Past Winners

Announcing the 2020 Undergraduate Research Awards

Ten undergraduate students are recognized for high achievement in scholarly research and writing

Ten University of Oregon students have been announced winners in the 2020 Undergraduate Research Awards(URA) competition for their excellent research papers and theses. The Undergraduate Research Awards is an annual program sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries that serves to recognize and honor undergraduate students for their extensive research and authorship while using the UO Libraries’ resources.

“UO Libraries is very proud to honor the outstanding scholarship of UO students,” said Interim Dean of Libraries Mark Watson. “Winning an Undergraduate Research Award represents a high level of academic achievement demonstrated by the completion of a research project that involves the substantive use of library materials.”

Access to the winners’ scholarly work will be available electronically in Scholars’ Bank, the library’s digital archive for UO research and publications.

The Research Award is funded by the Milton C. and Barbara B. Sparks and Jon and Lisa Stine endowments, as well as gifts from Walter and Gretchen Barger.

2020 Winners in Multi-Term Thesis Category

Cheyenne Dakota Collins
Major: Anthropology
Faculty Sponsor: Jeanne McLaughlin, Anthropology

Preliminary Decomposition Study in the Willamette Valley of Oregon: Multi-Method Comparison and Sharp Force Trauma Effects
“The library staff was absolutely exceptional throughout the entire process. Whenever I had an issue accessing a document or finding a source, they were always ready and willing to help. Without the resources provided by the UO library, this project would likely never have occurred. The research process required to complete this thesis led to enormous growth on my part. The literature review process not only allowed me to understand the state of current research within my desired career field, but it also prepared me for a graduate program focusing in this field."

Cameron R. Davis
Major: Communication Disorders and Sciences
Faculty Sponsor: Samantha Shune, Communication Disorders and Sciences

Post-stroke Dysphagia’s Impact on Survivors and Spousal Caregivers: The Importance of Perceptual Congruence
“I quickly realized that having a large bank of scholarly articles saved was immeasurably helpful. It allowed me to look for research to fill the gaps in my literature review. This stage of my research also helped me decide which theoretical frameworks to include as part of my data analysis . . . Seeing this large project through to completion developed my sense of self-efficacy and my motivation to complete projects in the future . . . Completing this thesis project showed me the joys and challenges of academic research."

Jordan Kalani Harden
Major: English
Faculty Sponsor: Kirby Brown, English

Understanding Native Hawaiian Land Relations Through Kanaka Maoli Literature
“The idea of a “thesis” seemed so scary, like such an enormous task. But the act of research never felt burdensome, which was perhaps one of the most significant surprises of my education. As I was developing my work, I continually found sources that inspired me to add new sections to my thesis."

Nelson A. Perez-Catalan
Major: Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Chris Doe, Biology

Jack-of-all-trades, The Role of Astrocytes in Circuit Formation and Plasticity
“I am certain that these academic skills learned through my scholarly training at the UO will again prove beneficial when pursuing new questions during graduate school, and in the process of finding my academic niche. I look forward to keep pursuing the path of neural development while maintaining my commitment towards question-driven curiosity."

Siena Polk
Major: International Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Galen Martin, International Studies

Fossil Foodscapes: Examining the United States’ Carbon Diet
“Through this pursuit, I have become more capable and confident in myself as a student and feel certain that I will carry these tools with me into the future.... I have been thinking about writing my senior thesis since my freshman year, but it was not until meeting with a librarian that the process truly began . . . While I certainly learned a lot in terms of how to conduct research through working on my thesis, the process also allowed me to learn more about myself and grow as a student. Of all the lessons learned throughout this process, the most important was discovering the value of collaboration…Ultimately, the privilege of accessing knowledge has never been more clear to me. I am profoundly grateful for the resources and assistance available through the library.”

Eleanor Rochester
Major: General Science
Faculty Sponsor: Melissa Graboyes, Clark Honors College

“I Don’t Have Deaths on my Conscience”: the Impact of a Peer-Delivered Naloxone Program on a Community of Intravenous Drug Users in Eugene, Oregon
“This project pushed me as a scholar in many ways. But perhaps the most lasting impact of this process has been that it pushed me to think of myself as a researcher. While challenging, it was ultimately empowering to hold my own work to the same standard as published research in my field. Since graduation, I have adapted my thesis and submitted it for publication. Without the resources of the library, this would not have been possible."

Miriam Thielman
Major: Spanish and Religious Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah A. Green, Religious Studies

“You Shall Not Oppress a Resident Alien”: The Conception of Immigrants in the Hebrew Bible
“I utilized the library’s document delivery service during my time abroad, and I was able to download and read PDF copies of articles and book chapters....I owe a great debt to the librarians at the Knight Library for sending me scan after scan of commentaries and book chapters that I otherwise would not have been able to access, as I worked remotely due to the quarantine during the final phase of writing and revision. I am much obliged to Barbara Jenkins, research librarian and specialist in Religious Studies at the Knight Library, for helping me to find sources when I had difficulties doing so. I am also indebted to the other indefatigable librarians of the Knight Library . . . ”

Eleanor Hart Williams
Major: Environmental Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Mark Carey, Environmental Studies

Miscarriages of Justice: Examining Environmental Reproductive Injustices within Native American Communities
“The UO Libraries have supported me throughout my entire undergraduate career but I never appreciated them as much as when I was writing my thesis. The years of helpful insight on how to form a search query or find appropriate peer-reviewed articles came to a head in those last few months. Additionally, they provided quiet spaces away from the rest of campus to focus, find the physical books I needed, and even hold telephone interviews for my thesis. The pressure and stress of creating and defending a thesis was the most defining moment for me as a scholar and a person. I learned my limits, strengths, resiliency, and tenacity through a seemingly condensed period of time that resulted in a thesis I am truly proud of and consider one of my greatest achievements."

