CONWAY, Ark. (May 12, 2022) – The Committee on
Engaged Learning is pleased to announce $114,364.24 in Hendrix Odyssey Program
funding to 27 projects which will allow Hendrix students to study topics that
include the role of music in the Civil Rights Movement, the emotions of
interpersonal hate, the cognitive effects of nature imagery, and more.
Odyssey funding will also support a number of
students’ professional explorations through internships with local, national,
and international entities. Since 2005, the Committee on Engaged Learning has
awarded $4,785,084.26 in competitive Odyssey grants to support 1,484 projects
by Hendrix students and faculty.
Artistic Creativity
Adaja Cooper ’23
Exploring Narrative through Content, Form and Color
at Anderson Ranch
Supervised by Prof. Maxine Payne
In a 5-day immersive painting workshop, Adaja will
gain artistic experience and develop techniques to explore the idea of
‘Narrative’ at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. With
the guidance of onsite painting instructors, the student will be challenged to
think critically about what narrative means in the context of her work and find
creative ways to develop a sense of story in her paintings. This intensive
workshop with also enhance her decision-making process regarding form, patter,
color choice and subject matter.
Global Awareness
Cierra Daniels ’24
Exploration into Wilderness Medicine in Costa Rica
Supervised by Dr. Rick Murray
Through a Wilderness Medicine & Global Health
course from the University of Colorado, Cierra will participate in hands-on
classes to complete a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Certification, gain an
introduction to emergency medicine, and learn more about how to build a career
in healthcare. The student will also learn about specific case studies, examine
scenarios, and participate in demonstrations that include students acting as
patients on the ground or as emergency responders.
Catherine Mariza ’23, Jean Claude Ntambara ’24, Renova
Uwingabire ’23
Cultural Immersion with Rwandan Diaspora in Canada
Supervised by Dr. Anne Goldberg
Through this project, this group of students from
Rwanda seeks to observe the experiences of Rwandan families living in Ottawa,
and to compare and contrast those observations with their own experiences
within the Hendrix community. They expect this to be an opportunity to identify
shared challenges as well as differences between the U.S. and Canada.
Megan Pelley ’23
Immersion in the Medical Field and Culture of Mérida,
Spain
Supervised by Dr. Jennifer Dearolf
Megan will travel to Mérida, Spain during Winter
Break and will immerse herself in a different culture and spend approximately
20 hours shadowing doctors at the local hospital. The student will also explore
Mérida and visit ancient Roman structures to experience Spain’s heritage jewels
and grasp the importance of their culture.
Professional & Leadership Development
Lauren Allen ’24
Official Hendrix Internship: Rise House
Supervised by Dr. Brett Hill
Lauren will be a part of the advocacy team and
receive training as a professional advocate at a local domestic violence
non-profit shelter, serving women in Central Arkansas by advocating for and
assisting survivors of family-based violence and sexual assault.
Kya Carroll ’24
Official Hendrix Internship: Conway Regional Physical
Therapy
Supervised by Dr. Jennifer Dearolf
Through this internship, Kya will assist different
therapy departments at the clinic with activities such as cleaning and
organizing as well as communicating with patients and assisting them with their
non-medical needs.
Oscar Davis ’23
Official Hendrix Internship: Children’s Advocacy
Center
Supervised by Dr. Fred Ernst
Oscar will be responsible for administrative work and
intake procedures, and will observe forensic interviews and learn from
experienced team members the best courses of action for supporting children
served by the organization. The student will be a part of the advocacy team and
will help children and non-offending family members secure basic needs while
they navigate the therapeutic and legal processes.
Ketsia Dusenge ’25
Official Hendrix Internship: MurakozeCoin Application
Supervised by Dr. Mark Goadrich
As an intern for WiredIn Company in Rwanda, Ketsia
will work with the government institutions in charge of making policy regarding
the cryptocurrency market and will also serve as a quality assurance tester
developing automated tests and algorithms of integrating the cryptocurrency
medium of exchange in the “Murakoze” App that will later serve as proof of
concept application.
Chloe Griffith ’23
Official Hendrix Internship: Creating a Court Watch
Training Program: An Internship with the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition
Supervised by Dr. Delphia Shanks
Chloe will work to develop court watch training
materials, coordinate with other court watch groups to standardize the program,
and create a data base to track observations about defendants and judges. By
the end of the internship, the organization will have the tools they need to
start training court watchers and the student will be able to start the process
of starting a court watch chapter at Hendrix College.
