[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Interdisciplinary Grants[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Stephen Haynesworth, Biology” tab_id=”1698778488268-18fe0b4c-2e2b”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
A major point of departure from the pathway leading to an undergraduate STEM degree or health career occurs when students, especially students from educationally underserved backgrounds, perform poorly in introductory science and math gateway courses. We plan to develop, implement, and assess the impact of peer-led learning communities (PLLCs) for students in the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP), the Posse Program, and other underserved first-year students who enroll in CWRU science and math gateway courses. The PLLCs will consist of groups of students who meet on a regular and frequent basis to study together and support each other\u2019s efforts to excel. As the name implies, PLLCs will be led by undergraduate students who have already taken and performed well in the gateway courses. Since the PLLC leaders will also serve as role models for the PLLC participants, eligible ESP and Posse students will be given preference in the selection process. Quantitative academic performance data, quantitative surveys, and qualitative interviews will be used to assess the impact of PLLCs on the gateway course performance of PLLC participants and several psychosocial characteristics of the participants and peer leaders\u2014characteristics that directly correlate with and strongly predict successful STEM performance outcomes. Undergraduate student researchers will assist in the assessment process.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Lee Hoffer, Anthropology” tab_id=”1698778488268-097663e8-965a”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Using hallucinogenic drugs as therapeutic agents for treating mental illnesses characterizes what has been labeled the \u201cpsychedelic renaissance\u201d currently underway in modern medicine. Although still illegal and with initial human trials evaluating the efficacy of this class of drugs in progress, this study will investigate how psilocybin (i.e., the \u201cmagic mushroom\u201d) is currently being used in non-recreational ways. The first objective of this Interdisciplinary EHI proposal (INT-L) is to collect preliminary exploratory ethnographic data on how and why people are using psilocybin within the context of a local (unlicensed) alternative health practice. Leveraging contacts made by the PI (Hoffer), this project element will examine 1) how an alternative healer uses psilocybin with her clients, as well as 2) the ways her clients make sense of, integrate, and understand that use. A second objective of this proposal is to conduct a media study developing, integrating, and testing Machine Learning (ML) techniques to extract themes about psilocybin in news media. Results from this EHI project are expected to generate two peer reviewed publications. Because this project will be investigating a unique population and is developing an innovative ML technique, it will make important scientific contributions. Using a collaborative crossdisciplinarity research team approach, it will also contribute to scholarship across a range of academic fields.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Beverly Saylor, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences” tab_id=”1698778726732-ffc7238b-4ee5″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n The Andes Mountain chain is a classic example of mountains formed by subduction \u2014 where one tectonic plate slides underneath another. These mountains rose during a period of global warmth that peaked with temperatures as much as 6\u02da C above present. As the mountains rose, they altered regional and global climate. Distengling the relationships between mountain uplift and climate change millions of years ago is critical to understanding Earth\u2019s history, as well as its future, because models of human-caused global warming are built and tested by simulating the distant past. Yet, the rate and timing of Andean mountain uplift remains debated. In particular, two paleontological sites where we have previously worked in southern Bolivia have played central roles in revealing the uplift and climate history of the Central Andes, but different lines of evidence from these sites conflict. Differences in geochemical data between these sites suggest cooling associated with a rapid ~2 km rise in elevation. In contrast, paleontological and geological data suggest comparably warm settings and stable landscapes. We will travel to southern Bolivia to investigate and sample a little-studied third site that may be intermediate in age. Our goals are to analyze the sedimentary formations and fossils in this area in order to establish the site\u2019s age and document its record of climate and uplift. Our interdisciplinary team is uniquely positioned to carry out this research. We are the only research group collecting both biological and geological data to address these contentious questions about the rise of the Andes.