2020 Winners in Single-term Paper Category

Gracia Dodds
Major: Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
Faculty Sponsor: Judith Raiskin, Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies

She’s Straight but She’s a Dyke: Sexuality Discourse on the Lesbian Lands
“All of my research came from the library; I drew from the archives and oral interviews from women involved in the lesbian-feminist scene in Oregon. Before this course, I had rarely checked out a book from the library. However, this goldmine of research pushed me to understand the value of collecting and organizing archival research. The library and staff have been integral in my research process and provided the inspiration to continue this project. I have found queer history entangled into my family history, my hometown history, and my own history. I am grateful to have the opportunity to use the library’s resources extensively, and I look forward to continuing my time immersed in archival research.”

Taylor Griggs
Major: Media Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Gretchen Soderlund, SOJC Media Studies

Mickey Mouse and Multiculturalism: Disney’s Global Capitalism
“I was able to be creative with my own thinking because I had evidence of other academics being creative with theirs . . . Doing this kind of research and writing can be draining, especially when you’re new to it, but for those inclined to like it, time spent in the library is precious. I was privileged to be able to spend this time analyzing my own thought processes in comparison to the wealth of information I was able to access, and I was lucky enough to have a lot of fun doing it."

Eight students win 2018 Undergraduate Research Awards

Eight University of Oregon students who authored outstanding research papers and theses during the 2018 calendar year have been named winners in the university's Undergraduate Research Awards competition, sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries.

Now in its 15th year, the annual program recognizes students who produce exceptional original research and scholarship using UO Libraries collections and resources. Award winners received $1,000-$1,500 and the recognition of having their work digitally archived in Scholars' Bank, the UO's institutional repository.

"These awards honor our students' oustanding research and scholarship, work which requires a deep engagement with the literature of various disciplines, with critical thinking and with the technical act of strong writing itself," said Susan Breckenridge, assistant dean of libraries, at the May 22 award ceremony in the Knight Library Browsing Room. "Research papers and articles like the ones we honor today help us expand our stores of the knowledge of humankind."

Read Abstracts and Winning Papers on UO Libraries' Scholar's Bank

Benner, Rachel. Brand Activism: Working Toward Progressive Representations of Social Movements in Advertising

Bieker, Jacob. Using Deep Learning for FACT Source Detection

Jones, Ellie Sophie. Plastic Debris in Deep-Sea Canyon, Estuarine, and Shoreline Sediments

Louie, Elmira. Sa’di and the Safavid: The Material Culture of a Treasured Persian Manuscript Now at UO

McClain, Sierra. When Worlds Collide: Manichaeism and Christianity in Late Antiquity

McGee, Samantha. Portrayals of Power: The Local Identity of Three Cypriot Sarcophagi from the Fifth Century BCE

Nouboussi Nkenfack, Nelly M. The Ethics of Developing New Treatments: A Case Study of the West African Ebola Outbreak and the Use of Randomized Control Trials

Wilms-Crowe, Momo. Challenges to Democratic Inclusion and Contestation of Space: Contemporary Student Activists in Transforming South Africa

Winners in the multiterm thesis category were marine biology major Ellie Sophie Jones and three students who graduated in spring of 2018: Rachel Benner, who studied media studies and advertising; Jacob Bieker, who studied physics and computer and information science; and Samantha McGee, who studied anthropology.

Honorees in the term paper category were comparative literature major Elmira Louie, biology major Nelly Nouboussi Nkenfack and political science major Momo Wilms-Crowe, plus Sierra McClain, who completed her undergraduate work in history in spring 2018 and currently is enrolled in a master's degree program in the School of Journalism and Communication.

Winners were selected by a committee of UO librarians and members of the teaching faculty. Criteria for the awards included the quality of applicants' research papers or projects as well as their bibliographies and application essays articulating the use of library resources and services. Each nominee for the Undergraduate Research Award must also secure letters of recommendation and the sponsorship of a faculty member.

Dean Walton, the Lory Lokey Science and Technology Outreach Librarian, has served on the awards committee for the past five years and hosted this year's awards ceremony.

"Faculty members help students submit the papers that they think are the best of the best," he said. "Working on the committee is wonderful because we get to read not just the best, but the best of the best of the best. The winners here today are at that level."

Librarians and library staff members Carolina Hernandez, Jennifer O’Neal, Clara Piazzola, Jeff Staiger and Bruce Tabb received special ackowledgement from the awardees for their help and contributions to the students' research projects.

Breckenridge noted, "I hope that all the students at the University of Oregon will think of librarians as their partners and guides as they navigate this complex world. The library can be a catalyst for your research and writing practice."

The Undergraduate Research Awards are funded by the UO Libraries' Milton C. and Barbara B. Sparks and Jon and Lisa Stine endowments, as well as gifts from Walter and Gretchen Barger.

