Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Journal

Maize has been a significant part of the North American diet for over 2000 years. Archaeological work has placed the origins of maize in the Midwest Native American diet at c. 900 CE; this timeline is based on the identification of maize kernels and cobs. Since humans began domesticating maize nearly 10,000 years ago, they have invented many ways to cook and process the plant. One of the many ways including a process called nixtamalization, which consists of soaking and boiling maize in a solution to enhance its nutritional value producing foods such as tortillas and hominy. To find evidence of this process, we apply the findings from archaeologists Johnson and Marston (2020) who conducted experimental analysis of nixtamalized maize to our analysis. The objective of this research project is to analyze ceramic samples from the pre-colonial Illinois site of East St Louis (ESTL) to identify the first direct evidence of nixtamalization in the Midwest region. The ceramics were washed with purified water, starches were extracted from this wash, and the sample was examined under a microscope. This research is the first step in establishing a timeline of nixtamalization use in the Midwest region, as well as deepening our understanding of the periodical depth of Indigenous cooking practices. This work supports existing indirect evidence of nixtamalization during the Mississippian period of the US Midwest and highlights the persistence of Indigenous foodways despite the impacts of colonialism.

This article recenters Napa Valley's rise by challenging the dominant narrative that defines its history through luxury, refinement, and economic success. Instead, I argue that Napa's transformation in the late nineteenth century can only be understood through an analytic framework that links three histories often examined separately: ecological change, working-class experience, and capitalist consolidation. Using the period between 1880 and 1905 as a critical window, the paper adopts a multispecies, history-from-below approach to show how phylloxera's disruption of grapevines, the social effects of widespread brandy consumption among immigrant laborers, and the creation of exclusive wine cooperatives formed the foundations of Napa's modern identity.Rather than treating environmental issues, public disorder, and business organization as separate developments, this article demonstrates that they worked together as interdependent forces that shaped the region's image, economy, and social order. By examining how wine industry leaders minimized the pest's impact, criminalized working-class instability, and strategically curated a polished image of Napa, the paper reveals that the success story typically told relies on both structural erasure and selective memory. Reconnecting fragmented strands of scholarship and overlooked archival evidence exposes a far more textured history-one defined as much by instability, exclusion, and adaptation as by prosperity and prestige. Ultimately, this argument recasts Napa's ascent not as a seamless path toward world-class recognition, but as a contingent process driven by the very actors and ecological relations that its celebrated identity has long concealed.

Sustaining attention has shown to be increasingly difficult over time, and it has become important to understand how task demands impact the maintenance of focus on any given task. Sustained attention tasks using both high and low target frequencies have measured declining performance over time. This project investigates, within a single task, how target frequency (high: 90%, low: 10%, intermediate: 50%) impacts different measures of sustained attention performance when subjects continuously monitor for subtle visual targets. As predicted, higher target frequencies showed higher false alarm rates, along with significant increases in participant responding and decreases in response times. Further, increases in target frequency predicted changes in attention, such as increased difficulty distinguishing targets from noise and a more liberal response bias. This suggests that the type of sustained attention task, in respect to target frequency, may influence subjects’ sustained attention. Future researchers should consider these differences when selecting tasks to study sustained attention. The field should incorporate tasks with a variety of target frequencies to form theories and draw conclusions about sustained attention.

A systematic literature review was conducted to examine existing studies pertaining to the impacts of chronic sleep deprivation on the quality of patient care delivered by medical residents. Several keyword searches were conducted using Google Scholar, evaluating the first 20 of each search based on established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Analysis of the 7 relevant studies revealed that those utilizing direct clinical evaluations provided the most extensive data. Findings suggested that chronic sleep deprivation impacted the quality of surgical and nonsurgical patient care differently. While impacts on surgical care were largely inconclusive, chronic sleep deprivation appeared to show a negative correlation with the quality of nonsurgical care. These results indicate the need for institutional regulations regarding medical resident working conditions to mitigate performance related effects of chronic sleep deprivation. With residents serving a critical role in the foundations of healthcare, ensuring they have work environments which enable them to provide quality patient care can greatly impact system-wide patient outcomes.

Many claim that puberty suppression is an unsafe and unnecessary treatment for transgender adolescents to leverage support for limiting policies for gender-affirming care. This review establishes an overview of research on puberty blockers to evaluate the treatment’s effectiveness and risks for gender dysphoric adolescents. Studies confirmed the necessity of puberty-blocking treatment after discovering that gender dysphoric individuals who do not receive treatment are significantly more likely to have suicidal ideation compared to individuals who have received treatment. Studies also found that puberty blockers are effective in reaching their desired functions as they lower the need for gender-affirming hormones, slow the development of secondary characteristics, and surpass their expected effective durations. Puberty blockers only posed a few serious risks to the individual's health, mainly a risk to bone health. However, most studies have not been able to define the severity of this risk to the individual's health. While more longitudinal research should be done to assess the severity of these risks, it is clear that banning access to this treatment is not the best approach forward. Understanding the implications of existing empirical data is crucial to preventing policies from further harming transgender adolescents by basing policies on misinformation or misinterpretations of existing research.

