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Applied Design Solutions: Learning and Leveraging SolidWorks
No full textvii, 28 p.Modern engineering industry is heavily reliant upon Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software to design and produce innovative products. In preparation to enter such industry, one must become sufficiently familiar with these tools. This project explores the foundational tools and processes of SolidWorks, a leading CAD software, by combining a structured learning and certification process with a hands-on design challenge. Training modules and practice problems, sourced through Dassault Systèmes and other 3rd-party databases, were utilized to master the software’s core features in preparation for the Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) exam. These skills were then applied to design and prototype a 2-speed sequential transmission for a 1/10 scale RC truck, addressing unique engineering challenges through the use of 3D printing and an iterative modeling process. The project highlights the value of practical application in skill development and its ability to bridge educational preparation with real-world engineering challenges
Sacred, Not Scheduled: The Case for Peyote’s Removal from Schedule I
No full text31 p.The peyote cactus yields a psychoactive flower that occupies a peculiar place in our legal system: it is listed by the Drug Enforcement Agency as a Schedule I controlled substance alongside heroin and ecstacy, but it is also legal under federal law to consume the substance as part of a Native American ceremony, regardless of race or affiliation with such groups. Native to the Chihuahuan Desert straddling southern Texas and northern Mexico, the drug’s legal situation is quite contested given its religious and medicinal history among Native Americans dating back at least 5700 years (El-Seedi et al). There’s further archaeological evidence that peyote was central in trade among countless groups in the American Southwest as many as 1000 years ago. According to the DEA, a Schedule I drug must have both potential for abuse and be physically or psychologically addictive. However, one may notice a total lack of evidence that peyote meets either criteria. Peyote’s classification as a Schedule I, despite its failure to meet these criteria, raises questions regarding the real basis for its legal status. In something as critical as substance administration, it is crucial that the state have a logical basis in its enforcement and not one rooted in systemic biases. In this essay I will examine how U.S. drug policy has failed to balance public health, cultural rights, and environmental stewardship by reviewing peyote’s neolithic history, pharmacology, and legal status
Deathscapes of Classical Athens : The Space, Place, and Rituals of Women
No full textv, 51 p.This paper examines the role of women in funerary practices in Classical Athens, focusing on their participation in mourning rituals and the preparation of the deceased. Although women were often excluded from public and political life, they held central responsibilities within the domestic sphere, particularly during funerals. The archaeological record, including grave stelae, pottery, and inscriptions, highlights women’s roles as mothers, wives, and daughters, emphasizing their importance in maintaining family continuity and honoring the deceased. Literary sources such as the Iliad provides a deeper understanding of the cultural expectations surrounding the funeral. Works by Sophocles and Euripides showcase these expectations placed on women in lamentation and funeral rites, showing the connection between gender, death, and societal values in Classical Athens. By exploring both archaeological and literary evidence, this paper shows a deeper analysis of the role that women played in death and commemoration, showing how their actions shaped familial and social structures in ancient Greek society
Between the Lines and the Lens : The Sensory Experience of Memory, Trauma, and Adaptation in Gillian Flynn and Jean Marc Vallées Sharp Objects
No full textx, 38 p.This idea of analyzing adaptation as a dialogue across mediums was the driving force of how I chose to structure the form and content of my SIP. I opted to structure each section around how both literary and filmic mediums complemented the story and themes of Sharp Objects. In my SIP, I structured my analysis thematically rather than simply chronologically, which was a direct result of how each version of Sharp Objects invites the audience to feel the story before they fully understand the overall plot. I used subheadings to create sections wherein I analyze the novel and how it presents its themes, and then a section on the TV series and how it translates those ideas to the screen. Moreover, both sections heavily focus on the sensory impact of each form. This organization allowed me to explore how the two texts are working in tandem, and why Sharp Objects is a prime example of adaptation done right. Akin to the story itself, I let emotional resonance guide the organization and tone of my writing, aiming to capture how adaptation can amplify meaning through aesthetic choices. Ultimately, this approach allowed me to exemplify how the plot of Sharp Objects itself was not the sole focus of my thesis, but the perfect case study in the power of storytelling across mediums
Meeting with Reality
No full text25 p.The reason I wanted to create this project, for starters, the community. I wanted to highlight the immigrant community in their effort to continue to put food on the plate, for continuing to make rent every month, for continuing to influence and give color to a country stained by power. We encapsule resistance. Everything that is to be acquired requires something in exchange. Sweat, tears, blood, sleepless nights, early mornings, days of exhaustion. Just a few interchangeable. The much that you plant will be what you reap. Although not exactly the case for those trying to harvest a future in a continuously changing system that provides floods containing fees, droughts of opportunities, and land displacements that make common labor standards not entirely applicable. Meeting with Reality comes from a place deep in the streets of Los Angeles. I started getting ideas to work around this topic within a certain artistic medium back in COVID times. That is when I became a practitioner of photography. As many, I started with the camera from my cellphone. The material I needed to develop a continuous conjunction of photos was all around me, it was the people that have always been around me. I had heroes, geniuses, businesswomen, entrepreneurs, survivors, and dreamers. Stories to tell, living proof that success doesn’t always equal to a sum of monetary belongings
Whimvisible – voicing the unseen
