Category Archive

Major and Classification Art History Faculty Mentors Professor Todd Olson Department Art History McNair Project The Irascibly Resilient Mr. Punch This research broadly examines the evolution of heroic national symbols of America and Great Britain by exploring imagery of Uncle Sam; The Statue of Liberty; Britannia; The British Lion; and, most specifically, Mr. Punch who began as a circus oddity. …

Major and Classification Mathematics Faculty Mentors Professor Linda S. Hagedorn Department Education McNair Project “Academic Performance of At Risk Latino Students: Assessing the Role of Family in the Academic Performance of First and Second Generation Latino/a Students at Manual Arts High School, Los Angeles” Latino students are now the largest ethnic minority group in California’s public schools, accounting for nearly …

Major and Classification Political Science, International Relations Faculty Mentors Professor Steven Lamy Department International Relations McNair Project “Democratic Stability Theory in Africa” The Bush Doctrine characterizes underdeveloped third-world nations as weak states, capable of posing a threat to U.S. national interests. In an effort to alleviate some of the elements that contribute to these nations’ vulnerability, the U.S. government has …

Major and Classification Psychology, Comparative Literature Faculty Mentors Professor Gloria Orenstein Department Comparative Literature McNair Project “Erasing Couvade: Accounting For Change In Interpretive Trends” The couvade is a practice found globally, involving ritualized behaviors performed by men in tribal societies throughout a woman’s pregnancy and just after she gives birth. Anthropologists have offered a variety of interpretations of this ritual, …

Major and Classification Business Administration Faculty Mentors Professor Rakesh Niraj Department Business, Marketing McNair Project “Marketing Social Stereotypes: How Marketing Practices Shape The Career Choices of African American Adolescents from Low-Income Families” The proposed research seeks to address the issue of low minority representation in highly selective careers in academic and business institutions by examining the marketing practices of various …

Major and Classification American Studies Faculty Mentors Professor Maria Elena Martinez-Lopez Department History McNair Project “The Role of Zapatista Feminism: Gender Roles Between Men and Women in Chiapas, Mexico” This research paper aims to explain the history and significance of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) and the gender roles women play within the EZLN and the Maya communities …

Major and Classification Biology, Psychology Faculty Mentors Professor Albert A. Herrera Department Biological Sciences, Neurobiology McNair Project “An Assessment of Synapse Elimination in Xenopus laevis” Using various stages of Xenopus laevis frog tadpoles as reference specimens, this research seeks to answer how synapse elimination occurs (i.e. the underlying mechanisms behind mononeuronal innervation) and the possible role of synapse activity (synaptic …

Major and Classification Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Faculty Mentors Professor Kate Wilber Department Gerontology McNair Project “Executive Dysfunction in the Elderly and Financial Abuse” This research project proposes to address the problem of financial abuse in the elderly by examining the role of cognitive impairment. Cognitive competence or the ability to perform simple tasks in everyday life makes an …

Major and Classification Cinema Faculty Mentors Professor Lanita Jacobs – Huey Department Anthropology McNair Project “CONTESTING PORKY AND WANDA CRITIQUING MAINSTREAM MEDIA IN THE STUTTERING COMMUNITY” This paper examines how members of stutterers support groups critically engage mainstream representations of their speech in popular culture (e.g., movies, news reports, etc.). Drawing from ethnographic observations of two Southern California stuttering support …

Major and Classification Psychology Faculty Mentors Professor Larua Baker Department Psychology McNair Project “Discrepancy in Agreement: Step to Understanding Informant Reliability” The purpose of the project is to understand how rater characteristics influence agreement between caregiver-child pairs when evaluating childhood aggression on the Child Aggression Questionnaire (CAQ) in an on going twin study. The Southern California Twin Project uses a …