Rachel Benner

Brand Activism: Working Toward Progressive Representations of Social Movements in Advertising
Brands and advertising agencies have always used the cultural energy of social movements to connect to new audiences and promote their products. Academics have written a large body of critique about the intersection of social movements and marketing, but it is largely ignored by the advertising industry. This thesis addresses that disconnect, helping advertisers address critical discourse around social movements and brands, leading to industry success and progressive allyship with social movements. After exploring studies of social movements’ framing in advertising messages, this project assesses the strengths and weaknesses of those frames with a theoretical model. In-depth interviews with advertising professionals shape a best practices guide for creating activist ads. Advertisers today can leverage successful framing strategies to address social movements in their work by extending existing critical conversations about brand activism beyond large-scale strategy and into the message creation process. They can also succeed by giving their brand activism the context of tangible action and responsibly researching the audience they seek to reach with their messaging.
Using Deep Learning for FACT Source Detection
Cosmic rays bombard the Earth constantly, causing air showers that contain information about the original particle and potentially about that particle's source. Determining if an air shower is from a gamma-ray or a hadron is a difficult problem to solve. Current methods primarily use a machine learning technique called random forests to determine whether a given event is from a gamma-ray or hadron, as well as the initial energy and source position in the sky by using the image an air shower makes in a detector. Another type of machine learning algorithm called neural networks has been shown to work very well on tasks involving images, in some
cases outperforming random forests. This project aims to improve three tasks: determining the particle's type, energy, and source location using data from the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT).
Plastic Debris in Deep-Sea Canyon, Estuarine, and Shoreline Sediments
Recent calculations estimate there are currently 5.25 trillion plastic particles afloat in the ocean. Many of these are characterized as microplastics <5mm in diameter. Studies from the past decade have shown that no ecosystem is exempt from plastic contamination. This study examined box core sediment samples from Norfolk Canyon, box core and PONER grab samples from the Coos Bay Estuary, and belt transects along the Oregon shoreline to investigate plastic in marine sediments. The average microplastic density in Norfolk Canyon was 12.95 particles per liter of sediment within the canyon, and 2.04 particles per liter of sediment on the adjacent continental slope. I hypothesize that canyons concentrate microplastics due to down-canyon turbidity currents. In the Coos Bay Estuary, the highest density of microplastics was found in the mouth of the estuary. I hypothesize that plastics can sink due to the front created at the intersection between oceanic and estuarine waters, and can become concentrated around geologically structured areas in the estuary mouth. Using belt transects, I surveyed plastic densities on the northern and southern sides of Yaquina Head, Cape Perpetua, and Cape Blanco. Higher plastic densities were found on the southern beaches in each case. I hypothesize that microplastics may be carried onshore by winds, which blow onto southern-facing beaches on Oregon's coast during the winter. It is important to understand where plastics and concentrated in marine sediments in order to form hypotheses about both horizontal and vertical transport of plastic in the ocean.
Sa'di and the Safavid: The Material Culture of a Treasured Persian Manuscript Now at UO
The Burgess MS 43 manuscript of Sai'di's Gulistan and Bustan, now at University of Oregon Special Collections Archive, was created in 1615 CE in Persia. It was later transported to Europe, where the original Persian leather binding was swapped for a more European style: soft, red velvet with two silver clasps. According to a book seller's catalogue entry, this manuscript once belonged to John Ruskin, the preeminent art theorist of Victorian England. His view of a Persian manuscript eloquently depicts the richly decorated first page, "wrought with wreathed azure and gold, and soft green and violet, and ruby and scarlet, into one field of pure resplendence. It is wrought to delight the eyes only; and it does delight them." The intricate illuminated ornaments open a window to the Safavid dynasty. In this paper, I will reconstruct the manuscript's original historical and cultural context, returning us to seventeenth-century Shiraz.
When Worlds Collide: Manichaeism and Christianity in Late Antiquity
Trade and travel played a tremendous role in connecting Sasanian and Roman empires in late antiquity. Yet this exchange between Persia and Rome was not confined to the movement of peoples and objects; it encompassed the movement of religious ideas. Giving readers a front-row seat to the turbulent 3rd-5th centuries CE, this paper educates about the spread of religion between east and west-- the reverberations of which are still felt today. The spread of Manichaeism, founded by 3rd century prophet Mani, is addressed. Manichaeism, because it did not survive as a global religion to the present, has often been overlooked by modern academia. Yet at its height, Manichaeism was one of the world's most prominent religions. Additionally, this paper explores the spread of Christianity in late antiquity. Although Christianity's diffusion has been widely studied, its penetration into the Arab world has often been overlooked. This paper explores the interchange between east and west.
Portrayals of Power: The Local Identity of Three Cypriot Sarcophagi from the Fifth Century BCE
Cyprus’ location just beneath the Anatolian peninsula has made the island a meeting ground of many of the iconic Mediterranean powers of history, including Greece, Egypt, Assyria, and Persia. There has been a great deal of research on the way Cyprus was influenced by external forces, as well as how these cultural influences were engaged and manipulated on the island. Yet more research is needed with a primary focus on the local identity and use of Cypriot material culture. Therefore, this thesis seeks to reorient the focus of the study of Cypriot antiquities towards their internal context by analyzing the local significance of three Cypriot sarcophagi with relief sculpture from the first half of the fifth century BCE. These three objects are similar in date and form, and they are from three different cities: Amathous, Golgoi, and Palaipafos, providing context for inter-island diversity at a time of extreme political and cultural turmoil in Cyprus. I explore how the context of these sarcophagi’s iconography within Cyprus, and the use of sarcophagi as items of funerary ritual, impacted the understanding of these objects in their local communities. The Amathous sarcophagus uses local imagery, both mythological and elite, to create a demonstration of power, the Golgoi sarcophagus includes scenes indicative of cosmopolitan elite status, and finally, the Palaipafos sarcophagus has imagery that arguably relates to Homeric epics, and presents a heroic narrative. Overall, these sarcophagi are all varying local responses to island-wide events that would have impacted their local communities; and these impacts are evident in the iconography used to demonstrate the elite status, heroic qualities, and political power of the deceased.
The Ethics of Developing New Treatments: A Case tudy of the West African Ebola Outbreak and the Use of Randomized Control Trials
The 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic was the most devastating Ebola outbreak in history which killed over 10,000 people. During the outbreak, the WHO led efforts to design the best method to test the potential treatments quickly. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were proposed as the best method, although many experts opposed their use, deeming them inappropriate in the context of an epidemic. Despite the long debates, RCTs were used to test the available treatments. This paper presents the arguments given in support of and against RCTs, and analyzes a few RCTs conducted to answer the following question: “were RCTs effective at helping researchers fight the epidemic?” This paper argues that RCTs were not the best approach for two reasons: the principle of equipoise requires that the available treatments be provided to patients; if RCTs were to be used, they should have begun earlier to ensure the validity of the findings.
Challenges to Democratic Inclusion and Contestation of Space: Contemporary Student Activists in Transforming South Africa
Twenty-four years into democracy, in a time marked by stark inequality and rising levels of political disillusionment, student activists are key players in the pursuit of a more just, more equitable, and more democratic South Africa. Using universities as spaces to contest, disrupt, and challenge the status quo, student activists challenge narratives of youth political apathy and act as agents of change, encouraging society to meet the goals established in the 1996 Constitution, the document enshrining the very promises they were born into believing would be their reality. Through mobilization and organizing, student actors boldly engage in questions of substantive equality and reveal the limits of South African democracy, highlighting especially how a hegemonic neoliberal framework has coopted radical transformation and maintained exclusionary principles. Yet, while #FeesMustFall protests in 2015-2016 temporarily garnered international media awareness and scholarly recognition, prolonged attention to student activism is lacking in the field of democratization and youth are often popularly conceived as apathetic or disengaged from politics. This study aims to correct this epistemological oversight by focusing on students as political agents and their contributions to the process of social transformation. This focus is especially important in Africa, the youngest continent on earth, where youth hold a key role in the process of development and democratization, but has global relevance. Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus groups with student activists at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) and a review of secondary literature, this project reflects on the role that student activists and institutions of higher learning play in the larger project of transforming post-94 society and deepening South African democracy. Informed by the voices of student activists involved in #FeesMustFall and more recent campaigns against gender based violence, this study considers how student activists operate within and beyond the university to influence social change. Ultimately, I focus on how student activists conceptualize their role in creating a new social order and how that ideal translates into action. As student activists are often misunderstood, misrepresented or overlooked all together, this work fills a critical space and has important implications for our understanding of transformation in post-94 South Africa. Moreover, examining students and universities has critical significance to the larger field of democratization and international affairs as the parallels between the state and the university reveals compromised experiences of citizenship and the urgency in addressing democratic deficit at a global scale in all spheres of society.

