Global Scholars Presentations 2023
Seniors in the Global Scholars program will begin presenting their independent research projects on March 17. Students in the program have worked diligently on their personally chosen topics for the past year and have recently completed a dissertation-length paper documenting their analysis. They are now ready to deliver their findings to the community. The topics are wide-ranging in their scope, and convey the individual passions and interests of the scholars. We are so proud of their efforts and hope you will join us to listen to them demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in their chosen fields.
Global Scholars March 2023
March 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Technology has revolutionized our world in unforeseen and ubiquitous ways. The prominence of computers has helped make many of the systems we use today much more efficient, practical, and effective. At around this same time, modern scientists with a growing interest in understanding human biology began utilizing modern technology to achieve previously unattainable goals such as mapping the human genome. Recently, computers have begun to find applications to neuroscience in imaging the human brain with increasing sophistication and precision as well as the possibility of interfacing the brain with computers to help quadriplegics. I’m interested in exploring this intersection between technology and neuroscience as companies, military institutions, and scientific researchers turn their attention to how neurotechnology can affect human life. |
March 21, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Last summer, I was driving home from a family vacation in Connecticut. To fill the twelve and a half hour drive, I was listening to podcasts. One of them started talking about modern marriage and the high divorce rate. That got me thinking, is there an identifiable reason for our society’s high divorce rate? After minimal research, I was confronted with the question of whether or not we should be marrying at all, are humans even monogamous? My interest in human dynamics, biology, and psychology, combined with the application of this topic to my life and everyone’s around me caused me to pursue answers of these questions. |
March 21, 2023 at 7:45 p.m. Music has played a main role in my life. I grew up listening to the music my parents grew up listening to. I gained an appreciation for a broad spectrum of genres such as Classic Rock and my fascination began to grow. As I got older I started to listen to different artists who were popular and new at the time. With my appreciation of music from before I was born and my new love for current music I became obsessed with all forms of music. I started to notice how different genres of music would affect my emotions and moods which led me to start learning about artists' lives and how they became who they are. In the early 2010’s came the beginning of my obsession with one artist in particular, Frank Ocean. I followed his early music career and became emotionally attached with his work. Frank Ocean is different from most artists and would only release music every four years or so. This surprised me, with him being one of the most influential and critically acclaimed artists I thought that he would release music more often. I started to look into his career and what labels he worked with and found out that a main reason he didn’t release music often was because of his disagreements with his label. This made me question how powerful the music industry was and made me curious on how and why artists worked with major labels. I created this project to gain a greater understanding of the music industry as a whole so one day I can help to contribute to it. I believe that music is a way for people to share their ideas and opinions in a way for the public to hear. I hope that one day I will be able to work within the music industry so I can help artists share their stories in their own way that identifies them as their own individual artist. |
March 22, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. I’ve always been fascinated with the human mind. How we can all be so different, yet so similar at the same time. After facing my own struggles, mental health advocacy and education became an integral part of my life. As I continued to learn, I became increasingly curious about what causes psychiatric disorders. I was aware that genetics played a role, but didn’t know how. None of my biology classes ventured into the complexity of psychiatric illnesses, and the extent of my knowledge was (for the most part) Mendel and his pea plants. Being the granddaughter of a late psychiatrist, I was further drawn to this topic in honor of him. My grandfather, Larry Davis M.D., was an ambitious man ahead of his time in many areas, and whose vivacity has outlived him. Studying the field of psychiatry has furthered my connection with him, even though I only knew him for the first two years of my life. This study, on the genetic inheritance of psychiatric disorders, investigates the elusive origins of mental disorders– the role and differing patterns of inheritance, how the environment contributes, the ways in which researchers identify specific genes/ variations of interest, and how this research poses a promising future for the identification and treatment of psychiatric disorders. |
