Students graduating from the B.A. Completion Program will present their capstone project to the community on June 2. Twenty-two students will participate in the spring B.A. Synthesis Symposium, to be held on campus in various rooms. See the schedule and topics below.
Room 200A
12:00 pm Sye Peterson A Scene from the Play Evil Thoughts
Two actors will perform a 20-25 minute staged reading from a play. Sye will discuss the process he went through writing Evil Thoughts, holding auditions, working with the actors during rehearsals and directing the scene. He will also reflect on his experiences of writing his two previous plays, Free Will and Blackbird, and the impact playwriting has had on his life.
1:00 pm Alex Reed Modernism: The New Wave
Alex Reed presents a manifesto calling for a synthesis of modernist and post modernist ideas.
2:00 pm Andee Mefferd Crisis Averted
This presentation will cover what the King County Crisis Clinic offers to the community, then move on to the learning and experiences gleaned there by the presenter. There will be a focus on 2 clients that the presenter has worked with over the past year. She will share this by using the concepts of theory and practice in working with chronically mentally ill individuals.
3:00 pm Gunjan Welkar Emotional Intelligence in Corporate America
Research indicates that emotional intelligence cannot be developed quickly enough through interpersonal skills training. Therefore it is essential that companies create assessment strategies that will identify emotional intelligence at recruitment. Gunjan will provide some background on EI and how it is an area that is not only more widely accepted into corporate America, but how it is changing the way employees are managed. This project will offer an interactive component that will help instill the benefits of this focus in the corporate environment.
4:00 pm Desiree Miller Creative Nonfiction: Empty Bottles, Broken Hearts
Stemming from an APA style paper about unresolved conflict within her family of origin; Desiree has embraced the challenge to learn how to revise and reframe, to turn pain into prose, as she attempts to recreate her childhood memories in the form of creative nonfiction, shared through digital storytelling.
5:00 pm E. Kathleen Trimble U.N. Not Just In N.Y.
Did you know that most major cities have a United Nations Association chapter? Seattle is one of these cities. Come see how the local community impacts the United Nations at the national level. Katie will discuss her time working as a volunteer coordinator at the local United Nations Association Seattle. She will talk about events in the local Seattle area and about how you can contribute to the missions of the United Nations.
6:00 pm Alexander Knox AnIinquiry Concerning Community and Bluegrass in the Post-Modern Age
Xander will be explaining his inquiry into the search for community individually, as well as the concept of community within society. His project investigates the many implications that have grown to surround the concept of “community” in post-modern society. He will explain his own experience researching and contemplating the search for community as it relates to society, presenting his experiences with communality found through bluegrass music as a model for refining the concept of community in the 21st century.
7:00 pm Kelvin Davis Living with Sleep Apnea
Kelvin will review the cause and effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in adults. This presentation will also identify the significant health risks and consequences, symptoms that may lead up to diagnosis and patient outcomes. Published articles from the Sleep Disorder Institute (SDI), and Obesity, Fitness, and Wellness Week, will be used to help understand this disorder. Personal experiences with sleep apnea such as sleep study lab results, CPAP machines, and other alternatives that patients may use for sleep apnea will also be presented.
8:00 pm Michael Almquist Helping Youth Reach Their Dreams: A Supplemental Educational Approach.
Michael will share his experience as a mentor of high school student athletes. He will discuss how he came to work with this population and the struggles he has encountered while helping them obtain the skills needed to fulfill their dreams of going on to becoming college-bound student athletes. Michael will present a “Supplemental Academic Model” developed through research and collaboration with high school administrators. This model will help bridge the gap that struggling student athletes have in crossing over from struggling academically to successfully having the confidence to reach for their dreams.
Room 200B
12:00 pm Jacob Goodisman Facial Expressions in Psychodiagnostics
The presentation will cover information on facial expressions in specific applications. Facial expressions are the subconscious twitching of facial muscles in response to stimuli, however, they are considered more reflective of mental impulses.
1:00 pm Damon Hansen Exploration of the use of methamphetamines in the gay male population of Seattle
This review of primary literature in the hard and psychological sciences will seek to delineate post use functional patterns of methamphetamines. Medical details including the psychopharmacology of meth use, anatomic findings via MRI scans, and degree of neuroplasticity after such an attack on the brain will also be investigated. Cognitive capabilities in information processing and memory will be discussed.