Seven students earn 2018 Undergraduate Research Awards

Read the Winning Papers on UO Libraries' Scholar's Bank

Couch, Tiffany. WE THE PEOPLE: Populism and Party Realignment in the United States

Dorning, Sandra. From Voluntary to Monitored: The Development of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna

Dorning, Sandra. The Ecology and Demography of the Invasive Ascidian Botrylloides violaceus in the Coos Estuary

McLaughlin, Drew J. Individual Variation in the Perception of Speech in Multiple Types of Adverse Listening Conditions

Rothman, Angela. Well-Intentioned but Ineffective: A Legislative History of the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 2001

Schnell, Breanne. Stop Comparing Nollywood to Hollywood: Reorienting Western Understanding of Nigerian Cinema

Steinkopf-Frank, Hannah Rose. La Sape: Tracing the History and Future of the Congos' Well-Dressed Men

Tabor, Rowan Patrick. “The Plague Ship:” Examining the Arrival and Controversial Quarantine of the J.W. Taylor at The Port of New York in 1899

“These students exemplify the best in academic achievement, scholarship and research,” said UO Provost Jayanth Banavar. “They have trained to be the scientists, the historians, the authors and writers of the future. We are all proud of their accomplishments.”

Winners were selected by a committee of UO librarians and members of the teaching faculty. Criteria for the awards included the quality of each applicants’ research paper or project, as well as their bibliography and an application essay articulating the use of library resources and services. Each nominee for the Undergraduate Research Awards must secure the sponsorship of a faculty member, and their letters of recommendation also are reviewed by the awards committee. Each award winner received $1,000 and the recognition of having their work digitally archived in Scholars' Bank, UO's institutional repository.

Barbara Jenkins, the outreach and special programs coordinator with UO Libraries and chair of the Research Award Committee, noted that 42 applications were received in 2017 -- the most submitted in any year since the awards’ inception.

"Seven schools and colleges and 23 majors and programs were represented in the pool of applicants," Jenkins said. "The papers and projects showcase the rich intellectual diversity of student research and give testament to the vital roles that librarians and library resources play in helping to ensure students' success."

The Undergraduate Research Awards are funded by the UO Libraries' Milton C. and Barbara B. Sparks and Jon and Lisa Stine endowments, as well as gifts from Walter and Gretchen Barger.

Announcing the 2017 Undergraduate Research Award Winners

UO Libraries honors five students for outstanding achievement in scholarship

Five University of Oregon students who authored outstanding research papers and theses during the 2016 calendar year have been named winners in the university's Undergraduate Research Awards competition. Sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries, the annual program honors UO students who produce exceptional original research and scholarship using UO Libraries collections and resources. A reception honoring the recipients was held in the Knight Library Browsing Room on Friday, May 13, 2016.

“All of us in the UO Libraries are proud to honor these outstanding students and the faculty members who mentored them during their research projects,” said Adriene Lim, dean of libraries and Philip H. Knight Chair. “The celebration of this exemplary work allows us also to highlight the crucial role that librarians and library resources and services provide in the University’s efforts to ensure undergraduate student success.”

Barbara Jenkins, the library's coordinator of outreach and special programs, serves as chair of the Undergraduate Research Awards Committee. "Each year the committee enjoys seeing papers and projects that showcase the rich intellectual diversity of student research on campus," she said. "It is exciting to see the students’ passions, growth as scholars, and their special relationships with their faculty mentors."

Electronic copies of all winning students’ work will be deposited in Scholars’ Bank, the library’s open access digital archive for UO research, publications, and supporting materials.

The Undergraduate Research Awards are made possible by endowments established through the generous support of Gretchen and Walt Barger, Lisa and Jon Stine, and Barbara Blinco Sparks.

Winner in the Thesis Category

Claire E. Aubin

Major: International Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Faculty Sponsor: Julie Hessler, History

The Internationalization of Atrocity: John Demjanjuk and the Politics of Post-War Justice

War crimes trials have always been the subject of both political and legal controversies, and are often highly reflective of the changing nature of justice. One such set of trials centered on the case of Ivan “John” Demjanjuk, the first naturalized U.S. citizen to be denaturalized twice, the first accused Nazi extradited from the U.S. to Israel, and the accidental poster boy for the didactic capacity of the international legal system. The Demjanjuk case calls into question the efficacy of a global legal system so tied to external political realities, as well as highlights the failures and strengths of that system as the arbiter of justice. Using existing literature and archival materials, this thesis examines the effects that political and social circumstances have on the development of a specific war crimes trial, while offering contextual information on the broader nature of post-war justice for the victims and perpetrators of atrocity.