March 22, 2023 at 7:45 p.m. Growing up, my fascination with the Kennedy family was an integral part of my identity, and it has remained a critical aspect of my academic experience. Presented with the poem “An American Poem” by acclaimed poet Eileen Myles, I was stuck by someone writing a story about a Kennedy that had never happened before, which lead me to think about comparing the Kennedys, on a historic level, to a family they had never been compared to, the Kardashians. |
March 23, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Have you ever donated to a nonprofit organization? Nearly 50% of Americans will give to a nonprofit sometime this year, but few will know what happens to their dollars. Social service organizations have been the backbone of American social welfare for over a century, but despite their growth since their humble beginnings in the late 19th century, poverty rates and polarization have only gotten worse. Curious to see what is not working, I took on the role of a social worker in the city where I live. I spent the summer of my junior year interning as a social worker at Christamore House, a small local nonprofit on the near west side of downtown Indianapolis. The small enclave that Christamore serves is Haughville- a Slovenian immigrant community turned into a historical relic of redlining practice. Haughville experiences a greater than 50% poverty rate right here in Indianapolis. My experience of interacting with the complex structures of nonprofit organizations while serving this community inspired the creation of this project. Within my presentation, I hope to give Haughville’s voice back. With real testimony from the community of Haughville and extensive research surrounding the operations of nonprofit organizations like Christamore House, I intend to spread the mission of Christamore to empower individuals with the knowledge of how to effectively improve the very city we live in. |
March 23, 2023 at 7:45 p.m. “All our knowledge begins with the senses” -Immanuel Kant Imagine a world where you can see colors as you read words, feel the pain of others, and be able to taste the complex flavors of music. Synesthesia is a neurological condition that connects the senses and allows an individual to experience reality in an atypical way. It sounds bizarre, but it is not as unusual as it might seem. I have a form of synesthesia called spatial sequencing synesthesia. In this type, I visualize sequences like the number line and centuries as taking up space in my mind. January is bright while the number eleven is dark. However, I did not discover my unique ability until about a year ago. I thought everyone experienced numbers in the same way. In fact, the number of synesthetes around the world is probably much higher than current estimates. In reality, you do not know if you have synesthesia unless someone tells you. Why is this? Why is our reality so different from each other? Why do some people see more color than they should? This presentation explores just how constrained the average brain is compared to the synesthetic. The exploration of synesthesia will also lead to conclusions as to why your reality is different from the person next to you. The neurological basis for synesthesia will give insight into the way our brain functions and the way it constructs our experiences. Furthermore, this presentation will explore evidence for us all being synesthetic. It will explore the unconscious brain and how our decision-making and experiences are formed by the combination of all our senses. In fact, we all can see with our tongue, taste with our ears, and lose consciousness of our own self we just do not realize. This project will hopefully give insight into the fascinating possibilities of our brain and the fabrication of reality itself. |
March 24, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. "Music is the universal language of mankind" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Recently, this past summer, I've had the opportunity to volunteer at Joy’s House down in Broad Ripple, an “adult day and caregiver service”. During my time there, I got to see firsthand how care was given to the residents who have had life-altering diagnoses. What inspired this project however, was a moment of realization with a resident where he could remember music despite having Alzheimer's. Furthermore, music acted as a catalyst for other memories he once forgot. Even though he had a degenerative cognitive condition, music somehow was a permanent in his memory and further research demonstrated a consistency between musical memory not being affected by forms of dementia. In a world focused on pharmaceutical treatments, the quality of life for those suffering with such conditions can often be overlooked. What music brings to the table is a personalized form of therapy to communicate beyond language and regain the once lost human aspect of our experience. I can’t even begin to imagine the separation from society one would feel whilst going through such a condition. After all, who are we without our memories? |
Global Scholars April 2023
