Summer Research Awards 2007

Student/Project (click for photo)	Faculty Sponsors
Brittany Deane and Briana Deane, Class of 2008 Identical twins have been an object of intrigue throughout time. Together we are working on a historical fiction novel revolving around three sets of twins, each from a different time period. Areas of focus will be the twin rituals of the Yoruba, Dr. Mengele's twin experiments at Birkenau during the Holocaust, and the Salem Witch Trials of the Massachusetts Bay. We will also focus on modern-day twins, incorporating our own voices and experiences as identical twins.	Prof. Chris Hallman Department of English and Creative Writing
Mary Dance, Class of 2008 The procedures and workings of ancient Roman law held a rather prominent place in daily city life, as illustrated by the presence of political undertones and themes in the work of Roman poets, orators, playwrights, and even novelists. These brilliant minds not only presented a great focus toward the public and the political, but they also frequently intertwined such topics with matters considered wholly private. In my research, I intend to delve into both primary and secondary materials, looking first to the works of Quintilian, Cicero, and Juvenal. While exploring these sources, I plan to examine the mixing of the public and private realms, as well as two equally disparate but similarly intermingled facets of Roman life – those of drama and law in ancient legal training.	Prof. Eric Casey Department of Classics
Jessica Echols, Class of 2008 The research plans I intend to pursue involve the further study of the products, mechanisms, and dynamics of photo reactions involving the type of melanin known as eumelanin. This will allow for a more complete understanding of the composition, structure, and aggregation behavior of this important biopolymer that is the predominant provider of pigment in humans. The research will use computational tools to perform quantum dynamics calculations for the indolic monomers that are believed to be the building blocks of the type of melanin known as eumelanin. These monomers are 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), and 5,6 dihydroxyindole (DHI) and several of their oxidized forms. My research will consist of calculating molecular dynamics of these components of eumelanin upon photo excitation to study the ways in which the excess energy induced by light is later released. In addition, computational methods can be used to generate excitation spectra to compare with experimental data. I hope to use this data to better understand what DHICA, DHI, and related compounds do when they are excited by a photon of light.	Prof. Jane Owens Department of Chemistry
Audrey Hogan, Class of 2009 The purpose of my summer honors research project is to examine the family law codes of the Franks, a fairly bloody and unsophisticated tribe of Germanic barbarians. In so doing I hope to gain insight into their culture as a whole. Furthermore, I shall also study law codes written by the Romans in Late Antiquity. I believe it will be interesting to see how much the Frankish legal code was affected by their powerful predecessors.	Prof. Lynn Laufenberg Department of History
Doreen McVeigh, Class of 2009 This summer, I plan to perform a Common Garden Experiment with Thalictrum macrostylum, a plant found on Sweet Briar's campus with many unique qualities ideal for research. This plant has different male and female parts, and while the females resemble the males, the female's pollen is sterile. Last year seeds of Thalictrum macrostylum were collected from different areas, and will be planted to determine if the seeds are ecotypes, (locally adapted, genetically distinct population within a species) and to test if factors such as light, Nitrogen, soil composition et cetera, have an effect on plant sex determination. Other ways to better understand Thalictrum macrostylum are to investigate the plants isozymes and protein analysis. With the use of such techniques as well as gel electrophoresis we will be able to determine if the genetics are different, and how this may effect the plant’s determination of sex.	Prof. Janet Steven Department of Biology
Emma Meador, Class of 2009 Greek mystery cults were considered holy and secret, written about only indirectly. At the same time, institutions such as the Eleusinian mysteries were open to a wide cross section of society. My project will focus on the status of mystery cults, especially the Eleusinian and Dionysiac mysteries, in Greek tragedy, comedy, and epic. What is the significance of keeping these "public secrets" and why does literature reference them so frequently but cryptically? This is a project about the simultaneous desire to conceal and reveal aspects of mystery cults before an audience already familiar with them.	Prof. Eric Casey Department of Classics
Michelle Sanchez, Class of 2008 I plan to do a survey of the philosophical debates over moral relativism. Special attention will be given to arguments concerning the possibility and impossibility of making objective moral judgments. Another related focus point of this research will be directed to an examination of what scholars call “non-fundamental moral disagreements.” Whether or not moral disagreements can be rationally resolved is a serious debate within the moral relativism discussion. Some objectivists argue that if "non-fundamental" moral disagreements were reconciled, then a moral framework could be agreed upon. My goal is to understand the issues involved in the origins of non-fundamental moral disagreements and to assess whether the arguments that objectivists make on this issue are cogent.	Prof. Matthew Calarco Department of Philosophy
Laurel Sanders, Class of 2008 The photochemical reactions of cyclobutene derivatives are not well studied. It is understood what occurs in the ground state during cyclobutene ring openings, but for the excited state there are only a few rules, and they are not holding up with experimental results. The only rules that have been proposed on the mechanisms of these photochemical reactions are the Woodward-Hoffman rules. The Woodward-Hoffman rules on photochemical ring opening reactions are not consistent with the experimental results of these reactions with cyclobutene derivatives. The focus of my project will be to investigate photochemical reactions of cyclobutene derivatives and to gain a better understanding of why these reactions do not follow the Woodward-Hoffman rules by using commercially available computer programs to simulate these reactions.	Prof. Jane Owens Department of Chemistry