Talk to Wooster
Summer 2006
Diverse Disciplines
Email
Story
While
these brief abstracts reveal the creativity and diversity that Wooster students
bring to their senior capstone projects, they don't adequately reflect the
passion the students feel. It is best seen on their faces, as they emerge
from their final oral exams. Their years of academic labor are over; their
reports are in; they
defended their theories, research, and creative endeavors.
They did it.
1) ENGLISH, WOMEN’S STUDIES
Disentangle
A double major in English and women's studies, Mary-Kate Hageman, Lyndhurst, Ohio, created Disentangle, a feminist magazine. Working with Nancy Grace, professor of English, and Karen Taylor, professor of history, Hageman wanted to create a magazine that appealed to both feminists and non-feminists, by disentangling the knots that divide. Drawing on her knowledge of current women's magazines, she conducted focus groups with students and faculty to discover their opinions about these publications. For Disentangle, Hageman wrote about topics such as how the television show "Desperate Housewives" portrays women, whether a type of fiction called "chick lit" is feminist, and how women objectify men.Working with College of Wooster publications staff Robin Welty and Roger Collier, Hageman also did the magazine's layout, design, and photography.
2) PSYCHOLOGY
The dynamic and influential relationship between attachments to mother, father, and God
Rob Adams, Northbrook, Ill., studied the importance of a child's parental attachment. He found that children with a secure attachment are confident that their parents will be available and responsive during times of distress.Working with Michael Casey, assistant professor of psychology, Adams also researched how an attachment to God and perceptions of God are influenced by one's parental attachments. Just as children perform certain behaviors—such as crying and smiling—toward their parents to maintain physical proximity, individuals who believe in God use prayer, communion, and other actions to facilitate their attachment to God. Adams asked a sample of Wooster students and their parents to complete an online survey about this topic. Results showed attachments with both parents were important. However, a secure attachment to one's mother showed more of a causal relationship with attachment to God and religiosity.
3) FILM STUDIES
Cigarette Breakdown
Joe Pickard, St. Louis, Mo., created a short film, Cigarette Breakdown.Working with Shirley Huston-Findley, assistant professor of theatre, Pickard spent the first semester writing and revising the script and the second semester rehearsing, shooting, and editing the film. The 20-minute film chronicles a college graduate's final seven cigarettes. The comedy, starring a Wooster sophomore, uses those last moments to show that addictive smoking is hard to give up and also to symbolize the author's own college experience.
4) MUSIC
Student teaching
Dan Utley, Beachwood, Ohio, taught instrumental music to elementary, middle, and high school students in four schools. Under the direction of Nancy Ditmer, professor of music, Utley improved his teaching skills, including rehearsal techniques and listening abilities. He completed several projects and presentations relating to music education and kept a journal of his teaching experiences.
5) RELIGIOUS STUDIES
"Faith the size of a mustard seed"; An exploration of healing in mainline Protestant traditions: Historical roots, modern dilemmas
Approximately one fifth of the text in the first five books of the Bible pertains to healing. Yet most present-day, mainline Protestant denominations shy away from healing as integral to the Christian faith.What became of the healing tradition that was so important in Jesus' ministry as Christianity developed over time? Katie Ann Strednak, Delaware, Ohio, examined the conceptions of health and illness in the Hebrew Bible, analyzed how Jesus' healings challenged those conceptions, and researched the theological significance of Jesus' healings to the first Jewish-Christians and the early church.Working with Mary Bader, assistant professor of religious studies, and Chuck Kammer, professor of religious studies, Strednak explored the factors that influenced Christians to renegotiate belief in healing.To study current traditions, beliefs, and dilemmas, she used interviews with healers of today and reviewed research on the efficacy of faith and prayer.
