Sample Format of Heading and Body of an Abstract

Title of Project/Presentation*
Joe M. Smith, Some University**
Mentor: Mary J. Wilson, Department of Knowledge, Some University***

Abstracts must include sufficient information for reviewers to judge the nature and significance of the topic, the adequacy of the investigative strategy, the nature of the results, and the conclusions. The abstract should summarize the substantive results of the work and not merely list topics to be discussed. An abstract is an outline/brief summary of your paper and your whole project. It should have an intro, body and conclusion. It is a well-developed paragraph, should be exact in wording, and must be understandable to a wide audience. It highlights major points of the content and answers why your work is important, what was your purpose, how you went about your project, what you learned, and what you concluded.

[Abstracts should be no more than 250 words, formatted in Microsoft Word, and single-spaced, using size 12 Times New Roman font.]

* If your title includes scientific notation, Greek letters, bold, italics, or other special characters/symbols, make sure they appear correctly here in Microsoft Word.

** Include additional undergraduate co-authors, whether they are presenting or not presenting, if applicable.

*** Include additional faculty mentors, if applicable.

Sample Abstracts in Different Disciplines

Humanities

The Function of Depravity in the Multiple Pasts of Nightwood
Rachel F. Tusler, Occidental College
Mentor: Martha Ronk, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, Occidental College

Djuna Barnes' experimental modernist novel, Nightwood, depicts characters who are variously drunken, bestial, and obscene. In the world of Nightwood, depravity is valued over the civilized as a means of accessing the past. This essay identifies three separate "pasts": the historical, the developmental, and the evolutionary, all in operation within the characters. The historical past refers to events taking place before the individuals' births but after the evolutionary shift from early animals to present-day humans, such as Felix's past as a Jew in Roman times. The developmental past concerns the early stages in individual life, primarily childhood. The evolutionary past refers to the precultural period, which in Nightwood primarily concerns early humans as animals or beasts. The separate pasts are all repeatedly described as degenerate, violent and primitive. The characters that embrace depravity, such as Doctor O'Connor and Robin, are embracing the nature of their historical, evolutionary, and developmental pasts. Once they recognize where they have come from, they attain a sense of their current position, as well as an ability to simultaneously exist in previous times.

Science

Tolerance to the Ataxic Effect of Alcohol in Rats Selectively Bred for Saccharin Intake
Cheryl Prigodich, Occidental College
Mentor: Nancy Dess, Department of Psychology, Occidental College

Consumption of sweets correlates positively with alcohol consumption; alcoholic men prefer stronger sweet solutions than do nonalcoholic men and alcohol-preferring rats consume sweet solutions far beyond the limits of their normal fluid intake. Similarly, Occidental’s high saccharin-consuming rats (HiS) prefer alcohol more than do those selectively bred for low saccharin intake (LoS). Interestingly, however, LoS rats show stronger alcohol withdrawal than HiS rats. Withdrawal is often used as a proxy of alcohol tolerance—with severe withdrawal implying that tolerance to alcohol’s effects has developed—but measures of withdrawal do not directly index tolerance. Tolerance has not yet been studied in these rats. The present study examined tolerance directly in order to test the prediction that alcohol-experienced LoS rats would be more tolerant than HiS counterparts. Tests of ataxia, specifically the tilt-plane test, are frequently used as behavioral indexes of intoxication; thus, tolerance was tested using the tilt-plane, as well as the balance beam and horizontal ladder tests of coordination. Preliminary results (n=24) have yielded that HiS and LoS rats do not show significantly different levels of tolerance to a challenge dose of alcohol (1.5g/kg of 15% EtOH). Main effects of alcohol and saccharin on the tilt-plane apparatus could yield significant p-values with the addition of more rats.

Social Sciences

Feminist Ethics and the Degree of Bureaucratic Organization in Asian Pacific Islander Women's Shelters in Los Angeles
Suzanne Im, Occidental College
Mentor: Maryanne Horowitz, Department of History, Occidental College

This study opens up a discussion of the feminist ethics of Asian Pacific Islander (API) women who are involved in the battered women's movement, based on their occupation within domestic violence agencies. Additionally, there is an examination of the manner in which these ethics are reflected in each respective organizational structure. Central to the research is the understanding that feminist organizational qualities are not simply limited to "collectivism versus bureaucracy". In not limiting the scope of analysis, the recognition that feminism as an identity is a malleable and varied construct is integrated. The research is based upon in-depth interviews with four women from three domestic violence shelters in the Los Angeles County. As can be concluded from the sample, the API battered women's movement is characterized by fluid factors such as personalities, time commitment, and a general desire to address the problem of domestic violence rather than an unequivocal commitment to any well-defined political philosophy. Also, within the shelters there evidently has not been a transformation from a principally collectivist grassroots structure toward a bureaucratic practice. Rather, a complement of collectivist and bureaucratic approaches effectively responds to changing internal and external dynamics.

Studio Art

Water Soluble Colorants On Porcelain
Jennifer L. Brant
Mentor: Dr. Charles Olson

In the ceramic work of Scandinavian artist, Arne Ase, water-soluble materials such as titanium sulphate, cobalt chloride, tungsten oxide, molybdenum chloride, and selenium chloride are utilized as decorative elements on his porcelain forms. Such chemicals are not of common use in the ceramic arts because of the expense of the raw materials and the possible hazards of working with these chemicals. However, these colorants can create subtle yet breathtaking effects, including hues of black, blue, yellow, or pink, that blend with the surface of the clay, as if the porcelain vessel were a watercolor painting. It is his research, which I have expanded upon and integrated into my own ceramic work. Additional colorants have been tested, including iron sulphate, cobalt sulphate, and copper sulphate. A different firing atmosphere has been incorporated in the research, as well as two porcelain bodies, to expand the palette of colors that can be obtained. The most successful test results have been applied to my porcelain forms, which include a wide variety of functional objects, in order to contribute to my ongoing exploration of personal expression through the medium of clay.