Winners in the Term Paper Category

Augustine Beard

Major: History and Environmental Studies

Faculty Sponsor: Mark Carey, Robert D. Clark Honors College

“Enemy in the Forests: Narratives and Fires in the Pacific Northwest”

Contemporary historians, ecologists, and foresters agree that the policy of all-out suppression of forest fires was misguided and that it led to the proliferation of highly flammable fuels contributing to larger, more frequent fires over time and up to today. While historians have examined the role of science, the state, and capitalism in fire suppression policies, there is a need to turn to the use of narrative and discourse to better understand the motivation behind fire suppression. Using the Pacific Northwest as a case study, this article draws on sources from fire prevention campaigns that developed out of World War II and the fear that forest fires would threaten the war effort. It shows how organizations such as Keep Oregon Green, Keep Washington Green, American Forest Products Industries, Inc., and the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention campaign made fire a “foreign enemy” through racialized iconography and associating fire prevention with national defense. The timber and wood products industries were portrayed as the heroes in the fight against fire, normalizing the presence of capitalism in the forests. In the end, the fire-enemy narrative that saw fires as foreign and detrimental to forests was as much concerned with protecting timber capital as it was with extinguishing flames.

Tate James

Major: Comparative Literature and Creative Writing

Faculty Sponsor: Alisa Freedman, East Asian Languages and Literatures

"Magical Girl Martyrs: Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Purity, Beauty, and Passivity"

This paper discusses whether Akiyuki Shinbo’s anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011), is an effective critique of the magical girl genre. Many critics have claimed that the show is progressive. They cite the fact that the show blurs the line between innocent young girls and evil old women, which have historically been dichotomized in magical girl shows, as well as its handling of complex female characters as evidence for a positive reading. While Madoka Magica does make important headway in the realm of dismantling harmful female archetypes, the moral judgments the show assigns to those archetypes problematizes such a positive reading. This paper examines the magical girl genre’s history as well as Madoka Magica’s treatment of nonlinear storytelling, female agency, and purity in order to assess the effectiveness of its critique. The conclusion that is argued is that Madoka Magica is not especially progressive compared to other magical girl shows.

Michael McIntosh

Major: Economics and Political Science

Faculty Sponsor: Ron Mitchell, Political Science

"International Agreement Effectiveness: A Case Study Using the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty"

With global environmental problems reaching an all-time high, international cooperation in addressing them becomes ever more important. The widely agreed-upon key to facilitating this cooperation is international environmental agreements. However, many agreements that have already been reached to solve environmental issues have been impotent thus far (e.g., the Kyoto Protocol, the Basel Convention). There are a number of factors that determine the potential effectiveness of an international environmental agreement. This piece discusses several of those factors and applies them in the case of the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty between the United States and Canada to explain what constitutes a compelling international environmental agreement.

Angela Rothman

Major: History and Political Science

Faculty Sponsor: Ellen Herman, History

"Revolutionary Theatricality: Dramatized American Protest, 1967-1968"

Protests against established power in the United States grew between the years 1967 and 1968 when dramatic aspects of political and cultural rebellion manifested in theatrical methods. Prominent examples include the early radicalism of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the production of Paradise Now by the Living Theatre, the Broadway cast production of the musical Hair, and the Festival of Life by the Yippie movement outside the Chicago Democratic National Convention. During this intense period of domestic conflict, these activists embraced radical theater as a visible form of protest. This visibility was necessary to engage a complex and erratic American public who, inundated by conflicts of the era, could better understand the movements’ beliefs and intentions through the groups’ theatrical methods. This study uses the scripts of plays, the writings of the movements’ leaders, and secondary analysis of the conflicts in which these groups participated to argue that each borrowed tactics from one another to bolster the effectiveness of “revolutionary theatricality.” Because of such tactics, the United States in the late 1960s was a domestic theater of war: the home front of the Vietnam War was almost as turbulent a society in its own way as was the conflict in Vietnam itself.

Graduating Seniors: Papers and theses written in the Winter and Fall Terms of 2017 are eligible for next year's Undergratuate Research Awards. Apply before you leave campus!

Deadline: Friday, June 16, 2017

Announcing the 2016 Undergraduate Research Award Winners

UO Libraries honors six students for outstanding achievement in scholarship

Six University of Oregon students who authored outstanding research papers and theses during the 2015 calendar year have been named winners in the university's Undergraduate Research Awards competition. Sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries, the annual program honors UO students who produce exceptional original research and scholarship using UO Libraries collections and resources. A reception honoring the recipients was held in the Knight Library Browsing Room on Friday, May 13, 2016.

“We are proud to honor these outstanding students and the faculty members who mentored them during their research projects,” said Adriene Lim, dean of libraries and Philip H. Knight chair. “The celebration of their work allows us also to appreciate the UO Libraries’ role in ensuring undergraduate student success and our engagement in enriching the student experience, which are among the university’s highest priorities.”

URA winners cited librarians Jonathan Cain, Jennifer O'Neal, Miriam Rigby, Dean Walton, David Woken, Annie Zeidman-Karpinski, and Kaiping Zhang for providing valuable guidance through the research process.

Electronic copies of all winning students’ work will be deposited in Scholars’ Bank, the library’s open access digital archive for UO research, publications, and supporting materials.

The Undergraduate Research Awards are made possible by endowments established through the generous support of Gretchen and Walt Barger, Lisa and Jon Stine, and Barbara Blinco Sparks.

Winners in the Thesis Category

Luciano Dolcini-Catania

Major: Psychology and Sociology

Faculty Sponsor: Barbara Mossberg, Robert D. Clark Honors College

Temperament and Symptom Pathways to the Development of Adolescent Depression

This study examined the influence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms during early adolescence on the subsequent development of depressive disorder. The role that temperament plays in predisposing individuals to these particular pathways was also examined. Logistical regression analyses revealed that internalizing symptoms and social-externalizing problems were significant risk pathways to the development of depression. Moreover, high levels of effortful control acted as a protective factor for the development of depression across both symptom pathways, suggesting that it may be an important target for prevention strategies.