No full text23 p.I make my art to find and create a sense of joy. My style is often whimsical and full of color, with illustrations of strange figures and silly characters that hold my heavy experiences for me. I try to connect with my inner child as best as I can during my artmaking process; by making my brushstrokes with warm intention, including design elements that feel comforting, always relying on intuition, and choosing a variety of mediums to express the messages I want to convey. I embrace non-traditional ways of painting and sewing, curious to find alternative ways of artmaking that align better with my interests. I also wish to challenge the mainstream art world with my work, as I argue that personal and identity-based subject matters, as well as cute-looking artistic styles, should be taken just as seriously. Overall, I believe I have stayed consistent in this type of artmaking process because – knowing I am always creating something simply with love – holds the deepest meaning to me
The Women Who’ll Weep For Me Have Yet To Be Born : St. Mary as the Keening Woman in Irish Tradition
No full text74 p.On December 6, 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, officially ending the control of twenty-six counties of Ireland, and beginning the Irish Civil War, which lasted from June 1922 and officially ended in May, 1924. These twenty-six counties would become the Republic of Ireland on December 29, 1937, while the six northern counties would remain under English governance. Since the turn of the twentieth century, there has been an ongoing effort to document and revive the many cultural traditions that had been suppressed, including song, story, language and various crafts. What needs to be taken into consideration is the way in which these art forms have changed over the generations, and in so doing, we must examine what is the throughline in all its permutations; what need is it fulfilling, what aesthetics must remain the same, which are open to change, or have been forced to change? The practice of keening at funerals, including many of the surrounding rituals and practices have long been the domain of women in Irish society. It was women who organized the journey to emotional catharsis, acted as community grief counselors. This practice has incredibly long roots, stretching back into pre-Christian Ireland, and due to its constant adaptations, restrictions, and the continued need for women to participate in social and spiritual matters, it found a new outlet in Marian Laments by the later half of the nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, these Marian Laments were some of the most easily sanctioned forms of feminine spiritual expression, as Irish women purposefully appropriated and cultivated the persona of Mary into an Irish spiritual authority that would allow them to continue their influence in this sphere of religious thought. Under their care, Mary’s similar experiences of motherhood, colonized femininity, and the need to be heard was able to meld with the Irish experience, and in turn create yet another version of the mother of Jesus. She was mapped onto the Irish notion of a keening woman, giving Irish women the authority to continue their practices of keening, and giving Mary the authority to be a keening woman, complete with all the cultural notions that accompanied that label
Performing Kimvn : Indigenous Repertoire of Identity in Wallmapu
No full text79 p.This project seeks to understand Indigenous identity as a diverse repertoire of lived experiences, outward expressions, and personal developments that come from the original peoples and stewards of this earth. Responding to state definitions, which invalidate, folklorize, and misconstrue essential components of the performance of identity while harmfully erasing Indigenous episteme, I propose that Indigeneity is manifested as performances of outward and personal expression of culture, legal and self identification, and the importance of Mapudungvn and community. I conducted field research in Chile where I interviewed ten individuals from the Mapuche organization, Asociación Antumapu de Quilpué, about their perceptions and expressions of their own identities. The findings demonstrate that the repertoire of Mapuche performance identity is an episteme that allows for the preservation and continuation of Mapuche culture and ways of knowing, thus necessitating its implementation and legitimization within the state of Chile in order to work towards Mapuche self determination. I explore the manifestations and definitions revealed in the interviews as a diverse, multifaceted repertoire of mnemonic devices that allow for communal memory and cultural sharing. Ultimately, this ethnography contributes to the fields of Indigenous study by centering Indigenous ways of knowing in relation to identity making as legitimate, necessary knowledge systems, challenging colonial discourses
Roll Of Crystallinity In Doping Via Cation Expulsion In A Mixed-Conducting Polythiophene
No full textvii, 21p.Organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) are a class of solid materials that can conduct ionic and electronic charges. OMIECs have many applications, including in neuromorphic computing and bioelectronics. Given their versatility, the ability to optimize the OMIEC’s performance for a specific use is important. One optimizable factor is polymer crystallinity; however, the relationship between microstructure and doping kinetics has not been thoroughly explored.
To understand how a polymer’s crystallinity affects its performance and doping kinetics, we tested the commercially available poly(3-[2-[2-(2--Methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]thiophene-2,5-diyl (P3MEEET) in organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). We investigated regiorandom (RRa) and regioregular (RR) P3MEEET, assuming their microstructure would be significantly different, as is the case for its alkylated analogue, poly(3-hexylthipohene-2,5-diyl (P3HT)1.
To obtain additional microstructures, OECTs were annealed with two cooling rates. This resulted in an improvement of μC*, the product of mobility and volumetric capacitance, for RRa P3MEEET but a decrease of μC* for RR P3MEEET when operated in 0.1 M KCl. For the RRa polymer, this improvement is primarily due to an increased C* (volumetric capacitance) caused by annealing. Additionally, testing OECTs in 0.1 M KTFSI environments rendered the device performance impervious to microstructural changes from annealing
Growth, From a Financial and Personal Perspective
No full text12 p.This past summer, I had the opportunity to be an intern at Hantz Group, a financial services company. I worked closely with a financial advisor and other members of his practice, gaining hands-on experience through a variety of tasks and projects. During my time there, I attended various classes and obtained my Property and Casualty insurance license. I expanded my knowledge of both finance and insurance, but most importantly, I learned and developed many skills that can be applicable in all aspects of my life. I was able to directly apply concepts from my courses taken here at Kalamazoo College. Certain financial strategies I encountered at Hantz related to concepts studied in my economics and finance courses. By gaining real world experience at Hantz, and taking courses at Kalamazoo, I am better prepared for future opportunities, my understanding of finance was strengthened, and I have experienced an immense amount of personal growt