Magnolia Hammer ’23
Official Hendrix Internship: Arkansas Attorney
General Office
Supervised by Dr. Daniel Whelan
As an intern, Magnolia will immerse herself in
exploration of the legal and political fields, gain the corresponding skills
required for success in later jobs, and build meaningful connections that could
be instrumental in a future law career focused on women’s rights and domestic
violence issues.
Grace Holmquest ’23
Official Hendrix Internship: Teton County Weed and
Pest District Seasonal Crew Member
Supervised by Dr. Peter Gess
As a crew member for the Teton County Weed and Pest
District in Jackson, Wyoming, Grace will survey landscapes, identify and spot
spray weeds, and aid in mosquito management activities. This experience will
help the student to discern if she would like a long-term career working in the
outdoors, how well-suited she is to this type of physically arduous work. She
will grow her ecological and plant-identification knowledge and apply knowledge
gained through her ecological studies.
Swalat Issa ’25
Official Hendrix Internship in Human Resources and
Talent Acquisition
Supervised by Dr. Fred Ernst
Swalat will gain experience in human resources
management and explore her interest in the field while growing her leadership
and professional skills, such as recruitment and data management, and applying
concepts learned in courses as she prepares for a career after college.
Paloma Macarena ’23
Professional Field Experience: Data Fellow for the
Arkansas Democratic Party Ahead of the 2022 Midterm Elections
Supervised by Dr. Delphia Shanks
In this experience, Paloma will enter data, complete
dataset maintenance, and prepare mailing lists. With an interest in political
advocacy, working as a Data Fellow will give the student her first experience
in the field and in a professional workplace.
Elena Miller ’23
Professional Field Experience with Conway Children’s
Advocacy Center
Supervised by Dr. Anne Goldberg
Elena will assist with family care, wellbeing, and
the registration and documentation process and will have the opportunity to
explore her interest in the field of social work, engaging in hands-on behind
the scenes activism for children and their families, and to improve her
professional communication skills.
Nard Mutayomba Keza ’25
Official Hendrix Internship: Rwanda Ministry of Public
Service and Labor
Supervised by Dr. Mark Goadrich
Nard will be part of a project to modernize the
Ministry’s recruitment processes and will focus on replacing existing methods
and models with faster numerical/statistical simulations while enabling faster analyses
of recruitment data. This internship will give the student hands-on experience
in applying her technology skills.
Phillip Powell ’23
Activism in Central Arkansas (Official Hendrix
Internship with ACADV/Professional Field Experience with DPA)
Supervised by Dr. Daniel Whelan
With an interest in developing leadership skills
while learning about non-profit administration and electoral politics,
Phillip’s combined internship and field experience project will split his time
between the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Democratic
Party of Arkansas. Through entry level work and shadowing professionals at both
organizations, the student will explore potential career paths and strengthen
his organizing, communication, research, and interpersonal skills.
Tajae White ’23
Official Hendrix Internship: Conway Regional Physical
Therapy
Supervised by Dr. Maureen McClung
Through this internship, Tajae will gain a basic
understanding of the primary equipment utilized within a physical therapy
outpatient setting and learn more about the different modalities used in
therapy. The student expects this experience to help in evaluating physical
therapy as a potential career path.
Special Projects
Tanner Barrett ’23 and Will Sewell ’23
The Castelo de Cuncos Archaeological Project
Supervised by Dr. Chris Campolo
Will and Tanner will assist with the recovery and
analysis of artifacts found at a Roman fortified settlement near Redondo,
Portugal, learning how to classify and research findings with the guidance of
certified archeologists. The students expect the project will help them
understand how we create the stories of the past from finding and studying
artifacts of material culture.
Prof. Rod Miller
Senior Art Major Trip to NYC
In conjunction with their required course, ARTH 430
Practicum: Senior Studio, students Grace Capooth ’23, Adaja Cooper ’23, Jalache
Davis ’23, Zion Fletcher ’23, and Michaela Thaibinh ’23 will spend three days
visiting New York City galleries and museums giving the students the chance to
see works of art first-hand and grasp not only the difference between this and
seeing them reproduced but also an understanding of how galleries work and
display art in a variety of contemporary art galleries and modern/historic art
museums. What they glean from the trip will contribute to their written
research project in ARTH 430, their Senior Presentation, and their own art
making and display for the Senior Art Show.