<\/span><\/p>\n Miocene: of, relating to, or being an epoch of the Tertiary between the Pliocene and the Oligocene or the corresponding series of rocks<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Kenneth Singer, Physics” tab_id=”1698778730913-36101e8f-d3dc”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Applications of artificial intelligence in art are receiving increased attention. To this end, our broad collaboration seeks to expand the toolset of conservation and authentication of painted artist works by using machine learning to differentiate among different artists based on the surface topography or texture of the painted surface at the microscale. Collaborators include CWRU\u2019s departments of Physics and Art History and Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Factum Foundation in Spain. Paintings are scanned by high resolution profilometers and analyzed by machine learning and other image processing techniques. Our initial results, with paintings by CIA students indicated a spectacular attribution accuracy of greater than 95% and with the finest details most informative. In addition to further studies with CIA students, our collaboration with the Factum Foundation focuses on several real-world works of the renowned Spanish Renaissance painter, El Greco aiming to discover the contributions of members of El Greco\u2019s workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Gregory Tochtrop, Chemistry” tab_id=”1698778732224-3c8ab9af-275e”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n The visual cycle is essential for sustaining vision in humans. Specifically, this metabolic pathway is responsible for the generation of the visual chromophore that represents the critical first step of light absorption in the visual transduction system. Modifying the activity of this metabolic pathway is proposed as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diverse retinal diseases. Here, we aim to develop novel pre-clinical drug candidates using rational pharmacologic and photo-pharmacologic techniques to overcome the inadequacies of visual cycle modulating drugs currently in clinical trials. Specifically, we propose a model whereby small molecule inhibitors of the major vitamin A isomerase are synthesized in an inactive form, which become active in the eye during bright-light conditions, when the inhibitory activity is important for protection.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Mark Willis, Biology” tab_id=”1698778740868-65b5c9ee-c71b”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n When humans and many other animals need more information about an odor, they sniff. This behavior delivers more odor from the air to the receptors in their nose. It has been proposed that, in addition to generating lift and thrust, the flapping wings of flying insects may also function as a \u201csniff\u201d to deliver more airborne odor to the receptors on their antennae. Tracking an odor to its source is an important behavior that allows insects to locate critical resources for survival and reproduction. The primary goal of this project is to measure the effects of wing beats on airflow and the delivery of odors to the antennae of flying insects. Whether and under what conditions the odor signal is enhanced or degraded is unknown. These studies will introduce a novel approach to revealing how and under what conditions the interaction of wing flapping and changing environmental conditions affect the characteristics of the odor plume encountered by the insects\u2019 odor sensors. This will be the first in depth study to address the long-standing biological question of how wingbeat induced air flows affect how flying insects use odor plumes to locate resources important to survival and reproduction.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Disciplinary Grants[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Brian Gran, Sociology” tab_id=”1698778785310-2834f54b-2391″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n This project will administer the International Survey of Human Rights (ISHR) and a special module on human rights derogation to residents of Central Asia countries. The ISHR is a 40+ items questionnaire designed to assess adult residents\u2019 knowledge of, opinions of, beliefs about, attitudes toward, and experiences with human rights. Through a series of Likert scales, respondents are asked questions that assess several dimensions of their engagement with human rights ideas, documents, and situations. Working with Qualtrics, the EHI support will permit ISHR administration to adult residents of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Todd Oakley, Cognitive Science” tab_id=”1698778785311-3ad734dd-c48f”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Money scares and perplexes us. At one moment, it engenders security and protection; at another it elicits worry and panic. Money deflates, inflates, and stabilizes; it is liquid, moving from hand to hand; it is made illiquid, being tied up in assets we cannot sell. Money makes the modern world go around by facilitating exchange, discharging debts, storing value, and keeping score. It is one of the most enigmatic of social institutions. \u201cThinking and Talking About Money\u201d is a new research program exploring how ideas of money function within economic theory. It brings to bear research strands in linguistics and cognitive science on economic thinking from the Enlightenment to the present. This project fits within a larger enterprise of what we call systems rhetoric, an attempt to explain how language use in specific institutional formations shapes the way we think and act.