The month of August has been both characterized for me by both frustration and growth. My goal was to wind-down the “summer” part of my research with a clear path forward. While I am proud of the work that I have done over the past few months, I mostly look forward to school starting and to…
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Totally Positive Matrix: The determinant of every sub-matrix is a positive number. Recall that my project this summer is to look at partially filled in matrices and determine which ones can be filled in, regardless of the numbers in the known positions, to be totally positive.  Specifically, we are curious about the expansion of patterns…
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Focusing specifically on Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, I will analyze how trauma is understood, expressed, and responded to in Faulkner’s era as it compares to Vonnegut’s, using the theory of trauma put forth by Cathy Caruth’s Unclaimed Experience (1996). In my work, I will seek to exhibit the striking change in…
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Dimetrodon was the apex terrestrial predator of the early to middle Permian. This genus is a “pelycosaur”-grade synapsid, and a member of Sphenacodontidae the most derived family of basal synapsids. This “sail”-backed ancestor of mammals is conventionally depicted with sprawling posture, but this may be incorrect. Its trackways lack belly-dragging marks and its spine exhibits limited…
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My Honors Thesis will investigate the relationship between social stratification and health for urban African Americans from the 18th through 20th centuries. I will examine three skeletal samples and analyze how disease rates changed both within and across these populations from slavery through the 1960s. This research is important for developing a new conceptual framework…
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