Session D: 3:30PM – 5PM
Humanities. Session D – Poster Presentations, Ballroom, Union
SESSION D (3:20-5:00PM)
Location: Ballroom, A. Ray Olpin University Union
The Reality of Fictional Power: Students’ Use of Fiction as a Coping Mechanism
Miranda Judson, Utah State University
Faculty Mentor: Joyce Kinkead, Utah State University
SESSION D (3:30-5:00PM)
POSTER D46
This research explores the benefits of leisure and assigned reading as a coping mechanism. In this research I demonstrate that fiction is a powerful coping mechanism. While research has been done on Bibliotherapy, the guided use of literature for patients, clients, or students, and similar fields, no research has been done specifically on fiction or the self-guided use of fiction as a coping mechanism. I surveyed and interviewed university English students who responded that they find fiction to be soothing and that they find insight to problems they’re facing when they read. I demonstrate that students find more insight and find reading to be more beneficial as a coping mechanism when they are reading for pleasure as opposed to assigned reading in school. The books these students choose as a coping mechanism are varied, including Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin, Merlin’s Keep by Madeleine Brent, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Little Men and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, to name a few. Perhaps this is because students also choose the books they read for pleasure with their emotional and psychological benefit in mind.
Worship of Women in Ancient Greek Myth and Culture
Bridget Kelly, University of Utah
Faculty Mentor: Alexis Christensen, University of Utah
SESSION D (3:30-5:00PM)
POSTER D47
Mortal or semi-mortal heroes play a major role in the mythology of the Ancient Greeks, and many heroes are worshiped as gods. Some, like Heracles, become divine in the myths and in religious practice during the Bronze Age, while others, like Theseus, become deified much later. This does not only happen to the male heroes, however, as female heroes experience similar deification and worship. The worship of these heroes-and particularly the females-was distinct from other deities, but they still served an important role in the society. The Greek historian, Pausanias, writes about periods of Greece prior to his own and what remains of those periods, and much of the remains include how various mortal women were worshipped, both those who became divine in their myths and those who were deified by the Ancient Greeks themselves. Using archaeology and examining the claims Pausanias makes compared to earlier sources can reveal the significance of mortal women to the Ancient Greeks and how those women fit into the religion not only as extensions of the more known hero cults, but also as their own independent cults. Understanding that role can reveal much about the interactions between society, myth, and religion, and it can also show how women were viewed in a religious way.
Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Oral Health Among Uninsured Populations
Emily Singer, University of Utah
Faculty Mentor: Akiko Kamimura, University of Utah
SESSION D (3:30-5:00PM)
POSTER D48
A major disturbance to many individual’s semi-annual dental checkups occurred with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Because the pandemic disproportionately affected minority populations, a preliminary hypothesis was that this population’s oral health was also disproportionately affected. Previous studies on oral health among uninsured free clinic patients indicate poor oral health practice among the population. Free clinic patients tend to experience poor oral health related quality of life (Kamimura, Gull, Weaver, et al., 2016). Patients of free clinics are often not familiar with proper oral care including the correct manner of tooth brushing and daily floss usage (Kamimura, Booth, Johansen, 2017). Dental services are extremely important to be provided at safety-net health care facilities such as free clinics (Kamimura, Gull, Weaver, et al., 2017) because this population tends to otherwise not have access to oral care or education about the importance of maintaining healthy oral care. 2020 brought another complication: the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with examining the statistics of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected underserved, low-income populations, the results of this study will highlight the ripple effects of the detrimental event of the pandemic that this population has faced, with a focus on their oral care. Data collection was conducted by distributing surveys to patients of the Maliheh Free Clinic. The surveys completed by patients are in their final stages of analysis. By comparing the pre-pandemic oral health habits of underserved populations to their current habits as the pandemic continues, my research will bridge the unknown gap of the pandemic’s true impact on the underserved.
Kamimura, A., Booth, C., Lindsey, W., Weaver, S., Edwards, A., Nourian K., & Erickson, L. (2017). Home Dental Care Education for Uninsured Free Clinic Patients in the United States. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care, 14(6), 296-301.
Kamimura, A., Gull, B., Lindsey, W., Weaver, S., Edwards, A., Nourian, K., Ashby, J., & Erickson, L. (2016). Factors Associated with Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Among Safety-Net Clinic Patients. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Doi: 10.111/jphd.12193.
Kamimura, A., Gull, B., Weaver, S., Wright, L., W., Ashby, J., & Erickson, L. Association Between Health-Related Beliefs and Oral Health Behaviors Among Uninsured Primary Care Patients. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. Doi: 10.117/2150131916680887.
Kamimura, A., Booth, C., Lindsey, W., Weaver, S., Edwards, A., Nourian K., & Erickson, L. (2017). Home Dental Care Education for Uninsured Free Clinic Patients in the United States. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care, 14(6), 296-301.
Kamimura, A., Gull, B., Lindsey, W., Weaver, S., Edwards, A., Nourian, K., Ashby, J., & Erickson, L. (2016). Factors Associated with Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Among Safety-Net Clinic Patients. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Doi: 10.111/jphd.12193.
Kamimura, A., Gull, B., Weaver, S., Wright, L., W., Ashby, J., & Erickson, L. Association Between Health-Related Beliefs and Oral Health Behaviors Among Uninsured Primary Care Patients. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. Doi: 10.117/2150131916680887.
Decolonial postcard
Suzanne Kekoa, University of Utah
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maile Arvin, University of Utah
SESSION D (3:30-5:00PM)
POSTER D95
Pele, to me, is a very intriguing Goddess; she is imperfect and powerful. For my presentation, I will create my version of Pele to express how tourism impacts Hawaiians, specifically Hawaiian women; pictures are truly worth a thousand words. Art can be a powerful tool to inspire change. In Huanani Kay-Trasks’s book From a Native Daughter, she compares tourism to prostitution. The land is the sex worker, and Big Corporations such as Castle and Cook are the pimps. While the land is being commodified, Hawaiian women are being murdered and missing at disproportionately high rates. In Dr. Arvin’s Possessing Polynesians, she justifies the continued commodification of Hawaii and its people. They are justified in abusing land and people by positioning Hawaiians closer to whiteness. Oceania Women are heavily sexualized in the mainstream media. They are depicted as willing and wanting sexual hula girls. They are rapeable bodies for the male gaze. When male tourists come to Hawaii, they expect Hawaiian women to perform. Hawaiian society was a matriarchal society pre-colonialization, women were held in high esteem, but the abuse of women in today’s society is appalling. Through Pele’s image, Hawaiian women can gain the strength to change.