Dawn Le

Major: Anthropology

Faculty Sponsor: Diane Baxter, Anthropology

Finding “Home” as a Palestinian-American: An Oral History Project of One Man’s Life Story

For immigrants and refugees, the concept of “home” is seldom a concrete definition, as the question of where “home” is - either in the country of origin or the new country - activates a tension in self-identity. For the Palestinian immigration and refugee experience, the longstanding Arab-Israeli Conflict produces an even more complex tension. The purpose of this study is to explore this tension in a Palestinian-American context. An oral history project about Ibrahim Hamide, a restaurateur and human rights activist in Eugene, Oregon, it sheds light on post-trauma resilience and documents a piece of history for the Eugene community.

Caellagh Morrissey

Major: History and International Studies

Faculty Sponsor: Lindsay Braun, History

Fugitive Queens: Amakhosikazi and the Continuous Evolution of Gender and Power in KwaZulu-Natal (1816-1889)

Scholars widely recognize that Amakhosikazi (elite women) played a vital role within the Zulu pre-colonial state. However, histories have categorized these women as accessory to the lives of powerful men. Through close readings of oral traditions, travelogues, and government documentation, this thesis discusses how amakhosikazi exhibited power, and tracks changes in their social position from the early years of the Zulu chiefdom in the 1750s until the 1887 annexation by British forces. As a result of changes in women’s access to male power sources, elite women became marginalized in both Zulu and colonial political structures.

Claire Weil

Major: International Studies and Economics

Faculty Sponsor: Galen Martin, International Studies and Environmental Studies

Genocide Prevention in the 21st Century: the Central African Republic

This thesis explores how genocide prevention has progressed in the twenty-first century with an examination of the crisis in the Central African Republic. This project demonstrates that tools created to prompt prevention and reaction to genocide have been effective but the frameworks through which the international community addresses genocide must be enlarged for the sustainability of the intervention. Through showing that genocide prevention in the Central African Republic has been effective, this research highlights the importance of continuously adapting our methods of prevention to create durable visions of peace.

Winners in the Term Paper Category

David Brunk

Major: Economics and History

Faculty Sponsor: James Mohr, History

The Reading Railroad 1892-1893: Combination to Collapse

When the Reading Railroad combined with two other railroad companies in 1892, it controlled more than half of New York City’s market for anthracite coal. Twelve months later, the company collapsed. This paper tracks the events of those twelve months, particularly the actions of the Reading’s president, Archibald A. McLeod, or as his contemporaries called him, “the Napoleon of Railroads.” The story displays important features of American railroad business during the 1890’s: the role of government, monopolistic discourse, and divergent meanings of a company.

Paulla Santos

Major: History

Faculty Sponsor: Julie Weise, History

Sexuality, Gender, and U.S. Imperialism after Philippine Independence: An Examination of Gender and Sexual Stereotypes of Pilipina Entertainment Workers and U.S. Servicemen

This paper examines the continuation of U.S. imperialism in the Philippines after Philippine Independence in 1946 through the gendered and sexual stereotypes of U.S. men and Philippine women. These perceptions of the women as submissive and dependent were constructed through women’s interactions with U.S. military men, who were seen as powerful and wealthy. This paper connects the events around U.S. military bases at that time to present-day stereotypes associated with Asian-born women married to U.S. men in the United States, as well as the current discussions of reopening U.S. military bases in the Philippines.

2014 Undergraduate Research Award Winners Announced

UO Libraries honors six students for outstanding scholarly achievement

Six University of Oregon students who authored outstanding research papers and theses during the 2014 calendar year have been named winners in the university's Undergraduate Research Awards competition.

Sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries, the annual program honors UO students who produce exceptional original research and scholarship using resources available through the Libraries.

A reception honoring the recipients was held in the Knight Library Browsing Room on Friday, May 15, 2015.

Electronic copies of all winning students’ work have been deposited in Scholars’ Bank, the library’s open access archive for UO research, publications, and supporting materials in digital form.

The Undergraduate Research Awards are made possible by endowments established through the generous support of Gretchen and Walt Barger, Lisa and Jon Stine, and Barbara Blinco Sparks.

For more information on the awards--including information about how to apply for the 2015 awards-- visit http://library.uoregon.edu/undergrad-research-award.

Winners of $1,000 in the Thesis Category

Brandon Parry

Major: Ethnic Studies and History

Paper Title: All-American Babyfaces, Un-American Heels: Race and Nationalism Inside the Squared Circle

Faculty Sponsor: Brian Klopotek, Department of Ethnic Studies

Library Recognition: "David Woken, Miriam Rigby, Yen Tran, Barbara Jenkins, and the rest of the University of Oregon Library staff who saved me hours of time in helping find and access resources that were essential in helping me complete this project."

Student Quote: "Writing this paper has convinced me that academic research is something that I am interested in doing as a career. The staff, space, and materials associated with the University of Oregon made the process of writing a multi-term research paper as painless as it could possibly be. My experience working extensively with library resources has reinforced to me that there is an academic field that exists that is interested in the topics that capture my imagination."

Neema Sahebi

Major: History

Paper Title: Winning the Wrong War: How the United States Lost the Will of the Iraqi People

Faculty Sponsor: Alexander Dracobly, Department of History

Library Recognition: "While I did not work closely with any particular faculty member, the resources I used for the project came almost entirely from Knight Library . . . I used the library’s online database to check out virtually every book in stock on the subject matter. Furthermore, I used the plethora of hyperlinks attached to every book’s profile [in the Library catalog] in order to come across other possible books of interest."