Past research has demonstrated that the target disadvantaged group’s perception of allyship behaviors differed by ally race (i.e. advantaged vs. disadvantaged group) and perceived allyship motivations (i.e. sincere vs. ulterior). One possible reason behind this different perception was the differentiation of suspicion level toward allies. Consequently, this can lead to different perceivers’ personal outcomes, such as self-esteem and collective action intention. However, past studies often failed to incorporate these variables into a single framework and establish causal relationships between them. Therefore, the current study aims to manipulate ally races and perceived allyship motivations and directly compare their consequential impacts on the target disadvantaged group. In a two-part survey, Black participants first rated their suspicion level toward White (i.e. advantaged group) and Latino people (i.e. disadvantaged group) in general. Two weeks later, the follow-up survey was conducted. In a 2 (ally race) by 3 (perceived allyship motivation) between-subject design, participants read a news article about a BLM protest where either White allies or Latino allies attended for sincere, ulterior, or ingroup-focused motivations and answered some questions about allyship evaluation and their personal outcomes. A significant correlation between ally race and suspicion level was found. Additionally, perceived sincerity was shown to be a significant mediator between perceived allyship motivations and some of participants’ personal outcomes. Together, the results cast a positive light on the possibility that, in intergroup interactions, individuals may care more about why an action occurs than about who performs it.

This qualitative study examines the developmental outcomes of Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs) in three STEM departments (Psychology, Statistics, Chemistry) at a large public institution. The purpose is to understand how fulfillment in the ULA role relates to ULAs reported professional development. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n=10) revealed fulfillment as a central theme in the ULA experience, based on participants' accounts of sense of purpose, enjoyment, and perceived impact in their role. This sense of fulfillment provided the foundation for professional skill development like communication, confidence, leadership, and networking. Findings highlight the importance of emotional dimensions in shaping professional identity and suggest that peer-instructional programs should be intentionally designed to cultivate connection and meaning for all participants.

In this paper I consider how gender was expressed in ancient Mesoamerican figurines. I focus on a Nayarit figurine (300 BCE-300 CE) from UCSB’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum, considering its physical attributes, physique and clothing in reference to other Mesoamerican sculptures. The artwork’s gender ambiguity reflects a more dynamic role of gender in ancient Mesoamerica; one not confined to biological characteristics but rooted in broader cultural and societal values.

The rise of social media has fundamentally reshaped the political information environment. Citizens now regularly encounter political content on platforms where messaging is designed to evoke strong emotional reactions that drive virality. This study investigates whether short-form video content depicting moral violations committed by politicians increases political cynicism through the activation of negative emotions (anger, disgust, and outrage). A between-subjects survey experiment was conducted testing whether exposure to a moral violation committed by a politician increases political cynicism via emotional activation. It also examines whether the effect is stronger when the violator is a member of the viewer’s out-party rather than their in-party. Results show that moral violations increased political cynicism through negative emotions. Group identity did not alter the strength of these effects. Given the established association between political cynicism and reduced political participation, these findings underscore a potential threat to democratic stability in digital media environments.

This mixed-methods, cross-cultural exploratory research study investigates the construct of place attachment by integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches across diverse geographic and cultural contexts. Study 1 employed focus groups in the United States, Spain, and Singapore to identify core predictors of emotional bonds to place, including autonomy, psychological security, personal growth, and social belonging. Thematic analyses revealed autonomy in movement, safety, opportunities for self-development, and cultural fit as key factors shaping attachment to meaningful places. Study 2 quantitatively examined these predictors using a Place Attachment Scale and Place Attachment Predictors Scale in a sample of 150 U.S.-based adult participants, stratified by ethnicity and migration background. Results from correlational and regression analyses demonstrated moderate to strong associations between attachment and predictors such as self-sufficiency, cultural belonging, community belonging, personal memories, knowledge of place, and growth. Interaction effects indicated that relational mobility and autonomy influence place attachment differently by ethnic group. Broadly, the findings highlight the multifaceted nature of place attachment, suggesting a conceptual alignment with psychosocial attachment theory and underscoring the importance of sensorimotor interaction, community integration, and personal agency in fostering the development of the individual person-place bond.