Holy Family Students Showcase Work at SEPCHE Honors Conference

Holy Family University

Nineteen students from Holy Family University will travel to Chestnut Hill College to participate in the 18th Annual SEPCHE Honors Conference on April 2. Holy Family students will present work on various subjects, including academics and art.

"The SEPCHE Honors Conference is a wonderful opportunity for our best and brightest to share their work with fellow students and faculty from the other institutions in our consortium,” said Michael Markowitz, vice president of Academic Affairs. “Holy Family University's presence at this event is always strong and impressive, due in large part to the tireless work of Father Mark Hunt. I know I speak for the Holy Family community when I express my sincere gratitude to Father Hunt for his profound commitment to our students and their intellectual growth."

Art Presentations

Samantha Dwyer
Title of work: Dormant Bud
Medium: Oil painting
In my work I concentrated on the multifaceted aspects of a tree from the strong roots to the fragility of the branches to everything in between and how this can be viewed as a representation of self. I wanted to explore how we are affected by outside forces beyond our control, how we deal with and internalize the inevitable changes through life, how they shape us, and continually force us to grow. I also wanted to focus on the layers of self and how we must dig deeper than outside appearances.

Christina Little
Title of work: Broken Home
Medium: Painting
The Broken Home is a representation of a normal ordinary home with a white picket fence. However, the inside of the house is broken reflecting its struggles. The human heart is trying to break free to start anew. The hills represent the ups and downs the heart is going through living in the broken house.

Kelly Greene
Title of work: Polar Bear
Medium: Plaster
I chose to create a bear out of plaster because I love nature. Most of my art is focused on nature. I live on a farm with a large wooded area and I spend a lot of time sketching what I see there. I have never seen a bear, but it is one of my favorite animals.

Iesha Liberato
Title of work: There is a Time and Season (series)
Medium: Printmaking
In my artwork, I always try to involve my belief in God. In the series, There is a Time and Season, I am reflecting how—although there is a time for everything we do as humans—the way we portray how we live is different. Beauty can come in every season of life.

Corina Williams
Title of work: Woman
Medium: Clay, oil, paint, gesso, and acrylic paint
This sculpture was created in homage to the inner struggles I have overcome throughout my first semester at Holy Family University. Woman’s body lies peacefully without disturbance, but within, she is mysterious. Her facade exudes womanhood but internally she is unknown.

Academic Sessions

Ketsia Estime
Biochemistry: Expression of Proprotein Convertases in Normal and Tumor-Associated Fibroblasts

Proprotein convertases (PC) are proteases that activate many other proteins after recognition and cleavage at the RRR/K sequence. Normal and tumor associated fibroblasts (TAF) differ in shape, fibers, and expression of alpha smooth actin. In this presentation, we explore the expression of several PCs, normal-like and TAF tissues in traditional cell culture dishes (2D), and 3-dimensional fibroblast-derived matrices (3D).

Brittany Wilman
Biology: Role of Furin in Tumor Microenvironment
Proprotein convertases are proteins that activate other proteins. In this case, the proprotein convertase activates a series of cancer-related proteins after proteolytic cleavages at the sequence RRR/KR. Furin, which is a convertase, shows decreased expression in fibroblasts associated with tumors. In this report, we explore the effects of furin overexpression on fibroblast phenotype.

James Ross
Communications: Brand Product Placement in Film: The Case of Google in “The Internship” (2013)
This presentation seeks to discern product placement in cinema, as both a means to get consumer attention and to build brand awareness. The accompanying paper also discusses how the target consumer segment is presented and how the diverse dynamic company culture strives for user efficiency.

Ryan Keller
Communications: Stages of Relationship Development When Two People Meet—Application of Interpersonal Communication Theory in the Film, 500 Days of Summer
This study uses the theoretical framework of Knapp’s Model of Relationship Development to examine the film, 500 Days of Summer, as a media text. The model views relationship development as a 10-step process, with two phases—the Coming Together Phase and the Coming Apart Phase. The study found the model useful but not perfect when applied to the experiences of the characters.

Thomas Nolan
History: The Impact of Cotton on the U.S. South, Leading to Civil War
In the decades preceding the Civil War, cotton farming in the South began to expand and flourish rapidly. This increased the South’s need for slavery and was also the catalyst for increased economic prosperity, making the South overconfident in its ability to secede from the Union and eventually plunging the nation into Civil War.

Nicole Pyle
Mathematics: The Underlying Mathematics of Beach Erosion

Beach erosion is a process that occurs when there are more beach materials, specifically sand and other materials within the sand, being exported than being supplied to a particular section of the beach. The best way to understand beach erosion is to learn the following: how erosion can happen, how to measure it, how to determine the necessary precautionary actions, and how and when to apply those actions in order to protect the beach. We will also see an example of how beach erosion has impacted the coastline of New Jersey.

Jason Seeton
Mathematics: Sabermetrics: Mathematics in Our National Pastime
Sabermetrics are advanced analytics of baseball player performance. Creator Bill James described them as “the search for objective knowledge about baseball.” In this presentation, the history of baseball and sabermetrics are discussed as well as information on the derivation, implementation, and users of sabermetrics. Not limited to baseball, the concept of sabermetrics has also been applied to areas such as law enforcement and education.

Melissa Goodwill
Mathematics: The Irrationality of Pi
The concept of pi has been around for centuries, but Johann Heinrich Lambert did not discover the proof for pi’s irrationality until the 18th century. Lambert proved that pi over four is irrational, thus proving pi is an irrational number. Since his discovery, several mathematicians have found many simpler proofs.

Tara Kelly
Mathematics: Queuing Theory and Its Applications in Traffic Control
Queuing Theory is the study of waiting in lines. This presentation will address Little’s theorem and basic queuing models. It will then focus specifically on how these formulas can help determine traffic signaling and control.

Alyssa Whitbeck
Psychology: Is Excessive Use of Social Media a Form of Narcissism?
Social media usage has become a social norm and is relied upon by many. Due to this, researchers have examined how usage could impact people in the long term. One main focus has been on how social media relates to the current rise of narcissistic tendencies. The relationship between social media usage and narcissism in today’s generation will be examined.

Allison Yanar
Psychology: Whirligigs
As part of a Sensation and Perception course, students selected a piece of art from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and identified how concepts related to visual perception (e.g., depth perception) were represented in their chosen piece. The piece of artwork I selected for this presentation is Whirligigs by Allison Yanar.

Meghan Roberto
Psychology: The Artist’s Garden: Visual Perception in Art
As part of a Sensation and Perception course, students selected a piece of art from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and identified how concepts related to visual perception (e.g., depth perception) were represented in their chosen piece. The selected piece of artwork for this presentation is The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil: A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias by Claude Monet.

Kathryn M. McCarthy
Public Speaking: The Negative Effect of Social Media
Social media is tainting today’s society. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are constantly growing and their users are becoming more attached. With the heavy reliance on social media, face-to-face communication is diminishing and the negative effects of this change are outweighing the positive benefits many supporters claim from use of technology.

Mary Torpey
Religious Studies: Jesus Christ and Recapturing the Contemplative Life
This presentation will address the contemplative life as taught by Jesus Christ and enlighten listeners on how He serves as the perfect model for contemplation. Aspects of contemplation such as love, attentiveness, and living in relationship with God the Father will be discussed as well as the behavior and restoration brought by the person Jesus.

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