Mellon Forum: Sara Meyers & Cassie Lignelli

Davenport seniors Sara Meyers and Cassie Lignelli presented on their senior projects last week. Sara, a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major, presented on her Cas-9 and CRISPR research. She explained the implications this research could have for chemotherapy down the line. Sara also walked us through some examples of trial & error involved in this research and what she learned each step of the way. Cassie, an Anthropology major, presented on her senior research involving maternity homes. As a recipient of the Mellon Grant, Cassie was able to spend the summer in Los Angeles interviewing mothers and the staff at one of these maternity homes. She explained how today, these maternity homes are set up to support mothers who are homeless or have been abused, but, in the 1960s, these types of homes were for unmarried, pregnant teens. She discussed some of the problems with the outcomes and set-up of these modern maternity homes.

Mellon Forum: Roger Lopez and Annie Jones

Davenport seniors Roger Lopez and Annie Jones presented at this week’s Mellon Forum. Roger, a Political Science major, presented on his thesis delving into discriminatory practices during natural disasters. He explained how policies and zoning can disproportionately affect low-income and racial minority households. He also compared the case of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Annie Jones, a Art major in the sculpture concentration, described several of her pieces which combined performance and sculpture to push the limits of the female body. One of the projects she discussed, “Angel,” involved her walking the 900 miles of the Camino de Santiago barefoot and silent. For a performance, she lists her medium as time. For the resulting sculpture, she provides a detailed materials list using pointed vocabulary to make the audience think about the meaning of her work.