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  Soil Surface Invertebrates Across Different Planting Choices on Purchase College Campus

  DeTurris, Samantha N. (2024)

  Loss of biodiversity driven by human activity is one of the most apparent changes that has come with climate change. Soil invertebrates are an especially important group of biota to be concerned about due to the variety of organisms who rely on their ecosystem services. This study compares invertebrate order composition across three different planting choices on Purchase College campus. The three different planting choices were native plants, ornamental non-native plants and lawns. A statistically significant difference was found between lawn and native plant and non-native ornamental when the total number of invertebrates were compared across site types. Lawn had a higher median total number of invertebrates. The Shannon Diversity Indexes across site types were looked at. Lawn had the highest Shannon Diversity Index but numbers across all site types did not vary greatly. This study was done on a small scale and in a short time frame; it would be valuable to see it done over multiple years to get a better assessment of soil invertebrate communities. Planting native still remains an important endeavor to support pollinating insects who also provide many ecosystem services.
• Our Social Behavior and Skills Before, During, and After COVID-19 Lockdown

  Williams, JaDonna A. (2024)

  In this research paper we dissect how our social skills were pre-lockdown vs. during and after. Pre-lockdown our social skills were normal and care free. During the lockdown our social skills went down to a low as a result of the CDC guideline rules for COVID-19 we had to distance ourselves from each other, isolate, not interact in big groups and wear masks. Post-lockdown we have felt anxiety for meeting in big groups, not wearing a masks because during the lockdown we went many months with wearing a mask and not socializing in big groups.
• British Homosexual Writers of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

  Wolchan, Ashley R. (2024)

  This project examines the experience of several prominent homosexual literary figures in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Great Britain. It connects their life experiences with their writings to show how their sexuality affected their creativity.
• I'm Telling You What I'm Unable To Tell Myself, & For That I Need; The Importance In Celebrating Black and Brown Women

  Mondesir, Wendy (2024)

  An essay on the influence of art has on culture and how it relates to today.
• Birth Controlling: contraceptive negotiation and reproductive body alienation within the lives of female-bodied people

  Vinton, Natalie R. (2024)

  While contraceptive technologies may seem biologically determined, they are socially constructed and influenced by hegemonic ideals that privilege male bodies and place an undue burden on female bodies to prevent pregnancy. In this study, I investigated the following research questions: (1) How do female-bodied people construct and negotiate birth control methods? (2) What factors influence female-bodied people's perception and embodied experience with birth control? and (3) How do their intimate and romantic relationships influence these perceptions? Seventeen in-depth interviews were completed with female-bodied participants between the ages of 18-25 and the transcripts of these interviews were analyzed for codes to produce grounded theory. This research introduces and supports the theory of Reproductive Body Alienation, in which the labor and unequal responsibility of birth control separates female-bodied people from the embodied products of their work with contraception. However, a more shared model of contraception could alleviate this strain. Additionally, a latent finding of this study was a cultural lag surrounding vocabulary and conceptualization of non-contraceptive uses of birth control methods.
• The evolution of the "third place": from physical to digital social spaces

  Moore, Sadye G. (2024)

  An anthropological look at "third place" theory and the evolving of the third place in the last few decades as needs for safe spaces and movement towards digital third places have increased. The establishment of third places for people of color, the expectations of third places as depicted in social media and the connotations attached to it, and the real role of them in our world today. In the past, people have gathered in third places such as bars, libraries, and coffee shops but the move towards the digital age and access to almost everything from the comfort of our homes, these spaces are disappearing fast. Also, in a post-pandemic world, the movement away from as well the desire for a revival of these places has increased. I am going to be examining this in a theoretical paper where I will take a closer look at the function and what lies at the center of third places.
• Beyond Book Bans

  Savoy, Blake C. (2024)

  The ALA reported a total of 4, 240 unique titles challenged in the year 2023. This is a significant increase from the previous year and exponential from years prior. The aim of this paper is to address how book challenges, restrictions, and bans impact public library funding, patrons, and staff. Previous research does not encompass current data, some of which changes every week. This paper utilizes theoretical and background research conducted by scholars in the field of library sciences as well as incorporating journalistic news sources and reports from the American Library Association (ALA) and other library interest groups in order to address the question. The results show that book bans in public libraries have the potential to impact funding, that patrons are left without information and are excluded by book bans, and that library staff is demoralized by book bans. Further studies can gather specific data based on the cases described within as well as increase the scope of information in terms of the impact on patrons and staff. This research serves to demonstrate the impacts book bans have on public libraries not only on the surface but also as an institution.
• Phenomenology of World

  Novak, Isobelle (2024)

  This project uses Merleau-Ponty's "Phenomenology of Perception" as a framework to explore "World" and its ecosystems phenomenologically. While still exploring ideas of ambiguity and dynamic interactions encountered in lived experience, we can use Merleau-Ponty's theories to consider plants. We can extend his work to consider our relation to not just humans, but other beings as well. Using studies of ecosystems and both Plant and Digital Worlds, we can develop an ethics of care from Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology that suggests how we should interact with World.
• Amplifying Indigenous Voices on Campus: Assessing Indigenous Initiatives and Creating Meaningful Engagement at SUNY Purchase

  Ugalde, Raymond E. (2024)

