Undergraduate Symposium

Symposium Schedule 

 

Morning Schedule:  

8:00-9:00 AM - Breakfast 

Campus-wide Breakfast. Carver Science Building Atrium, main level 

All are invited.  Presenters must check in to get programs, nametags, and to confirm final schedules.  

 

9:00-9:45 A.M. 

Keynote Presentation. Amy Robertson Music Center, Lekberg Hall, main level  

Today’s keynote speaker is Bian Li, a graduate of the University of Iowa and currently Director of Planning at the World Food Prize Institute.  She will be discussing intellectual curiosity—and where it can lead. 

 

10:00-10:50 A.M. Concurrent Sessions 

Performing the Arts.  Amy Robertson Music Building, Madsen Hall, main level; Moderator: Michael Eckerty 

• Molly Burkemper.  She Talks to Angels 

• Caitlin Dicus.  First Year Frolicking 

 

Issues in Community Life. McNeill Hall, Room 110; Moderator: Steve Duffy  

• Erin Guzman.  “Go and Make Disciples”: Evangelism and Conversion Focused on Community 

• Vanessa Reed.  The Cause and Effect of Social Movements in Politics and Society 

• Kraig Thomas.  War Disease: A Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Civil War 

 

Interactive Panel Discussion. McNeill Hall, Pioneer Conference Room, 111; Moderator: Maeve Callan 

•Nicolas Proctor, Bobby Dennis, JoAnna Freeland, Dustin McNulty, Emily Stover, Ryan Stumbo, Cody Zaring. Reacting to the Past: Chicago 1968. 

 

Joe K. Moody Research Symposium I. Carver Science Building, Jordan Lecture Hall, Room 215; Moderator: Lydia  Sinapova 

• Kathryn Burdock, Sarah Kennedy, Amy Doling.  Optimizing the Ames Test: Measuring the Mutagenicity of Diet  Coke 

• Phillip Seiwert and Anna Statz.  Regional Evaluation of Platte River Wetland Restoration 

• Dana Lain.  Oil in Our Oceans 

 

Issues in Learning & Policy.  Craven Room, Dunn Library, 2 nd floor; Moderator: Lisa Carponelli 

• Arron Bodine.  Immigration Reform in the United States 

• Steffanie Elkin.  Websites as Vocabulary Instruction Tools for ELL Students 

 

Issues in Philosophy.   Wallace Hall, Room 204; Moderator: Emily Skow  

• Kevin Rice.  The Practicality of Lived Philosophy 

• Allie Walker.  Rural Women’s Epistemologies 

11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M.

Senior Art Exhibition & Reception. Farnham Gallery, Mary Berry Hall.

Students majoring in visual arts at Simpson College specialize in drawing, painting, pottery, photography, art education and graphic design. The major is capped by a personalized senior project and art show prior to graduation. Each year, the Senior Exhibit opens in April and remains on display through graduation day in Simpson’s Farnham Galleries. The 2012 exhibit is the culmination of the students’ undergraduate art study, featuring works created during the fall semester their senior year. The exhibit features a variety of media and art techniques, as chosen by each student.

 

11:00 A.M.- 12:30 P.M.

Honors Lunch. Great Hall

 

Afternoon Schedule: 

 12:30-2:00 P.M. 

Honors Convocation. Smith Chapel 

 

2:15-3:05 P.M. Concurrent Sessions 

Performing the Arts. Amy Robertson Music Building, Madsen Hall, main level; Moderator: Michael Eckerty 

• Antonio Reyes.  Crawling to the Moon and a Suitcase of Poetry 

• Kathrin DePue.  Joy, Pain, and the Writer’s Craft 

 

Issues in Religion and Law. McNeill 110; Moderator: Steve Duffy 

• Madie Fiedler.  Severus Snape: A Christ-like Model of Love and Sacrifice in the Harry Potter Series 

• Molly Burkemper.  Dangerously Religious 

• Tracy Sibbel.  Emerging Conflict between the Free Exercise Clause and Establishment Clause of the First 

Amendment 

 

Issues in Community Life. McNeill Hall, Pioneer Conference Room, 111; Moderator: Maeve Callan 

• Allie Walker.  Holstein and the 1980s Farm Crisis 

• Ryan Edwardsen.  Ethics Derived from Paul’s Use of Conscience in First Corinthians 8-10 

 

Joe K. Moody Research Symposium II.  Carver Science Building, Jordan Lecture Hall, Room 215; Moderator: Lydia  Sinapova 

• Zach Huebner and Kylie van Houten.  Three Approaches to Solving the Motif-Finding Problem 

• Adam Smith, Joel Gawarecki, Jaris Van Maanen, Linsey Williams.  A Genetic Algorithm for Tile Self-Assembly  

• Mike Henry, Heather Malbon, Max Nguyen.  The Party Problem 

 

Issues in Forecast Models. Dunn Library, Craven Room, 2nd floor; Moderator: Lisa Carponelli 

• Sam Hohneke.  A Model for Predicting the Results of the German Federal Election and Its Application to the 2013  Contest  

• Blaise Mikels.   A Data Mining Approach to Developing Stock Market Forecasting Models 

 

Issues in European History and Politics. Wallace Hall, Room 204; Moderator: Emily Skow 

• Phillip Johnson.  Will the European Union Survive? 

• Elsen Hoxhalli.  Democratization in Post-Communist Europe: the Causes of Development Differences between the  Balkan and Baltic Nations 

• Erin Broich.  The “Bloody” Tyrant and the “Virgin Queen”: Mary and Elizabeth Tudor and the Struggle for the  Hearts and Souls of England 

 

3:15-4:15 P.M. 

Poster Session and Hors d’oeuvre Reception.   Pote Theater Lobby, Blank Performing Arts Center 

 

4:15-4:30 P.M. 

Awards and Remarks.   Pote Theater, Blank Performing Arts Center 

 

4:30-5:00 P.M. 

Music Performance.   Pote Theater, Blank Performing Arts Center 

Simpson College Symphonic Band, Michael Eckerty, Director 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 4/13/12