Faculty Undergraduate Research Initiative
(FURI) | Experiential Learning Grant
FACULTY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH Initiative (FURI)
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Spring 2007 FURI Fellows
Professor John Coley, Psychology with student researcher
Marina Armendares Fontaine
"Effects of Culture on Social Reasoning in Children"
Professor Randall Colvin, Psychology with student
researcher Krista Hill
"Positive Illusions in Relationships"
Professor Marisol Fernandez-Garcia, Modern Languages
with student researcher Megan McCormick
"Cross-cultural Differences: Examining Foreign Language Students'
Needs of Knowledge of the Spanish Culture"
Professor Robert Hall, African American Studies with
student researcher Jordan Clark
"Cultural and Ethnic Diversity Among Blacks in Massachusetts,
1990-2000"
Professor Robert Hanson, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
with student researcher Kristen Bailey
"Synthesis of a Tyrosine Kinase Inhbitor (TKI)"
Professor Heather Hindman, Anthropology and Sociology
with student researcher Lily Sturtevant
"Immigrants Communities and Tourism in Boston"
Professor Richard Marsh, Biology with student researcher
Tahni Jade McPherson
"The Walk-run Transition in Birds, Metaboilc, and Mechanical
Measures"
Professor Emmett Price, Music and African American
Studies with student researcher Daniel Irwin
"Towards a New Direction in the Study of Jazz"
Professor Mo Zell, Architecture with student researcher
Evan Witek
"The Architectural Drawing Course Documentation"
Fall 2006 FURI Fellows
Professor Fred Davis, Biology with student researcher
La-Tonya Adams
"Limits of Coupling Between Circadian Oscillators"
Professor David DeSteno, Psychology with student researcher
Alex Konar
"Emotional States on Building Trust and Social Capital"
Professor Allen Feinstein, Music with student researcher
Maggie Racich
"Developing a New Musical in Preparation for Professional Production"
Professor Patricia Illingworth, Philosophy with student
researcher John Samuelian
"Promoting Social Capital: A Moral and Legal Duty"
Professor Joshua Jacobson, Music with student researcher
Tal Katz
"Indexing Chanting the Hebrew Bible"
Professor David Rochefort, Political Science with
student researcher William Durkin
"Contributions of Medical Fiction to the Health Policy Process"
Professor Sarah Roszler, Architecture with student
researcher Casey Hartman
"Do They Think They're Learning What We Think They're Learning?"
Professor Peter Wiederspahn, Architecture with student
researcher Alison Napoli
"Ecological Panel Component Building System"
Professor Alan Zaremba, Communication Studies with
student researcher Katy Kobzeff
"Strategic Ambiguity and Crisis Communication"
2002-2003 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING GRANT RECIPIENTS
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Grants are $1000 awards given to students or student teams who have
undertaken significant experiential projects, of their own accord. They
are required to work with a Faculty Mentor to ensure progress and assist
with reflection about the experience.
Spring/Summer 2004
Jon Snedon, ’06,
Photography
Faculty Mentor: Neal Rantoul
Jon will attempt to capture the essence of
the 1940’s war era generation through
a series of creative endeavors. The first
is the creation of a collection of 40s style
pinup photographs featuring women in 40s era
clothing, hair styles, and makeup that are
then manipulated by computer to appear as
drawings. The second is collaboration with
another student in the creation of sculpture
replicating the nose of a B-17 bomber complete
with a pinup drawing on it. And finally, he
will complete a series of photographs combining
models posed as World War II soldiers, utilizing
technology to make the photos appear as though
they were taken in the 40s. These photos will
be juxtaposed with a series of photographs
he’ll take of WWII veterans today.
Gillian Chapman,
’04, Psychology
Faculty Mentor: David DeSteno
Gillian completed a co-op at the VA Hospital
in nearby Jamaica Plain during Summer 03 and,
in the course of doing so co-authored a paper
on the relationship of a deficit in cognitive
planning to difficulties in shifting of attentional
set and perseverative motor behavior in patients
with Parkinson’s Disease. The paper
will be published in the Journal of the International
Neuropsychological Society and she presented
it at the 32nd annual International Neuropsychological
Society Conference in February 2004 in Baltimore,
MD.
Fall 2003
Danielle Kline,
’04, Theatre
Faculty Mentor: Nancy Kindelan
In Fall 2003, Danielle served as dramaturg
on the Theatre Department’s presentation
of The Laramie Project. As such she developed
actor casebooks (comprehensive guides that
illuminate the production for the actors),
established an educational outreach connection
with Squashbusters, which allowed 50 inner-city
school chidren the opportunity to see and
discuss the play, and wrote a critical 20-page
program to help the audience more fully engage
in an understanding of the play’s ideas
that focus on diversity, homophobia, and prejudice,
problems that responsible citizens and students
need to address. This is the role dramturgs
play in professional theatre, but rarely does
this process occur formally at the undergraduate
level. Danielle submitted a scholarly thesis
compiling her research, reflective notes,
and dramaturgical analysis to the National
Undergraduate Honors Conference and was accepted.
She’s present her work at that conference
in March in Indiana.
Spring/Summer 2003
Leah Neal, ’03,
Biology
Faculty Mentor: Veronica Porter
Leah, a New England Aquarium co-op veteran,
sought funding to allow her to join the Aquarium’s
annual 11 day expedition to the Cay Sal Banks
in the Bahamas, where she hopes to accomplish
two goals: to become a PADI certified Aquatic
Live Specimen Collector and create a video
showing the value of the expedition for student
participants. This video will be used by the
Aquarium to raise money toward scholarships
to allow future students to participate regardless
of their financial situation.
