Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Ceramics
- All Subjects: Animal Testing
- Creators: Beiner, Susan
Description
Social media has forced us to more publicly define who we should be apart from who we are. In the age of technology, there is an increased societal pressure to hide imperfection - to keep the raw, sensitive aspects of our lives to ourselves. For my honors thesis/creative project, I chose to explore the disparities between the lives we share in person and the lives we share online. As a BFA student in Ceramics, I wanted to use the skills and techniques I've acquired throughout my years in college to visually represent my personal observations of social media use, identity in the age of technology, and the taboo of imperfection. My motivation for this project was to question, what is reality? I believe social media has led to an environment of under sharing. We share what's easy, what's happy, what's comfortable. Either that, or we focus on the negative, discounting the blessings and privilege we are so lucky to have. Positive or negative, this platform is a shallow way to communicate and understand humanity. There is always some underlying insecurity, anxiety, or tragedy behind every success or celebration. After reflecting on these insights, I continued my research by exploring aspects of different imagery, form, and function in clay. Ultimately, I decided to create a series of four interactive head sculptures. My main objectives for these sculptures were to embody issues of mental health, reference social media, and to have the viewer interact with the pieces.
ContributorsMegehee, Mary Grace (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / Chung, Samuel (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
There is a wide intersection where animal and human lives interact or mimic each other behaviorally or biologically. A lot of the products that are part of our day-to-day were first validated by animals, and eventually found their way to us. From food to beauty products to scientific developments, animals deal with a lot behind the scenes. Some humans are cognizant of what is happening backstage, while others only see the final presentation. Either way, all of us have our opinions in support or against animal treatment. The project is heavily inspired from my experience in a neurorehabilitation lab, so the foundation is similar to the structure and function of neurons. Through this project, I am focusing on one aspect of this debate, which is animal testing in the scietific setting. The goal of the project is not to force the viewer to choose one side, but to understand the big picture and the reasoning of the opposing side.
ContributorsSharma, Bhavya (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
“Tell It to the Frogs: Fukushima’s nuclear disaster and its impact on the Japanese Tree Frog” is a representation of the work from Giraudeau et. al’s “Carotenoid distribution in wild Japanese tree frogs (Hyla japonica) exposed to ionizing radiation in Fukushima.” This paper looked to see if carotenoid levels in the tree frog’s vocal sac, liver, and blood were affected by radiation from Fukushima’s power plant explosion. Without carotenoids, the pigment that gives the frogs their orange color on their necks, their courtship practices would be impacted and would not be as able to show off their fitness to potential mates. The artwork inspired by this research displayed the tree frog’s degradation over time due to radiation, starting with normal life and ending with their death and open on the table. The sculptures also pinpoint where the carotenoids were being measured with a brilliant orange glaze. Through ceramic hand building, the artist created larger than life frogs in hopes to elicit curiosity about them and their plight. While the paper did not conclude any changes in the frog’s physiology after 18 months of exposure, there are still questions that are left unanswered. Why did these frogs not have any reaction? Could there be any effects after more time has passed? Is radiation leakage as big of a problem as previously thought? The only way to get the answers to these questions is to be aware of these amphibians, the circumstances that led them to be involved, and continued research on them and radiation.
ContributorsWesterfield, Savannah (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Experimentation with glaze materials resulted in 2 functional and interesting base glazes with multiple color variants each. A semi-matte stoneware glaze was created, however after being unable to replicate a specific coloring without drying out the glaze, it was discovered that using this glaze to spray over specific studio glazes produced a more pleasant color effect than the glaze by itself. A glossy clear glaze was created. The glaze crazed minimally, and color variants were created with the rare earth metals erbium, praseodymium, and neodymium, resulting in celadon-like glazes that were pink, green, and bluish purple respectively. Finally, A semi-matte stoneware glaze with high spodumene content was created with two specific color variations
ContributorsVilen, Zachary Kwochka (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / Steimle, Timothy (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Animal testing is a long-running institution in biomedical research that is seen as a necessary step in the development of new drugs and treatments in the United States. Using animal models that have biological similarities to humans, it is assumed that we can ethically perform basic research that is translatable to human health. However, recent years have seen this assumption challenged by the fact that most preclinical research fails to survive the gauntlet of human trials into a functioning treatment on the market. This has marked ethical implications for both the people that depend on new treatments for their health, and the animals used in the research themselves. The purpose of this thesis is to develop solutions for the problems facing animal testing in the United States. First, I identify the political and economic basis of the modern system of animal testing by examining legislation and the IACUCs that govern animal research to understand why the practice continues to be used despite its low rate of success. I then examine factors such as epigenetics and the laboratory environment to explain reasons why animal research fails to translate to humans. Finally, I cover new in-vitro methods such as organoids and organ-on-a-chip technologies to show the potential that alternatives hold for biomedical research. As a result of this analysis, I propose the further integration of alternatives into our system of animal testing to make up for the translational failures the field currently experiences. I also highlight the importance of having IACUCs balanced between animal researchers and members of the public to improve the welfare of animals used in research and increase the transparency of their work. Including more animals into the Animal Welfare Act is also proposed to better standardize our treatment of them and keep experimental results more consistent.
ContributorsCammann, Davis Bukovi (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Sterner, Beckett (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12