English students showcase IDEA Grant projects

As Florida State University's 2019 Fall semester came to an end, five undergraduate students with connections to the Department of English—Hannah Justus, Alexa Kellenberger, Sabine Nemours, Ashley Rosado, and Zoe Zirlin—were each able to look back and point to an impressive personal accomplishment. Those students won IDEA Grants through FSU's Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement (CRE), and they presented their individual research projects October 1 at the 2019 President's Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence. The CRE and the Office of the President sponsor the annual funding of the projects. Read about each student's project below.

 

Hannah Justus: Determining the Value of Virtual Reality Technology in Autism Intervention

By Demetrius Winn

English undergraduate student Hannah Justus is a first-generation sophomore who has always been an active reader with a passion for literature.

Justus, who is in the Literature, Media and Culture Program and a Presidential Scholar, has already made an academic impact at Florida State University. On October 1, 2019, she had the opportunity to present her research project at the President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence. The event’s goal is to share students’ summer research experiences through poster and oral presentations. Read more...

 

Alexa Kellenberger: Moral Inheritance: Hereditary’s Ancestry in Dante

By Emily Voytecek

Second-year English literature, media, and culture major Alexa Kellenberger participated in the President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, held October 1, 2019, in Florida State University’s Turnbull Conference Center.

Kellenberger’s project focused on viewing Ari Aster’s 2018 horror film Hereditary alongside themes taken from the literary works of Dante Aligheri. Kellenberger found inspiration for her IDEA Grant project from a research project she was already participating in. Read more...

 

Sabine Nemours: The Female Backbone of Immigrant Communities

For her 2019 IDEA Grant project, Sabine H. Nemours chose to reconnect with her Haitian roots in order to support her main research thesis. With her presentation, Nemours confidently outlined her reasoning for why she believes the idea that the United States is a “melting pot” is mistaken.

Nemours, a senior English major in the Literature, Media and Culture Program, presented her research project on October 1, 2019 at Florida State University’s President's Showcase for Undergraduate Research Excellence. She first spoke for approximately 15 minutes on her research, and then read a selection from Things Left Unsaid, the novel-in-progress serving as the basis for her IDEA Grant, which was funded by the Nancy Casper Hillis and Mark Hillis Endowment. Read more...

 

Ashley Rosado: Imposter Syndrome and Machismo: A Case Study on Latinas Navigating the Tech Startup Industry

By Demetrius Winn

Undergraduate creative writing student Ashley Rosado has explored her passion for identity and community through her research and focus on social entrepreneurship.

Rosado, a junior at Florida State University, had the opportunity to share the findings of her case study at the October 1, 2019 President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence. The case study explores the ways in which Latinas navigate the tech start-up industry. Read more...

 

Zoe Zirlin: The Big Lie(s): A Quantitative Analysis of the Visual Imagery Employed to Propagandize Nazism

By Claudia Craig

Florida State University undergraduate Zoe Zirlin is a senior advertising major, with a minor in English and a certification in SAS Programming and Data Analysis. In the spring of 2019, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement awarded Zirlin an IDEA Grant, specifically the Scott and Ina McNichols Undergraduate Research Award.

That funding helped her research into Nazi propaganda in the 1930s, and Zirlin presented her project at the October 1, 2019 President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence. The project, she writes in her presentation abstract, is “a content-analysis of the visual imagery in a sample of 72 Nazi Propaganda posters distributed from the years 1933 to 1938, framed through the tropes highlighted by Kenneth Burke in his piece ‘The Rhetoric of Hitler’s Battle.’” Read more...