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”John Protasiewicz, Chemistry” tab_id=”1698778789200-27846888-50f7″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n This project will support a graduate student exchange experience between collaborating faculty Protasiewicz and Streubel, at CWRU and the University of Bonn, Germany, respectively. One student from each research group will travel overseas and spend 1-2 months at the host institution and perform research, learning new skills from the host lab as well as bringing new skills and ideas into each host lab. This student exchange plan will energize a proposed collaboration between the PIs, and the results will be integrated into Protasiewicz’s NSF proposal to be submitted in Fall 2022. The collaborating PIs are also organizing a symposium proposal for the Fall 2022 National American Chemical Society meeting entitled “International Crossroads of Organometallic and Group V Chemistry” in Chicago where they plan to have invited speakers from many different countries. The two students will clearly receive many benefits from the project, including research training and international experiences. The research undertaken is aligned with several of the Think Big Strategic Plan goals. One ultimate long term societal impact of this research concerns the development of new classes of light sensitive materials for sensing applications for challenging unreactive molecules such as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). The more immediate and shorter term impacts concerns developing new chemical strategies to synthesize multifunctional reversible systems constructed from earth abundant elements that act as fluorescence turn-on sensors, as well as promoting the training of future scientists skilled to tackle tomorrow’s grand scientific challenges. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Yashiro Shirai, Cognitive Science” tab_id=”1698778801886-0e9f391d-260b”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n In both first and second language learning, relative clauses (RCs) have received considerable attention as complex structures and important meaning-making devices. The Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH) has been shown to predict the difficulty of acquiring RCs based on distinct grammatical units (e.g., subjects \u2013 the man who came; object-of-comparison \u2013 the man who I am taller than). However, it has been shown that semantic factors impact acquisition ease, not just grammatical factors. This study addresses the role of semantics (i.e. animacy) vis-\u00e0-vis grammar (the NPAH) by analyzing intermediate through advanced learner data in International Corpus of Learner English. RCs are identified through a combination of Natural Language Processing tools, python scripts, and manual coding. Support for the animacy hypothesis would have important theoretical implications in that the previously accepted grammar-driven acquisition of RCs may not be as important as frequency-based meaning bias in RC use, supporting the usage-based theory of language. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Robert Jeffrey Ullom, Theater” tab_id=”1698778806408-80fff3b3-e1dd”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n By traveling to various institutions around the country, conducting interviews, and researching their archives, the hope is that my research will not only detail the history of American regional theatre, but also inspire other scholars and historians to access and utilize archived material from these theatres. Furthermore, by employing students to engage with theatres not on the west coast (in the midwest and south) and to assist with interdisciplinary subjects (most notably marketing, nonprofit management, labor history), this project aims to satisfy both the \u201cIgnite Interdisciplinary\u201d and the \u201cAchieve Social Impact\u201d pathways of the university\u2019s Think Big strategic plan. The funds for this research and the resulting book will be instrumental in supporting a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to assist with the digitization of the Karamu House or Cleveland Play House archives (reworking a previous grant application in conjunction with the Kelvin Smith Library).<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Susanne Vees-Gulani, Modern Languages and Literatures” tab_id=”1698778812036-a91110b0-670f”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n “Icon Dresden” is the first comprehensive book-length study of the Eastern German city of Dresden that explores the role of Dresden\u2019s history as a cultural icon in changing political and societal environments before and after its Second World War destruction by bombs in February 1945. It untangles the connection of the city\u2019s century-long history as a deliberately designed cultural center and leading travel destination, with the widely embraced narrative of victimhood about Dresden\u2019s destruction. The book challenges the prevailing notion that the bombing of Dresden was exceptional, showing instead that such a narrative stems from a propagandistic exploitation by various political camps. As a consequence of these established notions, Dresden\u2019s destruction history is still not sufficiently contextualized, but has been enveloped in general proclamations declaring the need for world peace. I trace how this handling of the past in conjunction with the changing political systems and their imprint on the cityscape explains the general social resentment to change among many Dresden residents and how such attitude has led to the city\u2019s problematic role as the home of xenophobic and Islamophobic movements and as a place of strong support for far-right political parties. “Icon Dresden” offers a novel approach to Dresden and its history, the visual and narrative representation of the city, rebuilding decisions, Dresden\u2019s place in East and West German and international memory, and its growing problematic political situation after reunification. