The following students in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences participated in the 2023 Dennis Dean Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Conference, which took place April 28; only CLAHS faculty mentors are noted.

  • Ninie Asad, Human Development, presented “Examining the Impact of a Storybook Series Designed to Strengthen Math Identity in Black and Latine Students and Students Experiencing Poverty”; her faculty mentors were Caroline Hornburg, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science, and HDFS graduate student Isabel Valdivia.
  • Margaret Ashley and Alina Tseng, Human Development, Zainab Shamim, English Literature, et al., presented “Are You Still Watching on Your Phone or TV? The Impact of Mobile Media on Visual Attention and Learning”; their faculty mentor was Koeun Choi, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science.
  • Casey Branson, Human Development, and Andres Lopez, International Studies, presented “Has Your Accent Changed a LOT? Acquiring a Second Dialect as an English-Speaking Migrant”; their faculty mentor was Abby Walker, associate professor in the Department of English.
  • Jack Carroll, Environmental Policy and Planning, presented “Rural-Urban Bias in Large Language Models Using Spatial Analysis”; his faculty mentor was Theodore Lim, assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs.
  • Emma Dunn, Fashion Merchandising and Design, Christian Aunapu, Political Science, et al., presented “Investigating Fast Fashion: Analysis of Inhumane Working Conditions in India, Bangladesh, and Thailand.”
  • Courtney Glover, Criminology, presented “Lightswitch Policing.”
  • Rebecca Gregory, Human Development, and Abigail Craig presented “Administrators’ Perceptions of Family-Based Treatment Barriers and Facilitators for LGBTQ Youth With Suicidal Ideation and Behavior”; their faculty mentor was Jody Russon, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science.
  • Timothy Hipskind, Political Science, et al., presented “The Economic Impact of Hosting the Super Bowl.”
  • Kenza Kadiri, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and Adam Bowen presented “SWVA: Not Just Southern; Investigating Dialect Boundaries in Southwest Virginia”; their faculty mentor was Abby Walker.
  • Shane Lee, Political Science and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, presented “Load Shedding in South Africa: How Solar Panel Deployment Can Alleviate Race-Based Inequalities”; his faculty mentor was Susan Bodnar-Deren, Department of Sociology.
  • Sheryk Luna and Addison Midkiff, Criminology, and Sophia Silis presented “Performances to Reduce Online Scams (PROS): Evaluation of Targeted Intervention Against Scams of Older People”; their faculty mentor was Katalin Parti, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology.
  • Charlotte Menke, Jane Sciortino, and Lillian Zaccaria, Human Development, presented “The Role of Parent Personality, Parenting Behaviors, and Child Temperament in Parent-Child Dyadic Interactions”; their faculty mentors were Cynthia Smith, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science, and HDFS graduate student Meredith Atanasio.
  • Nathan Padilla, Political Science, et al. presented “Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Manufacturing Companies in Virginia.”
  • Julia Place, Human Development, presented “The Stress of Religion in Queer Young Adults: A Proposed Study to Evaluate the Correlations Between Anxiety, Christian Practices, and Queer Identity”; her faculty mentors were Rosemary Blieszner, also Alumni Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Interim Dean, College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, Erika Grafsky, and Rose Wesche, Human Development and Family Science; Ralph Hall, associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs; Liesel Ritchie, a professor in the Department of Sociology; et al.
  • Jane Sciortino, Human Development, presented “The Impacts of the Virginia Tech Therapy Dog Program on Student Mental Health.”
  • Andrew Sloop, Public Relations, presented “Conversate: Community Viability, Growth, and Opportunity.”
  • Hannah Upson, Political Science, presented “Dehumanization and Reporting: The Denial of Native Women’s Reproductive Rights”; her faculty mentor was Monique Dufour, collegiate associate professor in the Department of History.
  • Laura Zhang, Human Development, et al. presented “Q&A on Zoom for Preschoolers: The Impact of On-screen Partner’s Questions on Preschoolers’ Word Learning and Memory of Content from Shared Book Reading over Video Chat”; their faculty mentor was Koeun Choi.

Abstracts can be found here.