Student Quote: "This project has taught me how to find credible information and, more importantly, how to use it to generate my own thoughts. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned, however, is the great importance of exposing myself to ideas that contradict and oppose my own. I have learned that in doing so one pushes his mind to great lengths and tests the validity and integrity of his own thoughts. This paper has taught me to have no fear in completely altering my thoughts and opinions."

Winners of $1,000 in the Single-term Paper Category

Zach Bigalke

Major: History

Paper Title: Anything But Ringers: Historical Sketches of the Soccer Hotbeds that Produced the 1930 U.S. World Cup Team

Faculty Sponsor: Ellen Herman, Department of History

Library Recognition: "The library system at the University of Oregon provided the raw materials that allowed me to produce this academic creation. The interface of the library’s request system was easy to use, and each time a new book came in the crew at the checkout desk was helpful and friendly in quickly retrieving my materials."

Student Quote: "Until I started work on this paper, I had never been involved in crafting a paper in an academic fashion on a sports-related topic. Combining two of my passions, sports and history, thus allowed me to grow as a writer and a historian and has improved subsequent writing I have produced as a result . . . Each time I searched through the catalog and surfed through the stacks offered an opportunity to expand my understanding of how sports do not exist in a vacuum within society; rather, each new wrinkle illuminated further the fact that sports help shape and are in turn shaped by the societies in which they are played."

Ayantu Megerssa

Major: International Studies, Clark Honors College

Paper Title: Assimilation and Activism: An Analysis of Native Boarding School Curriculum and Native Student Activism in the 20th Century

Faculty Sponsors: Kevin Hatfield, Department of History and Jennifer O'Neal, UO Libraries

Library Recognition: "This research would have been an insurmountable feat without the UO Library resources, and without the incredible breadth of knowledge and willingness to help on the part of UO Archivist and Librarian Jennifer O’Neal . . . I utilized an extensive array of resources throughout my research process, both those owned by the Knight Library, and those accessible to me through ILL and Summit. In Special Collections, I spent a great deal of time working with historic periodicals, such as The Weekly Chemawa American collection, a historic student newspaper published at Chemawa Indian Boarding School in Salem, Oregon."

Student Quote: "Ultimately, utilizing a broad array of library resources allowed me to grow as a scholar as I attempted to piece together primary sources in order to tell my own version of the past. Because information on my topic was not readily available in textbooks or through Google searches, the library guided me in my pursuit of seemingly unattainable information. Because of resources available to me through the UO Libraries, I do not have to settle with accepting the narratives of historians past, but rather I have the power to make history as I see fit."

Mairin Peck

Major: Human Physiology and Spanish, Clark Honors College

Paper Title: Ecuador's Yasuni-ITT Initiative: A Case Study on International Climate Change Mitigation Narratives

Faculty Sponsor: Mark Carey, Clark Honors College

Library Recognition: "Professor Carey put me in contact with [History & Latin American Studies Librarian] David Woken, and a meeting with him yielded a goldmine of primary resources. David was an essential resource throughout my entire research process; without his guidance, my bilingual investigation would not have been possible."

Student Quote: "I was eager to incorporate my existing academic interests into my topic . . . I began investigating the relationships between climate, culture and diet in the region, with a public health focus . . . The movement’s blurring of Western and indigenous ideals fascinated me, and I was intrigued about the potential policy applications. I was also excited about the prospect of performing bilingual research. Reflecting back, I am grateful that the resources available at the UO library--reference librarians, databases, and borrowing services--afforded me the opportunity to conduct this exciting and novel research."

Lisa Wilson

Major: History

Paper Title: The Sovietization of Commemoration: The Anti-Religious and Ideological Functions of Soviet Secular Life-Cycle Rituals

Faculty Sponsor: Julie Hessler, Department of History

Library Recognition: "During their orientation to resources for Soviet historical research, librarians Heghine Hakobyan and David Woken not only provided a clearer picture of the tools at our disposal, but also conveyed their enthusiasm and readiness to offer further help. I also want to thank all the library staff who maintain the Summit loan system and who kept the library open during the weekend of the ice storm in February, during which I located a number of extremely valuable supplementary sources."

Student Quote: "Because of the relative lack of existing scholarship on this topic, I had to be more creative in my research approach and more diligent in compiling sources than in papers I have previously written. I found my initial assumptions disproven and had to determine my own framework for analyzing the performance, effects, and outcomes of Soviet secular life-cycle rituals . . . [The East View Information Services database of Russian-language periodicals] granted me invaluable access to primary source material--including discourse on the rituals from Soviet authorities and everyday citizens as well as official statistics on the rites--that would have been otherwise unreachable because of the language barrier."

UO Libraries' 2013 Undergraduate Research Award Winners Named

Award winners come from all disciplines in the library's Undergraduate Research Awards competition.

Six University of Oregon students who authored outstanding research papers and theses during the 2013 calendar year have been named winners in the university's Undergraduate Research Awards competition sponsored by the University of Oregon Libraries.

The annual competitive program honors UO students who produce exceptional original research and scholarship using resources available through the UO Libraries.

A reception honoring the winners is planned for April 25, 2014.

Electronic copies of all winning students’ work will be deposited in Scholars’ Bank, the library’s open access archive for UO research, publications, and supporting materials in digital form.

The Undergraduate Research Awards are made possible by endowments established through the generous support of Barbara Blinco Sparks, Lisa and Jon Stine, and Gretchen and Walt Barger.

Winners of $1,000 in the Thesis Category

Natalie Brezack

Psychology Major in the Clark Honors College

“Motionese: Subject to Preference?” (Thesis)

Faculty Sponsor: Dare Baldwin, Department of Psychology

Library Recognition: “The library aided my thesis process by providing countless peer-reviewed journals. … I also used free scanning in the library and software on the computers to edit my videos. … I did most of the analysis and writing in the library, spending countless hours over several months.”

Student Quote: The planning, data collection, data analysis, and writing process spanned over two years of my undergraduate career at the UO. It is by far my proudest accomplishment and one that I could not have achieved without the help of the library. … I feel like a true researcher now. I am fortunate that the library is still available to me even after I have graduated. …. I will continue to credit the University of Oregon Libraries as an instrumental part of my success as a developmental psychology researcher.

