Published March 29, 2016
MONROE, La. — Students from the University of Louisiana Monroe Honors Program recently attended
the annual meeting of the Louisiana Collegiate Honors Council (LCHC) hosted by Grambling
State University.
Six students presented research; one student served on a panel discussion.
Rachael Maddox, an English major from Rayville; Lara Crawford, a biology major from
Shreveport; Shelby Russell, an English major from West Monroe; Lucas McHan, a mathematics
major from Haughton; Kady Coulon, an English major from West Monroe; and Cameron Irby,
and English major from Oak Grove, presented papers based on research conducted at
ULM.
“I am extremely proud of how well-represented and how well-prepared ULM students were
at LCHC,” said Dr. Joshua Stockley, director of the ULM Honors Program. “ULM had more
student presentations than any other institution, which speaks volumes about the amount
of collaboration between professors and honors students and the quality of research
being conducted by students in the ULM Honors Program.”
Reanna Roberts represented ULM on a panel entitled, “Building Community in Honors,”
in which she shared various community-building strategies implemented by the ULM Honors
Program. “I thought this weekend was a great way to connect with other honors programs
and students throughout the state,” stated Roberts. “We exchanged ideas on how to
make our programs better and more approachable to other students.”
Attending the conference were honors students from colleges and universities across
Louisiana. In all, 36 students represented ULM, making ULM one of the two largest
delegations at the conference. Six students presented research, more than any other
institution.
“The conference was a tremendous opportunity to create professional relationships
and share research with peers who are also researching unique topics,” said Maddox,
who serves as the president of the ULM Honors Program Student Council. “I think that
the experience of presenting personal and professional work to an audience of like-minded
students and professors is invaluable to student growth, and I am very privileged
to be involved in an organization that gives me that experience.” Maddox’s paper,
“Netflix Narrative: The Spread of Serial Storytelling,” discussed the role and the
future of the serial narrative in modern entertainment.
Russell’s paper, “Divorcing Reality: Stories of Humor and Heartbreak,” featured two
short stories from her personal collection and an inside look at the writing process.
Crawford’s paper, “An Investigation of the Effects of SOCS36E Knockout on the High
Sugar Diet-Induced Obesity Phenotype of Drosophila melanogaster,” discussed the findings
of an experiment in which flies were exposed to a high sugar diet in effort to understand
the underlying molecular mechanisms that contribute to obesity.
Irby’s presentation, “Teaching Electronic Literature: An Argument for a New Literary
Medium,” revealed a prototype university course he created that that focused on new
media, such as video games, interactive fiction, and e-poetry.
McHan’s paper, “Modeling Tournaments through Functions,” reported the results of a
project to develop a well-defined, explicit function to determine the exact tournament
round in which 2 “teams” would meet in a single-elimination, seeded tournament.
Coulon’s paper, “Origins and Social Ramifications of Satanic Figures: A Study of Archetypal
Evil in Mythology,” discussed the role of evil figures in mythology as a fear mechanism
and as a symbol of the destructive qualities of human nature.
“It says something about the commitment, support, and loyalty of the ULM Honors Program
that we had so many students attending this meeting,” said Whittney Plunkett.
The ULM Honors Program also competed in a quiz bowl competition. “It was a fun experience
and I really enjoyed working with my peers to put our team in a position to compete,”
said Connor Dixon, captain of ULM’s quiz bowl team. “We may not have made it into
the finals, but we had a great time.”
Also representing ULM on the quiz bowl team was Armand Arcilla, Chelsea Bock, Cory
Atkinson, and Camille Labatut.
The Louisiana Collegiate Honors Council is an association of honors program directors
and students from universities and colleges across the state. Students present papers
and posters showcasing their own work and research, discuss specific issues related
to the furtherance of successful honors programs, and compete in the Quiz Bowl competition.