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Finish Line Fund[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”David Singer, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics” tab_id=”1698778831609-dca4cbf1-4ee8″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Christopher Haufe, Philosophy” tab_id=”1698778831609-f238e521-455d”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Cristian Gomez Olivares, Modern Languages and Literatures” tab_id=”1698778842688-7c2e87dc-9e17″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Grants, Manuscript, and Performance Pre-Review Fund (PRE)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Jean Burns, Biology” tab_id=”1698778884975-9e718aea-b0d7″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Yasuhiro Shirai, Cognitive Science” tab_id=”1698778884976-2c2f5f73-184d”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Morrell Heald Endowed Fund for Curricular Innovation[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Janet McGrath, Anthropology” tab_id=”1698778982451-f878a47a-67de”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n This proposed project will seek to provide CWRU undergraduate students with unique, cross-school, community engaged educational experiences focused on health-related community concerns in greater Cleveland. The product of this proposed project will be a new course in the Anthropology Department to be taught as a pilot course (N=3-5 students) in Spring 2023. The course will focus on developing skills needed for interdisciplinary community health. The course will be engaging with nursing students as part of their primary care and population-based health courses.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Teaching Innovation Grants[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Susan Burden-Gulley, Biology” tab_id=”1698779006942-82e8f793-7546″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n This Human Anatomy & Physiology lab course will utilize state-of-the-art instructional tools to greatly enhance student learning of human anatomy. HoloAnatomy is a mixed reality software curriculum that was developed by a team of faculty, computer programmers, and biomedical illustrators at CWRU. Used in conjunction with a HoloLens headset, the HoloAnatomy program enables students to visualize anatomical structures of the human body as a hologram projected into the physical environment around them. Unlike static models that only allow a surface view of a structure, the HoloAnatomy software can isolate and superimpose individual organs and tissue layers. As a result, students may work in teams to examine and \u201clook inside\u201d a three-dimensional human body to develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between structures. This immersive, interactive learning environment will facilitate a student\u2019s appreciation of anatomy and provide a solid foundation for their success in post-graduate programs.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Learn more about the 2022 EHI Awardees<\/p>\n Interdisciplinary Grants[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Stephen Haynesworth, Biology” tab_id=”1698778488268-18fe0b4c-2e2b”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Peer-Led Learning Communities to Support Underserved Students in Science and Math Gateway Courses<\/p>\n A major point of departure from the pathway leading to an undergraduate STEM degree or health career occurs when students, especially students from educationally underserved backgrounds, perform poorly in introductory science and math gateway courses. We plan to develop, implement, and assess the impact of peer-led learning communities (PLLCs) for students in the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP), the Posse Program, and other underserved first-year students who enroll in CWRU science and math gateway courses.<\/p>\nLocal Psilocybin Use and Themes of Psilocybin Use in the Media<\/span><\/h4>\n
Miocene climate and the rise of the Andes in Bolivia<\/span><\/h4>\n
Machine Learning on the Surface Texture of Paintings for Attribution and Conservation<\/span><\/h4>\n
Photopharmacology in the Visual Cycle<\/span><\/h4>\n
Do insects sniff with their wings?<\/span><\/h4>\n
The International Survey of Human Rights<\/span><\/h4>\n
Thinking and Talking About Money<\/span><\/h4>\n
CWRU-UBonn Graduate Student Collaborative Experience<\/span><\/h4>\n
Is the second language acquisition of relative clauses governed by grammar or meaning? A corpus-based study<\/span><\/h4>\n
American Regional Theatre’s Past, Present, and Future<\/span><\/h4>\n
Icon Dresden: Baroque City, Air War Symbol, Political Token<\/span><\/h4>\n
Open Access Mathematics Articles<\/h4>\n
How Knowledge Grows<\/span><\/h4>\n
Yo sol\u00eda decir su nombre. Carl Phillips’ poems in Spanish<\/span><\/h4>\n
REU Site: The here and now: underappreciated synergies between space and time as drivers of ecological dynamics<\/span><\/h4>\n
Tense and temporality in second language acquisition<\/span><\/h4>\n
Grants to Support Curricular Innovation<\/h3>\n
Building Interdisciplinary Experiential Education for Addressing Critical Community Health Issues<\/h4>\n
A HoloAnatomy-Based Human Anatomy & Physiology Lab for Pre-Allied Health Career Students<\/span><\/h4>\n