Gabriel Sanchez

Anthropology Major in the McNair Scholars Program

“Cetacean Hunting at the Par-Tee Site (35CLT20)?: Ethnographic, Artifact, and Blood Residue Analysis Investigation” (Thesis)

Faculty Sponsor: Jon Erlandson, Department of Anthropology

Library Staff Recognized: Miriam Rigby, Jennifer O’Neal

Student Quote: The library was essential to this project because it allowed me access to primary sources, including those in Special Collections. Research experts, including Miriam Rigby and Jennifer O’Neal, among others, prepared me for effectively processing information at the Smithsonian during the week I spent doing research there. I worked extensively with the written works from the Southwest Oregon Research Project (SWORP) for researching Oregon Native American history. … My research experience has motivated me to continue researching within academia. … In all aspects of my research I had support from the UO Libraries through its knowledgeable and approachable staff and its academic resources.

Lindsay Thane

Political Science Major

“Freedom from Guantánamo: How the Court Curtailed Prerogative Powers and Increased Civil Liberties for Detainees” (Thesis)

Faculty Sponsor: Daniel Tichenor, Department of Political Science

Library Staff Recognized: Victoria Mitchell

Student Quote: I discovered the immense reach of the library by requesting books through Summit and ILLiad, the library’s interlibrary loan systems, when the books were not physically present in our campus libraries. I also made extensive use of the academic journal databases to which the university subscribes. … Victoria Mitchell helped me discover ProQuest and CQ Weekly, which I relied upon along with the Library of Congress and Government Printing Office websites for presidential and congressional documents. … The entire process of targeted reading, writing succinct case analysis, and compiling sources can hopefully lay the groundwork for other related research, and it has drastically improved the way I now read, research, and edit, skills which have been vital in my current study of the law.

Winners of $1,000 in the Single-Term Paper Category

Amber Bryan

Women’s and Gender Studies Major in the McNair Scholars Program

“Exotic Sexuality: Examining the Effect of Exotic Dancing on Women’s Sexuality” (Single-Term Paper)

Faculty Sponsor: Lamia Karim, Department of Anthropology

Library Staff Recognized: Miriam Rigby, Terry McQuilken, Reference Services Staff, Knight Library Computer Help Desk Staff

Student Quote: The helpful staff at the library has played a huge part in my advancement in navigating both the online system and the resources within the library itself. Without the dedicated library staff, I am confident I would still be lost on the Internet searching aimlessly for articles while trying to figure out how to afford the cost of gaining access to them. As a result of using the library, I was able to write a research project that has been accepted for presentation at a conference and will form the basis of my graduate school writing sample. … Gone are the days of sifting through countless websites; now I simply log on to the UO Libraries website and search for the information I need.

Kimberly Lerner

Biology Major in the Clark Honors College

“A History of Racism and Prejudice: The Untold Story of the Northern Paiute” (Single-Term Paper)

Faculty Sponsor: Kevin Hatfield, Department of History

Library Staff Recognized: Jennifer O’Neal

Student Quote: The UO Libraries Special Collections provided vital resources needed to complete my research paper. Without the help of Jennifer O’Neal, University Historian and Archivist, I would have been unaware of the information housed in the library that allowed me to write a paper with a strong primary source base. Another valuable source of information came from scouring microfilm collections. The McKay Papers Microfilm collection provided supporting details in my paper. Before working on this project, I had never utilized microfilm, conducted research in Special Collections, or used discussion and interviews in a paper. Oral histories provided a valuable source in my research. … This paper would have been impossible without the information I collected from the UO Libraries, especially within Special Collections and University Archives and the Document Center.

Kyle Swartzlender

Art History Major in the Clark Honors College

“Deconstructing the Novel: The Critical Function of the Artist’s Book” (Single-Term Paper)

Faculty Sponsor: James Harper, Department of Art History

Library Staff Recognized: Cara List and Architecture and Allied Arts Library Staff

Student Quote: My research paper would not have been possible had it not been for the assistance I received from the UO Libraries, including its librarians, resources, and search tools. I now feel much more comfortable using library collections and am currently in the process of conducting thesis research through Special Collections and University Archives. … I now have a much stronger understanding and command of the variety of resources that are available through the library.

Libraries' Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence

Past Winners

Announcing the 2020 Undergraduate Research Awards

Ten undergraduate students are recognized for high achievement in scholarly research and writing

2020 Winners in Multi-Term Thesis Category

2020 Winners in Single-term Paper Category

Eight students win 2018 Undergraduate Research Awards

Read Abstracts and Winning Papers on UO Libraries' Scholar's Bank

Seven students earn 2018 Undergraduate Research Awards

Sponsored by UO Libraries, the program recognizes students for original research and scholarship

Read the Winning Papers on UO Libraries' Scholar's Bank

Announcing the 2017 Undergraduate Research Award Winners

UO Libraries honors five students for outstanding achievement in scholarship

Winner in the Thesis Category

Winners in the Term Paper Category

Announcing the 2016 Undergraduate Research Award Winners

UO Libraries honors six students for outstanding achievement in scholarship

Winners in the Thesis Category

Winners in the Term Paper Category

2014 Undergraduate Research Award Winners Announced

UO Libraries honors six students for outstanding scholarly achievement

Winners of $1,000 in the Thesis Category

Brandon Parry

Neema Sahebi

Winners of $1,000 in the Single-term Paper Category

Ayantu Megerssa

Mairin Peck

Lisa Wilson

UO Libraries' 2013 Undergraduate Research Award Winners Named

Award winners come from all disciplines in the library's Undergraduate Research Awards competition.

Winners of $1,000 in the Thesis Category

Natalie Brezack

Gabriel Sanchez

Lindsay Thane

Winners of $1,000 in the Single-Term Paper Category

Amber Bryan

Kimberly Lerner

Kyle Swartzlender