The Measure: An Undergraduate Research Journal
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A Tale of Misunderstanding: Caddo Gender Norms and Spanish Proselytization
Full text linkThe Caddo nation was the dominant Indigenous group in modern East Texas from the late 1600s to the late 1700s, making them a highly sought after alliance for Spanish colonizers and missionaries. Interactions between the two nations began with complex greeting rituals, reciprocal respect, and perceived commonality. This paper asserts that the conflated cohesion of Spanish reverence for the Virgin Mary and the esteem for women in Caddo communities was a fundamental component of the original alliance. Therefore, Spanish misunderstanding of Caddo culture, particularly in relation to Caddo women’s political roles, was a major factor in the deterioration of their favorable relationship. In the past 15 years, scholars have begun to understand the positions and influence held by Caddo women during the colonization period. It is essential to further examine the impact of female influence on European and Indigenous exchanges, both political and religious
Place, Space, and Time in Mrs. Dalloway
Full text linkMrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf’s post-WWI Modernist novel, uses the philosopher Henri Bergson’s theory of time as a lens to explore the human condition innovatively and excitingly by employing Bergson’s psychological time and stream of consciousness. Providing the inner thoughts of individuals during a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, Woolf plays with linearity and chronological time as a way to explore how characters’ memories of the past shape their present identities as they all wrestle with the finite mortality they share. Employing both Bergson’s psychological time and the literary device, stream of consciousness, Woolf unveils the characters’ past and present thoughts and emotions in real time (often how the human brain works naturally), providing a unique and innovative perspective on the impact of time on her characters’ lives during a period of global mourning and psychological exploration
The Cafe on the Corner
Full text linkThe Cafe Texan has been a beloved landmark and staple of Huntsville since the restaurant’s inception in 1936. The following piece presents a brief history of the cafe, outlined by “timestamps” of important events that took place in or concerned Huntsville, to the present day. Information regarding the cafe was curated from newspaper articles from The Huntsville Item and Walker County History (1986)—found in the Sam Houston State University Archives—as well as the cafe’s website
Letter from Dean Chien-pin Li
Full text linkA letter from Chien-pin Li, the dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Sam Houston State University
Effectiveness of a Low-Dose Mindfulness Intervention for College Students: Does Major Play a Role?
Full text linkThis study addressed the elevated rates of distress among college students and emphasized the potential benefits of preventive programs through examining the effectiveness of a low-dose mindfulness intervention implemented throughout a college semester. The Mindful Ambassador Program (MAP) was introduced as a universal intervention integrated into classroom instruction to large classes in the College of Education with a sample of 105 participants from diverse majors. Measures of well-being, depression, anxiety, and stress were administered at the beginning and end of the semester. Participants were categorized into three groups based on their majors. The effectiveness of the intervention was analyzed using a two-tailed t-test. The findings indicated only a significant change in scores before and after the intervention for anxiety. The levels of depression and anxiety scores were consistently lower forthe Psychology students compared to those in other majors. The study acknowledged limitations, including the need to consider confounding variables and the absence of specific stressor data. 
Sound and the Reading Experience: Examining the Effects of Sound on Reading a Digital Graphic Narrative
Full text linkThis case study investigates the effects of corresponding sounds on reading comprehension, specifically in an online graphic narrativetitled The Boat, which details the journey of a young Vietnamese girl immigrating alone to Australia after the fall of Saigon. Throughoutthe narrative, sound is used to match the story’s narrative. Through a small usability study of The Boat, I investigate sound as a medium and influence on storytelling. The results of the study, though limited by sample size, introduce interesting insights into various confounding factors related to sound that negatively and positively affect the reading experience. This essay reviews my research, its methods and findings, and offers discussion for future considerations of sound and reading
The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Happiness for Diverse College Students
Full text linkMany schools, including higher education institutions, offer mindfulness interventions to foster the well-being of their students, as mindfulness and happiness have been found to be moderately correlated. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether that relationship holds for the diverse student body of a southern university in the United States. Cross-sectional correlational design was used to find the relationship between self-reported mindfulness and happiness, which were assessed through the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and Pemberton Happiness Index, respectively. Research findings provide sufficient cause to state that the complex relationship between mindfulness and happiness is significant among diverse college students, and is deservingof the resources required to nourish said relationship
