{"id":26137,"date":"2019-04-09T16:28:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T20:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=26137"},"modified":"2019-06-11T21:34:43","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T01:34:43","slug":"research-dialogues-day-1-superman-social-media-religion-you-name-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2019\/04\/research-dialogues-day-1-superman-social-media-religion-you-name-it\/","title":{"rendered":"ReSEARCH Dialogues, Day 1: Superman and social media; religion and you-name-it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Flying drones were among the sights at the first day of ReSEARCH Dialogues in the University Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

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To see more photos of ReSEARCH Dialogues, go to: https:\/\/bit.ly\/2IrNzek<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI lost everything.\u201d<\/h3>\n

The Gatlinburg fires of 2016 burned away Scott Thomas\u2019 three-bedroom house, killed his pets, even lost him custody of his young daughter. With no insurance, he had to buy a small camper, which he parked in his driveway and still lives in.<\/p>\n

He told all of that to Jacquelyn Scott, a senior in English at UTC, who took Thomas\u2019 horrifying story, combined it with the frightening memories of five others who lived through the Gatlinburg fires and presented them at this year\u2019s ReSEARCH Dialogues.<\/p>\n

Despite suffering individual losses during the fires, the people she interviewed expressed a common emotion, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard the same kind of thing, that everyone feels kind of abandoned now because it\u2019s after the fact,\u201d Scott said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s three years later but these folks are still going through stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Thomas\u2019 daughter, for instance, no longer lives with him because \u201cher cat was killed in the fire and she blames him,\u201d UTC\u2019s Scott said.<\/p>\n

Scott, whose presentation was named \u201cInto the Fire: Personal Accounts of the 2016 Gatlinburg Fire,\u201d was one of more than two dozen students making poster presentations on Tuesday, April 9, as part of the annual ReSEARCH Dialogues. With more than 50 campus departments and offices represented, undergraduates, graduates and faculty attend the event, presenting their research papers and proposals on posters, as part of panel discussions and in live presentations.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s poster presentations, topics ranged from the easily explained\u2014\u201cThe Effects of Therapy Dogs on Preoperative Anxiety,\u201d \u201cSocial Media\u2019s Effect on Self-Esteem\u201d\u2014 to ones probably understandable only to specific audiences\u2014\u201cTransition Metal Hinged Trans-Bidentate Ligands for Cross Coupling C-H Activation Reactions,\u201d \u201cStatistical Exploration of Stochastic Differential Equation Models used in the Stochastic Dynamics of Biological Systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Benevolent sexism\u2019<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not easy being the girlfriend of a superhero who is faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!<\/p>\n

leaping tall buildings in a single bound!<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the case with Lois Lane, girlfriend of Superman. It\u2019s a lot of pressure. But it\u2019s worse if Superman doesn\u2019t take Lois seriously because she\u2019s a woman. So was that the case? Was Superman patronizing or supportive of Lois Lane?<\/p>\n

Not really, according to Hannah Boulware and Braden Sanford, who put together the project \u201cSuperman Isn\u2019t So Super: A Critical Look at the Treatment of Women as Portrayed through Lois Lane.\u201d Both are seniors in psychology who read 16 comics from the 1960s series: Superman\u2019s Girlfriend: Lois Lane,<\/em> and pulled out specific statements to judge how Superman treated Lois.<\/p>\n

Considering the era in which the comics were produced, they figured the Man of Steel would be misogynistic and condescending. They were shocked to find that he wasn\u2019t, although he wasn\u2019t a full-fledged feminist, either. He showed more of a \u201cbenevolent sexism,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n

While Superman was patronizing about 12 percent of the time\u2014\u201cGood luck, Lois … but in the books I’ve read, it’s never the \u2018Maiden Fair\u2019 who storms the castle!\u201d, he was \u201cinformative\u201d in about 29 percent of his statements\u2014\u201cJust dive into the open end and the nucleonic circuits will reduce your bodies to microscopic size and transport you into the bottle!\u201d<\/p>\n

About 23 percent of the time, he was \u201cagreeable\u201d \u2014 \u201cGreat, Lois, Now heave that rock into space… Then we’ll start planning our WEDDING!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we expected to see a lot more misogynistic and aggressive language,\u201d Sanford said.<\/p>\n

But he also was \u201caggressive\u201d about 13 percent of the time\u2014\u201cAdmit it, Lois you were always JEALOUS of Lana Lang because she was my childhood sweetheart when I was SUPERBOY!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aggressive always went hand and hand with patronizing,\u201d Boulware said.<\/p>\n

Admitting that she is a comic-book nerd herself, she said it was interesting to see how Superman was usually a pretty good boyfriend most of the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s actually good. He\u2019s trying to what\u2019s better for her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Hairy therapy<\/h3>\n

Having a big, cuddly dog is never a bad idea when you\u2019re trying to get people\u2019s attention. But Morgan Royer brought golden retriever Reese to ReSEARCH Dialogues for a bigger reason.<\/p>\n

He was part of her study to see whether people going into surgery would be less anxious if they had time to pet a dog beforehand.<\/p>\n

Answer: Not so much.<\/p>\n

For the study \u201cThe Effects of Therapy Dogs on Preoperative Anxiety,\u201d Royer tested different patients with different scenarios. Some saw Reese before surgery; others were given a stuffed dog that was the same size and color as Reese; still others met with a person while some didn\u2019t see anyone at all, dog or human.<\/p>\n

Royer, a senior in psychology who starts medical school in July, found that patients who saw the stuffed dog had lower heart rates and blood pressure before going into surgery than ones who saw Reese, a person or nothing at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hypothesis right now\u2014although this hasn\u2019t been tested or proven\u2014 is just a hypothesis, but with there not being extra energy the room, there were no expectations. With the stuffed dog they were able to just hold it and be there. Maybe just having the tactile and not the other dog\u2019s energy, maybe that had an effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says this is the first time a study has been done using a stuffed animal in therapy work, so \u201chopefully other people will follow up on our work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Reese, he didn\u2019t seem to especially anxious as person after person petted him while he sat at Royer\u2019s feet during ReSEARCH Dialogues.<\/p>\n

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Website sights<\/h3>\n

To say Nathan Collyer is enthusiastic about his research project is like saying a hurricane is a wind. It just doesn\u2019t do justice to the energy level.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s a senior in criminal justice, he\u2019s presenting \u201cThe Geography of Chattanooga: Engaging Community with Place Using Story Maps,\u201d a project he put together with geology majors Katie Spivey and Caleb Mathias. In it, they have designed a website that breaks down the geography, geology, biology, history and other elements of historical sites in Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to take education out of the classroom and bring it to the public,\u201d Collyer says.<\/p>\n

At this point, they\u2019re focusing on Stringer\u2019s Ridge, Cameron Hill and the Old Stone Church at the intersection of McCallie and Georgia Avenues. At each they plan to install a sign with a QR reader or a weblink that will lead to an interactive website.<\/p>\n

On the site are icons that can be touched to produce drop-down boxes that will, for instance, explain the types of native and invasive plant species you can find in the 92-acre Stringer\u2019s Ridge Park. Other boxes will explain the ridge\u2019s importance in the Civil War and how that ties into Cameron Hill. Facts about Native American history in the area is on the website as well as such topics as the geology of the Chattanooga area.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if you say, \u2018I don\u2019t care about rocks; I want to learn about the history,\u2019 you can,\u201d Collyer said. \u201cThe dropdown boxes will keep you interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ultimate goal is for the website to have links that cover all the historical and important sites in Chattanooga such as the Walnut Street Bridge and Lookout Mountain, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want you to learn more and more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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