Carolyn Elliott,
’04, Theatre/Elementary Education
Patrick Finlon,
’03, Music Industry
Mathew Arruda, ’03,
Psychology/Theatre
Jennifer Molnar,
’03, Theatre
Faculty Mentor: Janet
Bobcean
Carolyn, Patrick, Mat, and Jenn respectively
teamed up to direct, compose, write, and provide
lyrics for a modern, musical version of Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein. The result involved
dozens of other students both on stage and
in production creating a powerful exploration
of the concept of human perfection, human
flaws, the possibilities of cloning and gene
tampering, and how we deal with the results.
The three performances in the Studio Theatre
were received enthusiastically by packed houses.
Matthew Rood, ’04,
Environmental Geology
Faculty Mentor: Martin Ross
Matthew will spend his Grant seeking to determine the petrology of the
igneous rock bodies intruding into the bedrock at Fort Rockman along
the southeast shore of Nahant, MA. He will map and sample the dikes
in the Nahant Gabbro in an attempt to better understand the geologic
history of Nahant, an island connected to the mainland by a tombolo.
Fall 2002/Winter 2003
Robert Muskus, Music Industry
'05
Faculty Mentor: Emmett Price
Over the course of several co-op terms, Rob
launched Paradigm Lab, Inc., a dance music
record label. Last year, he was one of two
undergraduate winners in Northeastern's Annual
Business Plan Competition and now he is struggling
to release the label's second album. Rob's
entrepreneurial endeavors have made concrete
the lessons of courses he's taken in both
the music department and the College of Business.
Ellen Waylonis, Photography/English
'05
Faculty Mentor: Andrea Raynor
Ellen wanted to extend a project begun in her Color Photography II course,
exploring the women-nature relationship in literature. She opted to
apply a feminist perspective in creating new photographic works that
use the female body to depict parts of nature. As a future professional
artist, the Grant gave her the opportunity to try out balancing the
practical issues of creating art with the creative ones.
Stephen McNutt, Chemistry '06
Faculty Mentors: Geoffrey Davies &
Staff Scientist Elham
Because of the Grant, Stephen is able to work with his faculty mentors
on the Humic Acid Research Project, seeking to understand the properties
of metal-bound humic acids and their actions with nucleotides and nucleosides.
Melissa Motta, '03, and Kevin
Longo, '04
Faculty Mentor: John Kane
Melissa and Kevin teamed up with the newly
formed Visual Arts Department to apply their
typography and graphic design training in
developing new information sheets about the
program and faculty for prospective students.
The end result will not only enhance the department's
ability to market itself, but will also give
Melissa and Kevin materials with which to
market themselves.
Robin Elahi, Biology '03
Faculty Mentor: Gwilym Jones
Habitat Restoration and Point Bird Surveys for "Friends of the Great
Green Macaw (Arrigos de la Lapa)" and Independent Research on the Nesting
Ecology of the Bullet Ant. Due to his earlier study abroad and co-op
experiences in Costa Rica, Robin was invited by Amigos de la Lapa to
spend Summer 2002 studying and helping save the endangered Great Green
Macaw, which lives in the Almendro tree, a species of tree which has
been targeted for its valuable wood. Robin opted to do not only this,
but to fully utilize his time in Costa Rica, to also complete an independent
research project studying the nesting ecology of the Bullet Ant. His
Grant subsidized his airfare and research tools. Both of these projects
will serve Robin well as he goes on to pursue graduate studies in tropical
ecology.
Sarah Murphy, English '04
Faculty Mentor: Daniel Faber
Institute of Social Ecology Summer Program. Sarah was awarded the Grant
for her work and study at the Institute for Social Ecology in Summer
2002. She spent her time in combined theoretical and experiential learning
in community organizing, political action, ecological economics, and
sustainable building and land use. The ISE strives to be an agent of
social transformation, demonstrating the skills, ideas, and relationships
that can nurture vibrant, self-governed, ecological communities. Sarah
saw the ISE as a tremendous opportunity to build the skills and understanding
she needs to pursue her career goals of the Peace Corps and graduate
school most likely in environmental sociology.
Andrew Jasenak, Music Technology
'05
Faculty Mentor: Kate McLaughlin
Documentary Film on the Boston Crusaders Drum
and Bugle Corps. Andrew's experiential project
consisted of laying out, filming, and editing
a documentary about the Boston Crusaders,
a drum and bugle corps. His work began in
December 2001 with the corps early rehearsal,
but really picked up speed during Summer 2002
when Andy, on co-op, went out on tour with
the corps for nine weeks, traveling and filming
them nationwide as they competed against other
corps. He did much of the editing during his
off-time on the road and composed background
music for the film as well. During Fall 2002
he'll complete editing, add credits, and complete
post production. He hopes to eventually present
the final product at schools, especially those
with marching bands, and possibly in documentary
film festivals.
Lilian Mercogliano, History/Sociology '06
Faculty Mentor: Lester Lee
On Co-op with the Malawi Children's Village (MCW) in Malawi, Africa.
Lilian spent ten weeks working at the Malawi Children's Village in Africa
this summer. The Malawi Children's Village is a multi-level intervention
project improving the welfare of over 3,200 AIDS orphans in 37 villages
through a health, education, food sustainability, and shelter projects.
This summer, they implemented an HIV/AIDS peer education program which
focuses on training Malawian adolescents to become peer counselors in
HIV/AIDS and grief counselors for each of the 37 surrounding villages.
Only a freshman, Lilian received both a Grant and a Co-op Grant for
her volunteer efforts in Malawi.
