and Organizations course will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, to conduct individual research projects. The great majority of the non-political United Nations agencies, funds and programs are based in Geneva, as are many of the largest global NGOs. The students will have access to UN officials and NGO representatives who can share their expertise on a variety of possible topics ranging from human rights, globalization, world trade, refugee issues, climate change, and responses to HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Ann Wright, Physics student travel to APS conference; Category: Undergraduate Research; Physics students Ryan Strickland, Kirk Kimery, Mallory Young, Laura Johnson and John Meredith will present their research at the meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) in Denver, Colo. The APS promotes the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics, and the students will share their findings in a session reserved for undergraduate research. Every year, more than 12,000 of the top scientists involved in physics research and education from around the world attend the APS annual meeting, which will give the students insight into the research done by the leaders in the field.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.