April 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. “I have the best advice for women in business. Get your f***ing ass up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days. You have to surround yourself with people that want to work ....Success is never easy. If you put in the work, you will see results. It’s that simple.” Kim Kardashian’s notorious remark in 2022 went viral on social media. Americans' value of work is integral to our national identity. So why does it seem, “nobody wants to work these days”? As a high school student interested in economics, history, and contemporary culture, it has been fascinating to witness the dramatic shift in attitudes toward the concept of work. I recognized that my own attitude was being shaped by my environment. My parents come from midwestern, middle-class families. They embody American ideals and instilled in my sister and me the importance of hard work. So I was curious, what is the “American work ethic” and why do Americans believe hard work is virtuous? Are we that different from other countries in our views? And how will our shifting view about work reshape our national identity? For my Global Scholars project, I explore the roots of the American work ethic as a uniting value and challenge the belief that—“If you put in the work you will see results.” |
 zarrar khanThe Crossroads of Science and Spiritual Text: Scientific Concepts Found in the Quran and Their Theological Implications April 24, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. My religion has always played a major role in my life. Being a first generation American, my parents have raised me as a Pakistani Muslim in a society in which I am a minority. This unique upbringing has always made me proud of my background and heritage, and I have always felt it important to learn my religion as I am not surrounded by those alike, something my parents instilled in me at a very young age when they began to first teach me Islam. As I have learned and continue to learn Islam, something that I often heard or read was the divine signs of Islam. This has always sparked my curiosity and inspired me to take a deep dive into one feature of these signs in an attempt to better understand and learn Islam. The aspect of divine proof of which I focus on is the presence of scientific concepts significantly ahead of their time in the Quran which was revealed in the 7th century. In this analysis, I focused on the history of certain scientific discoveries which came after the Quran, and how Quranic descriptions happen to be in accordance with modern science. |
April 24, 2023 at 7:45 p.m.
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An Investigative Study into the Ways Diet and Genetics Affect the Severity of Concussions Among Athletes April 25, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
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From Punishment to Progress: Reframing Correctional Models and Infrastructures Towards Rehabilitation April 25, 2023 at 7:45 p.m.
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Cracking the Language Barrier: How to Learn a New Language Effectively April 26, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
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The Butterfly Effect: International Spillovers and Policy Coordination at the Zero Lower Bound April 27 at 7:45 p.m.
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“When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”: The Different Theories 0f How and Why We Dream April 28, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
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Elephants, Dolphins, Chimps, Oh My!: A Glimpse into the Amazing World of Non-Human Neurology April 28, 2023 at 7:45 p.m.
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Global Scholars May 2023
May 5, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. Humor is in our everyday life. In my family, it comes from Jim Gaffigan’s tangents about his love for Hot Pockets or obscure quotes that we pull from Monty Python movies. For others, videos of jumping cats or any picture that is captioned, “Why women live longer than men,” may be their concept of humor. Whatever source of laughter we pursue, many people, including me, don’t immediately envision humor coming from a woman. Some people, excluding me, even love to make hilarious comments like “the ‘f’ in ‘women’ stands for funny.” Fascinated with this stereotype and its effects on women in comedy (and women in general), I decided to explore its origins and justifications, its “biology” and psychology. This project was also the perfect excuse to watch more SNL. For “research”. |
May 5, 2023 at 7:45 p.m. Have you ever been scrolling through Instagram, Snapchat, or Tik Tok and suddenly looked at the time to notice hours have passed without your knowledge? It is no surprise that social media is designed to captivate our attention for long periods of time and to trap users into a relationship of codependency. However, when we start to notice how it begins to affect the way we perceive time, short-term memory, and attention span, we must turn to science to determine how overconsumption affects overall brain health. More importantly, it is crucial that we study these impacts as we raise a new generation of children to form healthy associations with technology in our ever-changing world. I’m hoping to combine my interests in behavioral biology and scientific research with my personal experience as a modern teen to better understand how to be a mindful modern user. |
“The Paradox of Progress”: A Look at How New Technology Seems to Create as Many Problems as It Solves Date and Time TBD |
May 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
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 walker gollapdui Stochastic Brilliance: A Crash Course in Machine Learning May 17, 2023 at 7:15 p.m. |