• Cover Art: “aλλος” 

  Black, Olivia (University of Oregon, 2024)

  aλλος is a part of the Greek root word for "allergy." aλλος, meaning "other," has held significant meaning for me growing up with a severe allergy to milk. This illustration depicts me as a child during allergy testing. I ...
• Meet the Editorial Board 

  Unknown author (University of Oregon, 2024)
• Art Feature: "Portals for Everyday People" 

  Bisheimer, Elle (University of Oregon, 2024)

  This photo series illustrates the power of captivating, freeform imagery that can spawn organically in our surroundings. The unique movement of black lines in the images result from the natural composition of the environment ...
• Journal Editorial: "On Libraries Supporting Undergraduate Research" 

  Vieger, Rayne (University of Oregon, 2024)

  In an unexpected way, the challenge of learning how to do undergraduate research is what led me to a career in libraries. As a freshman and first-generation college student, the imposter syndrome was strong; I lacked ...
• Art Feature: "Autonomy in the Anthropocene" 

  Bisheimer, Elle (University of Oregon, 2024)

  This drawing explores several of the complex relationships between human innovation, morality, and how progress is defined through time. Who defines progress, and who is truly capable of harnessing its successes? In our ...
• Letter from the Editors 

  Taylor, Jay; Schmitt, Kyla (University of Oregon, 2024)

  It is our pleasure to present Volume 22, Issue 1 of the Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal (OURJ) this spring of 2024. This issue showcases the best undergraduate scholarship we have encountered during the 2023–2024 ...
• Predicting Explore-Exploit Behavior from Personality Traits 

  Nashawi, Lynn (University of Oregon, 2024)

  The explore/exploit trade-off theorizes that individuals learn and make decisions in two different ways. Exploration entails trying new approaches that one is unsure about in order to gain new information. Exploration can ...
• Being Bosnian: The Means and Ends of Territoriality and the Genocide of Bosniaks in the Fromer Yugoslavia 

  Petrik, Charles (University of Oregon, 2024)

  The “Bosnian Civil War” (1992–1996) was a conflict that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks. In the vacuum left by the fall of Communism, religious identification across space ...
• Childcare in the Free Market Society of F. A. Hayek 

  Bernard, Myra (University of Oregon, 2024)

  As free market structures increasingly dominate contemporary life, it is important to examine their influence on social structures as well as economic ones. Seeking to answer questions such as How do market forces interact ...
• Exploring the Role of Microbiota in the Development of Insulin-producing Cells in Drosophila melanogaster 

  Mullen, Nicole (University of Oregon, 2024)

  Resident microbiota can influence many aspects of host health and disease. Research by the Guillemin lab demonstrates that gut microbiota induce the expansion of insulin-producing beta cells in zebrafish and mice via a ...
• Cover Art: “Prague Main Station” 

  Glass, Rowan (University of Oregon, 2023)

  The main railway station of Prague, Czechia, photographed at dusk in early September 2023. This scene caught my eye for its interplay of light and texture, wherein the lights of one of the station's 600 daily trains reflect ...
• Letter from the Editors: “What is a Special Issue?” 

  Schmitt, Kyla; Taylor, Jay (University of Oregon, 2023)
• Art Feature: “Our Pirogue—Snapshots of a Senegalese Fishing Community” 

  Glass, Rowan (University of Oregon, 2023)
• Comparing Verbal Descriptions of Image Memories with Natural Language Processing 

  Gamez, Julian (University of Oregon, 2023)

  A goal of memory research is to understand how the brain remembers similar events. Analyzing data from human subjects, we explore how competition between memories of images influences their recall by answering the question ...
• Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) Launch Vehicle 4 

  Casserly, Aaron (University of Oregon, 2023)

  Multidisciplinary Design Optimization is a field that enables the solution of challenging engineering problems involving multiple technical specializations and design/performance constraints. In this work, I optimize the ...
• Indigenous Voices Reshaping Cinema: Native American Representation in Dances with Wolves (1990) and Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher (2021) 

  Farrenkopf, Tom (University of Oregon, 2023)

  In 2015, film critic Angela Aleiss wrote that “Dances with Wolves created a watershed... no Western has had such a powerful impact.” More than thirty years have passed since the release of the film Dances with Wolves in ...
• Reweaving the Uaman Luar: Cultural Reproduction and Autonomy among the Kamëntšá 

  Glass, Rowan (University of Oregon, 2023)

  Where there is colonial power, there is Indigenous resistance. Latin America offers many case studies for an analysis of Indigenous cultural survival, historically and to the present day. While some have received considerable ...
• Media Conglomeration, Automation, and Alienation: A Marxist Critique 

  Tokos, Lauren (University of Oregon, 2023-09)

  The rise of the so-called “digital age” in the twenty-first century absorbs individuals’ livelihoods and disconnects them from the natural world. Over time, modern society has adapted to digital news and entertainment ...
• Culture in Higher Education: Understanding the Dimensions of Educational Inequality 

  Berk, Luca (University of Oregon, 2023-09)

  By connecting historical context and a statistical review of the present-day consequences of White hegemony within higher education, I argue that the exclusion of students of color in higher education by means of cultural ...
• Marilyn in the Media: The Male Gaze of Conspiracy 

  Wehn, Lena (University of Oregon, 2023-09)

  2022 marked the 60th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death. Her name is once again making headlines. The notable uptick in recent media coverage surrounding Monroe underscores that her cultural significance extends far ...

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