Josiah Vallone ’23
Finding Home – A Memoirist’s Search for Belonging
Supervised by Hope Coulter
With additional funding from the Hendrix-Murphy
Foundation, Josiah will travel the Mediterranean and attend a writer’s workshop
in Greece while continuing revisions on his memoir. The student expects the
project will deepen his understanding of nonfiction, extend his creative
writing portfolio, and enrich his overall liberal arts experience by gaining
distance and new perspective on his origins.
Dean Jim Wiltgen
Music and Civil Rights Movements
With assistance from two students, Garrett Collier ’23
and Adriana Rabell ’24, Dean of Students Jim Wiltgen will organize and conduct
this Fall Break civil rights trip for 13 students. With a focus on the power of
music and its impact on change in society, the group will visit sites in
Alabama and in Memphis, Tennessee.
Undergraduate Research
Dr. Carmen Merrick
The ways we hate: Three studies on the emotion of
interpersonal hate
Working with eight students (Natalie Aikman ’23,
Gabriella Canova ’23, Anna Claire Franklin ’23, Andrea LaChance ’23, Trevor
Larkowski ’22, Sierra Lubetkin ’25, Monica Ramos ’23, and Renova Uwingabire ’23),
Psychology professor Carmen Merrick will study the topics of interpersonal,
intergroup, and political hate, emotion theory, prosocial behavior and
morality, and the distinction between types of hate and other emotions.
Students will gain experience coding data, conducting literature searches,
writing and presenting research summaries, and designing research studies.
Findings will be presented by the students at the Spring 2023 Southeastern
Psychological Association Meeting.
Tommy Caldarera ’25
Analysis of CB1 receptor-agonist molecular dynamics
data to explain activation
Supervised by Dr. Caitlin Scott
Tommy will investigate the cannabinoid CB1 receptor,
a protein that can be activated by the compound THC, which some hope could be
activated by an FDA-approved pain medication without inducing the psychoactive
side effects of THC. In this research project, the student will use computer
software to determine the activation mechanisms of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor
in order to characterize its activated structure. The research will culminate
into a presentation at the MERCURY Conference at Furman University in
Greenville, South Carolina.
Maya Kreczmer ’23
Examining the Effects of Party Finance Regulations: A
Summer Research Experience
Supervised by Dr. Kiril Kolev
Maya will examine how party finance regulations
affect four broad governance outcomes: citizen engagement, electoral integrity,
pluralism, and representation. She will update databases, review relevant
literature, and perform quantitative and qualitative analysis on how party
finance regulations affect three more specific outcomes of interest:
representation of women and minorities, election competitiveness, and
environmental policy. This project will inform the student’s senior capstone
and findings will be presented at the Arkansas Political Science Association
conference in 2023.
Thanaphat Seeboonruang ’24 and Yousef Zonfuly ’24
Synthesis of Noval Chalcones with N-sulfonamides
moiety
Supervised by Dr. Latorya Hicks
Through this project, the students will synthesize
chalcones with N-substituted sulfonamide moieties to test broad-spectrum
antimicrobial efficacy. Chalcones are a compound of great interest due to their
anti-hypertensive, anti-retroviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal,
anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial, and anti-bacterial properties. The
research experience will strengthen the students’ skills to work in a
scientific environment and provide them with transferable skills that can be
utilized in their future professional careers. The findings from this project
will be presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Mary Frances Shannon ’23
Researching the Cognitive Effects of Nature Imagery
Supervised by Dr. Lindsay Kennedy
As a Research Assistant at the University of Utah in
Salt Lake City, Utah, Mary Frances will work on a psychology study to measure
the cognitive effects of nature imagery in comparison to urban imagery and
nature immersion. The student will recruit participants, conduct an experiment,
work with EEG (electroencephalography), collect and analyze data, and present
the findings at the Summer Research Symposium for the Office of Undergraduate
Research at the University of Utah.
Dr. Damon Spayde
Commission and Upgrade a Polarized Helium-3 Test
Stand
Zach Bernheimer ’24 will spend the summer in the
research laboratory of Physics professor Damon Spayde on a project to commission
and upgrade an apparatus designed to polarize samples of helium-3 gas. Zach
will work on a variety of projects ranging from hardware (implementing improved
laser optics) to software (upgrade analysis and control software), work that
will support a broader experimental effort (the NOPTREX collaboration) to find
possible sources of time reversal violation which may be helpful in explaining
the overabundance of matter vs. antimatter observed in our universe. The final
work resulting from this UR project will be presented at either a local meeting
of the Society of Physics Students, a NOPTREX collaboration meeting, or a
national meeting of the American Physical Society.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in
Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the
country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges.
Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix
as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876,
Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To
learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.