Moravian College Student Scholarship and Creative Endeavors Day

Student Poster Presentations I (PPHAC 1 st floor Atrium)
11:45 AM-12:45 PM
Title: The Consciousness Aware of Itself: Gothic Doubling and the Deconstruction of the
Enlightenment Model of the Self
Students: Kate Brueningsen
Advisor: Dr. George Diamond
In the eighteenth century, Enlightenment philosophy began to dominate the academic world of Western
Europe. Emphasizing rationalism, individual autonomy, scientific inquiry, the application of scientific
method to social issues, and the superiority of human reason to nature, Enlightenment thinkers formed a
model of the individual and his/her personality as inherently rational and unified. Philosophers such as John
Locke and William Godwin ―argued that humankind is capable of constant improvement because reason is
our governing attribute‖ (Sunstein, 16). Uncertainty about this model seems to have been reflected in the
literature of the era, as Gothic writers of the nineteenth century repeatedly bring into question the
Enlightenment model of the unified self through the use of character doubling. Such doubling presents the
argument that the individual has aspects inherently irrational, the suppression of which can cause a violent
division in the personality, thereby deconstructing the rational model of the self. In order to address this
issue, this paper examines works of literature such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, William Wilson,
and The Picture of Dorian Gray to examine how Gothic doubling reveals the flaws inherent in the
Enlightenment model of the self.
Title: Breast Cancer Culture: The Commercialization of Disease
Students: Lauren Lavelle
Advisor: Dr. Virginia Adams O'Connell
The pink ribbon has become the nationally recognized symbol of breast cancer in the United States. Are
teddy bears, cosmetics, and jewelry, however, an accurate representation or an obscure glamorization of this
disheartening, disfiguring disease? Since the emergence of the pink ribbon by the S.G. Komen Foundation in
1991, there has been an abundance of interested companies looking to take advantage of this causemarketing
opportunity. Companies that participate in cause-marketing campaigns gain name recognition
while often donating a miniscule fraction of their profit to the cause. Despite this limited benefit, the public
continues to support the proliferation of pink products. Purchasing pink products allows us, the consumers,
to further our journey of self-realization, despite the fact that these pink products are not as healthy and
promising as they appear to be. My emphasis in this research is on the campaign‘s focus, or lack thereof, on
the real issues: patients and preemptive measures. Do patients suffering from breast cancer appreciate the
glorified, feminized culture erected in their honor? My analysis also includes a discussion of the
normalization and commercialization of disease, as well as the conceptual frameworks patients, survivors,
and their families use to cope with the disease.
Title: Verbal Fluency: Semantic and Phonemic
Students: Rania Hanna
Advisor: Dr. Sarah Johnson
Verbal fluency tasks are commonly administered to assess executive functioning and semantic memory.
Oftentimes, they are used as part of a battery of psychological assessments. The tasks require participants to
generate as many words as possible in a given category, such as animals. This is the category task. The letter
(phonemic) task requires participants to undergo a similar procedure, except, in lieu of generating words in
a category, the participant is required to generate words beginning with a specific letter, such as f. Each task
allows researchers to better derive brain mappings of different executive processes. Verbal fluency taps into