  This project examines and assesses the Indigenous initiatives on campus at Purchase College- State University of New York using both observational analysis and document review of both the Native Voice project and the REDress project. There will also be a comparative analysis of different indigenous initiatives done at other institutions that are successful in bringing awareness to and amplifying indigenous issues. These initiatives are deemed successful through attendance, campus awareness of the event, and the overall impact of the project, were people talking about it? Or did it just fade away? Some challenges and opportunities arise when trying to integrate indigenous perspectives into a college campus's academic and cultural conversations and this project will delve into those issues.
• The Hospital in the Sky

  Mauro, Helen M. (2024)

  The script for a short film about a troubled girl who is guided by a wise rabbit spirit through a magical hospital.
• The Flower Pot

  Schulman, Hunter (2024)

  After he's fired from his low-end Pet Shop job and evicted from his crummy apartment, Lucas turns to his long-lost best friend, Jason, for help. When they agree on a living situation, Lucas is met with the source of his childhood trauma.
• Advocating for the Awareness of the Social and Economic Impact of Live Music

  Heaphy, Conor J. (2024)

  Advocating for the necessity of awareness regarding the social and economic impact of live music is essential in illuminating its significant effects on strengthening cultural enrichment, community, and economic development, all of which work hand in hand to further increase support for the industry itself
• The Places Inside

  Membreno Berganza, Gabriela M. (2024)

  My Senior Project is on the "places" inside of me and reside within me like feelings, memories and dreams.
• My Version of Conceptualizing Cosplay

  Valle, Izabel R. (2024)

  This is about my perspective on cosplay and conceptualizing it. It explores reasons why people cosplay, the benefits of cosplay, and the community created when cosplaying. The study uses ethnographic fieldwork and interviews to examine how it feels to cosplay, what it is like interacting with other cosplayers, and what it is like being in a space filled with cosplayers and people who all share the same interests. I reflect on the impact cosplay had on me and how it is beneficial to others.
• Escapism A Live Jazz Cabaret

  Santos, Isabella G. (2024)

  A research paper and reflection on the live event I produced this semester and why it was important to have on campus.
• Making Theater Fun Again

  Wood, Belle C. (2024)

  The creative process of putting on a theater production that Purchase has never seen before.
• Into The Light

  Rodriguez, Pedro T. (2024)

  Into The Light is a religious inspired video installation. Comprised of 5 computer monitors and 5 webcams, live monochromatic video feeds of gallery visitors. The research paper looks into religious, religiously inspired and iconoclastic artwork in art history and modern commercial art - discusses how artists from different eras and faith backgrounds use divine and sublime imagery to make commentary.
• Gompers & the Chinese: Chinese Exclusion and the American Labor Union

  Areizaga, David J. (2024)

  From 1860 to 1924 the Chinese in America were seen by labor leaders as a threat. Exclusionary legislation was passed to keep them out. However, American industry wouldn't have progressed as it has without them. In this paper I contextualize the American Labor Movement and the Chinese experience in America. I begin my analysis of the American Labor Movement with the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and end with the establishment of the American Federation of Labor in 1886. I also discuss pulls for Chinese immigration in the 19th century. As Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, was involved in labor for his entire lifetime, I look at his reactions to the Chinese as well as the Mexicans and Japanese using primarily newspaper articles from the 19th and 20th centuries for my research.
• Microanatomy of larval mouthparts and sensilla Larval and Postlarval Mouthparts of the American Lobster, Homarus americanus: Stage III First Maxillae and Stage IV Third Maxillipeds

  Burnett, Junay T. (2024)

  Homarus americanus, better known as the American Lobster, goes through several life-history phases before becoming an adult, including: three planktonic larval stages (stages I-III), a postlarval phase (the planktonic postlarval stage IV) and the settling postlarval stages IV-V, followed by juvenile and adult phases (Factor, 1995).  The American Lobster has six pairs of mouthparts: mandibles, first and second maxillae, and first, second, and third maxillipeds. Each pair of mouthparts is unique (Lavalli and Factor, 1995). They vary in size, shape, type, and distribution of setae. Setae are hair-like structures, extensions of the cuticle, that are present on the mouthparts (Lavalli and Factor, 1995). This study focuses on the third maxillipeds from the stage IV postlarval stage of the American Lobster. Understanding the microanatomy of this mouthpart is important as it allows comparisons with the third maxillipeds from other developmental stages in the lobster's life history as well as help in understanding the passive feeding mechanism that these early stages may have. 
• The Legacy of the Sirkian Style

  Kelly, Jason T. (2024)

  The main objective of this project is to address the question: What exactly is the "Sirkian" style? This style will be looked at in relation to the other filmmakers this project has decided to focus on as well as establishing the definition of it by examining it within the career of Douglas Sirk (born Detlef Sierck). While this will partially be an examination of Sirk's career as a whole which leads to what can eventually be deemed as "Sirkian," the film that will highlight these aesthetic and thematic recurrences will be Written On The Wind (1956), arguably the film that has been most written about within Sirk's oeuvre. This is no mistake. Written On The Wind's sublime melting together of pathos and irony alongside the abundance of academic writing examining this film is exactly what allows this film to be so rich as a way of locating and examining this Sirkian style. This style which presents itself throughout the entirety of Sirk's, and the other director's works, will be examined in this project in order to showcase its lasting impact within melodramatic cinema.

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