2:00 pm Milo Burdine Transformative Healing
By weaving the concepts of depth psychology, traditional therapy practice, and spiritual approaches to the craft of healing, Milo will demonstrate how dark life events, such as trauma and even terminal illness can ultimately transform the individual. Acknowledging, accepting, and eventually integrating that darkness within oneself is a long journey, yet by recovering and working through those unhealed wounds they can culminate in becoming illumined. Then, the ash can be blown away, thus revealing the inner light and innate wisdom shining within every wounded healer.
3:00 pm Lorene Ledesma Art Advocacy and Public Education
Lorene will present a brief history of art therapy and its benefits to society, including its use in hospital and therapeutic settings, especially in mental health and family therapy, and how those benefits would be useful in our public education system. Lorene will conclude with current attitudes toward art education in light of the diminishing resources for public schools.
4:00 pm Shauna Hargrove Poetry is Not a Luxury
For many writers, poetry is an essential form of communication and creative expression. For many others, however, poetry is often seen as complicated, intimidating, or boring. In fact, poetry may be one of the most accessible kinds of written art for beginners, allowing people to access and share their emotions in a variety of forms. In this presentation, Shauna will share her experiences with poetry, including a discussion about a poetry class for non-writers she recently taught. She will then invite the audience to write a poem of their own using visual and written prompts as inspiration.
5:00 pm Susan Armstrong Special Circumstances in Early Childhood Education
In this presentation, Susan Armstrong will challenge the system of Early Interventions lack of planning for trained and defined referral personnel through her proposed program. In Early Childhood Education, Early Intervention is the set of systems in place ready to assist children with qualifying physical or developmental delays. While this important and productive system was established in the 80’s by legislation, the powers that be forgot to create a system to actually identify potential children whom may require these services. Susan has created a potential training for Early Childhood Educators that could eliminate this large hole in the system. At her symposium, she will present the process of organizing and ultimately hosting such training.
6:00 pm Jesse Asia Poetic Reflection
Therapy is healing. Insight can be both the cause and result of such healing. Poetic reflection is a therapeutic strategy, which can facilitate insight. In this example, audience members will respond to 5 questions, and then construct meaning from their responses. My hope is that this process, as limited as it is, may generate further interest in connections between past and present among participants.
7:00 pm Marie Everts It Takes A Village To Raise A Family
It is undeniable that pregnancy and childbirth are an integral part of our very existence. However, opinions and services supporting families and promoting infant care are an ever changing, culturally complex part of our society. Please join Marie for a brief overview of some of the services that support families during the transition into parenthood.
8:00 pm Sarah Fonnesbeck Finding a Permanent Home
There are over 10,000 children in foster care in Washington on any given day. Sarah will showcase five local agencies that are working to find permanent homes for these children and discuss what supports are necessary to make the transition into a permanent family a successful one.
Room 201B
1:00 pm Kevin Carr Depleted Uranium Use: An Appalling Atrocity
This presentation shall explore the history of depleted uranium and its use up to the present. From a global studies perspective, the manufacture & use of depleted uranium shall be revealed & its implications for global health & security considered. Concluding with a call to action, this presentation shall highlight the dangers of a depleted uranium equipped military, where the victims include civilians, soldiers & the ecology of our planet as a whole.
2:00 pm Paul Street Rust Belt Variations: A Quarterly Journal of Themed Exploration
Paul will be displaying a debut copy of his journal, Street’s Undisciplined Quarterly, in which he will use his own writing, as well as others, to discuss his childhood in a decaying steel town. This is a work that will use a multi-discipline approach to explore the theme of the Rust Belt. He will also discuss the process of creating the journal and his plan for its future. While this is mostly a reading, Paul would like to invite open discussion and interaction from the audience.
Room 118
8:00 pm Juliana Buitenhuis Projections: Photography for children exposed to abuse and crime
Art and photography provides a powerful window in self-perception. The lens acts as a third eye, exposing raw emotion, and projecting hope and desires. Juliana has guided a group of 8 children exposed to abuse in the home through a psycho-educational photography group, tracking their progression and evaluation their images. Her presentation opens a window into the eyes and minds of the young participants in her group.
Room 119
7:00 pm Julia L. Carson Therapy through Art and Poetry in the Educational Process
Every therapist must go through their own aspect of therapy in order to be successful in their field. Likewise in the Educational Process students can find an early aspect of therapy through Art and Poetry which can benefit and enhance their education. Join Julia as she takes you through her personal journey of Therapy Through Education. Material is very personal and may be considered emotionally disturbing. The presence of young children is discouraged.
Learn more about our BA in Liberal Studies Program.